Welcome to this edition of Evidence-Based Nursing. In today's financial climate, there is a need to ensure that the treatments we provide are effective and deliver value for money. Several of the articles in this edition of the journal provide food for thought in this context and challenge us to reflect on our practices. See, for example, commentaries about the use of hypnotherapy for smoking cessation, the use of antipyretics to treat fever and the removal of ear wax.

Key to ensuring that evidence is used in practice is nursing leadership. There is increasing evidence that the style of leadership, as well as the registered nurse to patient ratio, has a direct impact on patient outcomes. One of the articles reviewed in this edition found that a leadership style that is visionary, coaching, affiliative and democratic was significantly related to lower patient mortality.1 The ward sister/charge nurse role is key to the standard of care delivered.2 ,3 However, ward …