Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice

Purpose of Nursing Research

• The general purpose of nursing research is to answer questions or solve problems of relevance to the nursing profession
• Characteristics of research include:
  • Controlled: specific constraints or limitations are identified and eliminated to ensure precision and validity of results
  • Orderly and systematic: follows a sequence of steps
  • Generalization: findings are applicable to the entire population
  • Intensive: in-depth approach is used to ensure all possible loopholes in the study are covered
  • Empirical: objective reality is used as a source of knowledge

Characteristics of Nursing Research

• Task of Nursing Research (IDEEPC):
  • Identification: assess situation that needs clarification
  • Description: determine relationship between and among variables investigated
  • Exploration: answer the what question
  • Explanation: answer the why question and seek clarification
  • Prediction and Control: projects situation or events and minimize effects

Research Process

• Steps in the Research Process:
  • Developing a Researchable Topic: identifying the research problem/topic of interest, reviewing literature, and devising a research question/hypothesis
  • Organizing your Research: selecting a methodology, identifying the population and selecting a sample, planning the method of data collection, respecting ethical principles, and demonstrating rigour/trustworthiness
  • Gathering and Analyzing information: gathering data, analyzing data, discussing and interpreting results, and disseminating the results

Qualitative and Quantitative Studies

• Activities in a Qualitative study: gathering and analyzing data, interpreting results, and disseminating the results
• Major steps in a Quantitative study: gathering data, analyzing data, interpreting results, and disseminating the results

Clinical Nursing Research

• Designed to generate knowledge to guide nursing practice and improve the health and quality of life of nurses
• Paradigm: a worldview, a general perspective on the complexities of the real world

Evidence-Based Practice

• Evidence-based practice (EBP): integration of the best possible research evidence with clinical expertise and patient needs
• Evidence-based: using empirical, valid, and relevant information in decision-making
• Evidence-based nursing (EBN): application of valid, relevant research-based information in nurse decision-making
• Research utilization (RU): use of findings from disciplined research in a practical application not related to the original research

Roles of Nurses in Research

• Roles of nurses in research include:
  • Principal investigator
  • Member of a research team
  • Evaluator of research findings
  • Consumer of research findings
  • Client advocate in a research study
  • Subject of research

Literature Review

• Purposes of Literature Review:
  • Exposes main gaps in knowledge
  • Identifies principal areas of dispute and uncertainty
  • Helps identify general patterns to findings from multiple examples of research
  • Juxtaposes studies with apparently conflicting findings to explore explanations for discrepancies
  • Helps define terminology or identify variations in definitions used by researchers or practitioners
  • Helps identify appropriate research methodologies and validated scales and instruments

Conceptual Framework

• A conceptual framework/refers to the explanation of variables of the study based on literature and research
• A study based on a specified conceptual model
• Presenting your conceptual framework:
  • Number of boxes equals the number of descriptive questions
  • Number of lines equals the number of inferential questions and hypothesis

Terminologies

• Epistemology: branch of philosophy that deals with the theory of knowledge
• Conceptual model: ideas formulated in the mind, picture of something that actually exists, which consists of patterns and standards
• Conceptual paradigm: visually presents and interprets the underlying theory, principles, and concepts of a research
• Propositions: statements or assertions of relationship between concepts derived from theories or generalizations
• Theory: constructed to explain, predict, and master phenomena
• Purpose statement: researcher's summary of overall goal
• Frameworks: not every study is based on a theory or conceptual model, but every study has a framework