Designed to act as a ‘signpost’ to available literature in the area, this Fourth Edition covers the disciplines of nursing, health care and the social sciences. Entries are concise, informative and accessible. Fully revised and updated, the Fourth Edition includes just under 3000 entries, of which 90% are new. It has extensive coverage of US, UK literature and other international resources. This new edition will be an essential guide for all those with an interest in nursing research, including students, teachers, librarians, practitioners and researchers.
A 2-year-old boy presents in an outpatient clinic with fever and severe pain in his right ear. He has a history of recurrent ear infections, and his mother expresses a concern that he has been on the antibiotic amoxicillin for the past few weeks. She is worried about the consequences of the long-term antibiotic use. She is also concerned about the outcome associated with recurrent ear infections. She wants to know if the prescribed amoxicillin is effective, or it can be substituted with another antibiotic because of its side effects such as frequent diarrhea. Several questions arise from this case which can be broadly classified into background and foreground questions. The general questions about a clinical problem or a disease are called “Background Questions.”[2] These questions generally ask what, when, how, and where about the disease, disorder, or treatment for instance, “What is otitis media?” or “How does amoxicillin work?” etc. These types of questions can be answered by going through review articles or text books. The patient-oriented questions involving interpretation of a therapy or disease and consideration of risk vs. benefit for a patient or a group of patient are called “Foreground Questions.”[2] These types of complex clinical questions are best answered by primary or pre-assessed studies in the literature. These questions mostly compare the two, either two drugs or treatments or two diagnostic methods, etc. The PICO (population, intervention, control, and outcomes) format [Table 1] is considered a widely known strategy for framing a “foreground” research question.[3] Sackett et al. pointed out that breaking the question into four components will facilitate the identification of relevant information. Considering PICO and FINER criteria for developing a research question[3,5]
Population or problem- addressing a specific population, its important characteristics and demographic information. From the above case, you can identify pediatric population with otitis media, the age range, sex, presenting complaint, and history. Intervention or treatment of interest- the intervention can be a treatment, procedure, diagnostic test, and risk or prognostic factors. In this case, the intervention will be your plan to treat the patient which can be a new therapy, a diagnostic test, prognostic factor, or a procedure. For example, based on your observation in clinic, cefuroxime is another better treatment option as compared to amoxicillin in treating otitis media but you are not sure about its efficacy in pediatric population with otitis media. Comparator or control-when a new therapy is compared with the existing one. Outcome- is the effect of the intervention. For example, its effectiveness in controlling pain. Therefore, the outcome in the above case can be the relief of pain, the resolution of infection, or decreasing the risk of developing resistance. A good primary outcome should be easily quantifiable, specific, valid, reproducible, and appropriate to your research question.[4] In a typical clinical setting, a clinician needs to know about background and foreground questions depending upon the experience about a particular disease and therapy. Once background questions are answered, more complex questions are addressed. The clinical questions arise from the central issues in a clinical work.[2] For example, identifying causes or risk factors (etiological questions), comparing diagnostic tests based on sensitivity and specificity (diagnostic query), identifying best treatment options (therapeutic question), and outcome of the treatment (prognostic question). After determining a foreground question, the PICO approach is followed. Dissecting the question into parts makes it easy and searchable. As evident in this case, there are several relevant questions, for example: what are the outcomes associated with recurrent ear infection, what are the possible effects of long-term use of antibiotic, and what are the harms associated with current treatment? Now if you gather all the information from PICO approach, the following researchable questions can be formulated. In children with acute otitis media (P), is cefuroxime (I) effective in reducing the duration of symptoms (O) as compared to amoxicillin (C)? In children suffering from otitis media, will cefuroxime result in the improvement of symptoms and reduction in developing resistance? Does treatment with amoxicillin increase the risk of developing resistance in children suffering from otitis media? Does surgical procedure has better outcome for the treatment of otitis media in children after repeated antibiotic therapy? From the above case, we have formulated multiple questions based on our patient’s illness and concerns. Now we can use the strategy of “selecting” the best question.[2] For example, which question has more significance for the patient’s well-being, which question is relevant to our knowledge needs and which question might lead to interesting answers for our patients and clinical query? Further, we need to consider the feasibility of finding the evidence in a short period. Page 2Considering PICO and FINER criteria for developing a research question[3,5]
There are many ties between safe, quality patient-centered care; evidence-based practice; research; and quality improvement. These concepts fall under the umbrella term “scholarly inquiry.” All nurses should be involved in scholarly inquiry related to their nursing practice, no matter what agency they work. The American Nursing Association (ANA) Standard of Professional Performance called Scholarly Inquiry lists competencies related to incorporating evidence-based practice and research for all nurses. See the following box for a list of these competencies.
Competencies of ANA’s Scholarly Inquiry Standard of Professional Performance
Reflective Questions
Nursing practice should be based on solid evidence that guides care and ensures quality. Evidence-based practice (EBP) is the foundation for providing effective and efficient health care that promotes improved patient outcomes. is defined by the American Nurses Association as, “A lifelong problem-solving approach that integrates the best evidence from well-designed research studies and evidence-based theories; clinical expertise and evidence from assessment of the health care consumer’s history and condition, as well as health care resources; and patient, family, group, community, and population preferences and values.” See Figure 9.7 for an illustration of evidence-based practice. Figure 9.7 Evidence-based PracticeEvidence-based practice is the foundation nurses rely on to ensure their interventions, policies, and procedures are based on data supporting positive patient outcomes. EBP relies on scholarly research that generates new nursing knowledge, as well as quality improvement processes that review patient outcomes resulting from current nursing practice, to continually improve quality care. EBP encourages health care team members to incorporate new research findings into their practice, referred to as translating evidence into practice. Nurses must recognize the partnership between EBP and research; EBP cannot exist without continual scholarly research, and research requires nurses to evaluate research findings and incorporate them into their practice.
Read examples of nursing evidence-based projects from Johns Hopkins. Newly graduated nurses may become immediately involved with evidence-based practice and quality improvement processes. The Quality and Safety Education (QSEN) project further elaborates on evidence-based practice for entry-level nurses with the definition of EBP as, “integrating best current evidence with clinical expertise and patient/family preferences and values for delivery of optimal health care.” See Table 9.4 for the knowledge, skills, and attitudes associated with the QSEN competency of evidence-based practice for entry-level nurses. Table 9.4 QSEN: Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes Associated With Evidence-Based Practice
Reflective Questions: Read through the knowledge, skills, and attitudes in Table 9.4.
Keeping Current on Evidence-Based PracticesHealth care is constantly evolving with new technologies and new evidence-based practices. Nurses must dedicate themselves to being lifelong learners. After graduating from nursing school, it is important to remain current on evidence-based practices. Many employers subscribe to electronic evidence-based clinical tools that nurses and other health care team members can access at the bedside. Nurses also independently stay up-to-date on current evidence-based practice by reading nursing journals; attending national, state, and local nursing conferences; and completing continuing education courses. See the box below for examples of ways to remain current on evidence-based practices. ResearchEarlier in this chapter we discussed the process of quality improvement and the manner in which it is used to evaluate current nursing practice by determining where gaps exist and what improvements can be made. is a different process than QI. The American Nurses Association (ANA) defines nursing research as, “Systematic inquiry designed to develop knowledge about issues of importance to the nursing professions.” The purpose of nursing research is to advance nursing practice through the discovery of new information. It is also used to provide scholarly evidence regarding improved patient outcomes resulting from evidence-based nursing interventions. Nursing research is guided by a systematic, scientific approach. Research consists of reviewing current literature for recurring themes and evidence, defining terms and current concepts, defining the population of interest for the research study, developing or identifying tools for collecting data, collecting and analyzing the data, and making recommendations for nursing practice. As you can see, the scholarly process of nursing research is more complex than the Plan, Do, Study, Act process of QI and typically requires more time and resources to complete. Nurse researchers often use the PICOT format to organize the overall goals of the research project. The PICOT mnemonic assists nurses in answering the clinical question to be studied. See Figure 9.8. for an image of PICOT. Figure 9.8 PICOTP: Population/Problem: Who are the patients that will be studied (e.g., age, race, gender, disease, or health status, etc.) and what problem is being addressed (e.g., mortality, morbidity, compliance, satisfaction, etc.)? I: Intervention: What is the specific intervention to be implemented with the research population (e.g., therapy, education, medication, etc.)? C: Comparison: What is the alternative intervention that will be used to compare to the treatment intervention (e.g., placebo, no intervention, different medication, etc.)? O: Outcome: What will be measured and how will it be measured and with what identified goal (e.g., fewer symptoms, increased satisfaction, reduced mortality, etc.)? T: Time Frame: How long will the interventions be implemented and data collected for this research? After the researcher has completed the PICOT question, these additional questions should also be considered to protect patients’ rights and reduce the potential for ethical conflicts:
After the nurse researcher confirms participants’ rights are protected and has established a PICOT question, the next step is to design the research study and review existing research. Research designs are categorized by the type of data that is collected and reviewed. See Figure 9.9 for an illustration of different types of research. The three basic types of nursing research are quantitative studies, qualitative studies, and meta-analyses.
Nurses must understand the types of research designs to accurately understand and apply the research findings. Additionally, only research from peer-reviewed scholarly journals should be used. Scholarly journals use a process called “peer review” to ensure high quality. An article that is has been reviewed independently by at least two other academic experts in the same field as the author(s) to ensure accuracy. Nurses must also be aware of the difference between primary and secondary sources of scholarly evidence. A is the original study or report of an experiment or clinical problem. The evidence is typically written and published by the individual(s) conducting the research and includes a literature review, description of the research design, statistical analysis of the data, and discussion regarding the implications of the results. A is written by an author who gathers existing data provided from research completed by another individual. A secondary source analyzes and reports on findings from other research projects and may interpret findings or draw conclusions. In nursing research secondary sources of evidence are typically published as a systematic review and meta-analysis. By understanding these basic research concepts, nurses can accurately implement current evidence-based practice based on continually evolving nursing research. A lifelong problem-solving approach that integrates the best evidence from well-designed research studies and evidence-based theories; clinical expertise and evidence from assessment of the health care consumer’s history and condition, as well as health care resources; and patient, family, group, community, and population preferences and values. The systematic inquiry designed to develop knowledge about issues of importance to the nursing profession. Provide objective data by using number values to explain outcomes. Provide subjective data, often focusing on the perception or experience of the participants. Reviews other independent research studies asking similar research questions. Scholarly journal articles that have been reviewed independently by at least two other academic experts in the same field as the author(s) to ensure accuracy and quality. An original study or report of an experiment or clinical problem. Evidence is written by an author who gathers existing data provided from research completed by another individual. |