Nursing care must be based on current knowledge and research that supports the delivery of the highest possible standard of care. Nurses are building their own professional knowledge base on a strong scientific foundation. Nurses have a responsibility to contribute to the advancement of professional knowledge in some way, such as through research.
Many people use the terms 'research literate' or 'research conscious' to describe what nurses should be in the twenty-first century. That is to say:
- Having the ability to think critically.
- Having analytical abilities
- Having the ability to get appropriate research and evidence.
- Understanding research processes critically
- Being able to read and evaluate research and other forms of evidence.
- Having an awareness of ethical issues related to research.
Nurses who possess these abilities and are 'research literate' must judge the appropriateness of using particular types of evidence in their daily practice. Keeping up to date with research results and evidence should be a natural activity for nurses and being 'research literate' is one of the core competencies.
The Nature of Nursing Research
Nursing research is interested in how patients and clients perceive and experience things, how nurses grow and develop during their careers, how multidisciplinary work and learning contribute to patient care, and how nursing practice results. The nursing profession is always working to expand its own research while contributing to health care research and the social sciences.
Nursing research has a multifaceted character. Furthermore, nurses work as members of interprofessional teams and in a variety of health care settings. As a result, a variety of research difficulties and questions arise regarding interprofessional collaboration. These factors influence how nursing research is characterized. Nursing research definitions represent the perspectives of individuals studying nursing.
Who Conducts Nursing Research?
Many nurses are increasingly directing and conducting their own research, as well as participating in various research teams. Health care researchers are using multidisciplinary teams that include health practitioners, statisticians, and health economists. Nurses may be part of these teams, working on a specific project.
For example: a clinical trial testing the effectiveness of a nurse-led programme, or an evaluation investigating what works in family support or child protection. Nurse researchers are likely to have a greater impact on studies than in the past when nurses served as data collectors. Nurses can plan and manage projects, as well as collect and analyze data.
An increasing number of nurses are pursuing master's degrees in both higher education institutions and clinical practice settings as they pursue doctoral degrees. This is a significant improvement from 30 years ago when doctoral and master's level nurses were uncommon. This means that nurses have undertaken significant research at a high level and as nurses improve their research capabilities, they are more likely to lead research projects and teams and secure external funding through competitive tenders to key sources such as health departments and research councils. There are more nursing chairs than ever before, and nurses hold higher positions in higher education.
What is Evidence-based Practice?
Deciding on the type of nursing care to provide patients and clients can be difficult. Evidence-based practice is the use of the best available evidence to make choices about patient care. The choice should be based on the most recent best evidence as well as the practitioner's own ability and the decision should be clearly stated.
As a result, it is legitimate to claim that evidence-based practice has three distinct fundamental components.
- Apply the most recent available evidence.
- Consider specific client/patient preferences.
- Make decisions based on their own knowledge and experience.
How Do You Implement Evidence-based Practice?
Evidence-based practice is said to consist of five specific steps.
- Identify practice problems and convert them into accurate inquiries. It may be the most successful course of action, the most appropriate test, or the best way to provide nursing care for a particular patient.
- Find the best accessible evidence relevant to a given topic, usually accomplished by a comprehensive and systematic search of the literature.
- Critically examine evidence for validity (closeness to the truth), utility (practical application) and methodological rigor.
- Identify and apply the most recent best evidence to the patient's or client's preferences and the practitioner's knowledge and experience, depending on the situation.
- Consider the impact on the patient or client, as well as the nurse's personal performance.
Current pre-qualifying nursing education helps students address all of these stages, but practitioners in particular must learn how to efficiently search for acceptable evidence and research using a variety of literature sources, as well as how to critique research.
Hierarchy of Evidence-based Research
The concept of the hierarchy of evidence originated in response to the belief that some research designs, particularly those using quantitative methods, are better capable than others to provide stronger evidence of effectiveness or what works. As a result, the most common type of hierarchy places research evidence at the top, with a systematic examination of data from several randomized controlled trials serving as the pinnacle.
- Evidence from a meta-analysis of many well-designed randomized controlled trials.
- Data from one or more well-designed randomized controlled trials.
- Evidence from non-randomized trials, single before-and-after studies, cohort, time series, matched case-controlled studies, or observational research.
- Evidence from well-designed descriptive or qualitative investigations.
- Opinions from expert committees or renowned authority based on evidence from practice.
- Expertise and experience from personal, professional, and peer sources.
This evidence hierarchy is only acceptable for research inquiries seeking an answer concerning what works.
Conclusion
Nurses need research to develop their careers, stay up-to-date and provide better patient care. Nurses with information literacy skills can use information more efficiently to reach their own opinions. Nurses must use evidence-based practice. Nurses need to understand, evaluate, and use research in their work. These skills are taught in nursing school to help nurses improve their profession.
Author
Mrs. D. Priya,
Associate Professor,
Dr. D. Y. Patil College of Nursing