Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE NUR1218

 
TITLE Evidence in Nursing Practice

 
UM LEVEL 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course

 
MQF LEVEL 5

 
ECTS CREDITS 2

 
DEPARTMENT Nursing

 
DESCRIPTION The overall purpose of this study-unit is to further consolidate the students’ understanding and application of the concept of evidence-based practice in nursing following their clinical placements in hospitals, institutions and the community. Various research designs and methods used in the health care sciences are outlined and discussed, and skills for critical appraisal of research-based articles are introduced, giving importance to rigor in health care research.

Barriers to the application of research findings to clinical practice and strategies to facilitate such an application will also be identified and discussed. It also introduces students to various national and international independent organizations responsible for providing guidance on the promotion of high quality nursing care and the prevention and treatment of ill health, and other similar resources. These include the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) (UK), the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHCRQ) (US), the Nursing & Midwifery Council Guidelines (UK), and World Health Organisation Protocols.

Study-Unit Aims:

The aims of this study-unit are to:
- Further consolidate nursing students’ learning and understanding of the conceptual framework related to evidence based practice in the health care sciences;
- Equip nursing students with the practical skills necessary to formulate a research question;
- Endow nursing students with practical skills related to the conduct of a search for literature relevant to a specific nursing skill / procedure using the PICO framework, including searching, locating and accessing scientific articles;
- Introduce students to a range of methods, systems and procedures by which knowledge and information is organized for storage and retrieval;
- Equip students with a range of techniques and practical methods that can be used to analyze, appraise and synthesize scientific literature in an integrated and thematic approach; synthesise the evidence; answer a research / clinical question; identify implications pertinent to the local setting; plan the dissemination of findings; and critically review the process; and
- Further consolidate nursing students' academic reporting and writing skills.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:
- Outline and analyse the conceptual framework related to evidence based practice in the health care sciences;
- Identify a key framework took to formulate a research question;
- Identify a range of methods, systems and procedures by which knowledge and information is organized for storage and retrieval;
- Identify all stages of the EBP process, including searching, locating and accessing scientific articles; analyzing, appraising and synthesizing scientific evidence; answering the clinical research question; identifying implications pertinent to the local setting; plan the dissemination of findings; and critically reviewing the process;
- Discuss the barriers to the implementation of research findings into clinical practice; and
- Identify appropriate academic writing and reporting methods and procedures.

2. Skills:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:
- Formulate clinical questions related to various aspects of nursing care using the PICO framework;
- Prepare a search strategy for scientific-literature related to evidence in nursing practice;
- Use information technologies to locate and access key scientific journals and articles/reports;
- Utilise a range of information technology resources, methods and procedures by which scientific evidence can be stored, saved and retrieved;
- Identify the stages of the research process in a research based article;
- Acknowledge the relevance of research findings to a clinical situation;
- Locate and access national and international evidence-based practice guidelines, policies, and resources;
- Apply a range of techniques and practical methods to critically appraise and synthesize scientific evidence;
- Formulate strategies for applying such research findings into clinical practice;
- Apply evidence from research findings into clinical practice;
- Identify ways of facilitating the application of research findings into practice; and
- Prepare and submit academic essays/articles applying appropriate academic writing and reporting skills.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings:

Main Texts:

- Understanding nursing research: building an evidence-based practice. Nancy Burns and Susan K Grove (2007).

Supplementary Readings:

- Nursing Research: methods and critical appraisal for evidence-based practice. Geri LoBiondo and Judith Haber (2006).
- Understanding nursing research : reading and using research in evidence-based practice Carol Leslie Macnee, Susan McCabe (2008).
- Evidence-based practice in nursing and healthcare: a guide to best practice. Bernardette Mazurek Melnyk, Ellen Finout-Overhold (2004).
- Evidence-based practice: a primer for health care professionals. Martin Dawes (2005).
- The Evidence-based practice manual for nurses. Jean V. Craig, Rosalind L. Smyth (2002).
- Evidence-based practice: a critical appraisal. L Trinder, S Reynolds (2000).
- Evidence-based nursing: an introduction. Cullum, Ciliska, Haynes, Marks (2007).
- Vital notes for nurses: research for evidence-based practice. Newell and Burnard (2006).
- Evidence based clinical practice in nursing and health care: assimilating research, experience and expertise. Alan Pearson, John Field and Zoe Jordan (2006).
- The research process in nursing (4th ed.). London: Blackwell Science. Cormack, D.S.F. (2000).
- Essentials of nursing research: Methods, appraisal and utilisatisation (6th ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins. Polit, D.F. & Beck, C.T. (2006).
- How to read a paper: The basics of evidence based medicine. London: BMJ Publishing Group. Greenhalgh, T. (1997).
- Evidence-based medicine: How to practice and teach EBM (3rd ed.). Edinburgh: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone. Straus, S.E., Richardson, W.S., Glasziou, P., & Haynes, R.B. (2005).
- Evidence-based practice: A critical appraisal. Oxford: Blackwell Science. Trinder, L. & Reynolds,S.(2000).
- Evidence-based nursing: clarifying the concepts for nurses in practice. Journal of clinical nursing. November 2008.
- Evidence-based practice: unravelling the rhetoric and making it real. Practice Development in Health Care. Conceptions of evidence, evidence-based medicine, evidence-based practice and their use in nursing.
- Journal of Clinical Nursing Vol 14 Issue 4 April 2005.
- Learning from experience: promoting evidence-based practice. Practice development in Health Care. Vol 2 Issue 2 June 2003.
- Nurses' perceptions of evidence-based nursing practice. Journal of Advanced nursing Vol 62 Issue 2 April 2008.
- What is the evidence on evidence-based nursing? An epistemological concern. Journal of Advanced Nursing Volume 37, Issue 3, February 2002, Pages: 250-257.

 
ADDITIONAL NOTES Pre-Requisite Study-Unit: NUR1009, except for students following the Certificate for Graduates of Non-EU/EEA Nursing Programmes

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Indep Online Learn, Indep Stud, Lecture & Tutorial

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Assessment Due Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Assignment SEM1 Yes 100%

 
LECTURER/S

 

 
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It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

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