NURSING RESEARCH :)

Monday, October 19, 2020 2:56 PM

What Is Nursing Research?

- research is systematic inquiry that uses disciplined methods to answer
questions and solve problems.
- The ultimate goal of formal research is to gain knowledge that would
be useful for many people
- Nursing research is systematic inquiry designed to develop trustworthy
evidence about issues of importance to nurses and their clients.
- clinical nursing research, which is research designed to guide
nursing practice.
- Clinical nursing research typically begins with questions stemming
from practice problems—problems you may have already encountered.

Importance of evidence-based practice (EBP)

- use of the best evidence in making patient care decisions. Such
evidence typically comes from research conducted by nurses and other
health careprofessionals.
- Nurse leaders recognize the need to base specific nursing decisions on
evidence indicating that the decisions are clinically appropriate and cost-
effective andresult in positive client outcomes

Roles of Nursing in Research

1. Principal investigator
- special research preparation is necessary. It might be possible for a
beginning researcher to conduct a small-scale survey study, but preparation
beyond the baccalaureate, or even the master’s level, is necessary for
independent investigator status in most nursing studies

2. Member of a research team

- may act as data collectors or administer the experimental intervention of the
study. As nurses increasingly participate in research, it is possible that
interest and enthusiasm to conduct their own investigations may grow

3. Identifier of researchable problems

- All nurses have the responsibility of trying to identify areas of needed
research. Nurses at the bedside are particularly well situated to
identify patientrelated researchable problems.

4. Evaluator of research findings

- As research consumers, nurses have the obligation to become familiar with
research findings and determine the usefulness of these findings in the
practice area

5. User of research findings

- After evaluating research findings, nurses should use relevant findings in
their practice. The primary goal of nursing research, as mentioned earlier, is
quality nursing care of clients
- research utilization focuses on the implementation of findings from specific
research studies. The goal of research utilization is to see that the findings of
research studies are actually put into action in nursing practice
- evidence-based nursing practice (EBNP) is broader and involves searching
for the best evidence to use in nursing practice, which includes searching
for the best research evidence available
6. Patient/client advocate during studies
- All nurses have the responsibility to act as advocates when their
patients/clients are involved in research. This advocacy involves making
sure that the ethical aspects of research are upheld. Nurses should help
answer questions and explain about a study to potential participants before
the study begins. They also might be available during the study to answer
questions or provide support to study participants.

7. Subject/participant in studies
- Nurses may act as subjects or participants in research

Sources of Nursing Knowledge

1. Tradition
- involves the handing down of knowledge from one generation to
another and leads to actions that occur because “we’ve always done it
that way.”
2. Authority
- Experts or authorities in a given field often provide knowledge for other
people. In the past, nurses looked to physicians for a great deal of their
practice knowledge. It has only been fairly recently that nurses have begun
to build a unique body of nursing knowledge.
3. Trial and Error
- means of discovering knowledge
- If one approach did not work, another one was used.
- When a certain approach was found to be effective, the trial-and-error
process ceased.
4. Empirical Data
- Data gathered through the senses
- systematic, orderly, and objective method of seeking information
5. Evidences

Purpose of Nursing Research

• Basic research is appropriate for discovering general principles of human
behavior and biophysiologic processes.

• Applied research is designed toexamine how these principles can be used

to solve problems in nursing practice
• Using knowledge to solve immediate problem
- Answer, solve existing problem/knowledge
• Discover the gap between nursing theory and why it is being conducted in
nursing practice

Goals of Nursing Research

A. Promote Evidenced Based Nursing Practice
- EBP as a clinical problem-solving strategy is that it de-emphasizes decisions
based on custom, authority, or ritual.
- The major reason for conducting nursing research is to foster optimum
care for clients.
- Evidence-based nursing practice (EBNP) means that nurses make clinical
decisions based on the best research evidence, their clinical expertise, and
the healthcare preferences of their patients/clients.
- Although EBNP may be based on factors other than research findings, such
as patient preferences and the expertise of clinicians, the aim of EBNP is to
provide the best possible care based on the best available research.

B. Ensure credibility on Nursing Profession

One of the criteria for a profession is the existence of a
body of knowledge that is distinct from that of other disciplines.
 C. Provide Accountability for Nursing Practice
- As nurses have become more independent in making decisions about
the care of clients, this independence
has brought about a greater need for accountability
- The privilege of being independent practitioners brings with it the duty
of being accountable to those who receive our care

D. Document the Cost-Effectiveness of Nursing Care

-The goal has been to help people achieve or maintain health,
regardless of cost

Paradigms for Nursing Research

Paradigm
- worldview, a general perspective on the world’s complexities

Positivist Paradigm
- Positivism is a reflection of a broad cultural movement (modernism)
that emphasizes the rational and scientific
- fundamental assumption of positivists is that there is a reality out there
that can be studied and known
- Determinism refers to the positivists’ belief that
phenomena are nothaphazard but rather have antecedent
causes
- Within the positivist paradigm, research activity is often
aimedat understanding the underlying causes of natural
phenomena.

Constructivist Paradigm (naturalistic paradigm)

- reality is not a fixed entity but rather a construction of the
people participating in the research; reality exists within a
context, and many constructions are possible
- Naturalists take the position of relativism: If there are multiple
interpretations of reality that exist in people’s minds, then there is
no process by which the ultimate truth or falsity of the
constructions can be determined
- The voices and interpretations of those under study are crucial to
understanding the phenomenon of interest, and subjective
interactions are the best way to access them