Introduction to Nursing Research – Characteristics of Nursing Research Utilization and Evidence-Based Practice

Introduction to Nursing Research – Characteristics of Nursing Research Utilization and Evidence-Based Practice

The research problem can be developed from many sources. What is a source of nursing research? Identify a potential research study example from that source.

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation

Welcome to class

Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to

I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.

Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.

If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.

Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.

Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.

I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Hi Class,

Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Important information on Writing a Discussion Question

• Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
• There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
• Include in-text citations in your response
• Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
• Follow APA-7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor

• A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
• Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
• Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
• Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
• Follow APA 7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

• Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
• Here are some helpful links
• The is a great resource

The current health care practices require evidence in order to justify actions. Knowledge gained from undertaking nursing research is used to provide evidence besides leading to improvement in the quality of care. Nurses need to devise ways of making nursing interventions cost-effective. Evidence Based Practice (EBP), which is the deliberate use of available evidence when making decisions about the care of individual patients, has proved very useful in nursing practice. It combines information about research results, clinical expertise, patient concerns and patient preferences.1

Regulatory authorities and many health care institutions have realized EBP as the best way to the provision of quality, cost-effective, safe and compassionate health care.2

In order to meet the changing needs of both consumers and providers of health care, nurses need to shift from traditional practices to evidence-driven health care services.3 The International Council of Nurses has been in the forefront in supporting use of research findings by nurses to inform evidence-based practice.4

Studies done in United Kingdom, United States of America and other developed countries have found mixed results about nurses’ utilization of research findings in practice. However, great advances have been made in these countries. In Sweden, nurses are

required to perform care based on research findings and best experiences.5 Many health care institutions in different countries have adopted evidence-based practice and developed initiatives to advance provision of health care based on best evidence rather than on tradition.2Several studies have been done that utilized the Barriers Scale and investigating nurses’ utilization of research results in nursing practice. Some of the identified determinants include beliefs and attitudes, involvement in research activities, information seeking, professional characteristics, education and other socioeconomic factors.

Participatory management, an academic degree, education, availability of relevant research, time, positive attitudes and mentorship have also been shown to have a positive relationship with nurses’ likelihood to undertake and use research in practice.6,7,8 Literature shows gaps in knowledge, conduct of nursing research and use of research findings to improve patient care practices. Varied reasons are cited for non-utilization of research findings in practice.1

Some of the reported barriers to research utilization in the studies that have utilized the barriers scale include lack of resources, time, inadequate authority to change practice, results not being generalizable to own setting and unavailability of research findings.9-11

Despite the emphasis and benefits associated with nursing research and EBP, few nurses utilize research findings to inform nursing practice and especially in developing countries. This is especially important in specialized care units owing to the special nature of the care provided which needs to be based on evidence. Use of research in practice remains poor.12 Little is known about the basis of evidence for nursing practice.