Nursing Research

This nursing research text is based on the idea that research is essential for nurses as evidence for practice. Its contents are intended to be relevant for nursing students, and practicing nurses who must apply evidence to practice. All nurses should be able to read research, determine how to use it appropriately in their practice, and participate in the research process in some way during their careers as professionals. This text is intended to support all these efforts.

Evidence-based practice is one of the most exciting trends in nursing practice to emerge in decades. However, its integration into daily practice requires a solid understanding of the foundations of research design, validity, and application. This text is intended as a reader-friendly approach to a complex topic so that beginners can grasp the fundamentals of appraising research, experienced nurses can use research in practice, and practicing nurses can gain skills to create bedside research projects or participate effectively on research teams. Nursing Research

This text is presented in an uncluttered, straightforward manner. Although it uses many bulleted lists to make the material visually interesting, the sidebars, figures, and tables are limited to those that illustrate truly important concepts. This format allows the reader to grasp the information quickly and to navigate the text efficiently. Margin notes provide definitions of new terms when they first appear, and the Gray Matter features offer information about key concepts that are of particular importance.

This text differs in its approach from traditional texts in that it does not focus primarily on interpreting inferential research; rather, it seeks to impart a fundamental understanding of all types of research that may be used as evidence. It adds depth by considering the use of qualitative research in nursing practice—a natural fit with this holistic profession. This text also addresses contemporary concerns for today’s nurses, including ethical and legal issues. Although both ethics and legal issues are mentioned in many research texts, a full chapter is devoted to these topics in this text so that the intricacies of these issues can be thoroughly considered.

The integrated discussion of both the quantitative and the qualitative traditions is another unique facet of this text’s coverage of the research process. Most nurse researchers have learned to appreciate the need to consider all paradigms when approaching a research question; separating the two approaches when discussing the fundamental interests of researchers results in a polarized view. Intuitively, nurses know that the lines between quantitative Nursing Research

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and qualitative designs are not always so clear in practice and that they should consider multiple ways of knowing when evaluating research questions. The planning process covered here helps the novice researcher consider the requirements of both approaches in the context of sampling, measurement, validity, and other crucial issues they share. Detailed descriptions of the procedures for each type of design are given attention in separate chapters.

The chapters are organized around the types of research processes that make up the evidence base for practice. The first section of the text provides information that is applicable to all research traditions, whether descriptive, quantitative, or qualitative. Part I provides an overview of issues relevant to all researchers: understanding the way research and practice are related, the ways that knowledge is generated, and legal and ethical considerations. Part II describes the processes that go into planning research. The chapters in Part III consider the various decisions that must be made in each phase of the research process. Nursing Research

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The evidence generated by descriptive, survey, and qualitative designs is placed in the context of both the definition of evidence-based practice and application in practice guidelines. In Parts IV, V, and VI, each major classification of research is explored in depth through review of available designs, guidelines for methods and procedures, and discussion of appropriate analytic processes. Brief examples of each type of research are provided, along with notes explaining the features demonstrated in each case in point. Finally, Part VII details the models and processes used to translate research into clinical practice.

Many chapters begin with a feature called “Voices from the Field” that relates a real-life story of a nurse’s experience with the research process, illustrating the way that the material covered in that chapter might come to life. The main content for each chapter is broken into five parts:

A thorough review of the topic under consideration is presented first. This review lays out the fundamental knowledge related to the topic. Next, the nurse isa guided to consider the aspects of a study that should be appraised when reading research. All nurses—regardless of their experience—should be able to read research critically and apply it appropriately to practice, and the second section of each chapter addresses this skill. Added features include advice on where to look for the key elements of a research paper, the wording that might be used to describe them, and specific things to look for during the evaluation process. Evaluation checklists support this process. The third section of the chapter focuses on using research in practice. This section supports the nurse in determining if and how research findings might be used in his or her practice. Nursing Research

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The fourth section is intended for nurses who may be involved with teams that are charged with creating research or who may plan bedside research projects to improve practice. This section gives practical advice and direction about the design and conduct of a realistic, focused nursing research project. The final section of each chapter contains summary points and a critical appraisal exercise so that the nurse can immediately apply the chapter concepts to a real research report.

All of these features are intended to help the reader gain a comprehensive view of the research process as it is used to provide evidence for professional nursing practice. The use of this text as a supportive resource for learning and for ongoing reference in clinical practice has been integrated into the design of each element of the text. The goal is to stimulate nurses to read, use, and participate in the process of improving nursing practice through the systematic use of evidence. Accomplishing this goal improves the profession for all of us. Nursing Research

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Acknowledgments It is a bit misleading to conclude that a text is produced solely by the person whose name appears on the cover. Help and support are needed from many people on both professional and personal fronts to complete a project of this size. The help of editorial staff is always welcome; advice from Amanda Martin was invaluable in merging the interests of writing with those of producing a book that others will want to read. I appreciate Amanda Clerkin’s calm and steady approach after our sixth manuscript together, and I’ve learned a lot from reading Jill Hobbs’s edits, which I must begrudgingly admit make my writing much better.

My family—my husband, Floyd; my sisters, Anne and Ande; my niece, Stef; and mini-me, Amanda—provided me with enough encouragement to keep going, even as they reminded me there is life beyond the pages of a book.

I must thank Regis University profusely for providing me with inspirational colleagues and a place that supports my work. Pat Ladewig, as always, provided pragmatic advice and guidance from her impressive experience publishing her own texts. My contributors and reviewers each provided a unique viewpoint and helped me discover the best way to ensure that students “get it.”

Writing always makes me realize how much I miss my mom, Marty, who encouraged me to publish from the time she surreptitiously sent one of my poems to Highlights magazine when I was 9 years old. She was proud of that poem, framed the issue, and had my grandmother embroider it on a pillow. Seeing this book in print would have impressed her only slightly more, but I know she’s smiling Nursing Research