Nursing Research

(Lecture)

CHARLES Z. ARIOL A JR., RN., MSN., LPT.

Instructor I
 Gaining knowledge in nursing
 Tradition:
 “It’s always been done this way”
 Information seeking:
 “Let’s see what the experts have to say”
 Experience:
 “I found that this works best…”
 Problem solving/trial & error:
 “If this doesn’t work, let’s try it this way…”
 Research…
 What Is Research?
It means: “to search again”

It involves:
 Diligent and systematic inquiry
 Planning & organization
 Persistence
 Discovery
 New knowledge about topics
 Learning about new areas of study
 Why Is Research Important?
 Develop an evidence-based practice for
nursing that promotes improved outcomes for:

 Patients and families

 Nurses

 Health care system

 Definition of Nursing Research
 A scientific process that validates and refines
existing knowledge and generates new
knowledge that directly and indirectly
influences nursing practice.

 Nursing research is essential for developing

and refining knowledge that can be used to
improve clinical practice
Ultimate goal of nursing:

 Providing evidence-based care that promotes

quality outcomes for patients, families, health
care providers, and the health care system

Ultimate goal of nursing research:

 Generation of an empirical knowledge base to

guide nursing practice
 Through nursing research, scientific
knowledge can be developed to improve
nursing care, patient outcomes, and the
health care delivery system
 Types of nursing research
 Quantitative research: uses numbers, precise
measurement
 Examples: rates of wound healing, control of BP or
blood sugar
 Qualitative research: explores feelings,
experiences, cultures, philosophies
 Examples: what does it feel like to have cancer?
How do nurses define patient satisfaction?
 Nursing research
 Both quantitative and qualitative approaches are
important for nursing research because they generate
different kinds of knowledge essential for nursing
practice…

 Quantitative:
 Which drugs are most effective in the treatment of
hypertension?

 Qualitative:
 How does it feel to live with a family member who has a
terminal illness?
 Descriptive research
 Exploring and describing phenomena in real-life
situations
 Provides accurate data about the people or
phenomena being studied
 Researchers:
 discover new meaning
 describe what exists
 determine the frequency with which something occurs
 categorize information
 Correlational research
 Purpose is to discover relationships between
variables through the use of statistics

 Main question for correlational research studies:

“What is the relationship between X and Y?”

 Note: Correlational research does not try to determine

what causes X and Y, just what type of relationship is
between the two
 Examples of correlational research
 What is the relationship between knowledge of HIV
and condom use in high school students?

 What is the relationship among ICU stress and

recovery rate for patients recovering from cardiac
surgery?

 What is the relationship between hardiness,

depression and coping in residents of nursing homes?
 Experimental research
 Used to test the effectiveness of nursing interventions

 Main goal: figure out cause and effect!

 Researcher looks to compare outcomes of patients

who receive a new nursing treatment as compared to
patients who received the traditional treatment
 Experimental research
 Patients are randomly assigned to the group that
receives the new treatment or the group that receives
the traditional treatment

 Researchers conduct careful measurements to see

which treatment is most effective

 Researchers conduct experimental research very

carefully to make sure that the results are accurate
and true
 Examples of experimental research
 What is the effect of a relaxation technique on
patients’ postoperative pain and anxiety level?

 What is the effectiveness of a breast cancer screening

program for women residing in rural areas?

 What is the effect of a pre-admission teaching

program on patients’ postoperative activity level and
length of hospital stay?
 Historical research
 Examines events of the past
 Philosophy: One can learn from the past, and the
search for wisdom in which the historian examines
what has been, what is, and what ought to be
 Examples:
 The early years of nursing in the Philippines
 Determining the worth of nurses’ work: nursing salaries
from 1900-1930
 BSN role in nursing research
 Identify research problems in own clinical practice

 Assist with data collection for established studies

 Critique research studies for use in own clinical

practice

 Use research findings in clinical practice

You may think that nursing research
is kind of a drag…
 For many years, nurses have performed lots of weird
treatments in the hopes of healing wounds. They really
did…

 Pour bleach, iodine, or milk of magnesia into wounds,

trying to kill bacteria that caused infection

 Pack wounds with sugar to provide energy to the cells in

the wound and promote healing

 Power wash wounds to remove dead tissue and promote

healing
 Ah, the power of research…
Solid nursing research showed that…
 Bleach, iodine, milk of magnesia and power

washing actually damage cells that work to heal

wounds and form scar tissue
 Sugar provides an excellent medium for bacteria

and promotes development of infection

 Nurse researchers came up with enough evidence to
convince physicians to stop using these useless
(idiotic??) treatments
 And now…
 Nurse researchers are working on studies in a wide
variety of areas, including:

 Nursing shortage and nursing education

 Roles of advanced practice nurse
 Disease management
 Health promotion
 Caregiver support
 Physician-nurse collaboration
 Evidence-based practice

 Use of research findings to:

 Promote the understanding of patients’ and
families’ experience of health and illness

 Implement effective nursing interventions to

promote optimal patient health

 Provide quality, cost-effective care within the

health care system
 Steps of nursing research
1. Identify the problem
 Goal of the study

 Guides the development of the research objectives

and questions

 Area of concern where there is a gap in the

knowledge base needed for nursing practice

 Research is needed to generate knowledge to address

the problem  ultimate goal is evidence-based
nursing care
 Steps of nursing research
2. Pick the study design

 Blueprint for the study

 Maximizes control over factors that interfere with the

study

 Is tailored to the individual study

 Precision and care within the study design increase

the odds that the study findings will be valid (an
accurate reflection of reality)
 Steps of nursing research
3. Conduct the study

 Gather subjects for the study

 Collect the data

 Accuracy & consistency are very important to ensure

that the data is correct and truthful

 Researchers must work to minimize error in the data

collection process
 Steps of nursing research
4. Analyze the data

 Statistical procedures are used to examine the

numerical data gathered in a study

 Enter data into computer and check for errors

 Perform analysis of the data using statistics designed

for the research process

 Interpret the data to develop findings and conclusions

 Steps of nursing research
5. Use the findings

 Adapt the research study findings so that they can be

used in clinical practice

 Spread the word about the study and findings through

journal articles and conferences

 Come up with recommendations for further research

 * Research is not done when a study is completed-

more research is always waiting to be done!
 Ethics and nursing research
Right to anonymity and confidentiality

 Anonymity: when subject’s identity cannot be linked, even by

the researcher, with his/her individual responses

 Confidentiality: when subjects’ identity and information is

kept anonymous from others
 Confidentiality
 Researcher’s management of private information shared by a
subject

 Researchers must not share this information without consent of

the subject

 Breach of confidentiality:
 when researcher allows unauthorized person to gain access
to confidential study information
 When subject’s identity is revealed when study is

published/reported
 Scientific misconduct

Plagiarism:
 Intentionally representing someone else’s work as
your own
 Rewording your own paper to create a new paper
based on the same data
 Sharing confidential information from others
 Research misconduct
 Fabrication: making up results

 Falsification: changing results

 Plagiarism: copying results