Characteristics of Nursing Research Utilization and Evidence-Based Practice.

Introduction

Nursing research is a systemic inquiry that aims at describing, explaining, and predicting, a controlled or observed phenomenon to establish facts and reach new conclusions. The research uses standardized methods, designs, materials and analysis to identify the research question’s answer.Characteristics of Nursing Research Utilization and Evidence-Based Practice.ORDER  HERE A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE The utilization of research in nursing provides a database that improves the information available and the approaches to the field’s practices. Evidence-based nursing is the current practice that shapes the quality of the nursing program right from the education program to the actual practice (Ellis, 2019). This essay explores quantitative and qualitative nursing research and the practice of evidence-based practice among practicing nurses. Characteristics of Nursing Research Utilization and Evidence-Based Practice.

Quantitative and Qualitative Research

Quantitative research utilizes a rigorous and controlled process to investigate and analyze concepts or phenomena using precise measurements that are usually numerical. It is essential to find patterns, make predictions, understand relationships, and develop results that help deduce conclusions for a particular group in the study. In nursing practice, quantitative research is extensively used due to the nature of health problems in the majority of the populations (Queirós et al., 2017). Deducing prevalence and incidence and case series utilize quantitative research, making this method the most popular. Characteristics of Nursing Research Utilization and Evidence-Based Practice.

Qualitative research is focused, rigorous process that involves investigating variables of a research problem that do not have accurate measures. Usually, identify as non-numerical data. Such variables include concepts, opinions, and or experiences. This research method is explorative and may give insights into a research question and or generate more information. This process takes an advanced form of research because of its nature of the inquiry. Characteristics of Nursing Research Utilization and Evidence-Based Practice.

Significance of Quantitative and Qualitative Research

The utilization of qualitative and quantitative methods in a nursing study is defined as mix methods. Mix methods allow the researcher to collect any form of data in research and analyze, integrate results and draw inference using qualitative and quantitative methods. Therefore one of the significances of mix methods is that the researcher can collect two sets of data. According to Oliveira et al. (2018), mixed methods improve practicability, complementary, incrementality, collaboration and enhanced validity.Characteristics of Nursing Research Utilization and Evidence-Based Practice.

According to Queirós et al. (2017), mixed methods lead to an improved evaluation by ensuring that the strengths of the other balance the weaknesses of one type of approach. The qualitative and quantitative data collected can minimize errors by combining the strengths of each type of data. When nursing researchers use both methods in a study, they can verify or reject qualitative data results using quantitative methods. Rejecting or affirming results is advantageous because it minimizes errors. Characteristics of Nursing Research Utilization and Evidence-Based Practice.Using both methods leads to the enrichment of data collected since one type of data is used to identify issues not obtained by the other kind. The hypothesis generated from qualitative data can be tested through the quantitative method – this is advantageous to the researcher. Also, qualitative data is used in the same study to explain unexpected quantitative data results.Characteristics of Nursing Research Utilization and Evidence-Based Practice.

Disadvantages

Combining both methods in nursing research is very tedious during data collection. The collection of data in numbers and qualitative data at the same time or a sequence is challenging. If sequential data collection is performed, one type of data collected dictates the other kind’s collection.Characteristics of Nursing Research Utilization and Evidence-Based Practice. This is time-consuming and needs a strong data collection team. Analyzing data collected from both methods leads to loss of data flexibility and depth. The loss emerges because of combining flexible quantitative codes with fixed quantitative codes. This process is tedious and complicated in coding, analyzing, and integrating data from unstructured data to structured data. Besides that, the statistical measurement of qualitative data can be limited when it has been quantitated since it will lose its collinearity, which forces researchers to reduce sample size (Queirós et al., 2017). Researchers can lose their statistical power of supporting their research.Characteristics of Nursing Research Utilization and Evidence-Based Practice.

Adopting an Evidence-Based Practice

Nurses depend on research to practice on the evidence of what works best. Evidence-based practice (EBP) prompts the nurse to do the best thing possible with the patient, students, or clients (Ellis, 2019). As a School Nurse caring for children with special needs, EBP prescribes interventions with increased certainty of achieving desired outcomes regarding people with disability. EBP supports existing practices or sheds light on new interventions or provides interventions, which improve the health of children with special needs.Characteristics of Nursing Research Utilization and Evidence-Based Practice.

EBP provides for clinical guideline of screening, evaluating, identifying and managing children special needs. Disorders such as autistic spectrum disorders, Downs’s syndrome, are effectively managed due to nursing research, which derived evidence-based practice. Characteristics of Nursing Research Utilization and Evidence-Based Practice.Examples of studies done on children’s special needs include the use of multidisciplinary teams to assist people with disabilities. Guideline for evaluating and assessing children with autistic disorders are available for EBP. Guidelines for preparing children with special needs for inclusion in the community are available based on experts’ scientific evidence, which is validated by research. EBP provides the best curricula for the instruction of children with disabilities, which states the appropriate intervention for each stage of the child’s education (Blumenthal et al., 2019). Parental involvement, peer tutoring, cooperative learning, and the incorporation of specialists in training children with special needs are other evidence-based practices.Characteristics of Nursing Research Utilization and Evidence-Based Practice.