RESEARCH

Roberto Macairan

Use of Research in Clinical Practice

Through research, any scientific field can acquire and gain knowledge. Research has benefited and transformed the nursing discipline for better patient outcomes. The accumulated nursing knowledge base has been amassed through research, and any knowledge gap in this scientific domain has been filled and will be filled through scientific research. It is the only way to expand or add to the knowledge base accepted by the nursing profession. Through research, the practice of nursing has provided efficient, quality, and safe care for our ultimate beneficiary – our patients/clients; for this reason, it is deemed essential to learn, conduct, interpret, analyze, and critique research studies to benefit from its findings/conclusions, i.e., evidence-based practice (Titler, 2008).

Evidence-based practice is defined as using (quality) research results in nursing practice, integrating research knowledge with clinical practice – translation or application phase (Gray and Grove, 2021);  a problem-solving approach to clinical dilemmas with the ultimate goal of improving patient outcomes (Schaefer & Welton, 2018). Therefore, learning to be critical of research papers is essential to derive benefits from research studies; to find answers for clinical practice issues or questions that may come up while performing or in the performance of our chosen profession. This course has allowed me to understand nursing research better – from research question formulation to choosing the appropriate design and analysis methods to come up with valid and trustworthy conclusions, to interpreting results, and being critical of research findings for practical application to result in the best outcomes for our patients. Now I can better appreciate the routines we do in my area of outpatient clinic practice – why we call clients several days before to remind them of their appointment and encourage them to do the necessary blood work that needs to be completed prior to the visit; why we assess for falls, suicide or homicide ideation during every clinic visit; why we make sure all the visit reminders in the patient’s electronic chart, such as vaccination schedules, for example, influenza or shingles, are administered. These are just a few of our routines that the institution has adopted based on research evidence that these will result in the best outcome for our rheumatology older-age adult veteran population. Best practice guidelines from evidence-based nursing practice for the best patient outcomes (Mackey & Bassendowski, 2017). Everything we do is underpinned by quality research, whether from expert opinion, case reports, scientific principles, or randomized controlled trials with one goal in mind, i.e., improved quality and patient safety (Titler, 2008).

 

 

References

Gray, J. R., & Grove, S. K. (2021).  Burns and grove's the practice of nursing research: Appraisal, synthesis, and generation of evidence (9th ed.). Elsevier.

Mackey, A., & Bassendowski, S. (2017). The history of evidence-based practice in nursing education and practice.  Journal of Professional Nursing,  33(1), 51–55.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2016.05.009Links to an external site.

Schaefer, J. D., & Welton, J. M. (2018). Evidence based practice readiness: A concept analysis.  Journal of Nursing Management,  26(6), 621–629.  https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.12599Links to an external site.

Titler, M. G. (2008). Chapter 7. The evidence for evidence-based practice implementation. In R. Hughes (Ed.),  Patient safety and quality: An evidence-based handbook for nurses (Vol. 1,113-116). Rockville, MD: Agency For Healthcare Research And Quality.