NURS 530
Nursing Research Design
First things first: Read the EBM Guidebook from the University of California, Irvine- a brief (17 page book) that helps you to understand the basics of PICO and CAMeL.
Qualitative vs. Quantitative Explained
Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research Explained: This page from Northern Arizona University is helpful for understanding the difference between qualitative and quantitative research
More on Qualitative vs. Quantitative: See page 5 of this document
What is Evidence-Based Practice (EBP)?
Let's dissect the phrase:
Evidence-Based = Substantiated data as foundation
Practice = Utilizing the knowledge in the clinical setting
Figuring out the meaning of Evidence-Based Practice is fairly simple, but in order to find substantiated data to put into clinical practice, it is essential to use the proper resources. Proper resources would include:
- Systematic Reviews: are reviews "of a clearly formulated question that uses systematic and explicit methods to identify, select and critically appraise relevant research, and to collect and analyze data from the studies that are included in the review. Statistical methods (meta-analysis) may or may not be used to analyze and summarize the results of the included studies (U S Department of Veterans Affairs Glossary of Technology Assessment Terms)"
- Meta-analyses: are "the use of statistical techniques in a systematic review to integrate the results of included studies. Sometimes used as a synonym for systematic reviews, where the review includes meta-analysis (U S Department of Veterans Affairs Glossary of Technology Assessment Terms)"
- Consensus Statements/Guidelines: Consider using the National Guidelines Clearing House made available through U. S. Government agencies.
- Articles from journals specializing in evidence-based medicine: When looking at these articles, there is a hierarchy related to the publication type:
- *Randomized Controlled Trial - Depending on the sample size and overall study design, this may provide as weighty evidence as a systematic review.
- Clinical Trial
- Review
- Case Study: Least preferred because provides evidence from only single case (but with rare conditions may be only info. available).
Evidence-Based Practice Websites/Article:
Systematic Review Made Simple for Nurses
National Guidelines Clearing House
Florida State University EBM Tutorial
University of Minnesota Guide on Evidence Based Nursing
University of North Carolina Evidence Based Medicine Tutorial
Need Help Picking a Topic... Check out these Links
- Cochrane Database:
Click on Updated Reviews (a tiny little link at the top of the screen in the blue bar, under Browse) to see recent changes in clinical evidence - PubMed:
Try searching using the phrases below [including the quotes, parentheses]:- "updates and guidelines"
- ("practice guideline" or "practice guidelines")
- You can also click on the Limits tab, make sure there is nothing in the search box, and under Type of Article select Meta-analysis or Practice Guideline.
Starting your Research
Delving directly into evidence-based literature may seem daunting if you have not gathered significant background information on your topic. To gather background information, reference books - including encyclopedias, manuals and handbooks are great starting points. A great database to search through the contents of over 40 health and medical reference books is the Electronic Medical Library Stat!Ref. There are also online encyclopedias available at FLITE's Electronic Reference Resources webpage. Please see the Finding Online Books guide if you would like more options.
After gathering background information on your topic, you will want to focus your search in databases to find relevant information on your topic. When doing research from off-campus, you will need to log-on to use databases and other online resources licensed by FSU by entering your MyFSU username and password.
Find Systematic Reviews, Articles, and Background Information Using Databases
Stat!Ref
As stated above, Stat!Ref is an excellent starting point for researching medical topics. Enter your search term into the search box and you will obtain a rank-ordered list of results taken from various medical encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, and other medical reference books. A very helpful feature of this database is the Related Concepts box to the left of the results that will provide you with synonyms for your topic. These related concepts or synonyms can be used to enhance your searches in this database, as well as the other databases. This database also can be used for finding evidence-based information by clicking on the Advanced Search and selecting ACP PIER: The Physicians' Information and Education Resource as the only source you are searching. According to the Stat!Ref search page on 9/11/2007, ACP PIER "was named as the leading evidence-based medicine point-of-care tool in a study presented at the South Central Chapter MLA meeting."
Click here for a Stat!Ref Database Guide.
Cochrane Library
The Cochrane Library is a valuable resource for evidence-based medicine, as it contains the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. The reviews in this library contain pooled data from numerous studies on a particular topic. The pooled data has been synthesized and scrutinized to arrive at a statistically valid conclusion regarding the effectiveness of a treatment/procedure. This library is growing, so be sure to check back at a later time if you are not currently finding information on your topic. You can search using keywords, such as disease names and treatments, or browse Cochrane Reviews by topic. *Please note that Cochrane Reviews can also be found in PubMed. If you find a Cochrane Review in PubMed, open the Cochrane Database and search for the review within Cochrane to get the full text.
To save your abstract and citation from this database it is easiest to click into the record, and then click on Summary and save the summary file that has both the citation and abstract.
To get your search history, underneath the top right-hand search box is a link to Search history, click on that and copy and paste your history into a Word document
**Note:
The Cochrane Library searches through 7 different databases at the same time. For systematic reviews, please make sure to click on the check box next to Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews under Restrict Search by Product
PubMed
This is the largest biomedical database, with over 20 million citations. You can use the Clinical Queries feature from the PubMed homepage to find systematic reviews. You can also use the Limits tab and under Type of Article you can select Meta-Analysis, Practice Guideline, or any publication type that says Trial or Study or Studies to get research articles. Also, under Subsets, consider selecting Nursing Journals, as nurses are most likely to publish in these. Also, consider narrowing your search by selecting the related citations link when you find an on-topic article, or selecting the Review link to see only review articles.
To get the full text of the articles, you must click into the PubMed record, then click on the Find It link.
**Note: When you have linked out to the full text, you'll need to verify that one of the authors is a nurse.
To get your Search History from PubMed, click on the Advanced Search link above the PubMed search box, and this is where your search history displays. Simply copy and paste it into a Word document.
To get citation information, click into the record for the article of interest, and use the Send To box and send the citation via e-mail. You may want to select the Abstract Text or Summary Text option to make formatting your citation easier.
Click here for a PubMed tutorial or click here for a brief tutorial on the Clinical Queries feature for finding Systematic Reviews.
CINAHL
The Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL) currently gathers information from about 3000 journals. For nursing research, scroll down the search screen, and under Journal Subset select Nursing and under Publication Type select Research. When your initial results screen pops up, consider using the left-hand limits and under Subject: Major Heading you can select which topic(s) you want to be the major subject(s). Once you click into a record, you can select E-mail or Cite and select APA style.
To get the full text of the articles, you will need to click on the Find It link. **Note: When you have linked out to the full text, you'll need to verify that one of the authors is a nurse.
To get your Search History click on the Search History link underneath the search box, and then copy and paste it into a Word document.
Trip Database
This well known database is freely available on the Internet and provides evidence-based information. Search the entire database, or proceed to the specialist site of interest.
Obtaining the Full-Text of Articles
In some databases you will see an option for a Text version of the document or a PDF version. In general, the PDF version is preferable as it is most often a scanned version of the original and will therefore contain the graphics. When e-mailing, printing, or saving a group of articles, be sure to select the full-text or PDF option if available.
Some databases contain little full-text, but allow you to link out to Ferris' holdings or the interlibrary loan request form. You will notice the Find it! links following individual citations that will indicate the availability of the article online, in the library, or the need to interlibrary loan the article. Click on the Go button and you will be taken to the online version, library holdings record, or interlibrary loan form to obtain the article you desire. See image below.
Sample Article Link-Out:
Evaluating your Articles
Before requesting articles from interlibrary loan, please review the abstract and make sure that the article is on-topic. Also, please insure that the article is in a language that you speak, as some databases, such as PubMed index many non-English articles that have abstracts written in English. After you have evaluated the topical coverage and language of the article, please do not hesitate to request it through interlibrary loan if it is not available on campus.
Other Useful Library Links
Find Articles in Databases:
Choose your topic area, and proceed from there.
Find Journals:
Look for journals by doing title, keyword, or subject searches.
Find library materials in the Online Catalog:
Look for books, videos, and other library holdings.
APA Citation Style Guide:
Learn basics about APA style, a prevalent citation format in the medical field.
Any more questions? Contact: Alison (Ali) Konieczny / Email / Phone: 231-591-3696 / Office: FLITE 315
Don't forget, you are welcome to come to the Oval Information Desk and ask for help any time. You can also call us 231-591-3602 or chat with us.
Last update: Feb. 10, 2011