Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Studies of Teaching Methods in Nursing Education, 1972-2017

Value of implementation science and hybrid implementation research designs for nursing education research: A discussion paper

INTRODUCTION

Nursing education research is complex and contextualized. The evaluation and impact of educational innovations on students, educators, and educational outcomes are influenced by the complexity of environments. Most interventional research in nursing is designed and implemented without considering the behavioral and contextual issues affecting educational innovations, uptake and change processes, and outcomes. Implementation science has emerged as a valuable methodology for designing and conducting interventional research that has the potential to translate evidence and innovations quickly into practice.

PURPOSE

This paper aims to explore the value of implementation science theories, models, and frameworks and hybrid designs for interventional nursing education research and illustrate how these can be used in nursing education research.

METHODS

A brief overview of implementation science, the various types of theories, models and frameworks and Hybrid designs are provided. Illustrative examples demonstrating the incorporation of these methodologies in interventional nursing education research are provided.

RESULTS

A brief overview of implementation and its key concepts namely context, implementation strategies, fidelity, outcomes, adaptation, and sustainability is provided. Three types of hybrid designs are discussed with examples in nursing education research.

DISCUSSION

The implications of implementation science for nursing education research are: a) Accelerating uptake of innovations to improve educational outcomes, b) targeting systematic change in individual and organizational behaviour and c) ensuring the sustainability of teaching and learning innovations.

CONCLUSION

Incorporating implementation science in nursing education research can optimize the uptake of educational innovations in practice in a sustainable manner. Nurse educators should equip themselves with implementation science skills and develop competencies to enhance the delivery of effective and quality nursing education.

Conditional Process Analysis for Nursing Education Researchers

Nurse faculty need methodologically rigorous yet accessible techniques to evaluate the impact of their teaching strategies and build a strong body of evidence in nursing education science. Conditional process analysis is one such technique that allows researchers to include multiple variables in a single model to disentangle complex influences that instructional processes, student characteristics, and classroom variables have on learning outcomes. Researchers are encouraged to consider conditional process analysis to test and explain the effects of their educational strategies. Practical tools and resources are described that make conditional process analysis feasible for faculty with a basic understanding of statistical methods. [J Nurs Educ. 2020;60(5):249-251.].