Viewpoints on Undergraduate Research Among Nursing Students Conducting Q-Methodology Studies

BACKGROUND

This article describes using Q-methodology to evaluate changes in attitudes about research among baccalaureate nursing students conducting Q-methodology studies as part of an undergraduate honors research program.

METHOD

Five senior students, who had designed Q-methodology studies, sorted 36 opinion statements about undergraduate research based on two conditions of instruction: (a) according to their current attitudes, and (b) according to their beliefs before they began the honors program.

RESULTS

A two-factor final solution explained 70% of the variance. The Getting Ahead section of the study, associated with six sorting grids, also known as sorts, reflected positive beliefs about the professional benefits of engaging in undergraduate research. The Too Much Effort theme reflected beliefs held by three participants prior to engaging in the program.

CONCLUSION

After engaging in an undergraduate research honors program where participants designed a Q-methodology study, this group of students reported gaining intellectual and practical skills and no longer found research to be as intimidating. [J Nurs Educ. 2021;60(2):96-98.].

Seizing opportunity: Diverse early-entry nursing students' perceptions of seeking a PhD

BACKGROUND

The aging and retirement of the current nursing professoriate and the increasing numbers of nurses pursuing practice doctorates has precipitated decreasing numbers of nurses, specifically diverse nurses pursuing a research doctorate, thus limiting the development of nursing science.

PURPOSE

To describe factors influencing decisions about entering a PhD program from the perspectives of early-entry PhD nursing students.

METHOD

A qualitative descriptive design using semistructured interviews to explore the perceptions of making the decision to pursue a PhD in nursing of the students who participated in two early-entry mentoring programs.

FINDINGS

A model, entitled "Seizing Opportunity" was developed from the findings about the process of students deciding to pursue a PhD.

DISCUSSION

Motivators and detractors that can help nursing educators understand how to successfully recruit diverse PhD students were uncovered. Providing knowledge and mentoring for early entry students can increase the numbers of diverse students pursuing a PhD in nursing.

A guide to improve your causal inferences from observational data

True causality is impossible to capture with observational studies. Nevertheless, within the boundaries of observational studies, researchers can follow three steps to answer causal questions in the most optimal way possible. Researchers must: (a) repeatedly assess the same constructs over time in a specific sample; (b) consider the temporal sequence of effects between constructs; and (c) use an analytical strategy that distinguishes within from between-person effects. In this context, it is demonstrated how the random intercepts cross-lagged panel model can be a useful statistical technique. A real-life example of the relationship between loneliness and quality of life in adolescents with congenital heart disease is provided to show how the model can be practically implemented.

Paths taken by Brazilian Nursing for the development of terminological subsets

OBJECTIVE

to discuss the paths taken by Brazilian Nursing in the development of terminological subsets of the International Classification for Nursing Practice.

METHOD

documentary research, carried out in master's dissertations and doctoral theses, which developed terminological subsets, available at the Bank of Doctoral Theses and Master's Dissertations of the Under-graduation Personnel Improvement Coordination. The variables were analyzed were institution, year; academic level, type of health service, methodological approach, clientele, theoretical reference, validation of terms, cross mapping, modeling of new concepts, validation of statements, method used for elaboration, term collection, finalization and dissemination.

RESULTS

124 doctoral theses and master's dissertations were found, 91 were excluded and 33 were included, 23 (69.70%) of which were master's dissertations, with the highest production in 2014 (n=10; 30.30%), with emphasis on the Northeast (36.36%); the 'Primary Care' scenario, with six studies (18.18%); and the predominant clientele was cancer patients. As for the methodological characteristics, in 96% of the studies, the quantitative approach was used; in 2%, a qualitative approach; and 2% associated the quantitative and qualitative approaches. As for the type of study, 60% were methodological and 24% descriptive-exploratory, with the Horta model being the most used (36%).

CONCLUSION

the paths are successful, yet still permeated by weaknesses in the validations and potentialities to standardize the language.

Research Capacity and Research Training Needs of Clinical Nurses in Suzhou, China

BACKGROUND

Several studies examined the research capacity of nurses in the United States and other countries. However, the research capacity of clinical nurses in China has not been systematically surveyed. Thus, there is a need to investigate and report the research capacity and training needs of nurses in China.

METHOD

A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a structured questionnaire.

RESULTS

In 17 hospitals, 2,324 clinical nurses were surveyed. The results indicated that most of the nurses self-assessed that their research capacity was relatively low, as the average score was 65.47 ± 21.31 (total score = 30 to 150). Most of the nurses (n = 1,890, 83.1%) expressed the need for training in research. Linear regression analysis showed participation in nursing research practices and pursuing a higher degree could improve nurses' research capacity.

CONCLUSION

Nurses' research capacity needs further improvement. More training courses on nursing research tailored to the requirements of nurses are needed. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2019;50(9):423-432.].

Clinical nursing and midwifery research in Latin American and Caribbean countries: A scoping review

AIM

To identify and describe published, nursing-led and midwifery-led, clinical research that has been conducted in Latin America and the Caribbean.

BACKGROUND

Peer-reviewed published research may correspond to and elucidate country's realities, priorities, and needs.

DESIGN

A 6-stage scoping review methodology was used to search scientific databases using an applied search strategy.

DATA SOURCES

Five databases were searched for articles published in English, Spanish, or Portuguese conducted in a Latin American or Caribbean country between January 1, 2006 and June 14, 2016.

REVIEW METHODS

Articles were independently considered for inclusion by 2 researchers, data extracted, and study characteristics described.

RESULTS

Of 6922 articles identified, 404 were included. The majority were conducted in Brazil (90.6%) followed by Chile (2.5%). Most were nurse-led (95.8%) and were implemented in hospitals (48.6%). Studies frequently explored patient knowledge or characterized patient populations (61.3%) and commonly assessed chronic disease (19.3%) or maternity/child health outcomes (15.9%).

CONCLUSION

Findings revealed a large number of publications but an uneven geographical distribution of nurse-led clinical research and an evident gap of midwifery-related research in Latin America and the Caribbean. Results may be used to build research agendas to promote nursing and midwifery research capacity and further establish evidence-based practice.

An Integrative Review of Nurse-Authored Research to Improve Health Equity and Human Rights for Criminal-Justice-Involved People

BACKGROUND

An estimated 10 million people are incarcerated internationally, including 2.1 million people in the United States. Criminal justice involvement is a social determinant of individual and family health disparities. Health care in correctional and forensic psychiatric facilities is nurse driven. The unique contributions of nurse authors to the research literature on health equity and humane conditions for this population have not been aggregated, nor have the nursing research gaps in this area been systematically identified. This article determines the volume and country location of nurse-authored research in this area and analyzes the research by population (prisons, jails, community supervision, forensic psychiatry), clinical foci, and research methods.

METHODS

We conducted an integrative review of research literature published in English between 1990 and 2017.

RESULTS

Our search revealed 283 data-based articles written by 349 nurse authors, representing Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South Americas. Most research occurred in prisons (53.3%) and focused on mental health/substance use (32.5%), infectious disease (21.6%), or correctional health services (15.6%). Almost one third of articles across clinical foci sampled nurses, not patients.

IMPLICATIONS

Although there is clearly a cadre of nurse researchers working in this area, it remains a relatively small group focused most closely on mental health, infectious disease, and the correctional nursing experience. Gaps and opportunities for important nursing contributions remain, especially in reproductive health, meeting the needs of community-supervised people, and explicitly connecting this work with its human rights implications.

Enrollment Challenges in Critical Care Nursing Research

BACKGROUND

Enrollment challenges for critical care research are common. Contributing factors include short enrollment windows, the crisis nature of critical illness, lack of research staff, unavailable legal proxy, family dynamics, and language barriers.

OBJECTIVE

To describe enrollment statistics for an ongoing critical care nursing trial, barriers to recruitment, and strategies to enhance enrollment.

METHODS

Two years' worth of recruitment and enrollment data from an oral care intervention trial in critically ill adults receiving mechanical ventilation at 1 hospital were analyzed. Recruitment logs include number of patients screened, eligible, enrolled, and declined and patients' sex, race, and ethnicity.

RESULTS

Target enrollment (15.5 patients per month) was based on experience and historical data. Strategies implemented to promote enrollment included providing study personnel at least 18 hours per day for 7 days per week, regular rounds, communication with direct care staff, and Spanish consent processes. In 2 years, 6963 patients were screened; 1551 (22%) were eligible. Consent was sought from 366 (24% of eligible patients). Enrollment averaged 13.3 patients per month (86% of projected target). The main factor impeding enrollment was unavailability of a legal proxy to provide consent (88%). The refusal rates of white (11%), black (13%), and Hispanic (16%) patients did not differ significantly. However, those classified as Asian or as more than 1 race declined significantly more often (35%) than did white or black patients (P = .02).

CONCLUSIONS

Unavailability of a legal proxy within a short enrollment window was the major challenge to enrollment. Various factors influenced consent decisions. Clinical study design requires more conservative estimates.

Using a community of inquiry framework to teach a nursing and midwifery research subject: An evaluative study

BACKGROUND

Postgraduate nursing students' negative perceptions about a core research subject at an Australian university led to a revision and restructure of the subject using a Communities of Inquiry framework. Negative views are often expressed by nursing and midwifery students about the research process. The success of evidence-based practice is dependent on changing these views. A Community of Inquiry is an online teaching, learning, thinking, and sharing space created through the combination of three domains-teacher presence (related largely to pedagogy), social presence, and cognitive presence (critical thinking).

OBJECTIVES

Evaluate student satisfaction with a postgraduate core nursing and midwifery subject in research design, theory, and methodology, which was delivered using a Communities of Inquiry framework.

SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, AND METHODS

This evaluative study incorporated a validated Communities of Inquiry survey (n=29) and interviews (n=10) and was conducted at an Australian university. Study participants were a convenience sample drawn from 56 postgraduate students enrolled in a core research subject. Survey data were analysed descriptively and interviews were coded thematically.

RESULTS

Five main themes were identified: subject design and delivery; cultivating community through social interaction; application-knowledge, practice, research; student recommendations; and technology and technicalities. Student satisfaction was generally high, particularly in the areas of cognitive presence (critical thinking) and teacher presence (largely pedagogy related). Students' views about the creation of a "social presence" were varied but overall, the framework was effective in stimulating both inquiry and a sense of community.

CONCLUSIONS

The process of research is, in itself, the creation of a "community of inquiry." This framework showed strong potential for use in the teaching of nurse research subjects; satisfaction was high as students reported learning, not simply the theory and the methods of research, but also how to engage in "doing" research by forging professional and intellectual communities.

Health literature authored by nurses within the LAC region: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE

To analyze current trends and directions in Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) nursing research and identify areas that need development.

METHODS

A search was conducted in PubMed and LILACS for studies published in English from 1 January 2008 to 26 June 2014 that met the inclusion criteria (health research conducted in the LAC region by authors with an explicit nursing affiliation working in a LAC country). Two reviewers assessed and extracted the data.

RESULTS

More than 4 000 references met the inclusion criteria and 1 343 of those were published in English during the search time period. Although the research originated from 17 different countries, most of it was produced by Brazil. The majority of the studies were from academic institutions (67%), 23.9% involved multi-institutional collaboration, and 5.4% involved multi-country collaboration. Almost all of the studies (98%) were applied research and had a descriptive (55%) or qualitative (30%) design. The most prevalent topic was nursing care (23.4%). Health systems and services were the least studied topics. /About 25% of the studies contained some reference to United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

CONCLUSIONS

The overwhelming majority of LAC countries rely on the scientific findings of a few leading countries in the region. Future directions should include the establishment of an agenda for the region and/or by country to define research priorities within the context of nursing practices. It is imperative for nurses to influence and conduct research in areas of policy and health systems and services given their important role in promoting, restoring, and maintaining health in individuals, and in helping to ensure universal access to health and universal health coverage.

[Drifts and pernicious effects of the quantitative evaluation of research: the misuse of bibliometrics]

The quantitative evaluation of scientific research relies increasingly on bibliometric indicators of publications and citations. We present the issues raised by the simplistic use of these methods and recall the dangers of using poorly built indicators and technically defective rankings that do not measure the dimensions they are supposed to measure, for example the <<quality>> of publications, laboratories or universities. We show that francophone journals are particularly susceptible to suffer from the bad uses of too simplistic bibliometric rankings of scientific journals.

Electronic surveys: how to maximise success

AIM

To draw on the researchers' experience of developing and distributing a UK-wide electronic survey. The evolution of electronic surveys in healthcare research will be discussed, as well as simple techniques that can be used to improve response rates for this type of data collection.

BACKGROUND

There is an increasing use of electronic survey methods in healthcare research. However, in recent published research, electronic surveys have had lower response rates than traditional survey methods, such as postal and telephone surveys.

REVIEW METHODS

This is a methodology paper.

DISCUSSION

Electronic surveys have many advantages over traditional surveys, including a reduction in cost and ease of analysis. Drawbacks to this type of data collection include the potential for selection bias and poorer response rates. However, research teams can use a range of simple strategies to boost response rates. These approaches target the different stages of achieving a complete response: initial attraction through personalisation, engagement by having an easily accessible link to the survey, and transparency of survey length and completion though targeting the correct, and thereby interested, population.

CONCLUSION

The fast, efficient and often 'free' electronic survey has many advantages over the traditional postal data collection method, including ease of analysis for what can be vast amounts of data. However, to capitalise on these benefits, researchers must carefully consider techniques to maximise response rates and minimise selection bias for their target population.

IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH/PRACTICE

Researchers can use a range of strategies to improve responses from electronic surveys, including sending up to three reminders, personalising each email, adding the updated response rate to reminder emails, and stating the average time it would take to complete the survey in the title of the email.

Nursing informatics competencies: bibliometric analysis

Information and communication technology is developing rapidly and it is incorporated in many health care processes, but in spite of that fact we can still notice that nursing informatics competencies had received limited attention in basic nursing education curricula in Europe and especially in Eastern European countries. The purpose of the present paper is to present the results of a bibliometric analysis of the nursing informatics competencies scientific literature production. We applied the bibliometrics analysis to the corpus of 332 papers found in SCOPUS, related to nursing informatics competencies. The results showed that there is a positive trend in the number of published papers per year, indicating the increased research interest in nursing informatics competencies. Despite the fact that the first paper was published in Denmark, the most prolific country regarding the research in nursing informatics competencies is United States as are their institutions and authors.

Applied nursing informatics research - state-of-the-art methodologies using electronic health record data

With the pervasive implementation of electronic health records (EHR), new opportunities arise for nursing research through use of EHR data. Increasingly, comparative effectiveness research within and across health systems is conducted to identify the impact of nursing for improving health, health care, and lowering costs of care. Use of EHR data for this type of research requires use of national and internationally recognized nursing terminologies to normalize data. Research methods are evolving as large data sets become available through EHRs. Little is known about the types of research and analytic methods for applied to nursing research using EHR data normalized with nursing terminologies. The purpose of this paper is to report on a subset of a systematic review of peer reviewed studies related to applied nursing informatics research involving EHR data using standardized nursing terminologies.

International priorities for research in nursing informatics for patient care

The Nursing Informatics International Research Network (NIIRN) is a group of experts who are collaborating on the development of internationally relevant research programs for nursing informatics. In this paper we outline key findings of a survey exploring international research priorities for nursing informatics. The survey was available online during May-August 2012. Respondents were asked to rate each of 20 listed research topics in terms of respondent's views of its priority for nursing informatics research. 468 completed surveys were received representing respondents from six World Health Organization regions. The two most highly ranked areas of importance for research were development of systems to provide real time feedback to nurses and assessment of the impact of HIT on nursing care and patient outcomes. The lowest ranked research topics were theory development and integrating genomic data into clinical information systems. The identification of these priorities provides a basis for future international collaborative research in the field of nursing informatics.

[Health projects managed by Nursing Coordinators: an analysis of contents and degree of success]

AIM

To describe the evolution and results of health projects run in hospitals and managed by Nursing Coordinators.

METHODS

A convenience sample of 13 north Italian hospital, and a sample of 56 Nursing Coordinators with a permanent position from at least 1 year, was contacted. The following information was collected with a structured interview: projects run in 2009, topic, if bottom up or top down, number of staff involved and state (ended, still running, stopped).

RESULTS

In 2009 Nursing Coordinators started 114 projects (mean 1.8±1.2 each): 94 (82.5%) were improvement projects, 17 (14.9%) accreditation, and 3 (2.6%) research. The projects involved 2.732 staff members (73.7%; average commitment 84 hours); 55 (48.2%) projects were still running, 52 (45.6%) completed, for 5 (4.4%) there was no assessment and 2 (1.8%) had been stopped.

CONCLUSIONS

Nurses are regularly involved in several projects. A systematic monitoring of the results obtained and stabilization strategies are scarce. Due to the large number of resources invested, a correct management and the choice of areas relevant for patients' problems and needs are pivotal.

Plethora or paucity: a systematic search and bibliometric study of the application and design of qualitative methods in nursing research 2008-2010

Qualitative methodology has increased in application and acceptability in all research disciplines. In nursing, it is appropriate that a plethora of qualitative methods can be found as nurses pose real-world questions to clinical, cultural and ethical issues of patient care (Johnson, 2007; Long and Johnson, 2007), yet the methods nurses readily use in pursuit of answers remains under intense scrutiny. One of the problems with qualitative methodology for nursing research is its place in the hierarchy of evidence (HOE); another is its comparison to the positivist constructs of what constitutes good research and the measurement of qualitative research against this. In order to position and strengthen its evidence base, nursing may well seek to distance itself from a qualitative perspective and utilise methods at the top of the HOE; yet given the relation of qualitative methods to nursing this would constrain rather than broaden the profession in search of answers and an evidence base. The comparison between qualitative and quantitative can be both mutually exclusive and rhetorical, by shifting the comparison this study takes a more reflexive position and critically appraises qualitative methods against the standards set by qualitative researchers. By comparing the design and application of qualitative methods in nursing over a two year period, the study examined how qualitative stands up to independent rather than comparative scrutiny. For the methods, a four-step mixed methods approach newly constructed by the first author was used to define the scope of the research question and develop inclusion criteria. 2. Synthesis tables were constructed to organise data, 3. Bibliometrics configured data. 4. Studies selected for inclusion in the review were critically appraised using a critical interpretive synthesis (Dixon-Woods et al., 2006). The paper outlines the research process as well as findings. Results showed of the 240 papers analysed, 27% used ad hoc or no references to qualitative; methodological terms such as thematic analysis or constant comparative methods were used inconsistently; qualitative was a catch-all panacea rather than a methodology with well-argued terms or contextual definition.

Nursing students' experiences of being a research participant: Findings from a longitudinal study

AIM

the paper reports on a study that highlighted the benefits to nursing students of taking part in research.

BACKGROUND

there is a great deal of literature and ethical guidance to protect research participants who take part in research. However, there is limited empirical evidence regarding the beneficial outcomes of research participation.

METHODS

the findings reported in this paper were part of a qualitative, longitudinal study undertaken in the UK between 2007 and 2009. The study explored the empowerment of nursing students in clinical practice. Thirteen undergraduate nursing students were recruited to the study. Data generation was in the form of annual, individual interviews. Over the course of the study, students were asked about their experiences of participating in the research.

FINDINGS

Nursing students reported significant benefits as a result of research participation. These were threefold: strengthening self; strengthening knowledge; and strengthening clinical practice. Protection of research participants is crucial, but emphasis on protection obscures the potential benefits that result from being a research participant.

CONCLUSIONS

researchers who recruit nursing students to educational research must protect them from harm. However, in the process of weighing up risks associated with their educational research, they need to be cognizant of potential benefits that can arise for nursing students when they are asked to participate in nursing research.

[Systematic review of the uptake and design of action research in published nursing research, 2000-2005]

Action Research (AR) is promoted for health care development. A systematic review was undertaken to gain insight into the uptake and designs of practice-based AR. Empirical research papers from 2000 to 2005 were extracted from CINAHL, MEDLINE and British Nursing Index, and two specialist AR journals. The initial search identified 335 papers: 38% were AR (20% were phenomenology; 32% ethnography; 10% randomised-controlled trials). Further filtering produced 62 AR papers for detailed analysis. Eighty-seven percent of AR studies involved 'organisational/professional development', or 'educational' settings ; only 13 % were directly 'clinical'. Practitioners were the main participants in 90% of studies. Seventy-two percent of all participant groups were rated 'active' in the research process, yet 70% percent of first (lead) authors were from an academic institution. Patients/carers were generally passive in the research process and absent from authorship. Ninety per cent of studies used two or more methods, predominantly qualitative. Forty-four percent of articles identified external funding sources, relatively high for nursing research. Participatory AR has a strong identity in practice-based research, with a diversity of methods. The focus reflects that of nursing research generally. A high level of participation by practitioners is evident but with little enquiry in authorship. Service user/carer involvement should be given more prominence by researchers.

Key elements of large survey data sets

One low-cost area of research that nurses typically do not consider is to perform secondary analyses of large federal or state health care data sets. These data sets contain vast amounts of existing data that otherwise would be difficult and expensive to gather, thereby enabling research which is economically feasible and which potentially has wide implications and applications. Large survey data may be free and easy to access, but that does not mean that retrieving the raw data, examining the manuals for the survey, and conducting the secondary analysis is simple or easy. To analyze the data accurately, it is essential that nurse researchers fully understand all key elements of the data set survey chosen, as well as how to prepare and manage the data. In a time of limited funding and resources, and of numerous health concerns in all age groups across different races and ethnicities, nurse researchers need to utilize the many venues that contain rich and vast amounts of data such as large data sets.

Assessing quality of reports on randomized clinical trials in nursing journals

BACKGROUND

Several surveys have presented the quality of reports on randomized clinical trials (RCTs) published in general and specialty medical journals. The aim of these surveys was to raise scientific consciousness on methodological aspects pertaining to internal and external validity. These reviews have suggested that the methodological quality could be improved.

OBJECTIVE

We conducted a survey of reports on RCTs published in nursing journals to assess their methodological quality. The features we considered included sample size, flow of participants, assessment of baseline comparability, randomization, blinding, and statistical analysis.

METHODS

We collected data from all reports of RCTs published between January 1994 and December 1997 in Applied Nursing Research, Heart & Lung and Nursing Research. We hand-searched the journals and included all 54 articles in which authors reported that individuals have been randomly allocated to distinct groups. We collected data using a condensed form of the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement for structured reporting of RCTs (Begg et al., 1996).

RESULTS

Sample size calculations were included in only 22% of the reports. Only 48% of the reports provided information about the type of randomization, and a mere 22% described blinding strategies. Comparisons of baseline characteristics using hypothesis tests were abusively produced in more than 76% of the reports. Excessive use and unstructured reports of significance testing were common (59%), and all reports failed to provide magnitude of treatment differences with confidence intervals.

CONCLUSIONS

Better methodological quality in reports of RCTs will contribute to increase the standards of nursing research.

Coming of Age: Affiliate Member Profile and Participation in the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand

BACKGROUND

Nursing, allied health and technical personnel are increasingly being recognised as pivotal in the diagnosis and management of heart disease. This recognition is mirrored in research, scholarship and professional development activities. Documenting the evolution and progression of a group's professional development is a useful strategy in informing future strategic initiatives.

AIM

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the development and participation of the Affiliates group within the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSANZ).

METHOD

Data related to CSANZ membership, participation in the Annual Scientific Meeting as well as the number, type and ranking of abstracts were retrieved from CSANZ records for the period 1995-2003. These data were analysed using descriptive statistics.

RESULTS

Since the introduction of the Affiliate member status in 1988, membership has grown steadily, as has participation of members in the governance of the CSANZ. Mean abstract grades of Affiliate members are increasingly comparable with those of the FCSANZ, Ordinary and Associate members.

CONCLUSIONS

Affiliate members are increasing their profile in the highly competitive environment of the Annual Scientific Meeting, demonstrating the critical role of nursing, allied health and technical professions in cardiovascular health and science.

Research insights. Part III

This section of Research Insights focused on the Methods section of quasiexperimental or experimental studies. This section described the design, subjects, setting, instruments, procedures, and statistical analysis of the data. The researcher considers this section of the study carefully to ensure the internal integrity of the study, thus permitting generalization of study results for professional nursing practice.

Research priorities of NSW midwives

PURPOSE

Research is vital to achieve optimum health outcomes for pregnant women, children and families. Recently, the benefit of setting research priorities to effectively utilize limited resources has been identified. Currently there is a lack of published Australian research data relevant to the practice of midwifery. Consultation with current practitioners is important to fulfill the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) key priority for a healthy start to life, ensure limited resources are expended appropriately and promote evidence-based midwifery practice. The aim of this study was to ascertain the perceived research priorities and the research experience of midwives in NSW, Australia.

PROCEDURES

Postal questionnaire sent to the 1000 subscribers of Australian Midwifery, of whom 90% (900) are midwives, in March 2005 with key open-ended questions to ascertain midwifery research priorities and research experience of participants.

FINDINGS

Respondents were all midwives with 95% indicating they were currently practising as a midwife. They identified six priority areas: professional practice; clinical issues; education and support; breastfeeding; psychosocial factors; rural/indigenous issues.

PRINCIPLE CONCLUSIONS

Priorities for research were identified and the need for a link between research and professional midwifery practice was highlighted. Midwives were positive about the possibility of becoming more actively involved in research and/or advocates for evidence based practice. The opportunity exists to take the broad priority areas from this study and develop research questions of relevance for the midwifery profession.

State of the science: intuition in nursing, a generation of studying the phenomenon

A systematic review of nursing literature was conducted to determine the state of the science with respect to the use of intuition in nursing practice and nursing education. The Cumulative Index for Nursing and Allied Health database was used to identify the priority population. From this database, 45 research articles that were written in English, published in nursing journals, and that contained the word intuition in the title and/or abstract and in which intuition was a major term were analyzed. Findings show that, to date, most studies are descriptive, exploratory in design. Nurses affirm that intuition is salient to expertise in clinical practice and should be carefully taught to students and novice nurses.

Mapping selected general literature of international nursing

OBJECTIVES

This study, part of a wider project to map the literature of nursing, identifies core journals cited in non-US nursing journals and determines the extent of their coverage by indexing services.

METHODS

Four general English-language journals were analyzed for format types and publication dates. Core titles were identified and nine bibliographic databases were scanned for indexing coverage.

RESULTS

Findings show that 57.5% (13,391/23,271) of the cited references from the 4 core journals were to journal articles, 27.8% (6,471/23,271) to books, 9.5% (2,208/23,271) to government documents, 4.9% (1,131/23,271) to miscellaneous sources, and less than 1% (70/23,271) to Internet resources. Eleven journals produced one-third of the citations; the next third included 146 journals, followed by a dispersion of 1,622 titles. PubMed received the best database coverage scores, followed by CINAHL and Science Citation Index. None of the databases provided complete coverage of all 11 core titles.

CONCLUSION

The four source journals contain a diverse group of cited references. The currency of citations to government documents makes these journals a good source for regulatory and legislative awareness. Nurses consult nursing and biomedical journals and must search both nursing and biomedical databases to cover the literature.

Nursing theory and knowledge development: a descriptive review of doctoral dissertations, 2000-2004

Within the profession of nursing, nursing theory, conceptual models, and knowledge development continue to be points of discussion and debate. Some suggest that nursing research must either test or develop nursing theory, whereas others believe that research germane to practice can legitimately incorporate what is commonly referred to as borrowed theory. This descriptive analysis of nursing doctoral dissertations (N = 207) conducted from 2000 to 2004 focused primarily on the inclusion or exclusion of nursing theories. Almost half (45.4%) of the dissertations studied theories from fields other than nursing, 27.1% of the researchers studied nursing theories, and 27.5% of the dissertation studies engaged in theory generation. Implications for nursing knowledge development and research specific to practice are discussed.

Mapping the literature of public health and community nursing

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to identify the journals most cited in public health and community nursing and to determine which databases provide the most thorough indexing access to these journals. This study is part of the Medical Library Association Nursing and Allied Health Resource Section's project to map the nursing literature.

METHODS

Two source journals of public health nursing, Public Health Nursing and Journal of Community Health Nursing, were subjected to citation analysis based on Bradford's Law of Scattering.

RESULTS

A group of 18 titles comprised 34% (1,387) of the 4,100 citations, another third were dispersed among 104 journal titles, with the remaining third scattered across 703 journal titles. The core 18 journals included both of the source journals, 3 major public health journals, and several general medical and nursing journals.

CONCLUSIONS

PubMed provided the best overall indexing coverage for the journals, followed by Social Science Citation Index and CINAHL. In terms of source journal coverage, several databases provided complete coverage for the journal Public Health Nursing, while only EMBASE provided complete coverage for the Journal of Community Health Nursing.

Nursing research in smoking cessation: a listing of the literature, 1996-2005

A listing of publications related to nurses and tobacco is posted on the Tobacco Free Nurses Web site (www.tobaccofreenurses.org). For this conference, a chronological listing of the numbers and type of data-based articles that focused on nursing involvement in tobacco cessation published since 1996, the year of the first publication of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, Clinical Practice Guideline #18, through 2005 was developed. One hundred and seventy-five data-based papers that met the criteria, that is, the paper focused on smoking cessation and involved nurses, were identified. Most (88%) articles were exclusively focused on cessation. Research designs included experimental (38%), quasi-experimental (24%), descriptive-quantitative (25%), descriptive-qualitative (8%), meta-analyses (2%), and secondary analyses and systematic reviews (each 1%). The number of articles that focused on nursing involvement in tobacco cessation has increased eight fold in the past 10 years, from less than 5 articles published in 1996 to more than 40 published in 2005. The minority (35%) of data-based articles that focused on nurses and tobacco cessation were published in nursing journals.

Generating new knowledge from existing data: the use of large data sets for nursing research

BACKGROUND

An unprecedented amount of data from a variety of disciplines containing variables of interest to nursing are available to nurse researchers. In response, the use of large data sets is emerging as a legitimate method that can help facilitate the translation of knowledge to practice.

OBJECTIVE

To explore the spectrum of methodological issues and practical applications encountered by three nurse researchers using secondary data analysis of three existing large data sets as a means to ask new questions and generate new nursing knowledge.

METHODS

Three research studies using the analysis of three existing large data sets were described. The following are discussed: developing a theoretical framework, selecting an appropriate data set, operationalizing and measuring variables, preparing data for analysis, and identifying threats to validity and reliability.

RESULTS

Although the use of existing data may shorten the time from question to answer, the research process remains the same. The three research studies were used to illustrate conceptual congruence, threats to internal and external validity, and threats to reliability and generalizability.

DISCUSSION

Data obtained from a variety of disciplines and for a variety of reasons can and should be used to answer nursing practice and research questions. Using existing large data sets offers nurse researchers a unique opportunity to ask and answer questions that can affect how nurses care for patients in a time-effective and cost-efficient manner. Exploring the spectrum of methodological issues and practical applications involved in this work will help guide nurse researchers through the process.

[Analysis of smoking and smoking cessation related nursing research in Korea and its future direction]

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to analyze the contents and trend of smoking and smoking cessation related nursing research in Korea and to suggest the directions for future research.

METHOD

Eight nursing professional Journals published by the Korean Academic Nursing Society and by 7--adult, community, psychiatric, fundamental, obstetrics, pediatrics, administrative--nursing societies from beginning edition to October 2005 were selected. They were examined for the proportion of published research, participants, research designs, key words, measurement tools, and the intervention outcomes in the case of the experimental research.

RESULT

Of the research analyzed, 87 studies were smoking and smoking cessation related research. The Journals, which had published the most number of smoking and smoking cessation research were J of Korean Academic Society, J of Korean Adult Nursing Society, J of Korean Community Nursing Society. The most popular research design was an descriptive design. The major concepts studied were related psychosocial variables. Among 87 studies, only 11 were experimental research.

CONCLUSION

Research on smoking and smoking cessation in the nursing discipline are increasing. However more research to test the effectiveness of nursing intervention programs are needed.

Exemplars of Mixed Methods Data Combination and Analysis

BACKGROUND

Mixed methods research approaches can be applied to nursing and healthcare. Multiple perspectives and different types of data (e.g., social-behavioral data, numerical outcome measures, or clinical variables) often are needed to examine complex clinical problems and health behaviors fully. Although qualitative and quantitative methods are recognized widely as complementary for studying and explaining human phenomena, methodological techniques for combining and analyzing mixed methods data have received less attention.

OBJECTIVES

To describe techniques for mixed methods data combination and analyses using three different design approaches.

METHODS

Data combination and analysis techniques are presented using the following approaches: (a) mixed methods event analysis, (b) concurrent-mixed analysis for complementarity and completeness, and (c) concurrent nested analysis to provide a broader understanding of phenomena and enrich the description of participants.

RESULTS

Research exemplars from topical areas such as weaning from long-term mechanical ventilation, medication-taking among community-dwelling persons with dementia, health control beliefs after lung transplantation, and recovery from subarachnoid hemorrhage are presented. Simple and complex matrix construction and a variety of graphical displays are used to illustrate data combination and analysis techniques for mixed methods research.

DISCUSSION

The techniques for mixed methods data combination and analysis presented have the potential to advance the use and refinement of mixed methods research, thereby expanding the repertoire of methodologies to study complex phenomena of interest to nurses.

Methodologies used in nursing research designed to improve patient safety

Nursing research studies of patient safety for 2002-2005 were reviewed to determine methods used and methodological challenges within this field of research. Methods used in traditional clinical research and in health services research were often combined or adapted in innovative research designs to advance knowledge regarding nursing care and patient safety outcomes. This relatively new focus of complex research posed methodological challenges in areas such as measurement and the availability and analysis of data. The most frequent methods used included survey research, analysis of secondary data, and observational studies. This review points to the need to increase the incorporation of complex methodological training, including health services research, the analysis of secondary data and complex survey design in our doctoral programs, and to provide opportunities for researchers to gain further methodological training. Increased use of multi-site and multi-level studies is also needed.

Statistical methods for assessing agreement for ordinal data

Evaluation of various methods in clinical practice is often based on interpretations by two or more observers. Such data need to be analysed with correct statistics, or the results and conclusions may be misleading. In this study, the use of measures of agreement for ordinal data in five international nursing journals is reviewed and various methods for measuring agreement are presented and discussed. Analyses of agreement did not seem to be very common in nursing research, but a great variation was found regarding the choice of method for analysing agreement. Both acceptable and unacceptable methods were found in the articles reviewed. When choosing among various methods for agreement the weighted kappa-coefficient is probably the most useful for ordinal data, but several issues of concern arise and need to be taken into consideration when using these types of analyses.