N580 EXAM STUDY GUIDE
1.nurses on the cutting edge ANSWER promote improvement in patient outcomes
accomplish this through: research, EBP, and QI
2.nurses achieve personal growth through and expand clinical decision-making skills
through... ANSWER development of clinical questions literature reviews
evaluation of evidence in literature
application of "best available evidence" in your practice
3.nurses as knowledgable consumers ANSWER nurses must be knowledgable consumers
of research who
can evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of research evidence and use existing
standards to determine the merit and readiness of research for use in clinical practice
to use research for an EBP and to practice using the highest quality processes, you do not
have to conduct research; however, you do need to understand and appraise the steps of
the research process in order to read the research literature critically and use it to inform
clinical decisions
4.research definition ANSWER a systematic investigation, including research
development, testing and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to
generalizable knowledge quantitative and qualitative research studies are guided by
research questions
nurses employ the same methods used by other disciplines yet study questions are
relevant to nursing practice
, N580 EXAM STUDY GUIDE
5.quantitative vs. qualititative research ANSWER quantitative: encompasses the study of
research questions and/or hypotheses that describe phenomena, test relationships,
assess differences, seek to explain cause-and-effect relationships between variables,
and test for intervention effectiveness--numeric data are summarized and analyzed
using statistics--techniques are systematic and methodology is controlled
qualititative: question is about understanding the meaning of a human experience such as
grief, hope, or loss--meaning of an experience is based on the view that meaning varies
and is subjective--context of experience also plays a role--generally conducted in natural
settings and uses data that are words or text rather than numeric to describe the
experiences being studied--guided by research questions and data are collected from a
small number of subjects, allowing an in-depth study of a phenomenon--subjective
approach but systematic in its method
6.QI definition ANSWER systematic use of data to monitor the outcomes of care
processes and improvement methods to design and test changes to continuously
improve the quality and safety of health care systems uses currently available
knowledge to improve health care delivery within the local setting
7.QI elements ANSWER 1. conducting an assessment
2.setting specific goals for improvement
3.identifying ideas for changing current practice
4.deciding how improvements in care are measured
5.rapidly testing practice changes
6.measuring improvements in care
7.adopting practice change as new standard of care
want to create measurable change across quality domains through application of these 7
steps, often through the plan, do, study, act model
, N580 EXAM STUDY GUIDE
8.research vs. QI ANSWER research studies generate new knowledge that is
generalizable to other populations and settings
QI projects use currently available knowledge to improve health care delivery within the
local setting
IRB should have a written policy and template for determining the difference between
humans subjects research and
QI
9.research and EBP ANSWER best research evidence, clinical expertise, and patient
values all come together in EBP (see Venn diagram)
EBP allows one to systematically use the best available evidence from research with the
integration of individual clinical expertise as well as the patient's values and preferences to
make clinical decisions
10. developing EBP expertise ANSWER conduct effective literature reviews
develop critical reading skill process
1.preliminary: skimming article abstracts, title
2.comprehensive: understanding the purpose of the study
3.analysis: examining the study components
4.synthesis: assessing the study's validity
, N580 EXAM STUDY GUIDE
11. levels of evidence ANSWER see pyramid
Level I: systematic review or meta-analysis of RCTs, evidence-based clinical practice
guidelines based on systematic reviews
Level II: well-designed RCT
Level III: controlled trial without randomization (quasi-experimental study)
Level IV: nonexperimental study (case-control, cohort studies)
Level V: systematic reviews of descriptive and qualitative studies (metasynthesis)
Level VI: qualitative studies or descriptive studies
Level VII: opinion of experts and authorities, expert committee reports or organizations,
not based on research
12 EBP steps ANSWER ask
gather evidence
assess, appraise, synthesize
literature act evaluate
13. research article format ANSWER abstract
intro or background section: literature review, theoretical framework, hypothesis and/or
research question, purpose statement
methods: research design, sampling, instruments, data collection,
data analysis plan results
discussion (ties everything together): recommendations and
implications references
14. research journal article ANSWER qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods
1.nurses on the cutting edge ANSWER promote improvement in patient outcomes
accomplish this through: research, EBP, and QI
2.nurses achieve personal growth through and expand clinical decision-making skills
through... ANSWER development of clinical questions literature reviews
evaluation of evidence in literature
application of "best available evidence" in your practice
3.nurses as knowledgable consumers ANSWER nurses must be knowledgable consumers
of research who
can evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of research evidence and use existing
standards to determine the merit and readiness of research for use in clinical practice
to use research for an EBP and to practice using the highest quality processes, you do not
have to conduct research; however, you do need to understand and appraise the steps of
the research process in order to read the research literature critically and use it to inform
clinical decisions
4.research definition ANSWER a systematic investigation, including research
development, testing and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to
generalizable knowledge quantitative and qualitative research studies are guided by
research questions
nurses employ the same methods used by other disciplines yet study questions are
relevant to nursing practice
, N580 EXAM STUDY GUIDE
5.quantitative vs. qualititative research ANSWER quantitative: encompasses the study of
research questions and/or hypotheses that describe phenomena, test relationships,
assess differences, seek to explain cause-and-effect relationships between variables,
and test for intervention effectiveness--numeric data are summarized and analyzed
using statistics--techniques are systematic and methodology is controlled
qualititative: question is about understanding the meaning of a human experience such as
grief, hope, or loss--meaning of an experience is based on the view that meaning varies
and is subjective--context of experience also plays a role--generally conducted in natural
settings and uses data that are words or text rather than numeric to describe the
experiences being studied--guided by research questions and data are collected from a
small number of subjects, allowing an in-depth study of a phenomenon--subjective
approach but systematic in its method
6.QI definition ANSWER systematic use of data to monitor the outcomes of care
processes and improvement methods to design and test changes to continuously
improve the quality and safety of health care systems uses currently available
knowledge to improve health care delivery within the local setting
7.QI elements ANSWER 1. conducting an assessment
2.setting specific goals for improvement
3.identifying ideas for changing current practice
4.deciding how improvements in care are measured
5.rapidly testing practice changes
6.measuring improvements in care
7.adopting practice change as new standard of care
want to create measurable change across quality domains through application of these 7
steps, often through the plan, do, study, act model
, N580 EXAM STUDY GUIDE
8.research vs. QI ANSWER research studies generate new knowledge that is
generalizable to other populations and settings
QI projects use currently available knowledge to improve health care delivery within the
local setting
IRB should have a written policy and template for determining the difference between
humans subjects research and
QI
9.research and EBP ANSWER best research evidence, clinical expertise, and patient
values all come together in EBP (see Venn diagram)
EBP allows one to systematically use the best available evidence from research with the
integration of individual clinical expertise as well as the patient's values and preferences to
make clinical decisions
10. developing EBP expertise ANSWER conduct effective literature reviews
develop critical reading skill process
1.preliminary: skimming article abstracts, title
2.comprehensive: understanding the purpose of the study
3.analysis: examining the study components
4.synthesis: assessing the study's validity
, N580 EXAM STUDY GUIDE
11. levels of evidence ANSWER see pyramid
Level I: systematic review or meta-analysis of RCTs, evidence-based clinical practice
guidelines based on systematic reviews
Level II: well-designed RCT
Level III: controlled trial without randomization (quasi-experimental study)
Level IV: nonexperimental study (case-control, cohort studies)
Level V: systematic reviews of descriptive and qualitative studies (metasynthesis)
Level VI: qualitative studies or descriptive studies
Level VII: opinion of experts and authorities, expert committee reports or organizations,
not based on research
12 EBP steps ANSWER ask
gather evidence
assess, appraise, synthesize
literature act evaluate
13. research article format ANSWER abstract
intro or background section: literature review, theoretical framework, hypothesis and/or
research question, purpose statement
methods: research design, sampling, instruments, data collection,
data analysis plan results
discussion (ties everything together): recommendations and
implications references
14. research journal article ANSWER qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods
