Unit 1: Nursing and the Health Care
Environment
Evidence based practice -
A problem solving approach to clinical practice that integrates the conscientious use
of best evidence, in combination with a clinician's expertise and patient preferences and
values, in making decisions about patient care.
Cultivate a spirit of inquiry -
Step zero of evidence based practice; constantly questioning current clinical
practices and believing in the value of EBP.
Ask a clinical question -
Step 1 of evidence based practice; always think about your practice when you care
for patients, and question what doesn't make sense and what needs to be clarified.
Search for evidence -
Step 2 of evidence based practice; ask for help from a medical librarian, use
respectable resources, and look at scientific literature.
Critically appraise the evidence -
Step 3 of evidence based practice; evaluate your evidence, which includes
determining the value, feasibility, and usefulness of evidence to make a practice change.
Integrate all evidence -
Step 4 of evidence based practice; apply the research in your plan of care and use
the evidence as a rationale for an intervention you plan to try.
Evaluate the outcomes -
Step 5 of evidence based practice; ask yourself how (or if) your intervention worked
and how effective the clinical decision was for your patient or practice setting.
Share the outcomes -
Step 6 of evidence based practice; tell people if your intervention worked.
PICOT question -
A detailed question format that provides more focused results.
Patient population of interest -
The P in a PICOT question; identify patients by age, gender, ethnicity, and disease
or health problem.
Intervention of interest -
The I in a PICOT question; ask yourself which intervention is worthwhile to use in
practice.
Comparison of interest -
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, The C in a PICOT question; ask yourself what the usual standard of care or current
intervention is.
Outcome -
The O in a PICOT question; ask yourself what result you wish to achieve.
Time -
The T in a PICOT question; ask yourself
how much time needed to achieve an outcome.
Peer reviewed article -
An article that is reviewed for its accuracy, validity, and rigor and approved for
publication by experts before it is published.
Clinical guidelines -
Systematically developed statements about a plan of care for a specific set of
clinical circumstances involving a specific patient population.
Nursing research -
A way to identify new knowledge, improve professional education and practice, and
use nursing and health care resources effectively.
Care delivery outcomes -
The observable or measurable effects of health care interventions; focuses on the
recipients of the service, not the providers.
Nurse sensitive indicators -
Outcomes that are sensitive to nursing practice.
Scientific method -
Codified sequence of steps used in the formulation, testing, evaluating, and
reporting of scientific ideas.
Quantitative nursing research -
The study of nursing phenomena that offers precise measurement and
quantification; the precise, systemic, objective examination of specific concepts that focuses
on numerical data, statistical analysis, and controls to eliminate bias in findings.
Randomized controlled trial -
An experimental study that tightly controls conditions to eliminate bias with the
goal of generalizing the results of the study to similar groups of subjects.
Nonexperimental descriptive studies -
Studies that describe, explain, or predict phenomena.
Case control studies -
Studies in which researches study one group of subjects with a certain condition at
the same time as another group of subjects who do not have the condition.
Surveys -
2|Page
, Studies that obtain information regarding the frequency, distribution, and
interrelation of variables among subjects in the study.
Evaluation research -
A form of quantitative research that determines how well a program, practice, or
policy is working; determines why a program or some components of a program are
successful or unsuccessful.
Qualitative nursing research -
The study of phenomena that are difficult to quantify or categorize, such as patients'
perceptions of illness or quality of life; obtains information in a nonnumeric form, and aims
to understand patients' experiences with health problems and the contexts in which the
experiences occur.
Inductive reasoning -
Reasoning that involves developing generalizations or theories from specific
observations or interviews.
Research process -
An orderly series of steps that allow a research to move from asking the research
question to finding the answer.
Informed consent -
Consent that means...
1) That the research subjects are given complete and full information about the purpose of a
study, procedures, data collection, potential harm and benefits, and alternative methods of
treatment.
2) Research subjects are capable of fully understanding the research and implications of
participation.
3) Research subjects have the power of free choice to voluntarily consent or decline
participation.
4) Research subjects understand how the researcher maintains confidentiality and anonymity.
Confidentiality -
A guarantee that any information a subject provides will not be reported in any
manner that identifies the subject and will not be accessible to people outside of the research
team.
Limitations -
Factors that affect study findings, such as a small sample of subjects, a unique
setting where the study was conducted, or the failure of the study to include representative
cultural groups or age groups.
Theory -
A way to explain an event by defining ideas or concepts, explaining the relationship
among the concepts, and predicting outcomes.
Nursing theory -
3|Page
Environment
Evidence based practice -
A problem solving approach to clinical practice that integrates the conscientious use
of best evidence, in combination with a clinician's expertise and patient preferences and
values, in making decisions about patient care.
Cultivate a spirit of inquiry -
Step zero of evidence based practice; constantly questioning current clinical
practices and believing in the value of EBP.
Ask a clinical question -
Step 1 of evidence based practice; always think about your practice when you care
for patients, and question what doesn't make sense and what needs to be clarified.
Search for evidence -
Step 2 of evidence based practice; ask for help from a medical librarian, use
respectable resources, and look at scientific literature.
Critically appraise the evidence -
Step 3 of evidence based practice; evaluate your evidence, which includes
determining the value, feasibility, and usefulness of evidence to make a practice change.
Integrate all evidence -
Step 4 of evidence based practice; apply the research in your plan of care and use
the evidence as a rationale for an intervention you plan to try.
Evaluate the outcomes -
Step 5 of evidence based practice; ask yourself how (or if) your intervention worked
and how effective the clinical decision was for your patient or practice setting.
Share the outcomes -
Step 6 of evidence based practice; tell people if your intervention worked.
PICOT question -
A detailed question format that provides more focused results.
Patient population of interest -
The P in a PICOT question; identify patients by age, gender, ethnicity, and disease
or health problem.
Intervention of interest -
The I in a PICOT question; ask yourself which intervention is worthwhile to use in
practice.
Comparison of interest -
1|Page
, The C in a PICOT question; ask yourself what the usual standard of care or current
intervention is.
Outcome -
The O in a PICOT question; ask yourself what result you wish to achieve.
Time -
The T in a PICOT question; ask yourself
how much time needed to achieve an outcome.
Peer reviewed article -
An article that is reviewed for its accuracy, validity, and rigor and approved for
publication by experts before it is published.
Clinical guidelines -
Systematically developed statements about a plan of care for a specific set of
clinical circumstances involving a specific patient population.
Nursing research -
A way to identify new knowledge, improve professional education and practice, and
use nursing and health care resources effectively.
Care delivery outcomes -
The observable or measurable effects of health care interventions; focuses on the
recipients of the service, not the providers.
Nurse sensitive indicators -
Outcomes that are sensitive to nursing practice.
Scientific method -
Codified sequence of steps used in the formulation, testing, evaluating, and
reporting of scientific ideas.
Quantitative nursing research -
The study of nursing phenomena that offers precise measurement and
quantification; the precise, systemic, objective examination of specific concepts that focuses
on numerical data, statistical analysis, and controls to eliminate bias in findings.
Randomized controlled trial -
An experimental study that tightly controls conditions to eliminate bias with the
goal of generalizing the results of the study to similar groups of subjects.
Nonexperimental descriptive studies -
Studies that describe, explain, or predict phenomena.
Case control studies -
Studies in which researches study one group of subjects with a certain condition at
the same time as another group of subjects who do not have the condition.
Surveys -
2|Page
, Studies that obtain information regarding the frequency, distribution, and
interrelation of variables among subjects in the study.
Evaluation research -
A form of quantitative research that determines how well a program, practice, or
policy is working; determines why a program or some components of a program are
successful or unsuccessful.
Qualitative nursing research -
The study of phenomena that are difficult to quantify or categorize, such as patients'
perceptions of illness or quality of life; obtains information in a nonnumeric form, and aims
to understand patients' experiences with health problems and the contexts in which the
experiences occur.
Inductive reasoning -
Reasoning that involves developing generalizations or theories from specific
observations or interviews.
Research process -
An orderly series of steps that allow a research to move from asking the research
question to finding the answer.
Informed consent -
Consent that means...
1) That the research subjects are given complete and full information about the purpose of a
study, procedures, data collection, potential harm and benefits, and alternative methods of
treatment.
2) Research subjects are capable of fully understanding the research and implications of
participation.
3) Research subjects have the power of free choice to voluntarily consent or decline
participation.
4) Research subjects understand how the researcher maintains confidentiality and anonymity.
Confidentiality -
A guarantee that any information a subject provides will not be reported in any
manner that identifies the subject and will not be accessible to people outside of the research
team.
Limitations -
Factors that affect study findings, such as a small sample of subjects, a unique
setting where the study was conducted, or the failure of the study to include representative
cultural groups or age groups.
Theory -
A way to explain an event by defining ideas or concepts, explaining the relationship
among the concepts, and predicting outcomes.
Nursing theory -
3|Page
