Synopsis
Purpose of the Study
The study carried out by Prior, Wilkinson, and Neville (2010) was aimed at assessing the attitude of nurses to the concept of evidence-based practice (EBP), their understanding thereof, and the adequacy of their EBP skills and their application to a specific case.
Data Contribution Participants
To collect the required information, Prior et al. (2001) collected feedback from 55 nurses, who represented the target population of the study. The specified sample was retrieved from 110 survey results retrieved from different institutions. The study excluded the areas outside of West Auckland.
Data Collection Tools
The information was collected with the help of a survey.
Intervention
To address the lack of understanding of EBP, which the nurses in the target institutions displayed, Prior et al. (2010) suggested that education-based interventions should be provided to ensure that nurses should be able to carry out the necessary actions using the EBP-related tools. Prior et al. (2010) suggest that nurses should be provided with an opportunity to educate themselves about EBP theory.
Findings
The study points quite graphically to the fact that the use of ENP allows for a significant increase in the quality of the services provided. According to Prior et al. (2010), however, the process of promoting the approach in question to nurses in the target area is likely to occur at a considerably slow pace unless reinforced. Therefore, the tools for encouraging nurses to adopt the EBP-based approaches have to be developed.
Prior et al. (2010) also show that the nurses have to be taught the basics of evidence acquisition, analysis, and interpretation. Thus, the quality of the corresponding nursing services will be improved significantly as EBP will create premises for developing a patient-centered strategy in the designated environment. Therefore, Prior et al. (2010) insist that educational programs should be designed to encourage the acquisition of the required knowledge and skills among nurses.
Credibility
Peer Review
Defining the credibility of the study, one must mention that it was written by registered nurses. Therefore, it can be assumed that the study results should be deemed as credible. In addition, the journal that the research was published (Nursing Praxis in New Zealand) in belongs to the CINAHL database (CINAHL complete database coverage list, 2016), which is known for representing scholarly studies, i.e., peer-reviewed journals.
Study Design
According to the authors of the study, the research design can be defined as qualitative. Seeing that Prior et al. (2010) aimed at determining the change in the nurses’ attitude toward the concept of EBP, it can be assumed that the paper did not focus on the quantitative aspect of the issue. Therefore, the study design is compatible with the research question and objectives.
Data and the Research Question
At first glance, the data acquired in the course of the analysis may seem somewhat inconsistent with the purpose of the study and the research question. For instance, at some point, Prior et al. (2010) focus on the aspects of nursing such as the organizational framework, which one may have problems connecting to EBP. However, the authors of the article manage to tie every step that they make in acquiring the information to the research question, i.e., how to enhance the EBP-related strategies to be used in the setting of a specific nursing facility. For example, the results of the above-mentioned analysis of organizational structure point to the flaws of the environment that the staff works in and that inhibit the process of EBP promotion.
Choice of Participants
It is possible to assume that the outcomes of the research may have been impacted by the choice of the participants. Particularly, the fact that all of them operate in the setting of the same healthcare facility make the study results not universal, but specific. Consequently, the applicability of the research outcomes to other settings is doubtful.
Measurement Instruments
The instruments used to measure the results include The Barriers to Research Utilization Questionnaire (Prior et al., 2010, p. 16). The given tools are academic and allow for retrieving a rather precise outcome.
Extraneous Variables
The study does not feature any extraneous variables that may have influenced its outcomes.
Possible Influences on the Findings
As it has been stressed above, the fact that the research was restricted to a single area and did not involve much diversity may have affected the research findings, reducing their objectivity.
Consistency with Previous Findings
The outcomes of the study align with the ideas that have been communicated by a range of researchers (Bauer, 2007). To be more specific, the need to adopt the EBP-related strategies in addressing patients’ needs and providing nursing services of the finest quality has been specified by a variety of scholars (Theofanidis, 2015). The article written by Prior et al. (2010), however, sheds light on some of the issues that have not been discussed yet, such as the role of education in promoting EBP among nurses.
Findings Credibility
Since the article was written in accordance with the scientific method, its findings can be considered legitimate and credible.
Conclusion
I agree that the significance of EBP in nursing can hardly be underrated and that the New Zealand hospitals need to increase the EBP proficiency rates among their staff. Moreover, it seems that the educational approach is the optimum way to address the problem. The issue concerning the adoption of EBP has gained huge significance all over the world, which means that the implications of the research would have been the same if it was conducted elsewhere, e.g., in the USA. Once the principle of EBP is integrated into nursing, the quality of the services is going to increase significantly.
Reference List
Bauer, R. M. (2007). Evidence-based practice in psychology: Implications for research and research training. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 63(7), 685–694.
CINAHL complete database coverage list. (2016). Web.
Prior, P., Wilkinson, J., & Neville, S. (2010). Practice nurse use of evidence in clinical practice: A descriptive survey. Nursing Praxis in New Zealand, 26(2), 15–25.
Theofanidis, D. J. (2015). Evidence based practice and evidence based nursing education. Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 4(4), 278–279.