Paper
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Traditional Research Curricula: Evidence Generators & Understanding the Research Process
Priscilla Sandford Worral, PhD, RN, University Hospital, University Hospital, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA
Research texts--and the courses they support--focus on understanding steps in quantitative and qualitative research processes. This focus is not unwarranted, however, the purpose of this understanding often escapes or confuses students. Traditional research education is intended to produce evidence generators, however, it more often produces the "deer in the headlights" look when students enter undergraduate and Masters level research courses. Certainly students need a knowledge base that enables them to critique studies for adequate rigor, to know when evidence is lacking. Over-attention to scientific rigor limits time for attention to clinical relevance, forcing students to create their own bridge from course content to professional practice. This session will present a case example of the dissonance created among staff nurses who, as students, were presented with traditional research content in the classroom and, as bedside nurses, were introduced to evidence-based practice in their clinical setting.
Back to Updating Traditional Research Curricula to Reflect EBP Principles: It’s about Language, Scope, and Purpose
Back to Evidence-Based Nursing: Strategies for Improving Practice
Sigma Theta Tau International
July 21, 2004