Paper
Friday, 21 July 2006
This presentation is part of : Fostering Evidence-Based Nursing: Education Initiatives
Capacity Development for Research Through Collaboration in an Online Graduate Nursing Research Course
Zenaida S. Spangler, PhD, RN, Nursing, Excelsior College, Albany, NY, USA and Debra A. Jeffs, PhD, RN, School of Nursing, Excelsior College, Albany, NY, USA.
Learning Objective #1: Discuss capacity development for research by graduate students in order to advance evidence-based nursing.
Learning Objective #2: Describe innovative educational strategies for promoting collaboration among graduate students in applying evidence-based nursing.
Health research and innovations proliferate.  The challenge is to discern what best research evidence is and to make good use of it.  The online Master of Science in nursing program with a major in Clinical Systems Management requires a core course, Graduate Nursing Research, which emphasizes the use of evidence in decision making.  The goal is to develop nurses’ capabilities for appraising nursing research and utilizing evidence in practice. This is achieved through collaboration via a team format.  Graduate students from different parts of the United States and other countries are grouped in teams of four or five.  Under the guidance of a doctorally-prepared nursing faculty facilitator, students work in an asynchronous online discussion format.  They agree on a nursing practice issue or problem, search for research studies that address the problem, evaluate the research using traditional critiquing methods for quantitative and qualitative studies, synthesize the research, and develop an evidence-based practice proposal.  Students with different backgrounds and work experiences bring their own health priorities and perspectives to the team discussions.  Nevertheless, students negotiate to arrive at a practice problem everyone agrees is significant, relevant to all, and will advance their understanding of evidence-based nursing.  The active exchange of ideas on research methods, philosophical underpinnings, ethics, statistical analyses, qualitative analyses, and appraisal of research studies via online postings stimulate a great deal of thoughtful discussions and questions.  The culmination of the team’s work, the Team Evidence-Based Practice Proposal, reflects their comprehension and edification of the steps and processes of putting in place evidence-based nursing that considers clients’ beliefs and preferences and clinicians’ expertise and resources. A model for research and evidence-based practice competencies expected at the master’s degree level is used as a guide for course evaluation and revision.

See more of Fostering Evidence-Based Nursing: Education Initiatives
See more of The 17th International Nursing Research Congress Focusing on Evidence-Based Practice (19-22 July 2006)