Paper
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Evidence is Fundamental
Dorothy Jackson, MSN1, Carol Boswell, EdD, RN1, and Sharon Cannon, RN, EdD2. (1) School of Nursing, Texas Tech University HSC, Odessa, TX, USA, (2) School of Nursing, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Odessa, TX, USA
Where is the evidence of the evidence? Healthcare sciences are experiencing an information explosion that may serve to update and outdate knowledge the moment it is read. To help safeguard against hasty acceptance and attraction to the new “for newness sake” a critical evaluation is required of the sources and methods of research. Examination of evidence-based techniques to evaluate the healthcare literature and databases that store and maintain scientific information is necessary. This presentation will provide guidelines to identify and examine healthcare databases common to nursing. Their unique language and vocabularies, for storing the evidence of research, will be analyzed. Criteria for determining that the information is evidence-based will also be discussed. Hands on practice tips will be provided to help demonstrate the basic principles involved in developing search strategies to electronically retrieve citations in the nursing and biomedical literature. Specific examples of evidence-based collaboration and research will address communication, teamwork, and the essentials of magnetism. Within each of the examples, the utilization of databases, evidenced-based practice principles, and nurses at multi-levels within an agency will be presented. This session will demonstrate how all of the different aspects discussed within the symposium work in a synergistic manner to advance the profession of nursing.