Paper
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Yes, Research is related to Practice: Linking Research and Clinical Courses Using an EBP Framework
Lillie M. Shortridge-Baggett, RN, EdD, FAAN, FNAP, Department of Graduate Studies, Lienhard School of Nursing, Pace University, Pleasantville, NY, USA, Susan E. Gordon, RN, EdD, Lienhard School of Nursing, Pace University, Pleasantville, NY, USA, and Rona F. Levin, PhD, RN, Lienhard School of Nursing/Education and Clinical Development, Pace University/Visiting Nurse Service of New York, Pleasantville, NY, USA.
As faculty we are becoming more knowledgeable about evidence-based practice (EBP) and how EBP can be applied in clinical courses. As the integration of EBP into graduate program was occurring, the undergraduate faculty become more and more involved in learning about EBP concepts and processes. The faculty began revising the curriculum for the baccalaureate program to include EBP as a major curricular thread. The emphasis in the clinical courses changed from students just giving a rationale for an intervention from a textbook or standard protocol to presenting higher level evidence for their nursing interventions. As changes in clinical courses were occurring, the faculty realized that the way nursing research was being taught needed to change too. Faculty who were teaching the research courses met to discuss how to link the research and the EBP processes and thus revise the undergraduate research course. The course’s major objectives were to help students to realize that a lot of clinical practice and the rationales for nursing interventions provided in textbooks were not evidence-based, and to encourage them to think about how nursing procedures/protocols are developed and their evidence-base. The faculty piloted the proposed changes and, then, finally in fall 2006 the faculty voted to change one of the courses so that in the spring 2007 the revised course will be offered. The second course will be revised and submitted for approval spring 2007. These revised courses will include a linkage with the clinical courses to assist students in appraising the research for use in their clinical practice courses. A textbook with links to EBP resources and a data source with research studies on the topics being presented in class are available for the students. Assignments in the research course will be linked to the topic selected by the student from their clinical courses.