"Understanding Nursing Research: Building an Evidence-Based Practice," 7th Edition by Susan
K.
Grove is a comprehensive guide for nursing students and professionals to understand, evaluate, and apply research in clinical practice. This edition, updated to reflect the latest advances in nursing research, guides readers through the research process, the critical evaluation of studies, and the integration of evidence into patient care. It emphasizes the importance of evidence-based practice (EBP) and equips readers with the skills to analyze and use research findings effectively.
Book Structure and Pedagogical Approach
The book is organized to take readers from foundational concepts of research and its methodologies to advanced applications in clinical practice. With numerous examples, case studies, and critical appraisal tools, the text provides a hands-on approach, allowing students to apply their learning to
real-world scenarios. The book is divided into key sections, each addressing crucial aspects of nursing research.
Key Features
• Practical Application Tools: Each chapter includes research vignettes, critical appraisal exercises, and examples of research studies, helping students to contextualize their learning.
• Critical Appraisal Guides (CAGs): These guides appear in each chapter to help readers systematically critique research articles, enhancing their ability to evaluate the validity and applicability of studies.
• EBP and Clinical Implications: Every chapter ties back to evidence-based practice and demonstrates how research findings can directly impact nursing interventions and outcomes.
• Interactive Learning: Online resources and practice activities allow for an engaging, selfpaced learning experience.
Chapter-by-Chapter Summary
1. Introduction to Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice
• Overview of Nursing Research: Introduces the role of research in nursing, emphasizing its importance in developing a scientific foundation for patient care.
• Evidence-Based Practice (EBP): Explains EBP and its relevance to patient outcomes, detailing how research forms the backbone of evidencebased decisions.
• The Research Process: Outlines the main steps in conducting research, from formulating a question to disseminating findings.
2. Research Problems, Purposes, and Hypotheses
• Identifying Research Problems: Discusses how researchers identify gaps in current knowledge to formulate a research problem.
• Purpose and Significance: Covers how to create a clear research purpose and its importance in guiding the study’s objectives.
• Formulating Hypotheses: Describes the different types of hypotheses (null, alternative) and their role in research design and data analysis.
3. Understanding Evidence-Based Practice
• EBP Models: Introduces various models of EBP and explains how they guide the integration of research into practice.
• Levels of Evidence: Describes levels of evidence and provides a hierarchy to help nurses discern the strength and reliability of studies.
• Implementation Challenges: Addresses common barriers to implementing EBP in clinical settings and strategies to overcome these challenges.
4. Review of the Literature
• Purpose of Literature Reviews: Explains the role of literature reviews in identifying gaps in research, synthesizing current knowledge, and framing new research questions.
• Conducting a Literature Review: Outlines strategies for searching databases, selecting relevant articles, and summarizing key findings.
• Evaluating Sources: Provides guidance on assessing the quality of research articles, focusing on aspects like sample size, methodology, and reliability.
5. Theory and Research Frameworks
• Theoretical Foundations: Covers how theories provide a basis for research, guiding hypothesis formation and study design.
• Conceptual Frameworks: Distinguishes between theoretical and conceptual frameworks, explaining how they support the study’s research questions.
• Applying Frameworks in Nursing Research: Includes examples of how theories like the Health Belief Model and Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Theory have been used in nursing research.
Ethics
• Historical Context: Reviews key events that shaped ethical standards in research, such as the Belmont Report and the Nuremberg Code.
• Informed Consent and Confidentiality: Details ethical obligations regarding informed consent, confidentiality, and patient rights.
• Institutional Review Boards (IRBs): Describes the role of IRBs in overseeing research studies to ensure ethical standards are upheld.
7. Quantitative Research Design
• Experimental Designs: Covers various types of experimental designs, including randomized control trials (RCTs), emphasizing their role in establishing cause-and-effect relationships.
• Non-Experimental Designs: Discusses observational studies, surveys, and cohort studies, explaining when and why each design is appropriate.
• Variables and Measurement: Introduces independent and dependent variables,
operationalization, and measurement techniques for data collection.
8. Sampling
• Population vs. Sample: Clarifies the difference between a population and a sample and the significance of representative sampling.
• Probability and Non-Probability Sampling: Describes different sampling methods, such as random, stratified, and convenience sampling.
• Sample Size Determination: Highlights the importance of sample size for statistical power and generalizability of findings.
9. Data Collection Methods
• Quantitative Data Collection: Discusses various quantitative data collection methods, such as surveys, structured interviews, and observation.
• Qualitative Data Collection: Covers methods unique to qualitative research, including unstructured interviews and focus groups.
• Reliability and Validity: Explains the concepts of reliability and validity, particularly how they impact the trustworthiness of data.
10. Qualitative Research Design and Approaches
• Overview of Qualitative Methods: Introduces key approaches like phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, and case studies.
• Data Collection and Analysis in Qualitative Research: Discusses methods for collecting and analyzing qualitative data, emphasizing coding and thematic analysis.
• Trustworthiness and Rigor: Explains strategies for ensuring rigor in qualitative research, including credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability.
11. Data Analysis: Descriptive Statistics
• Descriptive Statistics: Explains measures like mean, median, mode, variance, and standard deviation, which summarize data.
• Data Visualization: Discusses the use of graphs, charts, and tables for presenting data in an accessible format.
• Interpretation of Descriptive Results: Helps students interpret results and understand their relevance to clinical questions.
12. Data Analysis: Inferential Statistics
• Inferential Statistics Overview: Introduces the basics of inferential statistics, including hypothesis testing and confidence intervals.
• Common Statistical Tests: Describes tests such as t-tests, ANOVA, chi-square, and regression analysis.
• Interpreting Inferential Results: Provides guidance on making inferences from data and understanding statistical significance.
13. Critiquing Research Articles
• Critique Process: Breaks down how to critique research articles by evaluating their purpose, design, methodology, results, and implications.
• Using Critical Appraisal Guides (CAGs): Encourages students to use structured appraisal tools to objectively assess study quality.
• Translating Findings to Practice: Shows how to apply research findings critically to clinical practice, ensuring that evidence supports patient care decisions.
14. Developing an Evidence-Based Practice
• Integrating Research into Clinical Practice: Explains how to incorporate research findings into clinical guidelines and protocols.
• Change Management in EBP: Discusses strategies for implementing change in healthcare settings based on new evidence.
• Continuous Evaluation of EBP Outcomes: Emphasizes the importance of evaluating the outcomes of evidence-based interventions and modifying practices accordingly.
• Proposal Structure: Outlines the components of a research proposal, including introduction, literature review, methods, and implications.
• Developing a Research Question: Emphasizes the importance of a clear, focused question in guiding the proposal’s direction.
• Ethical and Practical Considerations: Highlights ethical issues and feasibility considerations in proposal development.
The 7th Edition of "Understanding Nursing Research" by Susan K. Grove is an essential resource for nursing students and practitioners who seek to improve patient care through evidence-based practice. By emphasizing critical appraisal, ethical considerations, and practical applications, the book prepares readers to engage with research at a high level, ensuring that their clinical practice is informed by reliable, high-quality evidence. Through real-world examples, critical appraisal exercises, and structured
learning aids, this text cultivates a comprehensive understanding of nursing research, equipping readers with the skills necessary to impact healthcare outcomes positively. Find the Full Original Textbook (PDF) in the link below: CLICK HERE