Introduction to Nursing Research

Younas Bhatti
Post RN BSc Nursing, Post Basic Specialty In
Psychiatry, RN, B.A

1 2/12/2019
 Objectives
By the end of this session the learners will be able to,
 Define Nursing research
 Types of nursing research
 Explain the Importance of Research to Evidence Based Nursing
Practice
 Elaborate the Roles of Nurses in Research

2 2/12/2019
 Research
 Research is systematic inquiry that uses disciplined methods to
answer questions and solve problems.
 The word research means “ to search again” or “ to examine carefully”
 The research can be defined as “to develop, refine, and expand a body
of knowledge”
In the same way, Nursing Research can be defined as,
 Nursing research is systematic inquiry designed to develop
trustworthy evidence about issues of importance to the nursing
profession, including nursing practice, education, administration, and
informatics.
 Clinical nursing research can be defined as “research designed to
guide nursing practice and to improve the health and quality of life of
nurses’ clients”
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 Evidenced Based Practices (EBP) and its
importance
 “EBP is broadly defined as the use of the best clinical evidence in
making patient care decisions, and such evidence typically comes
from research conducted by nurses and other health care
professionals”.
 Nurses are increasingly expected to understand and conduct
research, and to base their professional practice on emerging
evidence from research—that is, to adopt an evidence-based
practice (EBP).
 Evidence for EBP can come from various sources
 Rigorous studies provide especially strong evidence for informing
nurses’ decisions and actions
 Changes to nursing practice are occurring regularly because of
EBP efforts
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 Roles of Nurses in Research
 The nurses who read research reports to develop new skills and
to keep up to date on relevant findings that may affect their
practice.
 In the earlier time the nurses used to conduct the researches on
academic topics whereas now the research is increasingly being
conducted by practicing nurses who want to find what works best
for their clients.
 Participate in a journal club in a practice setting, which involves
meetings to discuss and critique research articles.
 Attend research presentations at professional conferences

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 Cont…
 Solve clinical problems and make clinical decisions based on
rigorous research
 Help to develop an idea for a clinical study
 Review a proposed research plan and offer clinical expertise to
improve the plan
 Assist researchers by recruiting potential study participants or
collecting research information (e.g., distributing questionnaires
to clients)
 Provide information and advice to clients about participation in
studies
 Discuss the implications and relevance of research findings with
clients

6 2/12/2019
 PARADIGMS FOR NURSING
RESEARCH
Paradigm:
 A paradigm is a world view, a general perspective on
the complexities of the real world.
OR
 A typical example or pattern of something; a pattern
or model.
 Assumption:
 An assumption is a principle that is believed to
be true without proof or verification.
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 Positivist Paradigm (logical positivism)
 Positivism is rooted in 19th century thought, guided by such
philosophers as Comte, Newton, and Locke.
 It is dominated nursing research for decades
 Positivism is a reflection of a broader cultural phenomenon
(modernism) that emphasizes the rational and the scientific.
 There is a fundamental assumption of the Positivist Paradigm That
there is a reality out there that can be studied and known
 It is believed that phenomena (observable facts and events)
are not haphazard or random, but rather have originator causes.
 Du to objective reality, positivists seek to be objective

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 Cont….
 Their approach involves the use of orderly, disciplined procedures
with tight controls over the research situation to test feeling
about the nature of phenomena being studied and relationships
among them.

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 Naturalistic Paradigm (constructivist
paradigm)
 This was started as a countermovement to positivism with writers such
as Weber and Kant.
 The naturalistic paradigm represents a major alternative system for
conducting disciplined research in nursing.
 The reality exists within a context, and many constructions are possible.
 The naturalistic paradigm assumes that knowledge is maximized when
the distance between the inquirer and the participants in the study is
minimized
 The voices and interpretations of those under study are crucial to
understanding the phenomenon of interest, and subjective interactions
are the primary way to access them.
 The findings from a naturalistic inquiry are the product of the
interaction between the inquirer and the participants.

10 2/12/2019
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 SOURCES OF EVIDENCE FOR
NURSING PRACTICE
Tradition and Authority:
 within the nursing profession, certain beliefs are accepted as truths—
and certain practices are accepted as effective—simply based on
custom.
 Tradition may, however, undermine effective problem solving
 A person with specialized expertise and recognition for that expertise.
 Reliance on nursing authorities (e.g., nursing faculty) is to some
degree unavoidable; however, like tradition, authorities as a source of
information have limitations.
 Due to the knowledge and skills their knowledge goes unchallenged

12 2/12/2019
 Cont…
Borrowing:
 The knowledge is borrowed from other fields of medicine i.e.
psychology, sociology, physiology and education.
 The nurses borrow knowledge from these fields and integrate this
knowledge into their holistic care provision process.
Trial and Error:
 When the other sources of knowledge are unable then this method
is used.
 As the response of the patients according to each uncertain
situation is unique therefore the nursing practices are different.
 Trial and error approach does not include the formal
documentation

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 Cont…
Personal experiences:
 Clinical experience is a familiar and functional source of
knowledge.
 This involves the personal involvement in any situation,
environment or circumstance.
 It helps the nurses to gain new skills and knowledge to provide to
provide care to the patient and families.
 This knowledge helps the nurse to cluster the knowledge which
cane be used later in clinical practices
 The amount of the personal experience of the nurses affects the
knowledge base.

14 2/12/2019
 Cont…
Intuition:
 This is the insight into an event or situations as a whole.
 This is a type of knowledge that cannot be explained on the basis of
reasoning or prior instruction.
 It is difficult to develop policies and practices for nurses on the basis of
intuition.
Role Modeling:
 The learning that is done by imitating the behavior of the expert
person.
 The novice nurses gain knowledge by imitating the expert and
competent nurses.
 Mentoring is the form of role modeling in which the novice
nurses gain knowledge, guidance, and expert nurses act as
teachers, sponsor, guide and counselor.

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 Cont…
Logical Reasoning:
 Solutions to many problems are developed by logical reasoning,
which combines experience, intellectual faculties, and formal
systems of thought.
Logical Reasoning:

Inductive reasoning: Deductive reasoning:

The process of developing generalizations
from specific observations.
Example: a nurse may observe the anxious
behavior of (specific) hospitalized children
and conclude that (in general) children’s
separation from their parents is
stressful.
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The process of developing specific
predictions from general principles.
Example: if we assume that separation
anxiety occurs in hospitalized children (in
general), then we might predict that
(specific) children in a local hospital whose
parents do not room-in will manifest
symptoms of stress
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 PURPOSES OF NURSING RESEARCH
 The general purpose of nursing research is to answer questions or solve
problems of relevance to the nursing profession.
Basic research:
 It is undertaken to extend the base of knowledge in a discipline.
 For example, a researcher may perform an in-depth study to better
understand normal grieving processes, without having explicit
applications in mind.
Applied research
 The focuses on finding solutions to existing problems.
 Basic research is appropriate for discovering general principles of
human behavior and biophysiologic processes; applied research is
designed to indicate how these principles can be used to solve problems
in nursing practice.
 For example, an applied study might assess the effectiveness of a nursing
intervention to ease grieving.

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