What is the significance of
evidence-based practice and research in nursing and health care in general?

NURS 8200 Week 1 Discussion: Introduction to Research Methods

NURS 8200 Week 1: Introduction to Research Methods
What is evidence-based practice? How does it relate to research? What is the significance of
evidence-based practice and research in nursing and health care in general? These are questions
you may have asked yourself as you prepared for this course.

Evidence-based practice is a term used to describe the integration of individual clinician
experience and knowledge with external information from reputable studies and data sets.
Research is an integral component of evidence-based practice; it can support or offer other
options for the opinions of clinicians (including doctors, nurses, specialists, and other health care
professionals) regarding patient care, and it allows clinicians to make informed decisions.
In order to utilize evidence for practice, health care professionals need to be familiar with key
research concepts and statistical principles necessary to evaluate data. The first week of this
course introduces you to the fundamental concepts of research as they relate to nursing and
evidence-based practice. You explore the two major methods of research, quantitative and
qualitative, and consider the characteristics of each method. You also consider how each method
can be applied to evidence-based nursing practice.NURS 8200 Week 1 Discussion: Quantitative
and Qualitative Research in Clinical Settings
Learning Resources
Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course
Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.
Required Media
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011). Research methods for evidence-based
practice: Introduction to research and analysis. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 10 minutes.
In this week’s video, the presenters discuss the use of research in health care and how health care
professionals can select appropriate research topics. The video also discusses how to identify
organizational sources of data for health care research.
Accessible player
Tutorials
Walden University. (n.d.). Overview of quantitative research methods. Retrieved August 1, 2011,
from http://streaming.waldenu.edu/hdp/researchtutorials/qualitative/index.html
This tutorial provides an overview of qualitative research design and methods, including the key
questions to consider when using a qualitative methodology.