Evidence-based practice (EBP) is currently one of the most preferred and popular methods in healthcare systems. In EBP, scientific research is conducted and translated into clinical practice. Implementation of EBP has improved the healthcare sector by assisting healthcare workers in making care decisions based on scientifically-proven evidence instead of relying on personal knowledge or guesswork. It, therefore, means that research articles should be available and understandable to healthcare workers. One of the barriers to the implementation of EBP is the inability to access current research articles on a clinical issue. Through journal clubs, staff members are able to access the most recent knowledge through research articles and discuss the relevance and applicability of the article to the clinical environments. The purpose of this assignment is to evaluate a qualitative research article on the use of journal clubs to promote evidence-based practice.
The Credibility of the Research Article
A credible research article meets some specific credibility test criteria. This article is considered to be credible because it meets most of the set standards. For example, it has three authors, and all of them have relevant experience and knowledge in the field of research and healthcare. The authors can, therefore, be trusted to conduct credible research. Secondly, the article has no evidence of a possible conflict of interest between the authors and the research process (Houser, 2018). Thirdly, it is a peer-reviewed article with a sequential page numbering, issue number and volume, and publishing and review date (Stevens, 2013). Finally, the article was published in a reasonable time, making the information and evidence most current.
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Problem Statement and Research Design
Research Design
Design refers to the approach used in the study process to collect, analyze, and present data. This study used a qualitative descriptive approach to understand the perspective of the participating allied healthcare practitioners’ on the use of journal clubs to promote evidence-based practice. This design was appropriate because it answers the main research question of understanding the participants’ perspectives on the subject matter (Lizarondo, Grimmer-Somers, & Kumar, 2011). The researchers had skills and abilities to collect data through the focus group interviews and make an appropriate analysis. Also, the design used would make it easy to access and get information from the participants in a convenient way. The article provides a rationale for using the qualitative research method for this study. According to the details provided in the article, it is possible to replicate the study.
Problem Statement
The problem statement identifies and describes the issue that the research aims to solve. It is usually stated or inferred in the first sections of the research article. This study identifies compliance with JC attendance, the impact of barriers, sustained enthusiasm, and on-going participation as the main sources of the problem to be answered in the study (Lizarondo et al., 2011). In this article, it is stated right after the background and literature review. The statement enables the study to expand nursing knowledge. It also improves patient care processes by promoting reliance on evidence-based practice.
Ethical Issues
Any research that uses human participants must follow some specific ethical standards defined by various ethical organizations. Some of them include informed consent, protecting confidentiality and privacy, and preventing any form of harm to the participants. This study had human participants and approvals by the University of South Australia Human Research Committee, and the Human Research Ethics Committee are indicated (Lizarondo et al., 2011). Besides, the researchers did not disclose any participant identity or specific data obtained from an individual. No vulnerable populations were identified among the participants. The researchers did not use coercion to make the participants agree with some positions (Houser, 2018). Also, the benefits of this study outweighed potential risks to the participants used. Finally, the participants were recruited in two categories and equitably assigned focus groups.
Purpose Statement
The purpose of the study was to explore views of the applied healthcare practitioners on the use of JCs and to identify how to improve the iCAHE model of JC (Lizarondo et al., 2011). This statement has been developed from the problem statement and stated in the form of primary and secondary aims. It is provided early in the article before the methodology section. The statement also defines the population, which is the applied healthcare practitioners, variables which include the participants’ perspectives and the design used (Houser, 2018). Apart from that, the ethical issues have been considered by seeking the necessary approval. Finally, the purpose statement can be aligned with the study design.
Literature Review
The evidence-based practice (EBP) has significant influence in science, education, and nursing practice. There is a huge need for designing and establishment of health care practices that are safe, efficient as well as effective. In particular, this study makes use of reviewed articles from other authors on the same or related topics. Most of these articles are primary studies. In addition, a considerable number of these studies were conducted within the last five years before this research with others dating back to more than five years. The researchers indicated how the literature reviewed is related to this study and how the evaluation shows the need for this research. The researchers further conducted an unbiased review, and the findings were conclusive. Throughout the review, it is difficult to detect the author’s opinion meaning that it was a well-executed analysis (Houser, 2018). It ends with a summary of the topic before proceeding to formulate the study’s aims.
Sampling Strategy
In this study, a total of 39 participants were used. Out of the 39, 16 had been exposed to the new iCAHE JCs while 23 had not been exposed. The recruitment and sampling process ensured that the right individuals were assigned to the right groups (Lizarondo et al., 2011). The sampling also considered different occupations, experience, educational background, and exposure to research training. They were then placed into focus groups consisting of six to twelve participants. From the sampling strategy employed, it was easy to identify the target population, which was the AHPs, inclusion criteria, and sampling procedures. The sample size of 39 participants was sufficient for the study but could be affected by nonresponse or systematic attrition. The results were statistically significant.
Evaluation of Trustworthiness
The study results meet the trustworthiness evaluation criteria because all the changes indicated were as a result of the interventions applied. The author proceeds to give specific findings on various topics from both exposed and unexposed groups. From the analysis, it is evident that the outcome was preceded by the intervention. There could be a potential source of bias to the study due to various aspects (Houser, 2018). For example, the study was conducted in one location, with the two groups of participants being recruited from two cities in a single country. The researcher could have been blinded by the group assignment of the participants. Both the exposed and unexposed participants were randomly assigned to the focus groups, and a bracketing process is well described.
To the threats to external validity, the researchers adequately described the study settings and cities from which the participants were recruited. Sample recruitment also involved maximum representation by considering years of experience, professions, and educational backgrounds. Being a qualitative study, there was prolonged contact with the participants, triangulation, and audit trail (Houser, 2018). The results were determined by the intervention and not historical events or maturation.
Using the Results to Inform EBP
From the study results and conclusions, the use of journal clubs helps to promote evidence-based practice. The JCs provide healthcare providers with the opportunity to get the latest practice trends and patterns from the research articles and to understand the evidence from articles better. It is, therefore, an effective method of promoting translation evidence into clinical decision-making (Houser, 2018). However, there are some barriers encountered when using various forms of JCs. From this study, it will be possible to overcome these barriers by analyzing and implementing the study recommendations.
Conclusion
The study on EBP effectiveness in the nursing field indicates that it is acceptable and likely to become widely embraced by many clinicians or health care providers. Therefore, the implementation of evidence-based practice in healthcare settings has been a constant topic of research and discussion. While almost every healthcare worker agreeing that EBP is a good approach, implementation statistics do not show wide implementation. This could be due to various barriers such as lack of statistical knowledge to understand the research articles or poor access to the journals. Through journal clubs, the healthcare workers find time and forums to discuss and analyze various articles that could be used in EBP. The nursing field is especially enthusiastic about this new model, but critical analysis of it still needs to be conducted in order to tap its full potential and eliminate or minimize the hurdles that exist. In line with this, it is worth noting that studies carried out in the in the future ought to be focused on assessing the effect of EBP approaches in relation to the variation in behavior, among other things in the health practitioners
References
Lizarondo, L. M., Grimmer-Somers, K., & Kumar, S. (2011). Exploring the perspectives of allied health practitioners toward the use of journal clubs as a medium for promoting evidence-based practice: A qualitative study. BMC medical education , 11 (1), 66.
Houser, J. (2018). Nursing research: Readings, using & creating evidence (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Chapter 16, p. 447-477.
Stevens, K. R. (2013). The impact of evidence-based practice in nursing and the next big ideas. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing , 18 (2).
