Tag Archives: Literature review

Clinical practice guidelines, Disseminating findings, Evidence based nursing, Publishing, quality improvement, RCT, research, School papers, Writing

Write Away!

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Want to know the standardized format for writing up your research study, QI report, Writing1case study, systematic review, or clinical practice guideline?    Check out these standardized reporting guidelines: http://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/

Of course you should always give priority to the author instructions for the particular journal in which you want to publish, but most adhere generally or fully to these standardized guides.

Write away!

Disseminating findings, Evidence based nursing, Literature review, Publication, reading research, Research class, Research student, School papers, Writing

DIY your own Intro/Background: Structure & Argument

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Want to know how to write an introduction/background section of a paper?  Pay attention to STRUCTURE & evidence-based ARGUMENT in order to DIY (do-it-yourself) your own intro/background for a school paper or research report!

Let’s use this 2015 free full-text article by Marie Flem Sørbø et al. as a model!  Past and recent abuse is associated with early cessation of breast feeding: results from a large prospective cohort in Norway .   (Hint: Clicking on the article’s pdf tab may make it easier to read.)

Focus only on the INTRO/BACKGROUND section for now.  Check out the STRUCTURE then the EVIDENCE-BASED ARGUMENT of the Intro/Background.  This is how you should write your own.

STructure

STRUCTURE of INTRO/BACKGROUND in Sørbø et al. (2015):

  1. Where is the Intro/Background section located in the article?
  2. What heading is used for the section?
  3. Where are the research questions located in the Intro/Background?  (HINT: this is the standard place in all papers & in this case the authors call them “aims.)
Why2

ARGUMENTS in INTRO/BACKGROUND in Sørbø et al. (2015):

  1. Look at the first (topic) sentence of each paragraph in INTRO/BACKGROUND & listen to the systematic argument the researchers are making for WHY their study is important.
    • “Breast feeding has long been acknowledged as the optimal infant nutrition conferring beneficial short-term and long-term health effects for both infants and mothers.1–5      …
    • Abuse of women is common worldwide, as one in three women during lifetime suffer partner or non-partner abuse.10   …Adverse  effects [of abuse]… are barriers to breast feeding.*…
    • Given the overwhelming evidence of the positive effects of breast feeding, knowledge about factors influencing breastfeeding behaviour is essential….
    • We explored the impact of abuse of women on breastfeeding behaviour in a large prospective population in Norway where the expectations to breast feed are high, and breast feeding is facilitated in the work regulations….” (pp. 1-2)
      evidence2
  2. Now look at the research & other evidence written down AFTER each of above key sentences that SUPPORT each idea.
  3. Notice that the INTRO/BACKGROUND is NOT a series of abstracts of different studies!!  Instead evidence is grouped into key arguments for the study: Breast feeding is best, Abuse is common, Abuse creates barriers to breastfeeding, & Therefore, knowing about factors affecting breastfeeding is important). [Note: Of course, if your particular professor or editor asks you to do a series of abstracts, then you must, but do group them in arguments like the topic sentences.]

All this leads naturally, logically to …(drum roll please!)…the research questions/hypotheses, which are the gaps in our knowledge that the research will fill.  This sets up the rest of the research article!

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Critical Thinking:  Your turn! Write your own Intro/Background using
STructure

  • Structure: Placement in article, heading, placement of research question/hypothesis
    Why2
  • Argument: Key idea topic sentences (make a list 1st) with supporting research & other evidence (your literature review).

For more info on Intro/Background:  Review my blogpost Intro to Intro’s

*ok, yeh. I cheated and included one additional sentence to capture the authors’ flow of argument.

Disseminating findings, Literature review, Publishing, Writing

?Trustworthy? Protect Your Reputation!

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If you are writing something for publication, watch this 2 minute video before selecting a journal!   You’ll thank yourself for doing it.

  1. Thinkthinker
  2. Check
  3. Submit

< 2 minute video that tells you how to think, check, submit:  

  http://thinkchecksubmit.org/

Don’t be fooled.   It’s a lot of work to prepare something to publish, and you want your work to appear in a credible source and be accessible.   It’s YOUR reputation!

If you are a student search for literature, it is important to know this also!!  You want to use the highest quality evidence you can find for your projects.

evidence based practice, reading research, research, Writing

“Here Comes Santa Claus?” What IS the Evidence?

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How strong is the evidence regarding our holiday Santa Claus (SC) practices? And what are the opportunities on this SC topic for new descriptive, correlation, or experimental research?  Although existing evidence generally supports SC, in the end we may conclude, “the most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see” (Church, as cited in Newseum, n.d.).santa3

If you want to know the answers, check out: Highfield, M.E.F. (2011).  Here comes Santa Claus: What’s the evidence? Advanced Emergency Nursing Journal, 33(4), 354-6. doi: http://dx.doi.org.libproxy.csun.edu/10.1097/TME.0b013e318234ead3   Using bona fide published work, the article shows you how to evaluate the strength of evidence and how to apply it to practice.   You can request a full-text for your personal use from your library or from the author via www.researchgate.net/home .  

Critical thinking: Check out this related research study with fulltext available through PubMed: Black Pete through the eyes of Dutch children
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27322583 ).   Write a follow-up research question based on the findings of this study & post in comments below.

For more info: For those unfamiliar with ResearchGate, it is a site where you can track authors who publish in your area of interest, and you can set up your own profile so that people can track your work.  Take a look.   

Disseminating findings, Evidence based nursing, Professional Nursing, public health, Safety, zika

Zika Virus: What we know and do not know (O’Malley, 2016)

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The public and lots of nurses have lots of questions.   Our evidence-based knowledge is evolving.  Here’s some of the latest (Aug/July 2016).

You can set up a free account with Lippincott to access this 3 page article that translates current research into practice for you.

O’Malley – Zika virus: What we know and do not know: 16743-close-up-of-a-mosquito-feeding-on-blood-pvhttp://www.nursingcenter.com/pdfjournal?AID=3570052&an=00002800-201607000-00005&Journal_ID=54033&Issue_ID=3569996

Literature review, reading research

Google’s Beauty is Only Skin Deep: Go for the Database!

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maxresdefaultGoogle–not to mention yahoo, bing & other web search engines–are mere popularity contests of literature.   Google Scholar is a step up, but it is still a search engine.  It can miss important articles entirely.

If you want to be sure that you are getting the BEST, you gotta look in the right place if you want to find the right articles on the right topic at the right time!Beauty contest winner

You need a Database!

Don’t believe me?  Watch “What are databases and why you need them?”(youtube 2:34)

Reputable publishers give away very few articles for free, so when you want the best literature out there you need a Database that will systematically help you to find quality articles that fit your topic.

PubMed.gov is a tax funded database that is highly comprehensive.  CINAHL is strong on nursing literature.  If you are enrolled in a university, you have access to lots of full-text articles at no added cost.  Check with your librarian if your database search is not turning up what you need–with a few hints, you could get the best.

Needle in haystackFor more info:  Look for that needle in the haystack.

experiment, RCT, reading research, Research design

True or False: Experiment or Not

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Experiments are the way that we confirm that one thing causes another.   If the study is not an experiment (or combined experiments in a meta-analysis), then the research does not show cause and effect. imagesCALQ0QK9

Experiments are one of the strongest types of research.

So…how can you tell a true experiment from other studies?   Hazel B can tell you in 4:04 and simple language at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2i-MrwdTqI&index=1&list=PL7A7F67C6B94EB97E

Go for it!

[After watching video:  Note that the variable that is controlled by the researcher is call the Independent variable or Cause variable because it creates a change in something else. That something else that changes is the Dependent variable or Outcome variable.]Learning

CRITICAL THINKING:  

  1. Based on the video, can you explain why true experiments are often called randomized controlled trial (RCT)?
  2. Take a look at The Effect of the Physical and Mental Exercises During Hemodialysis on Fatigue: A Controlled Clinical Trial, that is free in full-text via PubMed. How does it meet the criteria of a true experiment as described by Hazel B in the video?

FOR MORE INFORMATION:   Go to “What’s an RCT Anyway?” (https://discoveringyourinnerscientist.wordpress.com/2015/01/23/whats-a-randomized-controlled-trial/ )

Evidence based nursing, Professional Nursing, reading research

Introduction to Introductions!

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I have a lot of new readers, so let’s revisit the standard sections of a research article.  They are:

  • Introduction (or Background)
  • Review of literature
  • Methods
  • Results (or findings)
  • Discussion & Implications
  • Conclusion

If we begin at the beginning, then we should ask: “What’s in an Introduction?”  Here’s the answer:

“[a] …Background of the problem or issue being examined,

[b] …Existing literature on the subject, and

[c] …Research questions, objectives, and possibly hypothesis” (p. 6, Davies & Logan, 2012)

This is the very 1st section of the body of the research article.  In it you will find a description of the problem that the researcher is studying, why the problem is a priority, and sometimes what is already known about the problem.  The description of what is already known may or may not be labelled separately as a Review of Literature.

KEYKey point #1: Articles & research that are reviewed in the Intro/Background should be mostly within the past 5-7 years.  Sometimes included are classic works that may be much older OR sometimes no recent research exists.   If recent articles aren’t used, this should raise some questions in your mind.   You know well that healthcare changes all the time!!  If there are no recent studies the author should explain.

KEY
Key point #2:  The last sentence or two in the Intro/Background is the research question or hypothesis.  If you need to know the research question/hypothesis right away, you can skip straight to the end of the Intro/background—and there it should be!

Happy research reading!

Critical Thinking: Do the sections of the abstract AND the sections of the research article match above headings?  Does it match the description of Introduction? Take a look at the free article by Kennedy et al. (2014). Is there a relationship between personality and choice of nursing specialty: An integrative literature, BMC Nursing, 13(40). Retrieved from the link http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4267136/.  question

 

Evidence based nursing, Literature review, Professional Nursing, reading research

A 33,000 foot view: The Abstract

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 Abstracts are great; abstracts are not enough!
An abstract will not give you enough information to accurately apply the study findings to practice.   An abstract typically summarizes all the other sections of the article, such as  the question the researcher wanted to answer, how the researcher collected data to answer it, and what that data showed.  This is great when you are trying to get the general picture, but you should Never assume that the abstract tells you what you need to know.
airplaneWingIsland
Abstracts can mislead you IF you do not read the rest of the article.  They are only a short 100-200 words and so the authors have to leave out key information.   You may misunderstand study results if you read only the abstract.   An abstract’s 33,000 foot level FootprintsInSand
description of a study, cannot reveal the same things that you can learn from an up-close look at details.  You want to know exactly who was in the study, exactly what the researcher did, & exactly how outcomes were measured!  You want to follow the researcher’s footprints up close, not just do a fly-over.
So…what is the takeaway?  Definitely read the abstract to get the general idea.  Then read the article beginning to end.  Don’t give up reading the full article just because some parts of the study may be hard to understand.  Just read and get what you can. Then try a re-read or get some help understanding any difficult sections.   This is an important step toward EBP.   [revised from my former blogsite]
Critical thinking:  What info is missing from this abstract at this link that you would want to know before using the findings of this pain study to practice?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25659796QUESTION
Evidence based nursing, Literature review, Professional Nursing

Finding the Needles in the Haystacks: Evidence Hunting Efficiently & Effectively

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Searching for the right evidence is an art & a science.   In an effective search, the RN: twoOnComputer

  1. Identifies excellent key words based on a clear problem statement
  2. Systematically searches the best databases for those words
  3. Keeps a record of the search strategy.

This is actually a pretty simple time-saver because it keeps you from having to repeat searches because you can’t remember where you looked!!

Let’s take an example that we used previously.  Here’s how it was laid out in PICO (which stands for Population/problem, Intervention, Comparison intervention, & Outcome)

  • Population/problem= Postoperative patients with ileus (Patient population &Problem)
  • Intervention= Gum chewing postop (Intervention to try out)
  • Comparison intervention= NPO with gradual diet progression when bowel sounds start returning
  • Outcome= Reduce time of postop ileus with sooner return to nutritious eating

We would:magnifyingGlass

  1. Using PICO, identify key concepts (words), such as “postoperative ileus” “gum chewing” and “NPO.” Note that you can pick single words or combinations of words.
  2. Search for this set of words in the very comprehensive databases of PubMed and also in CINAHL. CINAHL is more nursing specific, and PubMed is one of the most comprehensive out there. Search from MOST RECENT to earlier.  Go for only most recent 5 years unless 5 years doesn’t give you enough articles.
  3. Keep notes of exactly which words and phrases you used to search each database

This 5 minute video shows you a GREAT way to make sure that your search is complete with minimal effort. It’s an easy-peasy tracking strategy for where you’ve already looked. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=233DzkmimV4&list=PLE3A977BE32CF3956

CRITICAL THINKING: What are the key words of your clinical problem of interest.  (You can choose to use PICO or not.)  Plug them into PubMed.  Did you get enough articles?QUESTION