NURS 431 Child Health Nursing: Finding and Identifying Research
Summary of Types of References
Evidence based medicine is the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. The practice of evidence based medicine means integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research.
Sackett DL, Rosenberg WMC, Gray JAM, Haynes RB, Richardson WS. Evidence based medicine: what it is and what it isn't. BMJ. 1996 Jan 13; 312 (7023): 71-2.
...research is one of the pillars of evidence-based practice.
| Type of Reference | Pros | Cons | Examples | Evidence-based? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Websites |
Easy to find Can be very current |
Quality variable | MedlinePlus Child Development Vaccine/Autism |
May lead to evidence-based sources of information in traditional literature it the references. Expert Opinion |
| Textbooks |
Quick and easy to use Provides summaries |
Can be expensive Can be slow to update |
The Lippincott Manual of Nursing Practice  UpToDate |
May summarize evidence and lead to evidence-based sources of information in the references. Expert Opinion |
| Journal Articles | ||||
| Reviews (Narrative) | Provide summaries of what is known on specific topics | Methodology used in compiling the summaries may not be scientific or systematic | May lead to evidence-based sources of information in the references. Expert Opinion |
|
|
Systematic Reviews |
Provide systematically derived summaries of research studies on specific topics |
Addresses a single research question Requires some research to already have been done on the research question |
Factors influencing completion of multi-dose vaccine schedules in adolescents: a systematic review.
|
Evidence-based, secondary research References individual research articles |
|
Meta-analyses |
Provide systematically derived summaries of research studies on specific topics and applies statistical methods of analyses | Requires considerable amounts of research to have already been done on the specific research question | Prevalence of, and risk factors for, chronic idiopathic constipation in the community: systematic review and meta-analysis |
Evidence-based |
|
Research Reports/Articles |
Describes original research studies and reports on results | Can be time-consuming to read, interpret, and translate into clinical practice | Double-blind, placebo-controlled antibiotic treatment study of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth in children with chronic abdominal pain |
Evidence-based research |
Levels of Evidence
Graphic overview of the different types of references and the quality or level of evidence they provide.
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| Simplified pyramid of levels of evidence | 6S hierarchy of pre-appraised evidence |