Deck 2: Evolution of Research in Building Evidence-Based Nursing Practice

Question 1

Early nursing research by Nightingale focused on improving patient outcomes. What were the principal topics for the next wave of nursing research, in the first half of the 20th century?

A)Evidence-based practice (EBP)
B)Primary nursing's advantages in hospitals
C)Nursing education, as opposed to nurse training
D)The nursing process and nursing diagnosis
E)Staffing, patient assignments, and type of care

Answer 1

Nursing education, as opposed to nurse training
Staffing, patient assignments, and type of care

Question 2

Which of the following are true of quantitative research and quantitative researchers?

A)Quantitative research addresses human responses by measuring or counting them.
B)Quantitative research presents information by clustering it or counting it.
C)Quantitative researchers maintain objectivity in their data collection and data analysis methods.
D)Quantitative research describes variables, relationships among variables, and differences among groups.
E)Precision is not especially important in quantitative research.
F)Quantitative researchers operate in a concrete realm.
G)All quantitative research findings can be generalized.

Answer 2

Quantitative research addresses human responses by measuring or counting them.
Quantitative research presents information by clustering it or counting it.
Quantitative researchers maintain objectivity in their data collection and data analysis methods.
Quantitative research describes variables, relationships among variables, and differences among groups.
Quantitative researchers operate in a concrete realm.

Question 3

If a nurse manager wants to study how well last year's policies governing implementation of a "bundle" of interventions to prevent cross-contamination of MRSA has been working in the manager's units, which of the following strategies would the manager be most likely to use?

A)Outcomes research
B)Mixed methods research
C)Ethnographic research
D)Experimental research

Answer 3

Outcomes research

Question 4

Ethnographic research might focus upon which topics?

A)Bacterial cultures
B)Cultural beliefs of the ancient Romans
C)How children in Alaska play during the winter
D)The members of Alcoholics Anonymous who share 20 years of abstinence
E)The mentoring process in a labor-delivery unit
F)Conversational Spanish

Question 5

Florence Nightingale researched mortality and morbidity rates in soldiers during the Crimean War and investigated various factors that influenced both, presenting her results as pie charts and graphs. Consequently, it is known that she conducted which types of research?

A)Phenomenological research
B)Causational research
C)Descriptive research
D)Correlational research
E)Ethnographic research

Question 6

A researcher uses interviews with two or three open-ended questions to study women in the staging phase of breast cancer treatment, in order to understand their experiences and the meanings they attribute to those experiences. What type of research is this?

A)Phenomenological research
B)Grounded theory research
C)Ethnographic research
D)Exploratory-descriptive qualitative research

Question 7

In an attempt to assess whether selection of a same-gender psychiatrist leads to better mental health outcomes, clients newly referred for mental health services are told they may choose their own psychiatrists. At the beginning of treatment, and again after 3 months of therapy, measures of mental health are performed. What type of quantitative research is this?

A)Descriptive research
B)Correlational research
C)Quasi-experimental research
D)Experimental research

Question 8

A panel of researchers conducts several studies, all drawn from an existent hospital and clinic database. The studies focus on quality and effectiveness within that system. The specific studies address mortality rates in elders within a year after hip fracture, functional outcomes 6 months after admission to a neurosurgical ICU after traumatic brain injury, rate of nurse injuries in an emergency department, and number of patient falls on various floors of the hospital. What type of research is this?

A)Experimental research
B)Outcomes research
C)Ethnographic research
D)Grounded theory research

Question 9

Which statements about qualitative research are accurate?

A)Qualitative research findings may be generalized.
B)Qualitative research generates information that can contribute to theory formation.
C)Qualitative research yields data such as audiotapes, videotapes, field notes, and other data that are based on language, not numbers.
D)Qualitative research is not systematic.
E)Qualitative research does not contain or imply a purpose.
F)Qualitative researchers interpret the meaning revealed to them by the participants.
G)Qualitative research is uncontrolled.

Question 10

Which statements about quantitative research are accurate?

A)The results of quantitative research should be generalized back to the population from which the sample was drawn.
B)The methods of quantitative research are consistent with the philosophy of logical positivism.
C)Quantitative research addresses quantities, relationships, and causes.
D)Quantitative research predominates in the nursing research literature.
E)Quantitative research is always experimental.
F)Quantitative research tells the story of the research participants' daily lives, within their culture.

Question 11

A newly employed nurse administrator wants to know more about the employees on the units the administrator supervises. The manager accesses the managerial database and gathers data about all of the current employees on the unit, including work shift, number of years employed, age, gender, educational preparation, certifications, work history, and professional accomplishments, analyzing the data statistically. What type of quantitative research is this?

A)Descriptive research
B)Correlational research
C)Quasi-experimental research
D)Experimental research

Question 12

A researcher designs a study. The data are collected by means of a questionnaire, the study has a clear purpose statement, the results are presented as a narrative without statistical analysis, and the suggestions made for practice are worded as general suggestions. What type of research is this?

A)Qualitative research
B)Quantitative research
C)Mixed methods research
D)Meta-analysis

Question 13

In which way did Florence Nightingale contribute most substantially to evidence-based practice?

A)She conducted outcomes research about the power of nursing for creating change.
B)She was the first woman elected to the Royal Statistical Society.
C)She collected and analyzed data that changed the care of hospitalized soldiers.
D)She calculated mortality rates under varying conditions.

Question 14

A researcher publishes a paper describing and explaining how faith, pain, adherence to therapy, and meditation interact during the rehabilitation process. The description of the process is based on many interviews the researcher conducted with persons during and following rehabilitation experiences. Which type of methodology did this research employ?

A)Ethnography
B)Phenomenology
C)Exploratory-descriptive
D)Grounded theory

Question 15

A researcher is operating from the point of view of logical positivism. Which research methods would the logical positivist use?

A)Grounded theory research
B)Correlational research
C)Historical research
D)Quasi-experimental research
E)Quantitative descriptive research
F)Exploratory-descriptive qualitative research

Question 16

A human resources employee performs research focusing on the professional life span of nurses within this particular institution and tries to discover whether their choice of work area is connected with the number of years they work in the institution. What type of quantitative research is this?

A)Descriptive research
B)Correlational research
C)Quasi-experimental research
D)Experimental research

Question 17

A researcher conducts many interviews, over a 1-year period, with women in the treatment phase of breast cancer, all of whom are attending a breast cancer support group, in order to understand what happens in the support group, how the members are affected by membership, and how the members contribute to the group. The researcher herself is also in treatment for breast cancer and is a member of the support group. What type of research is this?

A)Phenomenological research
B)Grounded theory research
C)Ethnographic research
D)Exploratory-descriptive qualitative research

Question 18

In a rehabilitation unit, patients are randomly assigned to high fiber diets versus ordinary fiber diets, in order to measure the effect on constipation. What type of quantitative research is this?

A)Descriptive research
B)Correlational research
C)Quasi-experimental research
D)Experimental research

Question 19

A researcher uses an interview with eight open-ended questions to study women in a new multi-staging phase of breast cancer treatment, which includes serial biopsies and necessitates weekly closed biopsy, in order to understand more about social factors that impinge upon their experience. What type of research is this?

A)Phenomenological research
B)Grounded theory research
C)Ethnographic research
D)Exploratory-descriptive qualitative research

Question 20

A researcher investigates the cause-and-effect relationship between the incidence of children's spinal cord injury and the current state law requiring that all children under the age of 8 will ride in special car harnesses. Which form of nursing research should the researcher employ?

A)Meta-analysis
B)Mixed methods research
C)Qualitative research
D)Quantitative research

Question 21

How does the QSEN initiative apply to nursing graduate students?

A)QSEN guidelines for nurses with master's degrees include designing multiple research projects and independently conducting such research.
B)Participation in ongoing research may be a job expectation in an advanced practice role.
C)Revisions to the QSEN knowledge, skills, and attitude (KSA) statements are generated from research.
D)Summarizing current research is required both within a nursing master's program and subsequent to attaining the master's degree.
E)Nurses with advanced degrees may be called upon to participate in healthcare team activities that generate decision trees for bedside nurses to use in patient care.

Question 22

In which ways does the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) initiative relate to research?

A)One of its six competencies for nursing education is evidence-based practice. This implies that evidence will be generated through systematic research.
B)QSEN funds current research projects, both quantitative and qualitative.
C)The QSEN initiative specifies the number of research projects that teaching hospitals must conduct yearly, in order to meet expectations.
D)One of the expectations of nurses after graduate education is to be able to develop policies for practice that are based on research.
E)It specifies that nurses will be able to integrate best current evidence with clinical expertise and patient preferences. This presupposes that there is current research evidence.

Question 23

How does quantitative research contribute to evidence-based practice?

A)It provides facts that nurses can add to their knowledge base. This makes practice more objective and quantifiable.
B)It provides scientific support for policies already in place. More evidence makes an existent policy more defensible.
C)It provides evidence of opposing policies already in place. Evidence in opposition to policies may result in new policies.
D)It allows the nurse to understand the personal experience of illness and the meaning the client attaches to it. This engenders compassion.
E)It contributes evidence that will make nursing practice almost completely evidence-based, eliminating different styles of nursing practice.

Question 24

Which statements are true of the Cochrane Center and Cochrane Collaboration, begun in the 1970s by Professor Archie Cochrane?

A)It was originally called the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.b.It developed the original master's degrees in nursing practice.
C)It serves as a repository for evidence-based practice guidelines.
D)It was the first association to publish a nursing research journal.
E)It is the online library resource for research literature reviews.

Question 25

What does appropriate generalization require?

A)Any type of sample, whether or not it is representative
B)Application of findings to the population from which the sample was drawn
C)More than one research study using the same research questions and variables
D)Statistical analysis that shows consistent results across studies
E)One single study with strong results

Question 26

What best characterizes the contribution of qualitative nursing research to evidence-based practice?

A)It presents collective common evidence of healthcare clients' experiences, which may provide inspirations for individual practice.
B)It provides stories of how healthcare clients feel. This lets nurses know what people in similar circumstances can be expected to experience and feel.
C)It provides evidence that determines how nurses should interact with various cultures. This mandates action.
D)Its purpose is to test theory.
E)It reveals participants' experiences and individual viewpoints, feelings, and interpretations. These can provide guidelines for client-centered care.