Chapter 2: Theory, Research, and Evidence-Based Practice
Who is considered to be the first nursing theorist who conceptualized nursing in terms of manipulating the environment?
Florence Nightingale
The process of considering an idea as a whole and then dividing it into smaller, more specific ideas is which?
Deductive reasoning
A group of concepts and the relationships among them is what?
Theory
A nurse working in a long-established hospital learned a specific approach to administering intravenous injections from the previous generation of nurses at the hospital. This is an example of which type of knowledge?
Traditional knowledge
When describing how to formulate a hypothesis, which item would a nurse researcher identify as the focus of the study?
Variables
A group of objects with relationships is which?
concept
Which is most similar to a nursing model?
nursing theory
Evidence-based care emphasizes decision making based on the best available evidence and:
use of outcome studies to guide decisions.
Which statements are true regarding nursing theory? (Select all that apply.)
The ultimate outcome for nursing theory is improved client care. Nursing theory provides a rationale for the care that nurses provide. Nursing theories may be descriptive or prescriptive. Nursing theory provides a focus for care that is delivered to clients.
A nurse is preparing to conduct a research study and uses the PICO format to develop the foreground question which is: "In adults, does reducing salt intake, compared to no change in salt intake, lower blood pressure?" The nurse identifies the "P" as:
adults
In a 1983 study, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) urged the federal government to increase the level of funding for nursing research. What historical development resulted from this action?
Establishment of the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)
A nurse is developing a foreground question for nursing research using the PICO model. Which component would be represented by the statement, "a 45-year-old male with coronary heart disease and atrial fibrillation"?
P
Research is included as an essential component of nursing by which of the following organizations? (Select all that apply.)
ANA International Counsel of Nurses Nursing specialty organizations
A nurse is reading a research article from a nursing journal. The nurse is aware that the opening paragraph summarizing the article and the research findings is a good place to start. What part of the article is the nurse reading?
Abstract
The focus of nursing is always on which of the four common concepts in nursing theory?
Person
A nurse working on a busy acute care unit is planning care for a group of clients. Which nursing action best exemplifies the primary focus of the nurse's role?
The nurse comforts a client who received bad results from a diagnostic test
Which activity best helps the nurse apply theory to practice?
Evidence-based research
The nurse researcher would like to gather data about the attitudes of young adults on spirituality and health care. What is the most effective form of research on this topic?
Qualitative research
A nurse is discussing dietary issues with a Latino client in the clinic. The client states, "My grandmother always told me that I needed to include beans in my diet so that my muscles would grow." The information that the client is expressing is known as what?
Traditional knowledge
A nurse researcher is examining the cause-and-effect relationship between the consumption of tap water containing minimal amounts of bleach, and the incidence of cancer in rats. The research is taking place in a laboratory setting. What type of quantitative research is being used based upon this description?
Experimental research
What is the central theme of Florence Nightingale's nursing theory?
Meeting the personal needs of the client within the environment.
Nurses in an ICU noticed that their clients required fewer interventions for pain when the ICU was quiet. They then asked a researcher to design a study about the effects of noise on the pain levels of hospitalized clients. How does this demonstrate the ultimate goal of expanding the nursing body of knowledge?
Nursing research helps improve ways to promote and maintain health.
A group of nurses is planning to investigate the effectiveness of turning immobilized stroke clients more frequently in order to prevent skin breakdown. The team has begun by formulating a PICO question. Which element will the "O" in the team's PICO question refer to?
Preventing skin breakdown
When a researcher begins to form plans for a research project, the researcher must decide on the method for conducting the research. The nurse researcher that plans to emphasize collection of narrative data and the analyses would select which of the following methods of research?
Qualitative research
A nurse researcher must decide on the method for conducting the research. The researcher that plans to emphasize collection of numerical data and analysis would select which method of research?
Quantitative research
Which skill is foundational for a nurse's participation in the evidence-based practice process?
Read and understand a research article.
The nurse is preparing to submit a research project to the institutional review board (IRB). The nurse understands that if the IRB were to reject the research project, it would most likely be for which reason?
The project lacks sufficient safeguards to protect human subjects.
A novice nurse is sharing a newly published research article which outlines a different approach in preventing a wound infection after surgery with a colleague and states the nurse is going to try this new method. Which is the best response from the colleague?
Wait until the method is analyzed to ensure it will be appropriate for their clients.
Which is a focus of medical research rather than nursing research?
drug metabolism
One of the primary reasons for conducting nursing research is to:
generate knowledge to guide practice.
A nurse researcher who plans to collect and analyze data for the purpose of creating a new theory should select which type of research?
Basic research
An abstract idea or object that relates to other abstract ideas or objects is which?
Concept
A nurse is discussing dietary issues with a client in the clinic. The client states, "My nutritionist told me that I needed to include beans in my diet so that my muscles would grow." The information that the client is expressing is known as what?
Authoritative knowledge
When looking at a model for evidence-based practice, what is the final step of the process?
Evaluating practice change
Which theory emphasizes the relationships between the whole and the parts, and describes how parts function and behave?
General systems theory
A nurse is to participate as part of a team involved in nursing research and will be following the steps of the nursing research process. Place the steps below in the order in which the nurse and team will complete the process.
Identify the problem area. Review the scientific literature. Identify the theoretical framework. Formulate the problem statement. Develop the proposed research question. Identify the research design.
The nurse researcher is studying the effects of guided imagery on clients' anxiety levels. In this study, guided imagery is which type of variable?
Independent
What is the process of considering a group of specific ideas and then drawing conclusions that relate to a general idea?
Inductive reasoning
A nurse is reviewing nursing theory for usefulness in a home healthcare setting. Which is the appropriate application of Dorothea Orem's Self-Care Model in a home healthcare setting?
Match the client's self-care needs with appropriate supportive interventions
What is the best explanation for the way evidence-based practice (EBP) has changed the way nursing care is delivered?
Nursing care now uses EBP as a means of ensuring quality care
Which theory describes, explains, predicts, and controls outcomes in nursing practice?
Nursing theory
A nurse researcher is planning to test the effect of a breathing exercise on older adults' stamina. What type of research study should the nurse conduct?
Quantitative
A nurse develops the following foreground question using the PICOT format in preparation for a research study: "In overweight clients, how do chromium supplements compared to no supplements help with weight loss?" Which part of the question reflects the intervention?
Chromium supplements
What are the primary purposes for conducting research in nursing? Select all that apply.
Provide a basis for best practice guidelines Provide a resource for evaluating care Develop new ways to improve assessment and diagnostic skills
A nurse is planning to participate in a research project and is looking for information about what is already known about the topic. The nurse is involved in which step of the research process?
Scientific literature review
Which aspect of the nursing research process addresses a client's understanding of the potential risks and benefits of the study?
Undergoing the informed consent process with the client
A community health nurse has been visiting a diabetic client whose morning fasting glucose levels are constantly elevated. Upon further assessment, the nurse determines that the client's spouse does not understand how to prepare meals following the prescribed diabetic diet. Using Dorothea Orem's Self-Care Theory, how can the nurse help meet the needs of this client?
Arrange an evaluation appointment with a dietician
A nursing theory differs from a theoretical framework in which way?
Concepts and propositions are more specific
The nurse is reading about nursing theorists for a class. The theory reveals the following, "Individuals who use self-care to sustain life and health, to recover from disease or injury, or to cope with its effects." Which individual developed this theory?
Dorothea Orem
A nurse is planning to conduct a nursing research study and is seeking federal funding. Which institution would be most helpful for the nurse to contact regarding acquiring funding?
National Institute of Nursing Research
Which activity systematically inquires about the problems encountered in nursing practice and into the modalities of client care?
Nursing research
A nurse researcher is studying female clients who have survived breast cancer. The nurse asks each client to describe her experience and then analyzes the data for the meaning of the experience within each person's own reality. This nurse has used what type of qualitative research method?
Phenomenology
The second step in implementation of evidence-based practice includes systematic review. To complete a systematic review of the literature, what must the nurse do?
Summarize findings from multiple studies that are related to a particular nursing practice.