Oral Presentation on Nursing Research

NURS 363: Nursing Research

 

Purpose of Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to acquaint the student with research literature and the process of utilization of research to guide nursing practice/interventions.

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Student Approach to Assignment

I chose my topic for this project to be on the efficacy of wet-dry gauze dressings in comparison to alternative wound therapies, because at the time I was especially interested in wound care. I was curious on what the best practices are for wound care, and was surprised to learn from the research about the ineffectiveness and damage done from wet-to-dry dressings, considering that my unit of practice used them fairly frequently. I also learned how to categorize research based on levels of evidence, and clinically appraise research to determine its validity, using the Clinical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP).

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Reason for Inclusion of this Assignment in the Portfolio 

The reason I include this into my portfolio is because it demonstrates the importance of evidence-based practice in my own personal nursing practice. I approached this assignment with my own nursing skill of wound care in mind, and strove to apply the evidence I gathered into a personal practice change. For example, when wet-to-dry dressings are prescribed, I can now question the order and recommend an alternative therapy based on what I know from my research. This assignment represents my passion for wound care and my growth in application of evidence-based practice as a nurse.

 

Domain 4: Scholarship for Nursing Discipline

(24) Differentiates between descriptive nursing literature and published reports of nursing research.

This project met this outcome by evaluating and appraising the articles used for evidence. By using CASP, I was able to distinguish the validity of the evidence from the nursing research articles I gathered. For all three articles, I assessed the purpose of the study, the variables involved, sample size, design type, findings, implications, and determined whether there was sufficient evidence to warrant a change in policy. This evaluation is an important step to determine if the source is simply a descriptive piece of nursing literature, or if it is published evidence based research.

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Domain 4: Scholarship for Nursing Discipline

 (26) Applies research-based knowledge from the arts, humanities, and sciences to complement nursing practice.

This project meets this outcome because it directly uses four articles describing scientific research on wound dressings to determine what the best practice is for specific wounds. I identified and analyzed the nursing practice of wet-to-dry dressings in wound care, and found evidence that this practice is more harmful than helpful (e.g. dehydrates and cools wound bed, macerates surrounding healthy tissue, nonselective debridement of healthy tissue, external contamination, impaired leukocyte mobility and bacteria dispersal into the air with dressing changes, severe pain during dressing changes, and high financial burdens with frequent dressing changes). Research is also highlighted to support using alternative dressings such as negative pressure wound therapy, compression therapy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and antibiotic-soaked dressings instead.

 

Domain 4: Scholarship for Nursing Discipline

(27) Evaluates research that focuses on the efficacy and effectiveness of nursing interventions.

This project met this outcome by evaluating four different research articles describing wound care therapies. Each article was appraised using the Clinical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP) to determine the validity of the research. The goal of this research project was to determine if a current nursing intervention (wet-to-dry dressings) is effective, and evaluated other therapies’ effectiveness as well. It ultimately found that current nursing intervention of wet-to-dry dressings is ineffective and can be in fact damaging, and other therapies such as negative pressure wound therapy and antimicrobial dressings should be used instead.

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Download a Word document of my Intro Page here.

View my oral presentation on wet-to-dry wound dressings here:

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