Hall HR, Roussel LA, eds. Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning; 2014. ISBN: 978-4496-2591-7, soft cover, 350 pages.
The future of safe, quality care depends heavily on our ability to integrate our research, administrative, and clinical practices through inter-collaborative teams.
-Hall and Roussell, 2014
Ask any staff nurse across the country if they are familiar with the term evidence-based practice and the answer will most likely be "of course." And these nurses will probably say that they are using evidence-based practice at the bedside to ensure the delivery of safe, quality care to their patients. But are they? The editors of this book are professors at the University of South Alabama who noted that their graduate students were having difficulty translating evidence into practice. If nurses at the graduate level are struggling with this, it would seem that our bedside staff are probably encountering the same difficulty. Although this book was written with the graduate nursing student in mind, it will be a useful reference tool for any nurse who is in school or interested in learning more about how to critically review research and integrating evidence into everyday practice. In addition, the book would be a great reference tool for members of a nursing research committee, individuals involved in guiding unit-based journal club discussions, and anyone who is interested in starting or developing a unit-based quality improvement project.
The editors have divided this soft-cover book into 3 main sections related to evidence-based practice: research, administration, and practice. The chapter authors are primarily professors from southern universities with expertise in the subject matter. Each chapter begins with at least 1 inspiring or thought-provoking quote and clearly defined learner objectives. Throughout the chapters, the authors use a variety of tools, graphs, practical examples, links, and resources to help explain and support the chapter's key points. At the end of each chapter, there is a list of reflective activities designed to help the reader find a practical way to integrate the key learning concepts from the chapter into their professional work.
The first section (Part I: Critical Appraisal or Research to Support Scholarship) will help readers differentiate between types of research studies, understand data analysis, and learn how to critically appraise research. Chapter 5 provides a good overview of the institutional review board process and would be helpful for any nurse new to research. The second section (Part II: Scholarship of Administrative Practice) will be most useful for seasoned and emerging nurse leaders in the acute care setting as it focuses on evidence-based leadership practices. Chapter 10 provides information that will be helpful for any nurse involved in a quality improvement project. This chapter also provides clear guidelines on how to identify a practice gap and develop a solid plan for process improvement. The third and final section (Part III: Scholarship of Clinical Practice) focuses on integrating and disseminating evidence into practice. Any nurse who finds it challenging to use electronic databases such as CINAHL or MEDLINE would benefit from reviewing chapter 15. The author delivers an excellent overview of resources and databases with easy-to-follow examples on how to conduct a good search. This section ends with a chapter reminding all nurses about the value and importance of sharing the quality improvement work in which they are involved. The authors provide an overview about submitting for publication and developing an abstract for a poster or podium presentation. There are also good guidelines for a focused unit-based journal club presentation in this chapter.
Overall, this book would be an excellent reference book to have within a department of nursing and also for the individual nurse currently in school.
Helene Bowen Brady, MEd, BSN, RN-BC
Program Manager, Professional Development
Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital
Boston, MA