To make the undergraduate research course more applicable to practice and to provide an innovative way to apply Quality and Safety Education for Nurses competencies for evidence-based practice, we use an unfolding critique of scholarly products. At the beginning of the semester, students are placed in small groups based on clinical interest. As a group, students identify a nursing problem that warrants a critique of research (eg, best practices to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia). The 3-hour class is then structured to include a topic overview, real-world application of the topic in clinical practice, and group work addressing the topic. Weekly topics include defining the research problem, research questions and hypotheses, review of literature, theoretical and conceptual frameworks, constructs and variables, design, populations and sampling, ethics and integrity, data analysis, and measurement and data collection. Each week, students critique the literature for their identified problem based on the class topic, applying concepts learned in lecture and through readings. At the end of the semester, students present their critiques and provide strategies for how to implement these best practices in the clinical setting. Students comment that this allows them to make the "research come alive" and provides them with the opportunity to apply evidence to an area of clinical practice in which they are interested.

By Meg Zomorodi, PhD, RN, CNL, Clinical Associate Professor, Macy Faculty Scholar, School of Nursing, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (NCmailto:[email protected]).