Giving online MSN students the tools they need to employ and disseminate evidence-based practice

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Joy Kieffer

University of Mount Olive, USA

: J Nurs Patient Care

Abstract

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The call to evidence-based practice (EBP) is evolving and empowers nurses to form innovative learning partnerships with colleagues to nourish wisdom, strengthen critical thinking, integrate research knowledge, and celebrate contributions in leading best practice. The final and perhaps most intimidating step in the EBP process is dissemination. Dissemination is critical as it is the method by which the body of nursing knowledge expands. Graduate nursing curricula should include subjects related to EBP, such as scientific research methods, critical analysis of scientific literature, and dissemination options. The University of Mount Olive Division of Nursing has employed an innovative online Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree program with a dual concentration in Nursing Education and Nursing Administration where the graduate students engage in a 15-month, four-course practice immersion experience that requires the students to synthesize and expand the knowledge and skills acquired throughout the program by applying evidence-based methods to practice through a faculty-guided research thesis. Students use the nursing practice immersion, while partnered with a collaborative nursing mentor from the practice of nursing education or nursing administration, to help them achieve the MSN program outcomes and competencies, and the learning objectives related to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing's (AACN) The Essentials of Master's Education in Nursing. The first course, in the four-course sequence, is a graduate research course that reviews qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, focusing on the use of a body of nursing knowledge in the practice of the specialty roles of nurse educator and/or nurse administrator. The students develop an understanding of evaluating healthcare research and integrating the results into professional practice through the design of an evidence-based practice, faculty-guided, research proposal of a small exploratory research study, to address a problem or concern in the nursing practice of education or administration; complete their human subject research National Institute of Health (NIH) training; and submit their research proposal of their small exploratory research study to the University’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) for approval. The second course reviews both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, while descriptive and inferential statistical methods are reviewed focusing on the development of the knowledge and skill required to evaluate numerical data in support of an evidencebased environment for nursing administration and nursing education. Additionally, skills related to utilization of parametric and non-parametric methods of statistical analysis of quantitative data are emphasized. The students complete their data collection for their evidence-based practice, faculty-guided, small exploratory research study, and continue the development of their faculty-guided thesis components. The third course continues to review both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, and the students complete the data analysis for their evidence-based practice, faculty-guided, small exploratory research study, and continue the development of their faculty-guided thesis components. The final course, in the four-course sequence, is a graduate research course that will conclude the MSN nursing immersion experience through the completion of their graduate thesis and dissemination of their results through presentation and publication. The students complete their evidence-based practice, faculty-guided, small exploratory research study, and thesis; present their thesis virtually; send a query letter to the Editor-in-Chief of a peer-reviewed journal with their thesis study abstract seeking interest in a research article for publication coauthored with their faculty member and collaborative nursing mentor, and submit to have their thesis published with ProQuest. An EBP project is not complete until the information learned and outcomes achieved are shared in a public forum, both internally and externally, whether via a poster presentation, oral presentation, journal article, or a combination of these methods, which encourages the development of future nursing academic leaders.

Biography

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