Reflection in nursing can be defined as the process of making assessing and making sense of actions and situations that occur in the workplace. However, reflection in nursing education entails making sense of the practices learned in class and their application or relevance to a person’s learning process or nursing career. Reflection is an essential process for improving quality of services provided through nursing care. Similarly, reflection is critical to increasing the level of understanding in nursing course and comprehending the essence of some study activities such as research. The aim of any reflection is to improve on self-awareness, critical thinking, and problem-solving ability. This paper offers a reflection on research as one of the main study activities in nursing.
I have learned that research in nursing provides a scientific basis for practicing this profession. Through research, nurses have a better platform for exploring some of the factors that have remained unknown to them in this profession. Research in nursing focuses on easement and understanding of both chronic and acute illness (Holloway & Galvin, 2016). Moreover, as a nurse, I can also understand prevention of some diseases and slow progression of an illness. In addition, research contributes to the advancement of nursing knowledge and practice in sustaining optimal health, which may not be included in standard educational syllabus. Given the growing demand for increased efficiency in nursing, research serves as a platform for attaining some skills that were not offered within the syllabus. I believe that nursing students can broaden their knowledge and venture into some fields through learning of research materials. As such, research add on to a pool of knowledge within nursing students which prepares them as not only nurses but also as nurse scientists. This also prepares nursing students to succeed in nursing research as a career. With the critical needs for leadership development in nursing profession, research adds on to the necessary element to a nurse leader. Nonetheless, I have also learned that research portrays that a person is ready to take charge of situations without supervision, hence, prepares future leaders in nursing profession.
Another important aspect I learnt is that evidence-based research in nursing entails using a well-researched information to come up with a conclusion rather than making a decision on patient care based on opinion (Holloway & Galvin, 2016). Using evidence-based research entails using several sources such as journals or published articles in the medical field to obtain data and valid results. In some cases, decisions might be made based on personal opinions. As such, the validity and reliability of findings in research turn to be invalid. It is necessary to first assess patient care and need for change before researching a way of seeking information that is relevant in assessing patient care. Holloway and Galvin (2016) posit that to maintain validity and reliability, it is necessary to come up with clinical questions which are derived from patients’ problems. In some cases, research may not be done based on a guide set on clinical questions hence information which is unreliable may be obtained. To avoid invalid research information, reliability and validity should be maintained through conducting a thorough search on valid documents. Before utilizing research materials, it is necessary to appraise the usefulness of research materials (Holloway & Galvin, 2016). I now understand that wrong research materials will lead to invalid and unreliable information. Current research in nursing utilizes what students learn in class. However, this may not lead to giving valid and reliable research information because of lack of evaluation on what students have studied. It is necessary to evaluate what one had learned and put it into practice while researching to come up with worthwhile findings. For effective application of research information, it is vital to integrate the evidence obtained from research on patients with clinical expertise.
The overall aim of research is to apply findings in solving issues faced in nursing. To promote best nursing practices, it is vital to put into practice the findings based on appropriate and recommended steps. After conducting the research, information obtained should be assessed for validity and applicability. Indeed, I agree that evaluating applicability depicts whether the findings are useful in clinical practice or not. Based on what the researcher has learned, the findings are integrated into patient care with both patient preferences and clinical expertise. By evaluating the performance of the patient with the utilized findings, one can gauge the effectiveness of the research.
One of the strategies for increasing utilization of research findings in nursing is to come up with a collaboration between policy makers and researchers. The role of researchers is to come up with findings; however, it is the role of policy makers to ensure that the findings are put into practice. If policymakers enact policies that ensure applying the findings given by researchers, utilization of such information will be more efficient. Another strategy for increasing utilization of research findings is to increase production and dissemination of useful and relevant results of research. The researchers should first question themselves on whether the derived information is relevant in nursing domain. Useful information is easily utilized.
The first step in reporting evidence-based research in determining legal and ethical conduct is defining and describing the problem. Protection of humans can be geared through answering the question whether the problem addressed in the research is getting worse or better. Searching for evidence necessary in addressing such issue should follow. If the best evidence is not picked from the research, then the process of reporting evidence will be ineffective.
It is worth noting that the process of reflection is iterative and open-ended. Research is a vital process in nursing education and nursing practice. However, research is a wide topic hence reflection on one area leads to another. The future of nursing lies in research since the application of reliable and valid findings is expected to increase effectiveness in the nursing processes.
Reference
Holloway, I., & Galvin, K. (2016). Qualitative research in nursing and healthcare. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
