Posted: April 18th, 2015

Journal Club

This week, you are focusing on the assessing the elements of research. Recall that when engaging in evidence-based practice, once a practice question is identified, nurses turn to the literature to look for scientific evidence to address the question. Once appropriate literature has been identified, it is critical that the literature be evaluated.

Journal Club Format

To aid the incorporation of scholarly evidence into nursing practice, some health care organizations have journal clubs. In this week’s media presentation, Dr. Dang and Dr. Schmidt discuss how journal clubs offer nurses the opportunity to read and discuss the scientific literature with their peers. This gives nurses a chance to develop their evaluation skills and to collaboratively explore evidence-based practice research. Journal clubs provide an opportunity for nurses to begin exploring changes in clinical practice based on scientific evidence.

Journal clubs are used to discuss and judiciously evaluate research articles published in the professional literature. For example, staff nurses on a particular acute care unit might use the journal club to determine the value of evidence for a practice change. Participants voice their views related to appropriateness and usefulness of the research.

For this Discussion, students will use the Journal Club format (Journal Club Template ) to discuss the analysis of research published in the professional literature. You will choose one article from the list of research articles provided for the Week 3 Assignment. (To access the articles, go to the Walden Library, Course Resources section for NURS4000 or NURS4001. Click on the Week 3 Articles tab.)

You will summarize one article using the Journal Club Template and then interact with others in the Discussion as if you are actually in a journal club, asking and addressing appropriate questions.

Review this completed Journal Club Template for one example of how this document is used to support the evaluation of a research article. The article reviewed for this template is:

◦Hurlbut, J.M., Robbins, L.K. & Hoke, M.M. (2011). Correlations between spirituality and health-promoting behaviors among sheltered homeless women. Journal of Community Health Nursing, 28(2), 81-91. DOI:10.1080/07370016.2011.564064

◦This PDF version of a PowerPoint presentation presents another example of how an article evaluation can be presented to a journal club:

◦Mulligan, E. (2001). Healthsouth Orthopedic Extremity/Foot-Ankle Journal Club. Retrieved from https://www.continuing-ed.cc/newsletter/Thessaly%20Test%20Journal%20Club%20handout.pdf

◦Articles
◦Schmelzer, M. (2004). Understanding statistics: What is alpha (á)? Gastroenterology Nursing, 27(6), 292–293.
Use the Ovid Nursing Journals Full Text database, and search using the article’s author, title, or journal title.

This article, written by a nurse, explains the alpha statistic. Using common examples, such as tossing a coin, the author describes what the alpha statistic represents and suggests strategies for evaluating the statistical analysis of a research study.

◦Schmelzer, M. (2000). Understanding the research methodology: Should we trust the researchers’ conclusions? Gastroenterology Nursing, 23(6), 269–274.
Use the Ovid Nursing Journals Full Text database, and search using the article’s author, title, or journal title.

In this article, Dr. Schmelzer discusses strategies for evaluating the methodology of a research study. She also examines the statistics presented in the methodology section and explains common statistical terms.

◦Tinkham, M.R. (2014). Magnet insights: The value of research councils and journal clubs. AORN Journal, 100(2), 206-209, doi: 10.1016/j.aorn.2014.05.004

In this article, Tinkham discusses the value of journal clubs and research councils.