Development of class competencies in educational settings

¶ … Competencies

Critically analyze current practice to formulate researchable problems. I was able to discover the following: current practice recommendations for reducing health disparities among African-American female adolescents are lacking, but recent research findings suggested that parenting may represent a significant syndemic factor that could be influenced by nursing interventions. A review of this literature led me to propose a quantitative study examining the efficacy of cultural competency training for primary care providers who practice in an inner-city African-American neighborhood.

Evaluate current research studies for appropriateness of problem statement, sampling design, methodology, data analysis procedure, interpretation of findings, and ethical issues. In order to propose a researchable problem I needed to understand what had already been accomplished by other researchers. This required me to dig into the literature, evaluate the details of the methodologies used, and compare and contrast both findings and interpretations. The topic I chose for my research proposal did not have any significant ethical issues.

3. Synthesize an understanding of the research process through development of a research proposal to address a nursing problem or focus area identified in nursing practice. I learned to take each component of a research proposal, break it down into its essential elements, and systematically complete each section. Each element was based in the realities that define the research process, such as building a proposal based on the work of others. The work of others also informed the other sections of the proposal, including the methods. This is in essence the research process, albeit minus conducting actual research experiments. In addition, the repeated exposure to the research conducted by other researchers helped me to absorb what it takes to conduct a successful study.

4. Evaluate the use of nursing research as the basis for clinical decision-making and change through the adoption of evidence-based practice. What I learned from this process is the nursing research is a great resource for investigating what others have discovered for a specific clinical need, such as the risk for health disparities for a specific minority demographic. Based on the nursing research publications I evaluated, I was able to understand that parenting style may be an important syndemic factor influencing the prevalence of risky behaviors among African-American female teens. In addition, nursing interventions may be one way to reduce health disparities for this demographic.

5. Discuss issues related to the conduct of scientific research, including informed consent, data management, data analysis, and protection of human subjects. The primary issues related to the protection of human subjects is to ensure that subjects recruited into a study are made aware of any risks and benefits associated with participation, that participation is completely voluntary, that any data collected will be confidential, and when possible the data is rendered anonymous before analysis, but always de-identified before publication.