EVIDENCED-BASED PRACTICE IN NURSING

Evidenced-Based Practice in Nursing

Evidenced-Based Practice in Nursing

Task A: Critique of Journal Article

Comprehensive critiques of research articles are needed to identify the research findings that should be used in clinical practice (Polit & Beck, 2010). For this paper we chose a journal article by Katapodi, Facione, Miaskowski, Dodd and Waters 2003 titled “The Influence of Social Support on Breast Cancer Screening in a Multicultural Community Sample”. In this critique, we present a section wise critique of the article, starting from background information and literature review, moving ahead to discussion of methodology and conclusion. The following chart shows how the researcher(s) addressed the areas of the research report:

Purpose

The purpose of the research i.e. inspecting or examining the link between women's support from their community and their observance to breast cancer screening recommendations' is well evident in the title. The title precisely states the subject of the paper in a sense that both the dependent variable i.e. breast cancer screening and independent variable i.e. social support are well illustrated.

Abstract

The abstract follows a smooth tone and a fine progression and clearly states the purpose, objectives, design, setting and sample used, methods, main research variables, findings, conclusions and implications on nursing.

Background Information

In preceding studies considerable associations between community support and cancer screening activities are found. Comprehensible explanations of precisely how communal support may persuade women to have cancer screening will, though, necessitate more investigation. Prospective research needs to center on social support in a randomized and intervention studies and to deal with whether definite sources or forms of social support are relatively more vital than others in impacting breast cancer screening attitude amongst women (Noreen 2002).

To end with, future explorations should study the nature and the purpose of communal networks of women amongst American ethnic or racial groups and examine ways that social support may boost defensive health care. Less is acknowledged about Asian or Pacific Islander women and their communal support network.

Review of the Literature

This research supports the earlier studies made to openly look at the correlation between self-reported community support and adherence to suggested breast cancer testing procedures. Also, it is one of the first comprehensive studies as an outsized sample of women from three cultural or racial groups is taken into consideration of the research purpose.

Furthermore, a noteworthy relationship was found between community support and observance to breast cancer screening guidelines that strengthens our assumption that women with added social support are expected to stick on to recommended breast cancer screening guidelines (Ackley 2008). In a broad sense, women reported reasonably moderate to high levels of social support, and this was in great deal evident in the well to do and highly literate women in the sample. Income and literacy level are the two important factors that are used to express socioeconomic standing.

Discussion of methodology

Cautious examination of quantitative research provides practitioners a better appreciation of how an action impacts a set of people (Denise 2010). After reading these studies, nurses would be able to enhance ...