NI

• Four major nursing areas where computer is highly used

  • Nursing education
  • Nursing practice
  • Nursing administration
  • Nursing research
• Applying Technology and Informatics to the Nursing Research Process

  1. The Internet and Electronic Research Databases provide access to a large portion of the existing Quantitative and Qualitative literature

  2. This provides foundational data, theory, and research findings to help shape your Research Purpose and investigate your selected Problem in depth

  3. By examining the literature, you can begin to identify the gaps in the literature which can help you to formulate your primary research question(s) and/or hypotheses
• Information is available through so many venues, special interest organizations, community resources, and the Internet
• Search engines allow medical practitioners, nurses, and other members of the health care team to surf the Web and find relevant information
• Formal nursing data sets


  Gathered information such as healthcare definitions, classifications and nursing information
• Research before personal computers (PCs)

  • Extremely time-consuming and challenging task
  • Mainframe computers, if any, were used for data analysis
  • Typewriters were used to present finished documents
  • Everything else, was done by hand
• Research with personal computers

  • Large memory storage
  • User friendly software
  • Research process has become far more manageable for researchers in all fields of study
  • Both quantitative and qualitative studies are facilitated with various computer applications and programs
• Computer applications that support nursing research


  • Topic identification
  • Literature searches
  • Resource Files
  • Data collection tools
  • Proposal preparation
  • Budgets
  • Data collection
  • Data Analysis
  • Final report
  • Sharing of results
• Topic identification


  Through online literature searches, email and discussion groups, and visiting websites
• Literature searches


  Once a topic is chosen, the literature review can be greatly enhanced from current research available on the Web, in databases, and on CD-ROMs, often with full text retrieval
• Resource Files


  Computers can now be used to keep notes of various research searches and observations
• Data collection tools


  Can be retrieved through online searches or created using various graph, spreadsheet, word processing and database applications
• Proposal preparation


  Word processing programs greatly facilitate the editing and writing
• Budgets


  Both the preparation and management of research budgets are made easier with spreadsheet programs
• Data collection


  Various programs can be used to sort and actually collect data, including hospital information systems, spreadsheets, databases, and word processing
• Data Analysis


  Statistical and thematic software can greatly reduce the time and stress of processing both quantitative and qualitative data
• Final report


  Word processing, charts and tables, and statistical graphs can all be easily and quickly done on a computer
• Sharing of results


  Current research findings can be shared with the public at large far quicker using the web and other electronic venues
• Quantitative data collection tools or instruments

  • Questionnaires
  • Interviews
  • Surveys
  • Quizzes
  • Assessments
  • E-mail interviews
  • Web-based surveys
• Nurses may generate and record data from their own observations or with the assistance of various devices
• Free text (informational data, such as drug dosages administered, resources used, problems diagnosed) is recorded electronically
• Software has been designed to collect, sort, organize, store, retrieve, select, and aggregate data
• Research instruments and Data Collection

  Computer programs, the Internet and other technologies can also be used to both create and/or implement a research instrument in both quantitative and qualitative research
• Surveys


  • E-mailed or online surveys can be mounted online using web forms or other software so that participants can complete them and send them to the researcher instantly
  • Software can also be used to create surveys that are completed in person or printed for mail-out
• Survey software


  • WebSurveyor
  • PhpESP
  • LimeSurvey
• Likert Scaling


  An easy to understand overview on how to create likert-scale surveys for paper or web based nonexperimental designs
• Applying Technology and Informatics to the Nursing Research Process can monitor physiological measures, and provide data for research
• Interviews


  The use of computers to facilitate interviews is becoming quite common, through the use of chat rooms, forum like settings, "talking" computers that use Flash based, narrative led interviews, and web video recorded sessions
• Interview software


  • Snap PDA Interviewer
• A key consideration of all research studies is the issue of participant confidentiality and security of all collected data, both demographic and study related
• Resources on confidentiality and data security

  • Improving Access to and Confidentiality of Research Data: Report of a Workshop
  • eHealth Code of Ethics
• Data Analysis methods


  • One of the most profound influences that technology has had on research is in data analysis applications
  • Literally hundreds of hours can be saved by using the appropriate analysis software in both quantitative and qualitative research
  • More rigorous testing can be achieved plus a huge reduction in analyst error
• Quantitative statistics software


  • SPSS
  • Web based Calculators
• Advances in computer-based technology have become an important aspect of nursing research
• With emphasis on innovation in research by funding agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, nurse researchers are attracted to innovative computer technologies
• Computer technology in nursing research

  • May be viewed as an innovative aspect if the rationale for using it is clear and solid
  • May be viewed as a methodological flaw if the rationale for its use in a specific study is weak
• Using the Internet in nursing research

  • Can provide better access to research participants residing in geographically dispersed areas nationally or internationally
  • Can provide a better medium for exploring a specific nursing phenomenon, especially a stigmatized condition
  • If the rationale is not strong or the study could be more effectively conducted using conventional research methods, use of the Internet may detract from the study
• Researchers should carefully consider the rationale for incorporating computer technologies in their studies, looking at both the advantages and disadvantages
• Researchers should be aware of and sensitive to potential unexpected issues throughout the research process due to daily advances in computer technologies
• Researchers should be conscious of the limitations of the specific computer technology that they adopt and work to resolve them