Unit Code: EMN980

Unit Name: Research Methods and Proposal Development in Emergency Nursing

Description: This course expands students’ understanding of, and commitment to, the development of evidence-based practice and helps them develop broader and deeper knowledge about current health care research. Students revise the process of evidence-based practice and apply their skills to critically appraise research evidence relevant to common health problems. Students completing this subject develop an understanding and appreciation of the multiple ways through which knowledge is generated. Integration of research evidence into practice for the delivery of high-quality care is discussed and the current implementation models are explored and evaluated. In this course, students select a research topic and gain experience in critiquing and understanding a variety of research methodologies that can be used when undertaking independent original research. Students have the opportunity to translate findings from a literature review to begin to develop a research proposal that reflects methodological quality, rigor and feasibility, and highlights implications for practice or policy.

Learning Target Outcomes: On successful completion of this course, the students will be able to: 1. Examine the role of evidence based practice in improving the quality of health care 2. Convert a clinical problem into a focused question to direct the search for research evidence 3. Design and effective, reproducible and transparent search strategy to access relevant evidence 4. Critically appraise available research evidence for rigor, importance, , and applicability to a clinical setting 5. Analyse, synthesize, and apply research evidence to inform decision making in health care 6. Examine the factors influencing the implementation of evidence-based practice into current healthcare 7. Identify a gap in the literature, choose a feasible research topic, justify its significance and develop their research aims and objectives 8. Design and articulate key components of a research proposal for an original study, inclusive of: a descriptive study title; background (literature review); study aim and /or research questions; methods (inclusive of design, sample, intervention [if applicable], data collection, data management and analysis 9. Build a creative and valid argument to support the selection of a specific research method/design

Prerequisite: N/A

Prerequisite Sentence: N/A

Credit Point: 30

Offered In: Semester 1,2