Determining the strength of a nursing research study is a critical process that enhances the implementation of evidence-based practice. Determining the strength of a nursing research study ensures that the empirical knowledge developed through nursing research is useful in improving nursing care, the system of healthcare delivery, and patient outcomes. Additionally, nurses should use research findings when making clinical decisions on the best practice to use in order to deliver healthcare services that ensure all the patients receive safe and quality care (Melnyk et al. 2014). Therefore, determining the strength of a nursing research study helps to ensure the evidence is credible (valid and reliable) and is appropriate if incorporated into clinical practice.
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According to Grove, Burns, and Gray (2015), systematic review and meta-analysis are considered to have the strongest evidence because the researchers utilize explicit methods when conducting systematic reviews, which assist to eliminate bias to facilitate production of reliable findings. The meta-analysis and evidence-based guideline has strong evidence and are ranked on the topic together with systematic reviews. The randomized control trial is the next in the pyramid, followed by quasi-experimental study, non-experimental (such as correlation and cohort studies), a systematic review of the qualitative study, descriptive study and expert opinion in that order. The randomized control trials are experiments used to test the efficiency of healthcare interventions by assigning individual control or experimental groups. Controlled clinical trials are testing treatment used for evaluating the outcome of a studied intervention where a bias-free method is used to assign patients to the treatment
According to Grove, Burns, and Gray (2015), systematic review and meta-analysis are considered to have the strongest evidence because the researchers utilize explicit methods when conducting systematic reviews, which assist to eliminate bias to facilitate production of reliable findings. The meta-analysis and evidence-based guideline has strong evidence and are ranked on the topic together with systematic reviews. The randomized control trial is the next in the pyramid, followed by quasi-experimental study, non-experimental (such as correlation and cohort studies), a systematic review of the qualitative study, descriptive study and expert opinion in that order. The randomized control trials are experiments used to test the efficiency of healthcare interventions by assigning individual control or experimental groups. Controlled clinical trials are testing treatment used for evaluating the outcome of a studied intervention where a bias-free method is used to assign patients to the treatment