VCCC Alliance: Essential Research Skills for Clinical Nurses

Overview

Designed For

This course has been developed for clinical nurses who want to establish or strengthen essential research skills.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the eleven course modules and self-assessment activities, learners will be able to:

1. Appreciate the importance of research skills for clinical nurses
2. Develop a research question to address gaps in clinical practice
3. Understand principles of research integrity and ethics
4. Understand the importance of consumers in research and the principles of consumer engagement
5. Recognise different research approaches and identify the most appropriate method to answer a research question
6. Appreciate that there are different ways of collecting and analysing data that need to align with a chosen research approach
7. Understand the principles of how to implement evidence into practice.

Course Units

This course requires approximately 20 hours of study and assessment.

Module 0: Study Guide

Module 1: Getting started: an introduction to nurse-led research

Module 2: Literature searching and reference management

Module 3: Types of literature reviews and critical appraisal

Module 4: How to conduct a literature review

Module 5: The fundamentals of qualitative research

Module 6: The fundamentals of quantitative research

Module 7: The fundamentals of mixed methods research

Module 8: Principles of qualitative analysis

Module 9: Principles of quantitative analysis

Module 10: Principles of implementation science

Module 11: The next steps on your research journey

Assessment

Learners are engaged through video,  case examples, interactive and self-assessment activities which support and reinforce learning.

Delivery Mode

The course is delivered online and can be accessed via any web browser or mobile phone.

Endorsements

This course is endorsed by ACN according to our Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Endorsed Course Standards. It has been allocated 20 CPD hours according to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia – Continuing Professional Development Standard.

Module contributors:

• Geoff Hill (module 2), Clinical Librarian, Royal Melbourne Hospital
• Associate Professor Stephanie Best (module 10), Senior Research Lead: Implementation Science – Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre: VCCC Alliance: Australian Genomics

Course reviewers:

• Sharan Ermel, Consumer representative, VCCC Alliance
• George Kiossoglou, Consumer representative, VCCC Alliance, WEHI, RMH, and MACH
• Jake McMahon, Clinician Researcher, St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne
• Alicia Mew, e-Learning Developer, VCCC Alliance
• Dr Donna Milne, Nurse consultant Melanoma and Skin Service, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
• Irene Moravski, Program Coordinator – Nurse-Led Research, VCCC Alliance
• Kyleigh Smith, Associate Head, Education, VCCC Alliance