Conference presentation
Randomised controlled trials in nursing and midwifery research - establishing the evidence for healthcare practice - a case study of current trials
USC Research Conference, 2014 (Sunshine Coast, Australia, 14-Jul-2014–18-Jul-2014)
University of the Sunshine Coast
2014
Abstract
Background: My research matters because it provides the evidence for nursing care delivered to millions of people across the globe every day. It affects life and death in clinical populations. What matters about this research is that it is undertaken in a rigorous and reproducible manner. Currently the medical world views the randomised controlled trial (RCT) as the preferred method to be employed in determining the efficacy of an individual treatment. In medicine the intervention being trialled is often a singularity - a drug; an operation. In nursing our "treatments" are often bundled interventions that require the skill of the operator to administer them effectively - pressure area care; insertion and management of IV devices. This presentation will present examples from two large NHMRC-funded clinical trials and will explore some of the issues that relate to the use of these methods in non-medical clinical trials. Research studies used as exemplars: Two studies will be explored: one a non-inferiority trial of intravenous access device dwell time and the other a cluster randomised controlled trial of a pressure injury prevention study. Issues: The design and methodological issues that arise from complex clinical trials will be discussed. In particular issues related to: team construction, approvals processes, recruitment and retention, randomisation, intention to treat, intervention fidelity, outcome assessment and publication of results, will be presented. Conclusion: A RCT is a very useful research design and brings much better methodological rigour to the investigation of the efficacy of an intervention than other methods such as case control or cohort studies. However, the demands of this type of research require extensive preliminary work, an excellent team and a lot of money if the results are to be used as evidence for practice.
Details
- Title
- Randomised controlled trials in nursing and midwifery research - establishing the evidence for healthcare practice - a case study of current trials
- Authors
- Marianne Wallis (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
- Conference details
- USC Research Conference, 2014 (Sunshine Coast, Australia, 14-Jul-2014–18-Jul-2014)
- Publisher
- University of the Sunshine Coast
- Date published
- 2014
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2014 The Author.
- Organisation Unit
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine - Legacy
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99447756502621
- Output Type
- Conference presentation
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