Evidence-Based Practice Challenge: Teaching Critical Appraisal of Systematic Reviews and Clinical Practice Guidelines to Graduate Students

Abstract

The TREAD Evidence-Based Practice Model is a framework for faculty to use in graduate research courses so students can become excellent consumers of the best available evidence to use in their clinical decision making in the practice setting. This model is based on competency in information literacy as the basis for developing evidence-based search strategies to find, appraise, and synthesize Level I evidence, including systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and evidence-based practice guidelines. This model emphasizes the use of standardized critical appraisal tools, such as the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) or Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE), to facilitate user-friendly rapid appraisal of Level I evidence. Faculty are challenged to embrace this paradigm shift, to unlearn how they learned, and to teach their graduate research course focusing on the importance of Level I evidence to enable their graduates to make informed advanced practice decisions and improve patient outcomes.

Educating DNP Students about Critical Appraisal and Knowledge Translation

“…Students can then begin to develop critical appraisal skills by evaluating systematic reviews and RCTs using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP) guidelines (http://www.casp-uk.net/) and CPGs using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) instrument (AGREE Next Steps Consortium, 2009;Krainovich-Miller, Haber, Yost, & Jacobs, 2007).…”

How can we maximize nursing students’ learning about research evidence and utilization in undergraduate, preregistration programmes? A discussion paper

“…There is some evidence that teaching research appraisal can improve undergraduates' skills in assessing the methodological rigour of a study (Norman & Shannon 1998). Critical appraisal skills can be developed through use of critical appraisal frameworks (Duffy 2005, Krainovich-Miller et al 2009) and structuring educational sessions in three steps: a clinical question to be addressed, searching for evidence and appraising evidence (Ghali et al 2000, Smith-Strom & Nortvedt 2008; wherever possible this process should be specific to a (real or simulated) patient (Bergus et al 2004).…”

TIPS AND TRICKS: Critical appraisal of systematic reviews

“…When a systematic review is first located, it should be clear from the title or the abstract if the report fits the clinical question at hand. However, it should be noted that sometimes what are called systematic reviews in their titles do not meet the criteria to be systematic reviews, and sometimes systematic reviews are described as integrative reviews 9 . Decisions about whether to use a report require going beyond an examination of the abstract alone.…”