In nursing, the use of data in health outcomes evaluation is a crucial element of research. For example, when applying nursing interventions to a patient or a group of patients, a nurse practitioner should consider the outcomes in the intervention group and compare them to the same rates or indicators among the members of the control group; this is how a correlation between interventions and outcomes is established (Moorhead, Johnson, Maas, & Swanson, 2014). Planned data collection and analysis, as well as evaluation of outcomes, are part of research methodology; they should be considered in a study before it is conducted.
The three P’s of dissemination are posters, papers, and presentations. The method considered for the presented study as the most appropriate is presentation. Unlike papers, presentations allow discussing research results in the presence of an audience and providing additional materials, such as visuals, to promote the understanding of results. Also, in presentations, it is possible to provide more information and more context than in posters.
In other words, posters can present statements, but they often fail to show how certain results were achieved, which is an important element of generating evidence (Grove, Burns, & Gray, 2012) and one that can be included in a presentation.
Not only is a presentation a convenient method for delivering the research results to an audience, but also these results are expected to have a positive impact. Their main strength is that they help a nurse practitioner develop a better understanding of how nursing care should be provided to patients so that their needs are properly recognized and met. To reach more nurse practitioners who could benefit from the research results, dissemination methods should be appropriately planned.
References
Grove, S. K., Burns, N., & Gray, J. (2012). The practice of nursing research: Appraisal, synthesis, and generation of evidence (7th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.
Moorhead, S., Johnson, M., Maas, M. L., & Swanson, E. (2014). Nursing outcomes classification: Measurement of health outcomes (5th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.