Step 0: Cultivate a spirit of inquiry – choosing a topic: One thing that went well with this step was that we all felt very passionate about this topic and I think it really helped us because we were all so interested in the topic and wanted to find answers. One challenge we faced was figuring out specifically what we wanted to focus on with the topic because it is a broad topic on its own and we had to focus in on something like risk factors to be able to do proper research.
Step 1: Ask the burning clinical question in PICOT format: One thing that went well with this step was since we already were so passionate about our topic it was easy to form a question around it because it was a question we all wanted to know the answer to. We already knew which population we wanted to deal with and the problems facing them. One challenge with this step was time because suicide is something that is constant and there could be a new study about it everyday because it is so prevalent so we had to focus on the risk factors that affect nurses and suicide because that would help us research much more.
Step 2: Search for and collect the most relevant evidence – finding articles: One thing that went well with this step was that there were so many articles and pages that had information about this topic that we could choose from. The challenge we faced was being able to find articles that were credible and had facts other than opinions because since suicide is such a huge topic a lot of people have their strong opinions on it that can be very compelling, but some of them aren’t facts that we could put into a research paper. To fix this we had to make sure we were finding credible articles and focusing more on the facts.
Step 3: Critically appraise the evidence – Part I (rapid critical appraisal): One thing that went well with this step was it helped our team focus in on all of the information from every article and see which information or quotes we could really use. A challenge during this part was going through all of the information because our information wasn’t very black and white it had a lot of grey areas of information that we didn’t have access too or it wasn’t researched so we had to focus in on the information we did have and what information related to other information we found in other articles.
Step 3: Critically appraise the evidence – Part II (evidence table & annotated bibliography): This step really helped our team to group each article into what information each one had and helped us compare and contrast each article. The challenge with this again was digging out the relevant information that was relevant to OUR paper and not our personal opinions.
Step 3: Critically appraise the evidence – Part III (synthesis – writing the paper): One thing that went well with this was that we were able to give each person a part of the paper and it helped us to organize every part. The challenge with this is that we weren’t able to see each other most of the time so we had to make sure we communicated efficiently to make sure no one used quotes twice in the paper or repeated themselves.
Final Reflection: I learned a lot from writing this paper. The main thing I learned that I will take with me for the rest of my career is making sure to check my sources. You can’t always believe what you see on the Internet because it isn’t always a credible source and if its not a fact or doesn’t come from a study then it is really just someone stating their opinion. I would want a future employer to know that the information I am giving to others, especially patients, is credible and can really help someone to heal. I also learned that as a nurse, diseases don’t have to be only physical because mental health is a huge part of someone well being and if it is compromised then that can really affect the way someone heals in a negative way. This paper really made me think about the facts and information that I need to focus on. It also helped me learn more about diving into research and the proper way to do it so that one day when I’m a nurse I can do research myself and see what can work best for my patients to help improve the quality of care that we give patients everyday.
