Article type
Year
Abstract
Introduction: The Virginia Henderson International Nursing Library is experimenting with software (arcs) designed to facilitate storage of study characteristics and research findings in computer files called knowledge bases. The knowledge bases will be placed online at the Henderson Library and continually updated to help nurses keep abreast of research conducted in domains related to clinical nursing practice.
Objectives: The purpose of this project was to participate in testing arcs to evaluate its utility for storage, retrieval, display, and synthesis of information about research reports.
Methods: The software was tested using 48 studies of sleep promotion in adults published between 1971 and 1997. Studies were located using computerized databases, hand searches, ancestry searches, and key informants. Studies were entered into the knowledge base if they provided knowledge about factors related to initiation or maintenance of sleep in ill or aging adults or tested adult sleep promotion interventions that are within the scope of basic nursing practice in the United States.
Results: Nearly 300 articles were screened to locate the 48 studies. Twenty-seven of the studies explored correlates of poor sleep; 21 used a variety of designs to examine one or more of 12 potential interventions for facilitating adult sleep. The interventions studied were grouped according to their presumed mechanism of action: (a) to relax the sleeper, (b) to manage noise, or (c) to re-pattern the sleep-wake schedule. Few studies examined the sleep of ill and older adults using objective measures of sleep improvement. A number of correlates of poor sleep were studied including age, gender, circadian rhythm factors, health status, pain, sleep in new environments, and noise.
Discussion: The software was useful for exploring the sleep promotion research domain. It facilitated summary of substantive, methodological, and publication features of studies as well as provided useful displays of quantitative and qualitative aspects of pairs of variables studied together. It was concluded that storage of evaluation research results in units that link interventions with specific outcomes facilitated retrieval, summarization, and evaluation of synthesis-readiness of sleep promotion research. The storage of knowledge about correlates of sleep initiation and maintenance was similarly useful for examining correlational work in this research domain. Gaps in knowledge in the sleep promotion research domain and its lack or readiness for quantitative research synthesis could readily be assessed. Funding. This work was made possible by a Fuld Research Scholar Award from Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI). The larger project, "A New Learning Paradigm for Nursing," is funded by a grant from the Helene Fuld Health Trust to STTI. Judith R. Graves, PhD, FAAN, developer of arcs, and Director of Infomatics at the Virginia Henderson Library served as project coordinator for the beta-testing phase of the project.
Objectives: The purpose of this project was to participate in testing arcs to evaluate its utility for storage, retrieval, display, and synthesis of information about research reports.
Methods: The software was tested using 48 studies of sleep promotion in adults published between 1971 and 1997. Studies were located using computerized databases, hand searches, ancestry searches, and key informants. Studies were entered into the knowledge base if they provided knowledge about factors related to initiation or maintenance of sleep in ill or aging adults or tested adult sleep promotion interventions that are within the scope of basic nursing practice in the United States.
Results: Nearly 300 articles were screened to locate the 48 studies. Twenty-seven of the studies explored correlates of poor sleep; 21 used a variety of designs to examine one or more of 12 potential interventions for facilitating adult sleep. The interventions studied were grouped according to their presumed mechanism of action: (a) to relax the sleeper, (b) to manage noise, or (c) to re-pattern the sleep-wake schedule. Few studies examined the sleep of ill and older adults using objective measures of sleep improvement. A number of correlates of poor sleep were studied including age, gender, circadian rhythm factors, health status, pain, sleep in new environments, and noise.
Discussion: The software was useful for exploring the sleep promotion research domain. It facilitated summary of substantive, methodological, and publication features of studies as well as provided useful displays of quantitative and qualitative aspects of pairs of variables studied together. It was concluded that storage of evaluation research results in units that link interventions with specific outcomes facilitated retrieval, summarization, and evaluation of synthesis-readiness of sleep promotion research. The storage of knowledge about correlates of sleep initiation and maintenance was similarly useful for examining correlational work in this research domain. Gaps in knowledge in the sleep promotion research domain and its lack or readiness for quantitative research synthesis could readily be assessed. Funding. This work was made possible by a Fuld Research Scholar Award from Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI). The larger project, "A New Learning Paradigm for Nursing," is funded by a grant from the Helene Fuld Health Trust to STTI. Judith R. Graves, PhD, FAAN, developer of arcs, and Director of Infomatics at the Virginia Henderson Library served as project coordinator for the beta-testing phase of the project.