A paediatric nurses' journal club: developing the critical appraisal skills to turn research into practice

Objectives The aim of this study was to determine if implementation of a regular journal club improves critical appraisal confidence and facilitates integrating research literature into nursing practice. Design A survey was distributed to all paediatric nurses across two wards who had potentially attended the journal club in the previous two years. Setting This small scale study was undertaken at a northern Australian hospital. Sample The surveys were distributed to 58 nurses from the two paediatric wards and 33 of them responded but only 29 of these had attended the journal club leaving 29 surveys to be analysed for this study. Results The majority of responses to the survey questions were positive. When statistically analysed by Pearson's correlation, four variables showed a strong association: increased confidence with interpreting research literature, developing critical appraisal skills, the sharing of knowledge and integrating evidence-based practice into nurses' workplace. A number of changes in practice have occurred as a direct result of the journal club. Conclusion The results from this study support the benefits of utilising nursing journal clubs to promote clinical practice that is informed by research evidence.