Scholarship for Practice

Cassaundra Braden

To me this refers to reaching for a higher level of learning to better myself and my scope
of practice. Use of evidence based research has guided my BSN and taught me the importance
of incorporating my continuing education into my practice. My plan is to complete my BSN
along with the goals I have set for my masters with interest in either midwifery or family nurse
practitioner. The APA papers and research assignments found under each tab are examples of
my continuing research of evidence based literature throughout the BSN program to better my
own practice.
The first paper was on a topic that I spent a large amount of time researching. I was
working in long term care at the beginning of the BSN program and focused my studies on
physician assisted suicide. This paper was written in my first semester of my BSN and was my
first experience with writing an analytical report and evaluating the research available. This
assignment gave me the foundation in formatting research papers that I then evolved into my
current skills set in the BSN program.
The second APA paper was written on health education in elementary school in order to
lead to children having a more active adulthood and fewer obesity related health concerns. I had
not focused on this age group in any other assignments so it was good for me to gain knowledge
on the growing concerns of obesity in childhood. Because of this assignment I found evidence
based research to support my position while I gained knowledge on a new patient population.
The first research paper involved using a PICO question to format research on a specific
topic. I chose to study alcohol caps on central lines because I had just begun working for a
facility that utilized them and had seen great improvement in infection rates. This assignment is
when I really felt that I had an increased knowledge of how to create a research paper. Using the
PICO questions learned in my BSN programed helped me to aim my evidence based research on
a target rather than a general topic.
The second assignment provided under the research tab was completed earlier in my BSN
program and dealt with reviewing the research that I used to write a paper or medication errors in
long term care. This topic had a lot of evidence based literature that I had to comb through to
determine what was most accurate and relevant to my paper. Because of the large volume of
research this assignment helped me establish a method for locating and evaluating evidence
based literature. This was a tool I would use again and again throughout my BSN program.
The final assignment is a research project meant to assess the knowledge of resources for
impaired nurses. For this project I had to collect research on nursing impairment and then
determine a research question that needed to be answered and a study that would answer the
question. This was the first research poster I had made but I was able to use my knowledge from
a previous assignment in the BSN program that involved PICO questions. This assignment
tested my critical thinking and clinical reasoning and taught me the importance of focused
research to provide help to a population in need.