Nursing
Levels of Evidence in Nursing Research
Level one: Evidence from a systematic review or meta-analysis of all relevant RCTs (randomized controlled trial) or evidence-based clinical practice guidelines based on systematic reviews of RCTs or three or more RCTs of good quality that have similar results.
Level two: Evidence obtained from at least one well-designed RCT (e.g. large multi-site RCT).
Level three: Evidence obtained from well-designed controlled trials without randomization (i.e. quasi-experimental).
Level four: Evidence from well-designed case-control or cohort studies.
Level five: Evidence from systematic reviews of descriptive and qualitative studies (meta-synthesis).
Level six: Evidence from a single descriptive or qualitative study.
Level seven: Evidence from the opinion of authorities and/or reports of expert committees.
The content above is based on: Ackley, B. J., Swan, B. A., Ladwig, G., & Tucker, S. (2008). Evidence-based nursing care guidelines: Medical-surgical interventions. (p. 7). St. Louis, MO: Mosby Elsevier.
Evidence Based Practice Resources
- Using PubMed in Evidence-Based PracticeThis course will show you how to use evidence-based practice when searching clinical questions using PubMed®.
- Evidence-Based Practice, Step by StepThis collection of articles was authored by faculty from the Arizona State University College of Nursing and Health Innovation's Center for the Advancement of Evidence-Based Practice. The purpose of this series is to give nurses the knowledge and skills they need to implement EBP consistently, one step at a time.
- Center for Evidence Based EvidenceThe CEBM is part of Oxford University's Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences. They research, practice and disseminate evidence-based medicine in health care decision making, and are committed to improving healthcare by fostering wider communication of high quality evidence, by promoting the principles of EBM through engagement, knowledge sharing, research and education.
- Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) ReportsThe Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), sponsors the development of these reports to assist organizations in their efforts to improve the quality of healthcare in the U.S. These reports provide comprehensive, science-based information on common, costly medical conditions and new healthcare technologies and strategies. The EPCs review all relevant scientific literature and reflect research on methodology of evidence synthesis.
- Campbell CollaborationThe Campbell Collaboration is an international social science research network that produces high quality, open and policy-relevant evidence syntheses, plain language summaries and policy briefs.
- Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP)Critical Appraisal skills enable you to systematically assess the trustworthiness, relevance and results of published papers. CASP offers easy to use checklists to help you read research. Using critical appraisal skills and tools enables users of research evidence to reach their own judgements.
Open Educational Resources (OER) in Nursing
- Open Textbook Library - MedicineOpen textbooks are licensed by authors and publishers to be freely used and adapted. Download, edit and distribute them at no cost.
- National Library of Medicine BookshelfBookshelf provides free online access to books and documents in life science and healthcare. Search, read, and discover.
- Open RNOER Nursing textbooks are written based on the State Nursing curriculum established by the Wisconsin Technical College System and the current NCLEX-RN Test Plan.
- Directory of Open Access BooksDOAB is a community-driven discovery service that indexes and provides access to scholarly, peer-reviewed open access books and helps users to find trusted open access book publishers. All DOAB services are free of charge and all data is freely available.
- Teaching Commons: Medicine & Health SciencesTextbooks, course sites, syllabi, course materials, lectures and more
- InTechOpen: Health SciencesBooks in the science, technology and medicine fields.
- The National Academies Press: Health and MedicineDatabase of reports and books from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
- Open Access Publishing in European NetworksOAPEN works with publishers to build a quality controlled collection of open access books and provides services for publishers, libraries, and research funders in the areas of dissemination, quality assurance, and digital preservation.
- SAGE Open Medical Case ReportsA peer reviewed, open access journal. It publishes short case reports providing key insights into real medical cases essential for physicians, and that ultimately help to improve patient outcomes.
- Online Journal of Nursing InformaticsOJNI is a free, international, peer reviewed publication that is published three times a year and supports all functional areas of nursing informatics.
- BMC NursingBMC Nursing is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers articles on all aspects of nursing research, training, education and practice.
- Clinical Nursing StudiesA peer-reviewed and international nursing journal that focuses on the field of clinical nursing. Strong coverage of ambulatory care, community care, family care, home, hospital, practice, primary and secondary, public health, etc. is provided.
- MedEdPORTAL: The Journal of Teaching and Learning ResourcesA peer reviewed open-access journal of teaching and learning resources in the health professions published by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), in partnership with the American Dental Education Association.
- PLoS JournalsThe Public Library of Science (PLOS) is a nonprofit publisher and advocacy organization founded to accelerate progress in science and medicine by leading a transformation in research communication. PLOS publishes a suite of influential Open Access journals across all areas of science and medicine.
- Listing of Open Access JournalsOpen access journals from Open Access Initiative
- OER Resources from University of MichiganWelcome to our collection of open educational resources (OER) from University of Michigan. Access a range of course materials, videos, lectures, student work and more. Nearly all of the content here is openly licensed for reuse under Creative Commons
- Merlot Health Science PortalPortal that serves as an educational resource for health professionals.
- OER Commons - NursingOER Resources for Nursing Studies.
- Merlot NursingAssignments, assessment tools, case studies, courses, textbooks, and more
Nursing FAQs
Research Support
Need help navigating library resources and services? Contact information for the Nursing Library Liaison is listed at the bottom of this page.
Librarian for Nursing
- Last Updated: Jul 23, 2024 4:31 PM
- URL: https://guides.iona.edu/nursing
- Print Page