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Evidence-Based Medicine Nursing Guide: Critically Appraise the Literature

Appraise

In the Evidence-Based Nursing Practice process is to critically appraise the evidence and then synthesize it to answer your clinical question.
  • First, you will need to ready research articles to critically appraise them.
  • In research studies, determine the quality of the research.  Select articles that provide the best evidence.
  • Take the articles you select to help answer clinical question.
Refer to JAMAevidence Users' Guide to Medical Literature (ebook) that give you detailed explanations on how to appraise published research studies.

Critically Appraise the Evidence

Once you have found the articles in your search, take a look at each and answer the questions below.
1.  Are the results valid?
  • How strong is the evidence?
  • What was the study design, and is it the most appropriate for the question domain?
  • Was there bias?
2.  Are the results important?
  • How large was the treatment effect?
  • Are results clinically significant (not just statistically significant)?
3.  Will the results help me care for my patient?
  • Does it answer my question?
  • Is the study's patient problem similar enough to my patient?
4.  Does this resource help answer my PICO/Clinical Question well enough to write about it?
  • Is it an important article in this particular field?
  • Does it directly address at least one part of my PICO question?
  • Will it help me make my argument?