Evidence Based Practice

The purpose of this assignment is to critically evaluate two journal articles from a selection of six.   One is a quantitative piece; the other is a qualitative piece.   A framework devised by Benton and Cormack (2000) has been used to help the process of critiquing in this assignment.   This particular framework had been chosen, as it is a comprehensive framework covering most points needed in the critiquing process.   This framework can be applied to both qualitative and quantitative research.   However the framework will not be used as a definitive checklist.   In this assignment the first article that will be discussed is a qualitative piece of research by Simons J., Franck L. &Roberson E (2001).   Titled : Parent involvement in children's pain care: views of parents and nurses.   Journal of Advanced Nursing,   36(4), 591-599.
This study looks at the views of parents and nurses about the involvement of parents in the management of their child's pain during the first 48 hours after surgery.   The second piece of research is a quantitative piece by Dekyser F.G., Cohen B.B. & Wagner N. (2001). Titled: knowledge levels and attitudes of staff nurses in Israel towards complementary and alternative medicine. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 36(1), 41-48.   The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge level and attitudes of Israeli nurses towards complementary and alternative medicine and what factors are related to these variables.   Finally a short conclusion will be drawn up on completion of both critiques.
In the first article, which is a qualitative study the participants were clearly identified as 20 parents and 20 nurses all the parents and nurses approached agreed to participate in the study. The sample of   parents were mothers only, as the father although considered for interview were not available.   The sample for the study was recruited from parents of children who had surgery at a large urban children's hospital in...