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Student Nurse Critical Review of Literature

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Research is the systematic and rigorous process of enquiry which aims to describe phenomena and to develop explanatory concepts and theories (Bowling 1997). A research question should be feasible, of interest to the researcher, original, relevant and ethically sound (Sim and Wright 2000). Evidence based health care involves the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence about care of individual patients (Sackett et all 1996). In order to approach evidence based care in an evidenced based way the evidence available needs to be reviewed. A health care professional which practices in an evidence based way continues to improve their knowledge base and increase confidence and clinical decision making.

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The history of clinical trials dates back to approximately 600 B.C. when Daniel of Judah conducted what is probably the earliest recorded clinical trial. Randomised controlled trials are the most rigorous way of determining whether a cause effect relation exists between treatment and outcome and for assessing the cost effectiveness of a treatment.
Many randomised controlled trials involve large sample sizes because many treatments have relatively small effects. The size of the expected effect of the intervention is the main determinant of the sample size necessary to conduct a successful randomized controlled trial. Obtaining statistically significant differences between two samples is easy if large differences are expected. However, the smaller the expected effect of the intervention, the larger the sample size needed to be able to conclude, with enough power, that the differences are unlikely to be due to chance
Gould et al (1999) trail was randomised however it was uncontrolled. This kind of clinical trial does not involve a control treatment. Any study that does not have a control group consisting of patients treated and followed up over the same time period as those in a treated group.
When research involving human participants is carried out within an institution such as a hospital, formal ethical approval is normally required (Sim and Wright 2000). All participants gave informed consent. Informed

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