The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) Registered Nurse Standards for Practice (2016) expect that a registered nurse is able to think critically and analyse nursing practice. This is achieved by accessing, analysing, and using the best available evidence, that includes research findings for safe quality practice. In this unit, you will be introduced to an evidence-based approach to clinical inquiry and decision making that informs nursing practice. You will develop skills in locating evidence, evaluating and applying research findings to inform best practice.

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Feedback from Student emails and class discussions.

Live drop-in/consultation sessions were reported as an excellent strategy by students who attended. It provided an opportunity to create examples and have the coordinators demonstrate an actual search and the refinement process. These sessions were also recorded; however, those students who attended in real-time indicated they received the most benefit

Maintain the live sessions.

Feedback from Student emails.

Providing drop-in/consultation sessions in the evening was reported to be very beneficial for students who were balancing family, work, and study requirements.

Maintain some evening sessions to ensure that students who are working or attending to other responsibilities during the day are not disadvantaged.

Feedback from Class discussions and SUTE data.

Promoting research skills in locating supporting journal articles through databases was well received. Students reported that gaining these skills not only assisted with NURS12165, but also enhanced their confidence and use of databases, improving results in their other units.

Demonstrating examples of how to use databases effectively should be maintained. Having coordinators who can use databases with ease and also demonstrate the refinement processes in response to student-directed questions was also identified as good practice of learning and teaching design as a variation of the "flipped classroom".

Feedback from SUTE data and class feedback.

Another positive feature of NURS12165 was the ability to provide a choice of topics for the written assessments. Students were able to select a topic area and formulate a clinical challenge question that aligned with their interests. Students reported that this made learning and undertaking the associated tasks more enjoyable, as they had input and became active contributors to the process.

Embedding this practice of adult learning should be maintained.