Enhancing the evaluation of nursing care effectiveness.

Evaluating the effectiveness of nursing care is necessary for developing a sound knowledge base to guide practice. Several studies have been conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of nursing care or interventions in producing the desired outcomes. While the results of these studies are encouraging, they do not provide a comprehensive and realistic evaluation of the contribution of nursing. Factors related to patient characteristics and implementation of care are not accounted for. The outcomes selected do not reflect the direct benefits of nursing care or interventions. In this paper, research methods for conducting effectiveness research in a way that would identify the unique contribution of nursing care delivered under the conditions of the real world of everyday practice are discussed. Examples are provided to illustrate the points of discussion.