COURSE INFORMATION
Every day, healthcare professionals make important clinical decisions based on published research. The ability to distinguish high-quality evidence from poorly designed studies is an essential skill for delivering safe, effective, evidence-based patient care. Whether participating in clinical research, leading quality improvement initiatives, pursuing graduate education, or seeking to become a more informed consumer of the scientific literature, understanding the principles of health research is increasingly valuable across all healthcare professions.
Designed for nurses, physicians, advanced care providers, clinical research coordinators, clinical research associates, research assistants, research technicians, research trainees, quality improvement professionals and other healthcare professionals working in hospitals, academic medical centers, research institutes, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, contract research organizations, and public health settings, this course provides a comprehensive introduction to the principles and practices that form the foundation of high-quality health research.
Beginning with the recognition of an important clinical observation, this course guides students through the complete process of designing a scientifically rigorous and ethically sound health research study. Learners develop practical skills for formulating meaningful and clinically relevant research questions, conducting reviews of the scientific literature, identifying important gaps in current knowledge, developing focused research aims, selecting appropriate research designs, and designing comprehensive research protocols capable of producing valid, reproducible, and clinically meaningful evidence.
The course also examines the roles and responsibilities of research team members, mentorship, authorship, and interdisciplinary collaboration while emphasizing professionalism, scientific integrity, and responsible conduct throughout every stage of the research process.
Students compare observational, experimental, qualitative, and mixed-methods research designs while evaluating the strengths, limitations, and appropriate applications of each approach for answering real-world clinical questions. The ethical principles governing human subjects research, including respect for persons, beneficence, and justice and the ways that these principles are implemented through informed consent, Institutional Review Board (IRB) oversight, and regulatory compliance are examined in depth.
Throughout the course, learners strengthen the critical appraisal skills needed to distinguish trustworthy evidence from studies limited by bias, methodological weaknesses, or ethical shortcomings. While the course provides the foundation needed to design and conduct health research, it is equally valuable for healthcare professionals whose primary goal is to become more informed consumers of scientific evidence and more effective practitioners of evidence-based healthcare.
Upon completion, students will possess the knowledge and practical framework needed to evaluate published scientific evidence, confidently contribute to health research and quality improvement initiatives, and apply scientific evidence more effectively to improve patient care.
Course Code: RM 500. Contract hours of education: 50 hours.
Instructor/Course Author: Johanna DiStefano, Ph.D.
Link to Resume: access here
TIME FRAME: You are allotted two years from the date of enrollment, to complete all of the courses in the Holistic & Integrative health care practice program. There are no set time-frames, other than the two year allotted time. If you do not complete the courses within the two-year time-frame, you will be removed from the course and an “incomplete” will be recorded for you in our records. Also, if you would like to complete the courses after this two-year expiration time, you would need to register and pay the course tuition fee again.
TEXTBOOKS: There is one (1) required textbook for this course.
Introduction to Health Research Methods by Kathryn H. Jacobsen, Third Edition, 2021 (Jones and Bartlett Learning, Burlington, MA)
Link to Purchase on Amazon.com: click here
Reading/Study Assignment: this course covers Chapters One (1) through Eighteen (18) in the required textbook.
GRADING: You must achieve a passing score of at least 70% to complete this course and receive the 50 hours of awarded continuing education credit. There are no letter grades assigned. You will receive notice of your total % score. Those who score below the minimum of 70% will be contacted by the and options for completing additional course work to achieve a passing score, will be presented.
BOARD APPROVALS: The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is an Approved Provider for Continuing Education by the South Carolina Professional Counselors, Marriage & Family Therapists and Psycho-Educational Specialists licensing board, Provider # 4637.
AIHCP is an approved provider of continuing education by the Florida Board of Nursing and the District of Columbia Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975. Access information
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals (The Provider) is approved by the California Board of Registered Nurses, Provider number # CEP 15595 for 50 Contact Hours.
This course, which is approved by the Florida State Board Of Nursing (CE Provider # 50-11975) also has the following Board of Nursing Approvals, for 50 contact hours of CE
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the Arkansas Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the Georgia Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the South Carolina Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the West Virginia Board of Examiners for Professional Registered Nurses. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the New Mexico Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.
Course Refund & AIHCP Policies: access here
ONLINE CLASSROOM RESOURCES AND TOOLS
* Examination Access: there is link to take you right to the online examination program where you can print out your examination and work with it. All examinations are formatted as “open book” tests. When you are ready, you can access the exam program at anytime and click in your responses to the questions. Full information is provided in the online classrooms.
* Student Resource Center: there is a link for access to a web page “Student Resource Center.” The Resource Center provides for easy access to all of our policies/procedures and additional information regarding applying for certification. We also have many links to many outside reference sites, such as online libraries that you may freely access.
* Online Evaluation: there is a link in the classroom where you may access the course evaluation. All students completing a course, must, without exception, complete the course evaluation.
* Faculty Access Information: you will have access to your instructor’s online resume/biography, as well as your instructor’s specific contact information.
* Additional Learning Materials: some faculty have prepared additional “readings” and /or brief lecture notes to enhance your experience. All of these are available in the online classrooms.
Course Objectives: Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
- Explain the role of clinical research in advancing healthcare and improving patient outcomes
- Formulate clear, focused, and answerable clinical research questions
- Assess the scientific literature to identify knowledge gaps and justify the need for the proposed research
- Develop a mentorship plan that identifies appropriate mentors and defines expectations for an effective mentor-mentee relationship
- Apply accepted authorship criteria to evaluate coauthorship, author order, and authorship responsibilities
- Compare and select appropriate study approaches, including observational versus experimental studies and primary, secondary, and tertiary research designs, based on a specific research question
- Develop the essential components of a scientifically rigorous clinical research protocol
- Differentiate among case reports, cross-sectional, case-control, cohort, experimental, correlational, and qualitative study designs, and evaluate their strengths and limitations
- Evaluate the relationship between study design and the quality of evidence used to inform healthcare practice
- Synthesize research findings to address a focused clinical research question
- Apply principles of scientific rigor and reproducibility to clinical research design
- Apply fundamental principles of research ethics to the design of human subjects research
- Assess informed consent documents and processes to ensure they meet ethical and regulatory requirements
- Analyze the roles and responsibilities of Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) and other ethical oversight mechanisms in protecting research participants
- Appraise published clinical research for scientific validity, methodological rigor, and ethical conduct