Critical Appraisal of Evidence-Based Practice and Published Literature

Running head: CRITICAL APPRAISAL 1
Critical Appraisal
Name
Institution

CRITICAL APPRAISAL 2
Critical Appraisal
Introduction
Nursing is a challenging and dynamic discipline that requires a practitioner to be
knowledgeable and all-round. A competent nurse should possess a wide range of attributes such
as effective interpersonal communication, intercultural understanding, decision-making,
educational, and problem-solving skills. That is the only way through which a nurse can deliver
quality healthcare services to the satisfaction of the patients. However, to acquire, develop,
nurture, and refine such skills, a nurse should be ready to embrace the culture of Evidence-Based
Practice because it emphasizes on the need of integrating personal knowledge with external
clinical evidence from scientific research. The purpose of this paper is to present a critical
analysis of the concept of Evidence-Based Practice in reference to published literature.
Part A
"Exploring Resilience and Mindfulness as Preventative Factors for Psychological Distress
Burnout and Secondary Traumatic Stress among Human Service Professionals"
I would like to begin this task by conducting a critical appraisal of "Exploring Resilience
and Mindfulness as Preventative Factors for Psychological Distress Burnout and Secondary
Traumatic Stress among Human Service Professionals." This is an article that was authored by
Frances Klaassen, Harker, Rachel, Steven King, and Aileen M. Pidgeon. The authors use this
article to provide a comprehensive analysis of the correlation between the concepts of Secondary
Traumatic Stress, psychological burn out, and distress on one hand and resilience and
mindfulness on the other hand. In accordance to their findings, the researchers establish that
psychological burn out, distress and Secondary Traumatic Stress are common challenges faced

CRITICAL APPRAISAL 3
by the people who work in the human service sector (Harker, Pidgeon, Klaassen & King, 2016).
However, the research revealed that these conditions can be addressed if appropriate measures
are taken to apply the concepts of mindfulness and resilience.
Authorship
I would like to say, without fear of contradiction that this is an invaluable publication. It
presents useful information that can be relied upon to understand the significance of resilience
and mindfulness in dealing with the problem of psychological burnout and distress amongst the
workers (Bowling, 2014). The article is good it was written by a team of professionals who are
credible and have a sound knowledge of the subject matter addressed in the paper. Whereas
Harker is attached to the Bond University’s Department of Psychology, both Pidgeon and
Klaasen have been serving at the Brisbane-based Mercy Family Services. This is clear proof that
the book was written by credible writers who not only work in this field, but have authored many
other authoritative publications used today. Hence, there was no conflict of interest in any of
them because they were researching and writing on a topic that they know best.
Research Question
The authors demonstrated their professional and writing prowess by publishing an article
that had suitable research question and aims to be addressed. The main research question that
was to be responded to was to find out the roles of resilience and mindfulness in addressing the
problem of psychological burnout and stress amongst the service workers (Harker, Pidgeon,
Klaassen & King, 2016). This was, of course, a good question because it provided a clear
roadmap on exactly what the study would be about. It was a good objective because it would be