Running head: JOURNAL CLUB 1

Journal Club

Angela Purgiel

Ferris State University

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Journal Club

A journal club can be very empowering to a nurse. Not only does it review current

evidence based practices but it can lead to a culture change within the unit or setting the club is

taking place. A journal club allows nurses to be informed regarding current practices and this can

lead to changes in practice habits and policies that affect safer patient outcomes. This is an

outline of how to prepare a PICOT journal club in the setting of an Intensive Care Unit.

In order to establish a journal club the Advancing Research & Clinical Practice through

Close Collaboration (ARCC) Model can be used to aid in the proper planning of establishing a

club. Prior to begining a journal club an “assessment of organizational culture and readiness for

evidence based practice will take place” (Wallen et al., 2010, p. 13). Once readiness has been

established support is needed from other structures of the hospital. Administration support and a

hospital wide culture of evidence based practice will be helpful. The next step is to assign

evidence based practice champions or “develop and use of evidence based practice mentors”

(Wallen et al., 2010, p. 13). The key roles within the journal club champions would include a

“facilitator, continuing education coordinator, publicist, time keeper, and evaluator”(Aiello-

Laws, Clark, Steele-moses, Jardine, & McGee, 2010, p. 3). Having nurses in the journal club is

the main focus of the group but I would personally invite the unit educator, a supervisor, and one

of the physicians on the unit. Each of these disciples can offer an important perspective regarding

our monthly topics.

Once the team has been established the club would need to be advertised. A mass email

would be sent out to all the staff members on the floor, it would be announced at our daily

checkpoints, and I would encourage each of the champions to tell at least five people a day about

the journal club. The journal club meeting would be prior or after an established meeting that is
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already required for staff members to attend. This would decrease the barrier of low attendance

at the club. Two weeks prior to the journal club meeting the article would be released on the

unit. It would be available in print form and in electronic form.

During the first journal club meeting some key points would be discussed. The first

meeting would be mostly information sharing regarding evidence based practice and how to

critique a journal article. This will provide a foundation for the club and allow us to be more

efficient. The meetings that take place after the initial meeting will discuss articles in great

details and incorporate them into our current practice.

A journal club would influence the unit culture in a very positive way. According to the

ARCC Model a journal club can contribute to “increased patient outcomes and decreased

hospital cost” (Wallen et al., 2010, p. 13). It would also articulate the importance of evidence

based practice in the workplace and hopefully expose nurses to the idea of evidence based

practice.
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References

Aiello-Laws, L. B., Clark, J., Steele-moses, S., Jardine, S., & McGee, L. (2010). A How-to

GuideDesigning & Creating a Journal Club for Oncology Nurses. Retrieved from

Oncology Nursing Society:

http://www.austingme.com/templates/GraduateMedicalEducation/Assets/designing-and-

creating-a-journal-club.pdf

Wallen, G. R., Mitchell, S. A., Malnyk, B., Fineout-overholt, E., Miller-Davis, C., Yates, J., &

Hastings, C. (2010, December). Implementing evidence-based practice: effectiveness of a

structured multifaceted mentorship programme. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 66, 2761-

2771. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2010.05442.x