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Healthcare Research: For Healthcare Professionals

Discover how to conduct and evaluate healthcare research, and use your findings to inform best practice and guidelines.

5,049 enrolled on this course

Nurse writing notes
  • Duration

    2 weeks
  • Weekly study

    3 hours
This course is part of the program Research Methodology, Design and Methods, which is one of the building blocks that leads to a degree in MSc Nursing. Find out more.

Discover the role that healthcare research plays in developing best practice

Research is a vital part of healthcare. It underpins best practice, provides evidence for national and international guidelines, and ultimately improves outcomes for patients. This online course provides an introduction to healthcare research.

You will explore how new research pushes forward practice, considering some of the underlying assumptions that inform how research is constructed. You will look at different design approaches and methodologies used in healthcare research projects, evaluating what makes healthcare research good and helpful, and how it can be usefully applied to practice.

What topics will you cover?

  • How research relates to practice
  • How our assumptions shape research
  • Developing researchable questions
  • The research process
  • Research governance
  • Principles of ethics

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Explore the link between research and best practice in healthcare
  • Investigate how practice can be enhanced by developing new research
  • Identify how underlying assumptions and philosophies inform the way we do research
  • Develop an understanding of the importance of ethical research

Who is the course for?

This course is designed for healthcare workers working at all levels and across all disciplines. It will give you the opportunity to develop or advance your skills in healthcare research, and get a taste of what studying an online MSc in Nursing would be like.

Please note that the individuals detailed in the ‘Who will you learn with?’ section below, are current staff members and may be subject to change.

Who will you learn with?

Assistant Professor / Senior Lecturer in Mental Health Nursing at Coventry University, leading the MSc Nursing Online Research Methods Module, and on-campus Research Methods, and CYP MH modules.

Senior Lecturer in Adult Nursing at Coventry University. Educator for Online MSc in Nursing, Research Methods module. On campus, module leader for modules in End of Life Care and Research Methods

I am a Senior Lecturer in Adult Nursing at Swansea University. My main background is acute surgery and critical care nursing.
I am an associate lecturer for the MSc at Coventry University.

Who developed the course?

Coventry University

Coventry secured 5 QS Stars for Teaching and Online Learning in the QS World University Ranking 2020 and has received No. 1 in the world for Massive Open Online Courses in MoocLab’s World University Ranking 2021.

  • Established

    1992
  • Location

    Coventry

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

Want to know more about learning on FutureLearn? Using FutureLearn

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Advance your career with a degree

Since 2017 you have been able to take a degree on FutureLearn. This free course is a bit like a starter course for a degree — it should give you a flavour of the degree subject but can also be your first step towards a degree qualification.

If you enjoy this course you can apply to join the program it’s part of to start working towards a degree on FutureLearn.

Don’t worry, you can still take the course without doing a full degree!

Do the free course
Join and complete the program
Get academic credit for an online degree from Coventry University
This course is part of the program Research Methodology, Design and Methods, which is one of the building blocks that leads to a degree in MSc Nursing.

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