Designed to help nursing students read, interpret and utilize research in practice, this work contributes to the continued development of improvements in nursing practice. It covers the nurse's role as a consumer of research, presents each step of the research process and includes separate chapters on evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. "Critiquing Criteria" boxes in each chapter provide guidelines for evaluating each step of the research process. Examples are used to illustrate the steps of the research process and to give the student practice in reading and evaluating published research. Objectives and key terms are listed at the beginning of each chapter and chapter highlights at the end of each chapter to help the reader focus on important content.