Levels and applications of qualitative research evidence

Evaluation of qualitative findings for application to nursing practice can so beyond the riser with which the evidence was developed to the characteri stics of the findings themselves. Five categories of qualitative findings a re described that vary in their levels of complexity and discovery: those r estricted by a priori frameworks, descriptive categories, shared pathway or meaning, depiction of experiential variation, and dense explanatory descri ption. Four modes of clinical application of qualitative evidence are propo sed-insight or empathy, assessment of status or progress, anticipatory guid ance, and coaching-that vary in their degree of visibility and patient invo lvement. The greater the complexity and discovery within qualitative findin gs, the stronger may be the potential for clinical application. (C) 2001 Jo hn Wiley & Sons, Inc.