Running head: REFLECTION PAPER 1

Refection Paper: Umbilical Cord Care

Stephaine Ryan
Ferris State University









REFLECTION PAPER 2


Abstract
When choosing an article to use as a reference in writing papers or to change nursing practice it
is important to make sure the article is credible and significant to nursing. After researching the
articles in depth, it was found that two of the three articles were credible and would be used by
the author in research or to change her nursing practice. The other wasnt considered credible by
the author of this paper. Other research supporting the findings of the third article would be
needed to change her nursing practice or used in writing papers.
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Refection Paper: Umbilical Cord Care
As writers, we need to gather information on the topic we are writing on. For nurses, we
need to make sure that any information we are using to change our current practice or are
referencing in our works is evidence-based and peer reviewed. The purpose of this paper is to
review references used in an assignment in a previous course. As the references were being
reviewed the author learns which references were adequate and one that should or should not be
referenced in writings or to change nursing practice.
Review
When choosing an article to use as a reference in writings or to change present nursing
practice it is important to make sure the article is evidence-based and peer reviewed from a
credible source. In order for a journal to be considered credible, a person that is considered an
expert in that field is chosen by the journals staff to review and evaluate the papers received for
possible publication. If the paper is evaluated as correct, the papers are published in the journal.
Peer review of an article is when colleague in the same profession evaluates the article to be
published (Nieswiadomy, p.265).
It is also important for the researcher that may use the article as a reference to know
whether the study is a qualitative or quantitative study. A qualitative study uses research that has
subjective meaning of an experience to an individual (Nieswiadomy, p.323). A quantitative
study uses research that is concerned with objectivity, tight controls over the research situation,
and the ability to generalize findings (Nieswiadomy, p.323). Knowing the type of study being
evaluated will help the researcher decide whether the study will be useful as evidence when
changing the nursing practice.

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Article One
The first article referenced in the assignment is titled Cord Care: Too Much or Too
Little by Ms. E. Burke RN, RM, CertNnPaedNsg. This study was published in The Australian
Journal of Advanced Nursing. I think that this article was from a credible source and would be
appropriate to use as a reference. The article is from a nursing journal and is authored by a
registered nurse. I think that the information in the article could be used to change nursing
practice and to educate the parents on how to care for the umbilical cord stump after delivery and
when they are discharged home.
Article Two
The second article referenced is titled Alcohol Versus Natural Drying for Newborn Cord
Care by Ms. Dore, Coulas, and Cowan. This study was published in the Journal of Obstetric,
Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing. This publication is a peer-reviewed publication and is the
official publication of the Association of Womens Health, Obstetrics and Neonatal Nurses
(AWHONN). The authors are all RNs and they studied whether the use of alcohol or natural
drying would decrease drying time and decrease the amount of organisms that would be present
on umbilical cord stumps. As with the other article listed above, this article would not be just
significant to nursing but to families and other medical professionals while taking care of infants
post-delivery.
Article Three
The third and last article in the assignment is titled Cleaning Solutions and Bacterial
Colonization in Promoting Healing and Early Separation of the Umbilical Cord in Healthy
Newborns by Ms. Medves and OBrien. Both of these authors are RNs and are faculty at the
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University of Alberta, Canada. This article was published in the Revue Canadienne De Sante
Publique. This is a publication from Canadas Public Health. When researching the website
claimed to be a professional journal but, it was not listed as a medical or nursing journal. But,
the articles that are published in the journal are peer-reviewed.
This article could be used with the other articles to help re-enforce what the other studies
have found. The article also found that if the patients care giver just cleaned the umbilical cord
stump with soap and water that was the best treatment. This article could be used with other
articles that are nursing or medical to change nursing practice and used to educate patients care
giver and families.
Reflection
After reviewing the above articles I think that two of them would be useful when
changing nursing practice. Even though all of them are from authors that are nurses, the first two
are from nursing journals but, the last article is from a professional journal used by Canadas
community health department. I would use the third article to help re-enforce what the other two
articles found, that cleaning the umbilical stump with soap and water is the best practice. One
thing that I did find when researching the three journals was that none of them had an impact
factor listed. I found it interesting that it wasnt listed on any of the websites and what type of
impact these journals have on nurses.
The first article is written by registered nurses and was published by The Australian
Journal of Advanced Nursing. The article also used other studies to support what the study being
presented found. The study found that the best practice for caring for umbilical cord stumps was
to use soap and water for cleaning when it is soiled. When researching what the impact score for
the journal was, it could not be found on the website. This makes it unknown how often this
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journal is looked at by medical professionals. Not knowing the impact score would make me a
little hesitant to use the article but, if I could use it in addition to others I would use it. The article
is peer reviewed which means that it has been evaluated for accuracy by individuals of the same
profession. For me that helps increase the credibility of the article for use in nursing research. I
would use this article as a reference in my writings.
The second article, Alcohol Versus Natural Drying for Newborn Cord Care is also a
peer reviewed article written by nurses and published by the AWONN in the Journal of
Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing. I also couldnt find the impact score on the website
for this journal. But, I do know that the AWHONN is a very credible association for nurses in the
OB/GYN specialty. The AWHONN is an association that nurses can belong to that gives them
research that helps improve their nursing practice. Knowing this information I would use this
article in my nursing research.
The third article, Cleaning Solutions and Bacterial Colonization in Promoting Healing
and Early Separation of the Umbilical Cord in Healthy Newborns is a peer reviewed article
written by nurses in Canada. This article was published in the Revue Conadienne De Sante
Publique. When researching this publication, I found that this is a professional journal published
and distributed by the equivalent of the United States version of Department of Public Health.
On the website for this group, there was no indication of an impact score. I dont think that this
source alone would be credible enough to use in nursing research. If I found other credible
nursing or medical sources that verify the findings in this article, I would use it. But, as a
standalone article to use in nursing research, I wouldnt use it. Even being peer reviewed, I
wouldnt use it. The lesson regarding the MMR controversy taught me to be very cautious when
using articles for research and only using one article as a reference. This article could be one that
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mistakenly gives wrong information, causing the nursing profession to use this information and
potentially harm the patient.




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References
Bourke, E. (1990). Cord care: too much or too little. The Australian Journal of Advanced
Nursing, 7, 19-22
Dore, S., Coulas, S., & Cowan, D. (1998). Alcohol versus natural drying for newborn cord care.
Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing, 27, 621-627. doi:10.111/j.1552-
6909.1999.tb02631.x
Medves, J. & OBrien, B. (1997). Cleaning solutions and bacterial colonization in promoting
healing and early separation of the umbilical cord in healthy newborns. Revue
Canadienne De Sante Publique, 88, 380-382
Nieswiadomy, R. (2012). Foundations of Nursing Research (6
th
Ed.).Upper Saddle, New Jersy:
Pearson