Appraisal and Synthesis

           Throughout the process of appraisal and synthesis of our sources, I really felt that my team was becoming more prepared to begin drafting our paper. We found that our sources were reputable, and a lot of evidence, research, and work went into the data analysis collected to establish the results of our articles. I found that my assumption on our topic of how contraceptives affect fertility was incorrect. I assumed that long term contraceptive use would permanently alter fertility, due to the excess hormones it supplies to the body. In the article I found, it actually stated that fertility was only affected for approximately 6 months before regular fertility levels resumed. My team members had similar findings, and none of our articles stated that contraceptives would permanently impair or alter fertility.

            These findings will impact my future nursing practice because it will affect how I educate patients on the safety of contraceptives in regard to fertility. I will educate my patients that contraceptives are highly unlikely to permanently alter their fertility levels. I also know that much of the “medical knowledge” commonly known is often biased or untrue. Because of this, I know it is my responsibility as a nurse to do research on any hospital or nursing practices that I am unfamiliar with or unsure about. 

            Our team didn’t have much difficulty with collaboration, but some of the synthesis and appraisal steps were difficult. I have done many annotated bibliographies for example, but this practice wasn’t as common to some of my teammates. This required more collaboration as a team to make sure we were each able to complete our portions of the synthesis and appraisal of our articles.