Toward a Better Understanding of Statistical Significance and p Values in Nursing.

Background: Nursing aims to rely on the best evidence, yet nurses frequently struggle with statistics, impeding the integration of research into practice. The misuse of statistical significance and p values is a pervasive issue, widely debated across disciplines but often overlooked in nursing. Objective: This study seeks to elucidate key arguments surrounding the misuse of p values, assess their relevance to nursing, and propose recommendations for improvement. Approach: Conducting a critical literature review on the interpretation and reporting of statistical significance and its practical implications among nurses, nursing students, and scholars. Results: The literature reveals widespread misunderstandings of probability concepts in classical statistics, leading to the misuse of p values. Some scholars propose abandoning p values altogether due to these challenges. Rather than dismissing p values, this article provides insights into their historical context and proper application. Recommendations are offered for accurately interpreting results and integrating supplementary metrics. Fostering statistical competencies already at the undergraduate level can enhance statistical literacy and alleviate statistics anxiety among nursing students, a prevalent issue. Early exposure to statistical methods in nursing education empowers nurses to actively engage in research. Additional recommendations include preregistering analysis plans to mitigate publication bias and exploring alternative approaches such as Bayesian methods. Conclusions: While p values serve as a valuable tool for preliminary assessment against randomness in nursing research, their widespread misunderstanding necessitates multiple measures for accurate interpretation and understanding of statistical significance. It is imperative for nurse educators and researchers to incorporate these recommendations into their practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]