Essays on Polit

Validity in Research Design

Validity in Quantitative Research Designs Validity refers to the degree to which physical evidence supports an experimental concept or conclusion. In statistics, it refers to the level of confidence that researchers hold on a particular causal effect of an experiment. The most common challenges to internal validity in the research design occur from the selection process of target population as well as the sample size (Yuan et al., 2009).In particular, the selection process in the article reflects only persons who have volunteered for the research. Ideally, this represents a threat to internal validity since the individuals used in ...

Introduction

Hand hygiene is largely recognized as an effective method for minimizing incidences of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). However, despite the development of various guidelines to improve hand hygiene, the compliance with these guidelines as well as the best practices pertaining to hand hygiene by the healthcare providers is suboptimal. As a result of poor compliance, incidences of HAIs have continued to increase thereby raising huge concerns due to the associated consequences such as increased length of hospital stay and health spending. As such, there is a huge need to assess and understand the various factors that hinder optimal compliance with ...

Answer to question 1

Evidence-based practice is a technique that nurses use to make informed decision about how well to treat the patient based on the research, their expertise as well as the needs of the patient. The following are the levels of evidence present in relation to research and practice (Polit & Beck, 2013);

Level 1: Randomized controlled trials

Level 2: Non-randomized controlled trials Level 3: Observational analyses based on trials Level 4: Observational analyses that lack trials The levels of evidence are important regardless of the method used, because every clinician needs to have enough confidence on how significance the study is, so as to make informed ...

Reflection Paper

Introduction Like a humble farmer feeling pleased at a bumper yield after a year of toiling in his field or a passionate architect proudly gazing at her inspired engineering marvel, as a nursing professional who has successfully completed her DNP Project and Practicum, I am excited at my academic and practical accomplishments. As I write this reflection paper on the DNP competencies I have acquired in keeping with the fundamental skills as described in the AACN Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice, I look back how this practicum course has guided me to apply my newly developed ...

About 43.6 million or 18.1% of American adults were diagnosed with various mental illnesses in 2014 (NIMH, 2014). However, not everyone seeks or adheres to treatment, which is a prerequisite to mental health recovery given the chronicity of mental illness. Recovery is a particularly important goal in mental health nursing because it means empowering patients to achieve self-direction, better health, and wellness (US DHHS, 2016). In so doing, patients are enabled to attain their full potential. There is also a need to promote recovery through best practices that enhance care quality, increase treatment rates, and reduce inpatient care costs. ...

Introduction

Hypertension is among the most progressive and widespread health problems that contributes to significant negative outcomes including increased mortality as well as morbidity rates especially among the African-Americans. Typically, African-Americans usually develop the disease in their early stages of life, have higher blood pressure levels on average and experience various severe hypertension-related illnesses as compared to the other racial groups (Ferdinand, 2013). Although hypertension is untreatable, the illness can be effectively managed through the use of medications and establishing the relevant lifestyle changes. Nonetheless, management of hypertension is suboptimal among the African-Americans due to various factors such as poor ...

There is the need for taking into account the key concepts which will determine whether a particular study that has already been done is useful and can be incorporated into practice. The primary components that will make a particular study helpful for use in a certain research process determine how such information can be incorporated into the nursing process. As such, determining the validity of different forms of study is an important step towards achieving evidence-based care (Fineout-Overholt et al., 2010). The first reason for conducting a critical appraisal on a particular study is to determine whether there are ...

2A. Appraising Quantitative and Qualitative Research

Quantitative Study One source of bias during data collection is the use of self-report data (Polit & Beck 2012). Chivers et al. (2001) obtained data through the SF-36 and Beck depression inventory which required the patients to answer questionnaires. If they failed to give accurate answers, it would have affected the validity of the findings. The study design also allowed patients to receive other clinically appropriate treatments that were beyond the study protocol (Chivers et al. 2001). Additional treatments are confounding variables but their influence on the study outcomes was not estimated in the statistical analysis. This reduces confidence in ...

Critique of a Quantitative Research Article

The critique of a research project is the objective and critical evaluation of the content of a research report for its scientific merit as well as application to practice. It entails asking questions about whether every step in the research process meets the set standards (LoBiondo-Wood & Haber, 2014). This paper will critique the research report by Caicedo (2014) entitled “Families with special needs children: Family health, functioning, and care burden.” It will examine the strengths and weaknesses of the study, identify the enablers and barriers to the project, discuss the expected outcomes of the project, and evaluate the overall ...

Happell, B., & Caderyn, J.G. (2012). The attitudes of undergraduate nursing students towards mental health nursing: A systematic review. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 22, 148-158. doi: 10.1111/jocn.12022

The Problem

The two research problems were clearly stated at the end of the introduction. The aim of the systematic review was to understand undergraduate nursing students’ attitudes towards mental health nursing. The introduction shed light on the problem by describing the need to attract more nurses into mental health, defining the concept of attitude, and proposing how undergraduate education may likely influence students’ attitudes towards mental health nursing. The 2 research questions help validate ...

Quantitative study

Campbell, D. A., Lake, M. F., Falk, M., & Backstrand, J. R. (2006). A randomized control trial of continuous support in labor by a lay doula. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing, 35(4), 456-464.

Database from which the article was retrieved

Wiley Online Library Study Design The study utilized a randomized controlled design whereby the participants were randomized into either the control (no intervention) group or the experimental (doula group). As such, the design utilized was suitable and consistent with the study since it enabled the investigator to effectively compare the outcome measures of the two group and come up with significant inferences (Polit & Beck, 2013). ...

Method

Research Design and Research Tradition Sample and Setting The researchers employed purposive sampling which is the most appropriate to use in a qualitative study. They considered the family members of elderly patients and chose those who they judged would be best able to relate their experiences in the ED. They made sure that different age groups, gender, and civil status were represented. The authors did not set a sample size beforehand and is also appropriate in a qualitative study because sample representativeness is not based on the size but on how much participant narratives mirror reality (Everest, 2014). As ...

Evaluation is one of the most essential aspects in EBP projects that helps in determining the effectiveness of the intervention. In addition, evaluation of the EBP project helps to identify the relevant modifications that can be made to enhance the effectiveness of the intervention so as to foster optimal patient outcomes (Moch et al., 2015). As such, this emphasizes the need to develop a comprehensive evaluation plan so as to assess whether the objectives of the project are achieved and the impact of the intervention in regard to behavioral changes as well as the outcomes of the target population.

Methods used in collecting outcome data

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Importance of Identifying Sources

Importance of Identifying Sources of External Funding To Support Nursing Research The lion share of the conducted investigations is performed with the funds, which are issued by the sponsoring agencies. The core purpose of such funding is to provide the monetary support for the researchers and for their training in the set of different agencies. In order to get the funds, the principal investigators (PIs) or the researchers should submit their proposals to the corresponding sponsors (Gray et al, 2013). This may be done via the particular institutions, supporting the research or by the means of requesting the funding ...

The aim of basic research is to determine the functional relationship between research variables. Though basic research may not have immediate application, it is necessary for the advanced of applied research. Applied research on the other hand, aims to solve problems and help the clients. The logical basis of applied research is based on the foundation laid by basic research. Many politicians and policy makers, often mistake basic research as a waste of money, as they fail to provide any immediate application. Basic research is the precursor for all applied research. Applied research is concerned with the application of ...

Introduction

In the recent years, CPGs (Clinical Practice Guidelines) have been widely incorporated into clinical practice to facilitate efficient as well as effective medical practice and improve the care of patients as well as their health outcomes. Essentially, CPGs are statements that are systematically developed mainly to assist healthcare professionals in making the relevant clinical decisions in regard to the suitable healthcare involved in specific clinical issues (Brouwers et al., 2012). As such, CPGs provide clear and succinct instructions on the screening and diagnostic tests that should be ordered in certain clinical circumstances, medical services to be offered, length of ...

Introduction

Stroke is among the key healthcare problems that is associated with severe long-term disabilities, increased morbidity. In addition, stroke is associated with higher incidences of death in the United States as well as the world in its entirety. In the recent years, incidences of stroke especially among the high risk middle age adults have escalated raising serious concerns among the healthcare professionals as well as the entire public. According to CDC, stroke is among the key causes of adult disabilities and is associated with higher incidences of death as well as increased morbidity among this population (Centers for Disease ...

Introduction

Breast cancer is among the most widespread multifactorial diseases that is mainly caused by the interplay between the environmental and the inherited factors. In the light of this, various studies have been conducted to explore and determine the associations that exist between genetic variants in the susceptible genes and the risk for breast cancer. However, these studies have produced varying results in regard to the associations between most of the genetic variants and the risk for breast cancer. As such, the study “Genetic variants associated with breast-cancer risk: comprehensive research synopsis, meta-analysis, and epidemiological evidence” by Zhang et al. ( ...

Critique

The following is the systematic critique of the article titled, “Implementing a Competence Framework for Administering Medication: Reporting the Experiences of Mental Health Nurses and Students in the UK” (Hemingway et al., 2012). The nursing critique has been done in accordance with the guidelines provided in the article title, “Step-by-step guide to critiquing research. Part 2: qualitative research” (Ryan, Coughlan and Cronin, 2007). The research article is published in the journal of Issues in Mental Health Nursing, which is a peer reviewed journal. The research article by Hemingway et al., 2012, is a qualitative study that employs an assortment ...

Quantitative Study

Vamos, E. P. et al. (2012). Association of systolic and diastolic blood pressure and all cause mortality in people with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes: retrospective cohort study. British Medical Journal, 1-10. Retrieved from: http://www.bmj. com/conte nt / bmj/345/bmj.e5567.full.pdf

Research Problem and Purpose

Vamos et al. (2012) posit that maintaining a blood pressure of 140/90 mm Hg is recommended for the population diagnosed with hypertension, and an even lower blood pressure of 130/80 mm Hg is recommended for people with chronic conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. However, clarity on the effects of the blood pressure on all-cause mortality is currently lacking.

Hypotheses and Research Questions

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Primary Strengths and Weaknesses of Quantitative and Qualitative Research Designs

Quantitative research designs are an objective and deductive method of problem solving. Qualitative research designs, on the other hand, are a subjective and inductive way of problem solving. Previously, quantitative studies were considered to be more rigorous than qualitative studies. Qualitative studies have, however, gained additional credibility in recent decades (Keele, 2011). Some researchers actually posit that judicious use of both research approaches can enrich research in some areas of enquiry. This paper will examine the main strengths and weaknesses of quantitative and qualitative research designs. The main strength of quantitative study designs is the generalizability of their findings. ...