Critical Analysis
Critical Analysis As the nursing profession grows the need for increase knowledge exists, nurses are relying on evidence base practices to improve the profession. Nurse researchers continue to determine ways to improve the profession by identifying problems within the profession, that directly and indirectly affect the nurse as an individual and the profession on a whole. In this paper this author will critically analyze a nursing research conducted on methodological and ethical challenges in investigating the safety of medication administration. The paper will focus on problem statement, purpose and research question, literature review and examine the conceptual and theoretical framework of the study.
Problem Statement The problem statement signifies the importance of the research to the profession it serves in this case the nursing profession. The problem statement identifies the specific gap in the knowledge needed for practice (Burn, Grove 2010). The research clinical problem was identified as safety of medication administration. What was not known was the methodological and ethical challenges faced by a researcher who attempted to conduct the research on this issue. The research significance was supported by position statement from the World Health Organization and the Department of Health noting the increase prevalence of research into patient safety and the methodical approaches used in research regarding patient’s safety, there were also previous studies that investigating e critical care nurses’ views on safety of medication administration.
Purpose and Research Question The purpose of the study was to highlight some of the methodological and ethical challenges that the researcher faced when conducting a study of the safety of medication administration (Mansour, M 2011). There were two focused research question that were used in this study ‘what promotes safe medication administration, and what can cause problems with this in adult care’. The study questions were indirectly related to the purpose due to the nature of the study being conducted. Conducting this type of patient safety research will highlight problems both within the organization as well as individual practicing nurses, hence, the researcher will face resistance from participant, and hence, the researcher had to design the question that does not show direct relations. The qualitative method used by the researcher was appropriate in answering the questions. The method allow for the researcher to be in control of the interviews being conducted. Literature Review This research article was accepted in publication in 2010, there was limited delay in accepting this publication as it was received in July 2010 and was accepted by December 2010. Literatures for review were cited throughout the research paper. A total of twenty six references were reported, twelve articles were cited as qualitative study, one unpublished thesis, two were cited as information that were publicly available. The references while they were relevant only three were considered current five years or less. The researcher cited articles published as far back as 1983 at which time the interest in safety in medication administration was also relevant. The author indicated weakness in the prior studies noted that, base on the nature of the study; it was difficult to achieve full participation of individuals. Participants did not respond in a timely manner, some did not respond, and some were reluctant due to the nature of the study and confidentially could not be guaranteed. The research author used data from other professional group within the health care system such as a Pharmacists publication, journals, from the field of nursing, sociology, handbooks of qualitative studies as well as publicly recorded researches. It was evident that the author used data bases outside the CINAHL.
Conceptual/Theoretical Framework The researcher conceptualized that base on the rigorous methods in choosing the participants, the purposeful sampling used within the study contributed to the credibility of the research. The theoretical frame work identified in this area was the phenomenological as the participants were asked for their expert advice and they were able to discuss their feelings regarding the study among the participants. The researcher deduced that the themes that emerged can be related to other adult critical care setting so there is a conceptual generalizability in that and participant experiences if well described (Mansour M 2011).
Conclusion
Research critique is important to determine authenticity of data. It identifies the steps in the research processes, it allows for the comparison, analysis, and evaluation of the data. Critical appraisal of qualitative studies focuses on how the integrity of the design and methods will affect the credibility and meaningfulness of the findings and their usefulness in clinical practice (Burn, Grove).
Refences
(Burns, Grove, Nancy, Susan K.. Understanding Nursing Research: Building an Evidence-Based Practice, 5th Edition. W.B. Saunders Company, 102010. p. 146). Mansour, M. (2011). Methodological and ethical challenges in investigating the safety of medication administration. Nurse Researcher, 18(4), 28-32.