INTRODUCTION. This contextual project work consists of 10 concepts from the module entitled “Research and Nursing research” Block 3. I will describe each of the concepts in terms of its meaning, critically analyzed for its real life application and will be followed by some references of the current research evidence. Real life application will explore a possible relationship of the concepts with personal, social or professional life.
CONCEPT 1.PURPOSES OF NURSING RESEARCH. This concept was taken from module 1 entitled “Introduction to Research”. Research was coined out French word which means “to search”. Research ” is a formal , systematic and intensive process of analyzing problems through scientific means for the purposes of discovery and development of an organized body of knowledge” (Abdellah 1986). There are many reasons why nursing research is being accorded importance. the reasons are based on the facts that it helps to improve health care system. the knowledge obtained from good research help in providing evidence -based care. Research in Nursing help to uplift the profession. It makes Nurses not to engage in practices based on tradition. Research help in health promotion , restoration and rehabilitation of clients to have a productive life. Nevertheless,nursing research have some barriers which could be from the organization, presentation and accessibility, and the characteristics of innovation.
1.1 PERSONAL CONTEXT. It formed the basis for evidence-based nursing care and help to improve the education of nurses. It uplift the nursing profession. It permit nurses to think critically and to be creative. It allow me to make informed decision as each phase of the nursing process is clarified through research. 1.2 SOCIAL CONTEXT. It contribute to the health needs of the population thereby improving wellbeing. It also answer problem that has to do with health care delivery.
1.3 APPLICATION IN THE CURRENT JOB. Research is an ongoing process in my institution. It is being carried out by different department s involving different disciplines. It is being regulated by the ethical committee on Research. In Nursing, it builds scientific foundation for clinical practice. It helps to detect the causes . prevention of diseases and the promotion of health in growth and development processes. 1.4 CURRENT RESEARCH. Research is an indispensable part of a modern, effective health service and essential provision of effective , safe health and social care. (Royal College of Nursing, 2009; Department of Health, 2005).
CONCEPT 2 – IMPORTANCE OF EVIDENCE BASED NURSING PRACTICE. This concept was taken from Research and Nursing Research Block 3,module 2,” CONCEPT OF EBP”. The component of Evidence Based Practice are Best research evidence , Clinical knowledge.(Expertise) and Patient values. The process of Evidence Based Practice is the same with that of Nursing process. It helps to detect recent advancement in the profession. It provides answer to problematic clinical practice issues, promote bedside practice and on the whole improve clinical decision-making skills.
2.1 PERSONAL CONTEXT. In my practice, most of the procedures, drugs and equipment that are being used are based on research that are being conducted from time to time. 2 .2 SOCIAL CONTEXT. It allow the patient to have access to a shorter duration of treatment which eventually leads to a better outcome. 2.3 APPLICATION IN THE CURRENT JOB. It enable nurses to dish out information to their clients regarding their diagnosis and in the development of nursing care plan. Nurses are kept in touch with new standards that are likely to change. 2.4 CURRENT RESEARCH. To back up this topic ,Sigma Tau International, Honor Society of Nursing and Blackwell Publishing initiated a new journal in 2004 titled “worldviews on Evidence -Based Nursing. It is a quarterly peer-reviewed journal.
CONCEPT 3. INFORMED CONSENT OF SUBJECT. This concept was taken from module 2 entitled ” Ethics in Research”. It is one of the 7 principles that make clinical research ethical Informed consent of subject means” Respect for persons”. The investigator must obtain voluntary informed consent which can be verbal or written from all prospective participants. There are three elements of valid informed consent which are disclosure, capacity and voluntariness. DISCLOSURE –The researcher must provide the subject with all the necessary information which the subject must be able to comprehend. It should be in written form. CAPACITY… She make a reasonable judgment knowing the potential consequence of his or her decision. VOLUNTARINESS.. The subject has the right to make his or her decision without external pressure.
3 .1 PERSONAL CONTEXT. Voluntary informed consent must be gained from all subjects who are to participate in the research process, and those receiving any form of medical therapy ,surgeries or anesthesia to avoid being legally implicated. 3 2 SOCIAL CONTEXT. Those signing the informed consent must be mentally sound and must be in possession of all the facts. Consent form must not be signed by an underage or those under the influence of drugs. 3.3 APPLICATION IN THE CURRENT JOB. In my place of work, patients who are to undergo surgeries, receiving special therapies such as cytotoxic drugs or being choose to participate in research must sign inform consent. This must be gained by the person doing the procedure. It must be in written in a clear language, easily understood by the patient, dated and signed by at least one witness. This must be attestified to before the commencement of the procedure.
3.4 CURRENT RESEARCH. “A physician owes to his patient the duty to disclose in a reasonable manner all significant medical information that the physician possesses that is material to an intelligent decision by the patient whether to undergo a procedure”. Marvin V Lowney, 401 Mass. 1006 (1988). CONCEPT 4. CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD RESEARCH. This concept was taken from module 3 entitled ” CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD RESEARCH”. Characteristics of research determine the outcome of the research. It reflect on the quality of the research. – GOOD RESEARCH IS ORDERLY AND SYSTEMATIC PROCESS. A good research must be followed in an orderly and systematic step. – GOOD RESEARCH IS LOGICAL. It must obey logical reasoning and the process of induction and deduction. – BASED ON CURRENT PROFESSIONAL ISSUES. A good research must focus on the current professional issues. It must begin with clearly define purposes. It aim at expansion of professional body of knowledge.
4. 1 PERSONAL CONTEXT. It must be conducted on samples which has characteristics similar to the population. It must be carefully recorded and reported. It helps to understand our patients and their experience thereby uplifting the profession. 4 .2 SOCIAL CONTEXT. It is guided by the rules of logical reasoning and logical process of induction and deduct. It aims at finding solutions to a problem. 4. 3 APPLICATION IN THE CURRENT JOB. It contributes towards refinement and improvement in professional practices as per the need of time. It is also directed toward testing a theory.4.4 CURRENT RESEARCH. Ulrich ( 2005 ) asserted that nurses need to get better a “tooting our own horn” about what we can and do contribute to society.
CONCEPT 5 – IMPORTANCE OF REVIEW OF LITERATURE. This concept was taken from module 4 entitled ” Importance and Purpose of Review of Literature.” Literature review is the written and systematic summary of the research which is conducted on a particular topic. There are 3 key points of a literature review which are theory, methodology and the gap that the research intend to fill. Review of literature help us to know what has been done already, provide rationale to proposed studies. Literature review exercises to analyze the area of the research ,which had been resolved in the study.
5.1 PERSONAL CONTEXT. literature review help me a lot in my assignment especially during this RN- BSN course. It provide me the opportunity to know more about each topic. 5.2. SOCIAL CONTEXT. It relate the present area of study to previous studies and also assist in detecting conflicting points. 5.3 APPLICATION TO THE CURRENT JOB. When an article needed to be presented it is usually made use of. 5.4 CURRENT RESEARCH. A well created literature established credibility of the researcher of the study, so he can get the entire benefit of his work. (Leary 2004.) CONCEPT 6. FORMULATION OF RESEARCH PROBLEM. This concept was taken from module 6 entitled “formulation of Research Problem”. Structure with main question and following sub – questions. It must be ethical which means it must not harm participants. Problem formulation is the first and step of a research process. If it is well formulated, a good study is would follow.
STEPS IN FORMULATION OF RESEARCH PROBLEM. It starts with the selection of a broad research topic in which the researcher is interested and has significance for nursing profession. … REVIEWING LITERATURE AND THEORIES. It involves reviewing of literature to know the previous studies in the selected areas of research and also promote reviewing of Nursing theories. ….DELIMITING THE RESEARCH TOPIC. Researcher proceeds from a broad area of interest to the exact topic of research to conduct a study. …. EVALUATING THE RESEARCH PROBLEM. Feasibility of the research problem should be evaluated for time, cost, administrative and peer support, ethical consideration etc. …. FORMULATING FINAL STATEMENT OR RESEARCH PROBLEM. After establishing the significance, research ability and feasibility, a statement of research problem is then made which could be in declarative or interrogative format.
6.1 PERSONAL CONTEXT. Many Nurses will be interested in the research conducted on the current issues of the profession. A good research problem will help me to improve my professional knowledge which will result into promoting clinical nursing practice. 6.2 SOCIAL CONTEXT. Some studies are expensive. There should be financial and administrative support. The superiors should support the research effort of subordinates to motivate them. 6.3 APPLICATION IN THE CURRENT JOB. Research topics must follow ethical guidelines. It promote nursing theory development and assist in deciding whether selected problem is appropriate or not. 6.4 CURRENT RESEARCH. Ponston and Buescher (2010) explain ,research nurses are at the fulcrum of clinical trials.
CONCEPT 7 .SECONDARY DATA COLLECTION. This concept was taken from module 10 entitled ” Tools and methods of Data Collection”. Data collection means gathering information to address those evaluation questions. In planning data collection ,one must know the question to be answered and the information sources available. Data are collected through two main sources, which are Primary and Secondary sources. Secondary data are obtained from books, journals ,documents, magazines ,the web etc. also used to gain knowledge from other peoples experiences. To gain the knowledge that is needed to begin any research It is process. 7.1 PERSONAL CONTEXT. It make primary data collection more specific since with the aid of secondary data, the gaps deficiencies and additional information needed can be collected. 7.2 SOCIAL CONTEXT. It is a quick and cheap source of data. It saves time and cover wider geographical area.
7.3 APPLICATION IN THE CURRENT JOB. I work in a tertiary hospital, where there are different specialties. Each discipline conduct research in their respective fields, but most times there are multidisciplinary research. Secondary data provide basis for comparison for the data that are collected by the researchers. 7.4 CURRENT RESEARCH. According to Linda Plush, a NASA consultant, the administrators at NASA have started to realize that nurses often have more expertise than physicians do , when it comes to areas such as wound care, medication, delivery, managing chronic conditions. (Domrose, 2005).
CONCEPT 8. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH. This concept was taken from module 5 entitled ” Types of Research Designs”. Qualitative research is the investigation of phenomena, typically. It is also called ” interpretative research”. Quantitative produce information on the particular cases been studied. THE BASIC STEPS. Criteria suitable for qualitative data analysis are — Credibility or plausibility, transferability, including a methods section which provide an in-depth description of the processes and methods used in the research. The threats to validity in qualitative studies are — Observer bias and Observer effects. 8.1 PERSONAL CONTEXT. The aim of qualitative research vary with disciplinary background. It motivates me to merge together various research methodologies and focus on understanding a phenomenon. It improve practitioner’s practice.
8.2 SOCIAL CONTEXT. It is flexible and elastic and provides opportunities for description of the researcher’s role. Qualitative research is used to understand how people communicate and develop symbolic meanings. 8.3 APPLICATION IN THE CURRENT JOB. The data are descriptive in the sense that it describe the meanings of research findings from the perspective of the research participants. Philosophical research is an ongoing process in my place of work, it is always conducted by professionals in order to identify ethics, or make a value judgement concerning an issue in their field of study. 8.4 CURRENT REASEARCH. The ways of participating and observing can vary widely from settings as exemplified by Helen Schwartzman’s primer on Ethnography in organizations ( 1993).
CONCEPT 9. PILOT STUDY. This concept was taken from module 11 entitled “IMPLEMENTING RESEARCH PLAN AND DATA ANALYSIS. It is a smaller percentage of a larger study that is conducted to prepare for that study. It detect weaknesses in design and instrument for selection of a probability sample. REASONS FOR CONDUCTING PILOT STUDY. Process : It assesses the feasibility of the process. Resources :lt assess time and resource problem that can occur during the main study. —Management :This covers potential human and data management problems. Scientific: It has to do with the assessment of the response , effect and variance of the effect. — To provide evidence to the funding bodies and other stakeholders that the main study is worth supporting. LIMITATIONS. Actual results of the study may vary from the results of pilot study. and may not be appropriate for case studies. — It is usually carried out on members of the relevant population, but not on those who will form part of the real sample. —It can provide only limited information on the sources and the magnitude of variation of response measures.
9.1 PERSONAL CONTEXT. It tests the method and can identify all the problems to be faced in the final study. 9.2 SOCIAL CONTEXT. It is used in determining the resources needed for a planned study. It assist in convincing the funding bodies and other stake holders that the research is worth doing. 9. 3 APPLICATION IN THE CURRENT JOB. It permits a thorough check of the planned statistical and analytical procedures, leading to chance to evaluate their usefulness for the data. 9.4 CURRENT RESEARCH. A recent study exploring nurse’s and midwives’ attitude to research follow the pilot study. In the study, focus groups were used to identify key issues from which, a questionnaire could be developed, and this was then piloted prior to the study proper. (Hundley et al 2000.)
CONCEPT 10. COMPONENT OF A RESEARCH REPORT. A research report is a written document that communicates the purpose, findings, limitations and finally recommendations of a research project to others. It is a record of the research process. There are many formats for reporting research. Journal articles – Journals receive wide distribution to those that really needs them. —Research reports can be reported orally at seminars, symposia, professional meetings e tc. Other format of research reports are technical research reports, graduate theses etc.