Self Catheterization In Nursing

Shaw, C., & Logan, K. (2013). Psychological coping with intermittent self-catheterization (ISC) in people with spinal injury: A qualitative study. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 50(10), 1341-1350. doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2013.01.009

Complete the following information. Be specific in your responses. You must present a rationale for ALL items. No yes or no responses are accepted.

This is a critical analysis of the article. Copying of information from the article with no analysis or rationale will not be accepted. If there are areas the author did not address, you are expected to give potential research questions, theoretical constructs, etc. If for example interrator reliability was not addressed how could it have been addressed in

the study? This critique is to demonstrate your synthesis of research content.
1. Statement of the Phenomenon of Interest
Item Response
a. What is the phenomenon of interest? Is it clearly identified? What is it? How is it identified?
The phenomenon of interest is the idea that is being studied (Polit & Beck, 2012) The phenomenon of interest is clearly identified in multiple areas of the paper including the title, objectives, and various other areas of the article. The objectives section of the research article clearly identifies the phenomenon of interest as the exploration of psychological coping mechanisms used by patients enduring a spinal cord injury (SCI) who require intermittent self-catheterization (ISC) to maintain therapy adherence (Shaw & Logan, 2013).
b. Has the researcher included an explanation about why the phenomenon requires a qualitative format? Does the explanation seem clear and logical?
The authors explain that there is not much research based on the subject of self-catheterization and methods to cope with having to perform the task. They also expand upon this by explaining the importance of the adherence to a self-catheterization regimen based on the fact that neglect of the duty could result in renal failure. The goal of the grounded theory is to develop a theory of the actual fundamental process that developed from the data instead of making an assumption based on previous data (Shaw & Logan, 2013). These explanations appear clearly stated and reasonable based on the desired outcomes of the researchers.
2. Purpose
Item Response
a. What is the purpose of the study and is it made explicit? Give a rationale for your response.
The purpose is explicitly stated in multiple areas of the article including the title, introduction, objectives, and various other places in the article. It is identified as the exploration of “the psychological experiences of spinal injured people in relation to carrying out ISC and to develop theory concerning factors that affect coping and adherence to ISC” (Shaw & Logan, 2013, p. 1342). The authors also make reference to the small amount of research that has been conducted on this subject and used this to promote the significance of the study.
b. Does the researcher indicate how the research is significant to nursing? Give a rationale for your response.
The significance to nursing is not directly stated but could easily be implied from the material in the introduction section of the article.

In this section the researchers explain the complications that can occur based on non-adherence to a proper self-catheterization regimen. A spinal cord injury can cause an interruption in neural pathways which affect the function of the bladder causing urinary incontinence, urinary retention, urinary reflux, and recurrent urinary tract infections. These problems can ultimately lead to an increase in renal morbidity and mortality (Shaw & Logan, 2013) Later, in the discussion section of the article, the authors focus on the importance of nursing education to teach patients proper methods to perform and cope with ISC in order to eliminate these common occurrences in patients suffering from SCIs (Shaw & Logan, 2013). The perception of performing this task may vary from patient to patient. This research helps identify various educational approaches that could be taken to accommodate all patients. Therefore, the research is significant to nursing due to the fact that nurses are considered the primary educators and are expected to address practical issues with patients performing ISC and help them manage the psychological issues that are faced with this

task.
c. Does the explanation seem appropriate and logical? Give a rationale for your response.
The explanation appears to be suitable and rational. The researchers acknowledge the importance of nursing in the process of helping patients to acquire the knowledge needed to cope with practical and psychological issues which may arise as a patient with an SCI performing ISC. They also recognize the fact that the participants in the study are currently SCI patients which use ISC for an extended duration as a treatment method. They address the fact that patients which have never conducted this task before may have various psychological management issues and recommend that further research needs to address this (Shaw & Logan, 2013). The discussion segment of a qualitative article is not intended to provide meaning to the results, but merely to summarize it, compare to other research, and recommend new research (Polit & Beck, 2012).

3. Methodology
Item Response
a. What is the tradition or design of the study? Is it compatible with the purpose of the study? Give a rationale for your response.
This qualitative study uses a grounded theory design which conducts individual interviews with each of the participants.

Based on Polit and Beck’s (2012) definition of a grounded theory, a method of gathering and studying information collected from real-life observations, this appears to be compatible with the purpose of the study (p.729). The goal of the researchers was to “develop theory concerning factors that affect coping and adherence to ISC” (Shaw & Logan, 2013, p.1342).The detailed interview allows for the researchers to gather an optimal amount of information, which records and analyzes using the analytical tools of grounded theory to reveal similarities in the information collected (Shaw & Logan,

2013).
b. Is the method adequate to address the phenomenon of interest? Give a rationale for your response.
When addressing a question of ‘psychological coping’ a qualitative approach is going to allow for more the attainment of information. The interviews conducted were very informal and unstructured allowing for the participants to expand upon their feelings about self-catheterization. Unstructured interviews are “mode of choice when researchers do not have a clear idea of what it is they do not know (Polit & Beck, 2012, p. 536).
4. Sampling
Item Response
a. How does the researcher select research participants? Is a purposive sample used? Explain.
A purposive sample was used in this research study. The participants were purposively selected to attempt to provide a broad range of coping interpretations with self-catheterization based on duration of ISC, age, and gender (Shaw & Logan, 2013) Postal invitations were sent to subjects that were over the age of 18 and suffered from a spinal injury requiring them to use self-catheterization. These subjects were identified from a spinal unit rehabilitation unit in South Wales. The subjects who mailed back their signed consent and met the study criteria became the participants of the study.

b. Are the informants chosen appropriate to the study? Do they seem they will yield the information solicited to understand the phenomenon? To what extent? Any suggestions for another sample?
The subjects appear to be appropriately chosen for the study based on the fact that the subjects are all patients that suffer from an SCI, which requires them to use ISC and are all willing volunteers to participate. The participants will definitely produce information about coping mechanisms of ISC based on their experiences. They will likely yield the information needed to understand the phenomenon due to the fact that all the participants are very experienced ISC users. The researchers placed no restrictions on time of injury or duration of ISC, but all the subjects that participated in the study revealed to be long term users of self-catheterization (Shaw & Logan, 2013). This limited the results of the data to coping mechanisms of long term ISC users. Although, all the participants were at one time new ISC users and could reveal how they felt in the beginning as compared to now, this warrants a new study. For future reference, researchers could try to compare long term vs. short term users of ISC.