Validity of Research Studies Invention and advancement in health sciences calls for constant update in nursing practice. To ensure application of evidence-based practice in clinical nursing, nurses are involved in critical- appraisal of the research articles or conduct researches on their own (Hoe & Hoare, 2015). The quality of any quantitative research study is determined through rigor of the study design and the validity of the results.
Types of Validity The quality of inferences made on a research study is called validity. The four types of validity that can affect the rigor of a quantitative study are statistical conclusion, internal, construct and external validity. According to Polit & Beck, (2017, p. 234), statistical conclusion validity relates to the empirical relationship between the cause and the effect whereas construct validity covers population, settings, outcomes and treatment. Internal validity refers that outcomes were caused by the independent variables rather than confounding factors and external validity is about the scope of generalization of the study (Polit & Beck,
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The ARRP group participants were younger, less sedated and had lesser severity of the disease and the researchers used these factors as covariates in the analyses. The growing awareness among nurses in recent years regarding the elevation of head of bed to prevent pneumonia and the physicians’ concerns on undesirable effects of pro-kinetic agents affected the study results. To eliminate history and selection bias on this study, researchers should have conducted the same study on two different hospitals such as one with no ARRP protocol in place and the second ICU with ARRP protocol in the same time frame. Eliminating GRV algorithm from the study would have yielded more reliable
Burns, N., & Grove, S. K. (2011). Understanding nursing research: building an evidence-based practice (5th ed.). Maryland Heights, MO: Elsevier/Saunders
Melnyk’s Hierarchy of Evidence is a system often use for assigning levels of evidence in nursing by integrates clinical expertise and patient choices with the best available research. It is represented by a pyramid that enumerates the levels of strength of the evidence from 1 to 7, of which level 1 is the higher level. The higher level on the pyramid, the more likelihood that the research is valid; therefore, answering a clinical or practice question. “The systematic review or meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials are at the top of the evidence pyramid and are typically assigned the highest level of evidence, due to the fact that the study design reduces the probability of bias” (Melnyk, 2011). The weakness of the system is that when
Ventilator Associated Pneumonia (VAP) is a very common hospital acquired infection, especially in pediatric intensive care units, ranking as the second most common (Foglia, Meier, & Elward, 2007). It is defined as pneumonia that develops 48 hours or more after mechanical ventilation begins. A VAP is diagnosed when new or increase infiltrate shows on chest radiograph and two or more of the following, a fever of >38.3C, leukocytosis of >12x10 9 /mL, and purulent tracheobronchial secretions (Koenig & Truwit, 2006). VAP occurs when the lower respiratory tract that is sterile is introduced microorganisms are introduced to the lower respiratory tract and parenchyma of the lung by aspiration of secretions, migration of aerodigestive tract, or by contaminated equipment or medications (Amanullah & Posner, 2013). VAP occurs in approximately 22.7% of patients who are receiving mechanical ventilation in PICUs (Tablan, Anderson, Besser, Bridges, & Hajjeh, 2004). The outcomes of VAP are not beneficial for the patient or healthcare organization. VAP adds to increase healthcare cost per episode of between $30,000 and $40,000 (Foglia et al., 2007) (Craven & Hjalmarson, 2010). This infection is also associated with increase length of stay, morbidity and high crude mortality rates of 20-50% (Foglia et al., 2007)(Craven & Hjalmarson, 2010). Currently, the PICU has implemented all of the parts of the VARI bundle except the daily discussion of readiness to extubate. The VARI bundle currently includes, head of the bed greater then or equal to 30 degrees, use oral antiseptic (chlorhexidine) each morning, mouth care every 2 hours, etc. In the PICU at children’s, the rates for VAP have decreased since the implementation of safety ro...
The Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) was used to find peer-reviewed articles, using query terms such as: aspiration pneumonia, ventilator, and prevention. In addition, the TWUniversal search engine was utilized to find peer-reviewed articles, with the key words: aspiration pneumonia, ventilator, and enteral.
According to ASHA Evidence Based Practice is the combination of clinical expertise opinion, data, and patient’s perspectives, with the goal of providing high-quality services (2013). The process of evidence-based practice consists of formulating a research question, collecting evidence, including views, and then evaluating the entire process. This project introduces the research topic I’ve chosen, which identifies a researchable problem, and formulates an answerable question that is relevant to nursing and evidence-based practice.
LoBiondo-Wood, G., & Haber, J. (2014). Nursing Research: Methods and Critical Appraisal for Evidence-Based Practice (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier, Inc.
Nursing research is a systematic enquiry that seeks to add new nursing knowledge to benefit patients, families and communities. It encompasses all aspects of health that are of interest to nursing, including promotion of health, prevention of illness, care of people of all ages during illness and recovery (or) towards a peaceful and dignified death (ICN 2009)
In gathering articles for this review, numerous methods were used to narrow journal articles that were relevant to nursing. A search was conducted on EBSCO HOST for key terms such as ________. This was narrowed down to articles which were between 2009 and 2014, plus articles which had full text...
Burns, N. & Groves, S. K. (2009). The practice of nursing research: Appraisal, synthesis, and
In health care, evidence-based research is crucial. Nurses revolve their practice on evidence so that they may provide the best health care. Without research, there would be no evidence to prove health care related findings (Shmidt & Brown, 2012). With appropriate
For nursing, research has played a major role in the way clinical practice is done. Research has allowed nurses to provide appropriate care to patients. It allows them to perform their job by providing them the tools and information they need in order to make the decisions on the concerns for caring the patient (Polit & Beck, 2006). Moreover, research can also take focus on the workers themselves in order to improve the practice both on a professional and personal level. An example of a study conducted by King, Vidourek, and Schweibert of University of Cincinnati created a study to determine if there is a correlation between ...
Additionally, the clinical staff has shown very low level of confidence in the RR documentation on observation chart. Lack of time, laziness, lack of training and knowledge and unawareness of the importance of the respiratory assessment are main reasons to neglect this important aspect of nursing as stated in this study (Philip, Richardson, & Cohen,
The father of quantitative analysis, Rene Descartes, thought that in order to know and understand something, you have to measure it (Kover, 2008). Quantitative research has two main types of sampling used, probabilistic and purposive. Probabilistic sampling is when there is equal chance of anyone within the studied population to be included. Purposive sampling is used when some benchmarks are used to replace the discrepancy among errors. The primary collection of data is from tests or standardized questionnaires, structured interviews, and closed-ended observational protocols. The secondary means for data collection includes official documents. In this study, the data is analyzed to test one or more expressed hypotheses. Descriptive and inferential analyses are the two types of data analysis used and advance from descriptive to inferential. The next step in the process is data interpretation, and the goal is to give meaning to the results in regards to the hypothesis the theory was derived from. Data interpretation techniques used are generalization, theory-driven, and interpretation of theory (Gelo, Braakmann, Benetka, 2008). The discussion should bring together findings and put them into context of the framework, guiding the study (Black, Gray, Airasain, Hector, Hopkins, Nenty, Ouyang, n.d.). The discussion should include an interpretation of the results; descriptions of themes, trends, and relationships; meanings of the results, and the limitations of the study. In the conclusion, one wants to end the study by providing a synopsis and final comments. It should include a summary of findings, recommendations, and future research (Black, Gray, Airasain, Hector, Hopkins, Nenty, Ouyang, n.d.). Deductive reasoning is used in studies...
Burns, N. & Grove, S. K. (2009). The practice of nursing research: Appraisal, synthesis, and
Corner, J., 1991, ‘In search of more complete answers to research questions. Quantitative versus qualitative research methods: is there a way forward?’, Journal of Advanced Nursing, vol. 16, no. 6, pp. 718-727.