When conducting original research, the final step researchers must complete is weighing the evidence and interpreting the meanings of their data, statistics, and analyses. This is the culmination of the research process in which all of the research methods and designs can be synthesized into a meaningful conclusion. In this stage, researchers should formulate explanations for what their data indicates, determine whether the data answers their initial research question, identify areas of uncertainty, and consider directions for further research.

In this Discussion, you focus on one of the research articles that you identified for Part 2 of the Course Project (Literature Review). You then explore the process of how the researchers generated conclusions based on their data, consider other possible interpretations of their data, and formulate ideas for further research.

To prepare:

• Review this week’s Learning Resources, focusing on how researchers find meaning in their data and generate sound conclusions. Pay particular attention to Table 2 in the article, “Study Design in Medical Research.”
• Revisit the 5 articles that you identified in Part 2 of the Course Project. Select one to consider for the purpose of this Discussion.
• Read sections of the chosen article where the data is presented, analyzed, and interpreted for meaning. What reasoning process did the researchers use to formulate their conclusions? What explanation did they give to support their conclusions? Were there any weaknesses in their analysis or conclusions?
• Consider possible alternate conclusions that the researchers could have drawn based on their data.
• Examine the findings that the article presents and consider how well they addressed the researcher’s initial question(s). What additional research could be done to build on these findings and gain a fuller understanding of the question?

Post an APA citation and brief summary of the research article that you selected. Describe the data and the results of any statistical tests or analyses presented in the article. Explain how the researchers formulated their conclusion, any weaknesses in their analysis or conclusions, and offer at least one alternate interpretation of their data. Propose at least one additional research study that could be done to further investigate this research topic.

 

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In the best-selling book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Skloot, 2010), the author highlights the true story of an African-American woman who died in 1951 from cervical cancer. What makes her story unique is that prior to her death, cells from her tumor were removed and successfully grown in a petri dish. This was the first time scientists were able to successfully replicate cells outside the body, and it is estimated that billions of Lacks’ cells have been used in medical research. However, Henrietta Lacks was never asked for permission to take a sample and her family was never made aware of the widespread use of her cells. Although the culturing of her cells has been pivotal for advancing research, strong ethical concerns later arose about using these cells without patient or family approval.

This week’s readings describe historical examples of unethical research, such as a study of syphilis among African-American men in which treatment was withheld and a study in which live cancer cells were injected into elderly patients. Today, stricter controls that seek to protect study participants are placed on researchers, but breaches still occur. Careful attention must be given toward preventing unethical behavior. In this Discussion, you explore ethical considerations and issues in research.

· Select a current health-related case involving research ethics. (If none come to mind, browse the Internet to familiarize yourself with recent cases.)

· As you review the case that you have selected, reflect on the ethical principles discussed in “What Are the Major Ethical Issues in Conducting Research?” article found in this week’s Learning Resources. Which principles were breached in the case you have identified?

Post a description of the case that you selected and the ethical issues involved. Analyze the ethical principles that were breached by the researchers or organizations in your selected case as well as the possible cause of the breach(es). Suggest how the research might have been conducted differently to avoid or minimize the ethical problems. Discuss how research can be done on sensitive issues while still protecting the rights of the research subjects.

 

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For this Discussion, you focus on the different types of qualitative research designs, when they are used, and why they are important. 

To prepare: 

· Reflect on the comments made by Dr. Mauk in this week’s media presentation on the value of qualitative research in nursing.

· Locate the journal Qualitative Health Research in the Walden Library.

· From this journal, select an article of interest to you that was published within the last 3 years.

· Review the information on different qualitative research designs in Chapter 21 of your course text.

· Determine what qualitative research design was used in your selected article and evaluate whether it was the best choice.

· Consider ethical issues involved in the study and how the researchers addressed them.

· Think about how using a quantitative design would have affected the type of data gathered.

Post an APA citation for the article that you selected and provide a brief summary of the content and the qualitative research design used. Evaluate the appropriateness of the design, and explain how ethical issues in the study were addressed. Analyze how the study would have been different if a quantitative design had been used. 

 

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Data collection is an important part of both quantitative and qualitative research. Although the actual approach to gathering information may vary, for either research design, researchers need to plan in advance how the data will be gathered, reported, and stored, and they need to ensure that their methods are both reliable and valid. As nurses review research when considering a new evidence-based practice, it is important to be familiar with sound collection practices in order to ascertain the credibility of the data presented.

Consider the following scenario:

Nurses and other health care professionals are often interested in assessing patient satisfaction with health care services. Imagine that you are a nurse working in a suburban primary care setting that serves 10,000 patients annually. Your organization is very interested in understanding the patient’s point of view to help determine areas of care that can be improved. With this focus in mind, consider how you would create a survey to assess patient satisfaction with the services your organization provides. You may wish to consider variables such as the ease of accessing care, patient wait time, friendliness of the staff, or the likelihood that a patient would recommend your organization to others.

For this Discussion, you generate questions and an overall plan for data collection that would be appropriate for a patient satisfaction survey in relation to the above scenario.

To prepare:

· Consider the guidelines for generating questions presented in this week’s Learning Resources.

· Review the scenario and formulate at least five questions that you could use to evaluate patient satisfaction.

· Reflect on the different methods or instruments that can be used for gathering data described in Chapter 13 and Chapter 23 of the course text.

· Which methods or instruments would work well for the scenario? Determine an appropriate sample size for the scenario.

Post the questions that you created for gathering information about patient satisfaction based on the above scenario. Explain which method or instrument you would use to gather data. Describe the sample size appropriate for the population and how you would select participants. Provide a rationale for your choices, and explain how you can ensure high standard of reliability and validity.

 

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All you have to do is read this post and respond to it in 1-2 paragraphs and use at least 2 sources. 3 is preferred but if you can only find 2 that is no problem.  The goal of the reply is to “provide further suggestions on how their database search might be improved.”

POST: 

I work on an acute inpatient psychiatric unit where all of the patients have been detained on involuntary holds. A high number of these patients are readmitted over and over again. There are several agencies in my county that serve the same population, the patients hop from one facility to the next depending on who has an open bed. Having witnessed this firsthand, I can appreciate the need for strong outpatient support services and timely follow up appointments. My clinical area of interest deals with how prompt follow up care is associated with a reduction in rapid (within 30 days of discharge) readmission rates.

My PICOT question is:

In psychiatric patients, how does having outpatient supports and follow up appointments in the first 30 days of discharge compared with having delayed follow up care or no follow-up care affect readmission rates to an inpatient psychiatric facility within 30 days of discharge?

For the search, I used CINAHL Plus with full text, MEDLINE with full text, PubMed, PsychInfo, and Academic Search Complete all accessed through the Walden library (Walden University, 2019). The terms used during this search included “psychiatric readmission”, “psychiatric readmission rates”, “behavioral health,” or “mental health” in the first search box. Additionally, the terms “psychiatric units,” “adults,” “inpatient psychiatry,” “rehospitalization,” “prevention,” “psych hospitals,” and “readmission rates” were used. Using Boolean operators “AND” and “OR” I was able to focus my search further to better answer the PICOT question (Walden University Library). In general, I prefer to narrow my searches by choosing full text, peer-reviewed journals and limiting the date range within the last five years.

 In the CINAHL database, I used the search terms “psychiatric readmission rates” AND “factors or causes or influences,” this search yielded 52 articles, they were trimmed down by checking the full-text box (33 articles) and limiting the date range to 2015-present. The use of these additional modifiers reduced the results to 17 articles. There are one or two that may be useful to my PICOT question, but there not enough quality results. I then searched “readmission” AND “psychiatric units” AND “adults,” which resulted in 147 articles. These were further focused by selecting ‘full text”, peer-reviewed”, and “academic journals” with a date range between 2015-present. This resulted in 25 articles, many of which look to be useful for this project.

The formation of a PICOT question is the first step of evidence-based practice (Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt, 2019). According to Melnyk and Fineout-Overholt (2019), it is essential to formulate a focused, well-designed PICOT question in order to generate relevant information. The PICOT question should include the patient population, intervention or issue of interest, comparison intervention, outcome, and a time frame in order to be specific enough to result in relevant results in a timely fashion (Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt, 2019). Before formulating a PICOT question, one must decide on a clinical area that interests them and generate a background question, one that is broad in nature (Stillwell, Fineout-Overholt, Melnyk & Williamson, 2010). Once the broad question has been formed, the next step is to narrow the area of interest into a foreground question which is more specific and relevant to the topic (Stillwell, Fineout-Overholt, Melnyk & Williamson, 2010). Utilizing the terms that comprise the PICOT, one can search databases to find pertinent research for their inquiry (Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt, 2019). More results can be obtained by using synonyms in the search and by separating terms with “OR” within the search boxes themselves (Walden University, 2019). 

 

References

Melnyk, B. M., & Fineout-Overholt, E. (2019). Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare a guide to best practice (4th ed.). Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer.

Stillwell, S. B., Fineout-Overholt, E., Melnyk, B. M. & Williamson, K. M. (2010). Evidence-Based Practice, Step by Step: Searching for the Evidence. AJN, American Journal of Nursing, 110(5), 41-47. DOI: 10.1097/01.NAJ.0000372071.24134.7e.

Walden University Library. (n.d.). Evidence-Based Practice Research: CINAHL Search Help. Retrieved December 17, 2019, from https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/library/healthevidence/cinahlsearchhelp.

Walden University. (2019). Databases A-Z. Retrieved December 17, 2019, from https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/az.php?s=19981.

 

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