Write a critical appraisal that demonstrates comprehension of two quantitative research studies. Use the “Research Critique Guidelines – Part II” document to organize your essay. Successful completion of this assignment requires that you provide a rationale, include examples, and reference content from the study in your responses.

Use the practice problem and two quantitative, peer-reviewed research articles you identified in the Topic 1 assignment to complete this assignment.

In a 1,000–1,250 word essay, summarize two quantitative studies, explain the ways in which the findings might be used in nursing practice, and address ethical considerations associated with the conduct of the study.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

I will attach the rubric, as well as research critique guidelines, and the original paper. Feel free to choose the 2 out of the 3 quantitative studies from the original paper you prefer.

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Solution

Quantitative Research Critique and Ethical Considerations

Critique of Quantitative Research and Ethical Considerations

Various stressors affect physicians and nurses in their places of work due to their duty to offer healthcare services to patients. The National Institute of Health (NIH) ranked nursing as the 27^th occupation based on health disorders prevalence in stressful occupations (Salari et al., 2020). In every week, approximately 7.4% of nurses are not at work as a result of burnout or disability caused by stress that is 80% higher than in other occupations. All these affect the job satisfaction of nurses. In this line, the PICOT question arose that emphasizes the need for quality improvement to increase coping mechanisms among healthcare practitioners and enhance their job satisfaction. The paper discusses components of two quantitative studies on stress management and coping mechanisms that support the PICOT’s purpose of improving job satisfaction of healthcare professionals using education and training program that improves their coping mechanisms and consequently job satisfaction.

Background of Studies

Stress management interventions minimize the stress levels and improve the coping mechanisms of healthcare providers, enhancing their job satisfaction levels. In a study about the influence of stress management interventions on public healthcare nurses’ occupational stress and coping mechanisms (PHNs), Alkhawaldeh et al. (2020) found that implementing a stress-management intervention in healthcare organizations is an effective approach to minimize levels of stress and enhance coping mechanisms among PHNs. As a result, PHNs, and nurses, in general, can manage stress related to their nature of work, increasing the chances of higher job satisfaction levels.

In another study that researched the influence of a web-based stress management system, BREATHE, Hersch et al. (2016) found significant results regarding the program’s impact. There was a significant difference between the stress levels of participants in the experimental and control group. The program’s aim was to provide nurses with information and tools for managing stress factors related to their practice.

Articles Support of Nursing Practice Issue

By describing the influence of stress management interventions on occupational stress, Hersch et al.’s (2016) article support the nursing practice issue of work-related stress and its effect on patient safety and quality of care provided. The authors compare the results between two groups, experimental and control groups. The results indicate lower stress levels among participants in the experimental group compared to the control group’s participants. Thus, the article relates to the PICOT question as it proposes a stress-management intervention that improves coping mechanisms and, consequently, job satisfaction among healthcare professionals.

The PICOT seeks to identify whether educational and training interventions improve nurses’ coping mechanisms and job satisfaction. The study’s groups compare to the groups used in this PICOT, the experimental group, whose participants will receive the educational interventions, and the control group, whose participants will not receive the educational intervention. The stress management intervention used in the study compare with the PICOT’s education interventions to address coping skills for work-related stress.

Similarly, Alkhawaldeh et al.’s (2020) contribute to the evidence available regarding interventions one can use to solve the healthcare problem of occupational stress. It evaluates the effectiveness of the stress management program BREATHE on improving the coping skills of nurses. It supports the PICOT question that aims to identify whether education interventions improve the coping mechanism of nurses, which enhances job satisfaction.  The study’s web-based program, BREATHE, for managing stress compares with the PICOT’s educational interventions for nurses.

Methods

Both Hersch et al. (2016) and Alkhawaldeh et al. (2020) studies were randomized controlled trials but in different care settings. They were quantitative studies as they used quantitative methods of data analysis such as t-test and ANOVA. Also, both studies used two group approaches, experimental and control, to determine the effectiveness of the stress management program. Regarding Alkhawaldeh et al.’s (2020) study, the authors studied eight healthcare facilities located in Amman city, Jordan. Four centers were randomly assigned to either control or experimental group. A total of 170 nurses participated in the study between March and August 2019. The researchers used a nursing stress scale and brief COPE over three points of collection to collect data. They used inferential and descriptive statistics to analyze the data collected. Particularly, they used repeated ANOVA, chi-squared, and independent t-test. One advantage of quantitative research is that one can test and check, allowing one to ascertain if the causal factors considered indeed influence the response variables to provide clear evidence. The con of quantitative research is that it is difficult to set up a research model as any error or bias makes the results invalid.

On the other hand, Hersch et al. (2016) studied six hospitals, one in New York and five in Virginia, where it obtained 104 nurses as participants. They used a quantitative approach. Specifically, the authors used a t-test to compare the means of control and experimental groups. The advantage of the t-test is that it is easy to calculate and interpret. The disadvantage of the t-test is that the results are unreliable if the data used violated the assumptions of the t-test. The authors formulated two types of outcomes, primary and secondary. The primary outcome included perceived stress related to the nursing profession. The secondary outcome entailed understanding depression, anxiety, symptoms of distress, job satisfaction, consumption of alcohol, and using the substance to relieve stress. The authors used a 30-minute online self-report questionnaire containing questions related to the outcomes to collect data on these measures.

Results of Studies

There was a significant difference in the coping mechanisms and stress levels between participants in the experimental and control groups in all three points of data collection (Alkhawaldeh et al., 2020). Participants from the experimental group had significantly lower levels of stress than their counterparts. The study impacts the nursing practice as it adds to the existing empirical evidence on the various effective stress management programs or interventions to reduce work-related stress and enhance coping mechanisms for PHNs.  It shows that stress-management interventions are a valuable method if applied by healthcare organizations; they can minimize stress levels, improve coping strategies, and consequently job satisfaction.

Hersch et al. (2016) found similar results. The stress levels of participants in the experimental group were substantially lower than those of the control group. This indicates that web-based programs provide nurses with a platform to address stress associated with their nature of work. Thus, the study’s implication to the nursing practice is its contribution to the body of evidence available regarding the effectiveness of stress management interventions that healthcare organizations can use to minimize stress levels among their workforce. The outcome is lower stress levels among healthcare providers, and consequently, mental disorders such as depression associated with occupational stress.

Ethical Consideration

Community, social, and individual values guide scientific research, similar to other human activities. Nurses have to cope with science, society, and nursing value systems when they participate in research. The ethical considerations observed were informed consent and beneficence. Beneficence is the act of not inflicting any harm (Navalta et al., 2019). The researchers in the two articles, Alkhawaldeh et al. (2020) and Hersch et al. (2016), adhered to beneficence by performing risk-benefit analysis that helped them determine the type degree and the number of expected risks. They outlined these benefits and risks to participants, providing them the option to quit the study at any moment. The actions showed their commitment to reducing intentional harm.

Regarding informed consent, it is the act of allowing participants to engage in the study knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily (Navalta et al., 2019). Alkhawaldeh et al. (2020) obtained the research ethics committee of the Jordan health ministry’s approval before collecting data. The authors observed the principle of informed consent by notifying nurses of the study’s goals, benefits, and risks and the right to withdraw at any moment through a consent form and information respondent sheet. Similarly, Hersch et al. (2016) ensured participants consented to participate by offering a consent document to read the study’s goals, benefits, and associated risks, where participants had the option of declining or consenting.

Conclusion

Stress among healthcare workers is a substantial factor and a contributor to mental disorders like depression. There is a need for interventions to help care providers cope with stressful environments. The two articles prove that stress management programs, regardless of the specific intervention but based on evidence-based produce significant results about job satisfaction among healthcare providers. The results support the PICOT’s arguments that projects that education and training programs offered to care professionals on coping mechanisms with stress related to their work will enhance job satisfaction.

References

Alkhawaldeh, J. F. M., Soh, K. L., Mukhtar, F., Peng, O. C., Alkhawaldeh, H. M., Al‐Amer, R., & Anshasi, H. A. (2020). Stress management training program for stress reduction and coping improvement in public health nurses: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 76(11), 3123-3135.

Hersch, R. K., Cook, R. F., Deitz, D. K., Kaplan, S., Hughes, D., Friesen, M. A., & Vezina, M. (2016). Reducing nurses’ stress: A randomized controlled trial of a web-based stress management program for nurses. Applied Nursing Research: ANR, 32, 18–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnr.2016.04.003

Navalta, J. W., Stone, W. J., & Lyons, T. S. (2019). Ethical issues relating to scientific discovery in exercise science. International Journal of Exercise Science, 12(1), 1.

Salari, N., Khazaie, H., Hosseinian-Far, A., Khaledi-Paveh, B., Kazeminia, M., Mohammadi, M., & Eskandari, S. (2020). The prevalence of stress, anxiety and depression within front-line healthcare workers caring for COVID-19 patients: a systematic review and meta-regression. Human Resources for Health, 18(1), 1-14.