Quantitative Research Critique

I ATTEND WALDEN UNIVERSITY- MASTERS IN NURSING- FAMILY NURSE PRACTIONER- THIS IS FOR MY 6052- ESSENTIALS OF EVIDENCE-BASED NURSING

Course Project: Part 2—Literature Review

 

The literature review is a critical piece in the research process because it helps a researcher determine what is currently known about a topic and identify gaps or further questions. Conducting a thorough literature review can be a time-consuming process, but the effort helps establish the foundation for everything that will follow. For this part of your Course Project, you will conduct a brief literature review to find information on the question that you developed in Week 2. This will provide you with experience in searching databases and identifying applicable resources.

 

To prepare:

Review the information in Chapter 5 of the course text, focusing on the steps for conducting a literature review and for compiling your findings.
Using the question that you selected in your Week 2 Project (Part 1 of the Course Project), locate 5 or more full-text research articles that are relevant to your PICOT question. Include at least 1 systematic review and 1 integrative review if possible.

Use the search tools and techniques mentioned in your readings this week to enhance the comprehensiveness and objectivity of your review. You may gather these articles from any appropriate source, but make sure at least 3 of these articles are available as full-text versions through Walden Library’s databases.
Read through the articles carefully.

Eliminate studies that are not appropriate and add others to your list as needed. Although you may include more, you are expected to include a minimum of five articles. Complete a literature review summary table using the Literature Review Summary Table Template located in this week’s Learning Resources.
Prepare to summarize and synthesize the literature using the information on writing a literature review found in Chapter 5 of the course text.

To complete:

Develop a 2- to 3-page literature review that includes the following:
A synthesis of what the studies reveal about the current state of knowledge on the question that you developed Point out inconsistencies and contradictions in the literature and offer possible explanations for inconsistencies.

Preliminary conclusions on whether the evidence provides strong support for a change in practice or whether further research is needed to adequately address your inquiry
Your literature review summary table with all references formatted in correct APA style

Note: Certain aspects of conducting a standard review of literature have not yet been covered in this course. Therefore, while you are invited to critically examine any aspect of the studies (e.g., a study’s design, appropriateness of the theoretic framework, data sampling methods), your conclusion should be considered preliminary. Bear in mind that five studies are typically not enough to reflect the full range of knowledge on a particular question and you are not expected to be familiar enough with research methodology to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of all aspects of the studies.

THIS PROJECT IS DUE SUNDAY 1/16/2016… MY PICOT QUESTION WAS USED IN PART OF THE ASSIGNMENT WAS \” HOW DOES THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A RAPID RESPONSE TEAM HELP PREVENT CARDIOPULMONARY ARREST IN AN ACUTE FACILITY?\”

 

SOLUTION

Quantitative Research Critique

Research Problem and Purpose

The problem under study is measuring the effectiveness of rapid response teams towards preventing cardiopulmonary arrests among patients in an acute care setting. The challenge presented here is comparing the mortality rates associated with cardiac arrests when there is presence of rapid response teams in acute care hospitals and when there are absent.

The intentions of this research are to identify the significance of the RRTs in health care settings as well as informing the nurse practitioners on what exactly causes more deaths among cardiac arrest patients. The research problem under study is considered of importance since it would provide vital information to nursing practice on how the development and use of RRTs has reduced the mortality rates in cardiac arrest patients in acute hospitals (Leach & Mayo, 2013).

Hypotheses and Research Questions

This study has been founded on the hypotheses “use of rapid response teams in acute care setting reduces the mortality rates among those patients diagnosed with cardiac arrest.” This is alternative hypotheses of the study. On the other hand, the null hypotheses would be “use of rapid response teams does not reduce mortality rates among cardiac arrest patients.”

The research has an objective to link the use of RRTs to reduced mortality rates among acute care patients (Daniele, et.al, 2011). In addition, the author wishes to use this study to explain to the nursing faculty how the adoption of rapid response teams in their health care provision can affect patient safety and protection.

Literature Review

The quality presented in the literature review can be said to be partially quality or rather medium quality. This is because the authors have maximized on emphasizing the application RRTs from single perspective, mortality rate reduction, instead of researching on the matter from different dimensions. The literature review is not that current since the only work cited in the research that is close to date is from the year 2013.

Therefore, one would say that the literature is not very current since it has no author’s work that is from 2016 version or edition. However, the literature review can be said to be relevant in that it has focused on topic at hand and the authors have all touched on the same. The authors quoted in the review have just directly reported on the various aspects of RRTs implementations without necessarily reviewing any information presented.

This can be illustrated by the fact that there is no single inquiry posed about the information that the authors present on the review. There is a summary of the current knowledge held by different scholars about the research problem and this can be supported by the fact that the authors quoted have summarized the entire research in the conclusions part.

Theoretical or Conceptual Framework

The theoretical framework used in this research study has not been directly mentioned but one can be able to detect that there is some traces of conformity. All the referenced works are inclined to promote patient safety and protection. Therefore, the use of RRTs is primary envisioned to improve patient safety within the health care setting (Beitler, et.al, 2011).

Thus, one would say that the theoretical framework used is utilitarianism since every author has laid emphasis on nursing actions being meant for the greater good of all and majority. In the process of promoting patient safety, one’s actions would be considered right if they are aimed at making majority happy and comfortable. This is exactly what the research presents on the different publications reviewed in the study. The theoretical framework is not from nursing but from other disciplines.

Population

The targeted population which was sampled is acute care cardiac arrest patients. The research has only narrowed down the study to investigate on those patients that are diagnosed with cardiac arrests. In addition, the study has filtered its review to acute care hospitals alone.

The sampling method applied in the research was random sampling and here the researcher had to choose the sampling units by simply picking each of them randomly with an equal chance of being included (Thompson, 2013). The sample size was 1,000 and this stands for a thousand patients who were discharged. The researcher had to analyze these sampling units in order to see how many of them experienced a cardiac arrest.

Protection of Human Research Participants

The researcher had to keep the identities of the sampling units anonymous in order to protect them from any dangers that may arise when their personal information falls into the wrong hands. The human participants were protected by use of letters to represent them but not mentioning their full names. Personal information like physical addresses and telephone numbers were not noted down in the study due to security privacy purposes. Whether a patient or a nurse participating in the research as a sampling unit, their identities were not disclosed at all.

Research Design

The research utilized quantitative research design throughout the study. This particular design was used in order to present data that is measurable and quantifiable (Walter & Andersen, 2013). Thus, this is why the research has more numerical data in it. The researcher aimed to displaying the number of cases and rates of death among the cardiac arrest diagnosed patients. The design can be said to have been modeled from previous studies since it relied on secondary sources for information extraction. The authors have built their arguments from secondary resources and not primary research that is often conducted in the field for raw data collection.

Instruments and Strategies for Measurement

The instruments used for data collection included self-administered questionnaires and note taking. The research had to note down all the points retrieved from secondary sources. The information provided was not concerned with validity and reliability of the measurement instruments.

Data Collection

The procedures applied for data collection were face-to-face questioning of respondents while taking down the notes and answers to the pre-set questions. In addition, online search and note taking were the other procedures applied.

Data Analysis

The method applied for the data analysis was regression and here the researcher was trying to regress the dependent variable on the independent one in order to see how they affect each other when there is a slight change on them (Gelman & Hill, 2007).

Interpretation of Results

The data analysis results revealed that with a positive change in the RRTs (independent variable), the cardiac arrest levels (dependent variable) decrease. Therefore, one would say that sufficient information has been given to interpret the data analysis results since they described in details to establish the numerical value they take when a slight change is imposed.

Discussion of Findings

The research findings were related to the framework used since they specifically focused on the need to increase patient safety and protection for all. Also, one would say that the results were consistent with other previous studies presented on the same topic. There is no serendipitous finding described.

Limitations

The study was limited to research on cardiac arrest diagnosed patients. The researcher did not have the resources to conduct a research that would have reviewed the efficiency gained in use of RRTs across the different nursing practice divisions or rather the generalized health are setting.

Implications

The conclusions that were provided by the different authors can be said to be totally in correspondence with the study finding for they have summarized what has been covered in the entire research. One would say the implications drawn by the author are absolutely warranted by the study findings since they present the same ideas as discussed in the research.

The interpretation of the study findings meaning is in line with the conclusions and implications drawn by the authors. There is a clear connection between the conclusions and the research results, which confirm with the study’s hypotheses. The author did not deviate to give implications that are unsupported by the research findings.

Recommendations

The different authors who have had their work referenced and quoted on this research have provided legitimate recommendation on how to develop and mobilize rapid response teams in acute care setting. Their works have provided an open discussion, which derives the necessity for further research on this particular topic.

The recommendations are closely tied and related to the research findings, which in turn enables the authors to suggest for further research on he unclear matters identified in their works. The study has been so clearly described such that individuals can replicate it but in a different ideological perspective. Thus, it is from this clarity and precision of the research that would enable interested researchers to formulate and carry out a further study on the topic in relation to what the authors recommend.

Research Utilization in Your Practice

The conducted research is of essence to the current fled of practice in that it provides essential information to acute care nursing practice on how to integrate evidence-based practice with normal daily health care activities. Family nurse practitioners are able to gain knowledge from this research for them to learn on how to improve acute care for short-term health cases.

The findings are appropriate for FNP practice in that they disclose the current methods of ensuring that the health care progress is monitored on all patients to avoid deaths associated with cardiac arrest among acute care patients. A further research on how to read signs of clinical deterioration should be conducted in order to keep track of the onset of these signs for immediate intervention and reporting. Utilization of this research might lead to changes on how patient recovery follow-up is conducted since the RRTs are effective than nurse reports on patient’s progress.

 References

Beitler, J. R., Link, N., Bails, D. B., Hurdle, K., & Chong, D. H. (2011). Reduction in hospital-wide mortality after implementation of a rapid response team: a long-term cohort study. Critical Care, 15(6), 1.

Daniele, R. M., Bova, A. M., LeGar, M., Smith, P. J., & Shortridge-Baggett, L. M. (2011). Rapid response team composition effects on outcomes for adult hospitalized patients: A systematic review. JBI Database of Systematic Reviews and Implementation Reports, 6(12), 1297-1340.

Gelman, A. & Hill, J. (2007). Data analysis using regression and multilevel/hierarchical models. Cambridge New York: Cambridge University Press.

Leach, L. S., & Mayo, A. M. (2013). Rapid response teams: qualitative analysis of their effectiveness. American Journal of Critical Care, 22(3), 198-210.

Thompson, S. (2013). Sampling. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley.

Walter, M. & Andersen, C. (2013). Indigenous statistics : a quantitative research methodology. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.

Also check: Quality Health Care