IndexQuantitative research article: Cho, E., Chin, D., Kim, S., & Hong, O. (2016). The relationships of nurse staffing levels and work environment to adverse patient events. Journal of Nursing ScholarshipQuestion 1Question 2Question 3Question 4Question 5Question 1Question 2Question 3Question 4Question 5Quantitative Research Article: Cho, E., Chin, D., Kim, S., & Hong, O. (2016). The relationships of nurse staffing levels and work environment to adverse patient events. Journal of Nursing ScholarshipQuestion 1The authors describe the research problem in the introductory section of the article. In this section, the authors note that the South Korean healthcare system continues to provide significantly lower quality healthcare despite notable development in other areas such as increased access to hospital care, increased investment in hospitals, and advanced medical technologies. Compared to other OECD countries such as Canada, nurses in South Korea report lower quality of patient care. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In the literature review section, authors explore the available evidence on the identified research problem. Through this literature review, the authors determine that although there is strong evidence describing the association between patient outcomes and nurse staffing levels, such studies have primarily been conducted in Europe and the United States. Therefore, there is a lack of empirical evidence on whether or not there is an association between patient outcomes and nurse staffing levels in South Korean hospitals. In the “Methods” section, the authors illustrate the range of methodologies employed in the study. The study collected three key types of data that included nurse survey data, hospital discharge data, and facility data. Data analysis for the study focused primarily on analyzing descriptive statistics. Through this analysis, the researchers aimed to examine: the level of nursing staffing and the working environment; the incidence of adverse events; and characteristics of nurses and hospitals. In their conclusion, the authors established that there is a significant association between the level of nurse staffing and the working environment of nurses, on the one hand, and adverse patient events, on the other. This conclusion was consistent with previous studies that had identified an association between inadequate levels of nurse staffing and adverse patient events. Question 2 As previously noted, the introductory section focuses primarily on describing the research problem and as such provides little evidence to support the researchers' conclusion. The literature review section, however, provides strong evidence to support the researchers' conclusions. Similar to the study findings, available literature supports the observation that there is a significant association between nurse staffing levels and adverse patient events. It can also be noted that the evidence provided in the methodology section supports the researchers' conclusion. To ensure an improvement over previous trials, the current study controlled for characteristics of nurses, hospitals, and patients. The use of multilevel ordinal logistic regression in the data analysis was equally significant to the researchers' findings. Through this data analysis approach, researchers were able to control for nurse and hospital characteristics whenexplored the relationship between nurse staffing levels and patient adverse events. Question 3 Although the article does not detail all measures taken to protect subjects, there is significant evidence that researchers took some measures. These measures included ensuring that nurses completed privately provided questionnaires. In addition to this, participating nurses were provided with envelopes in which to place the completed questionnaires and the envelopes were placed in locked boxes located in each of the participating hospitals. This approach protected the identity of the participating nurses. It may also be noted that the data generated by the researchers does not contain personally identifiable information. By removing all personally identifiable information, the researchers ensured that the study posed no harm to participants' privacy. Despite the above measures, the study does not detail how subject recruitment was conducted. More importantly, the article does not indicate whether Institutional Board Review (IRB) approval was obtained. Another important aspect related to the protection of human subjects that is not covered by the article is whether informed consent was obtained from participants. Specifically, the article does not indicate whether participating nurses were adequately informed about the nature and purpose of the study during recruitment. Overall, the researchers should have comprehensively taken into account all ethical considerations associated with human subjects research and provided evidence of the same in the article. Question 4The study by Cho et al. (2016) contains several identifiable strengths and limitations. One of the main strengths of the study concerns the use of randomly selected datasets obtained from large sample sizes. At 92%, the study's response rate could also be identified as an equally significant positive which improved the reliability of the results. With such a high response rate, researchers were more confident that the study results represented the entire target population. The fact that the study controlled for the characteristics of nurses, hospitals and patients is another important positive aspect. By controlling for the three variables, the researchers ensured that the influence of the characteristics of these variables on the association between nurse staffing levels and adverse patient outcomes was adequately taken into account. Despite the above strengths, the study has several limitations, including the cross-sectional nature of the data used. Because the study relied on cross-sectional data to test its hypothesis, its results cannot be reliably used to describe a causal relationship between the three main constructs: nurse staffing level; nurses' work environment; and adverse patient events. The fact that the study used a self-report survey to obtain data on outcomes and covariates could also be identified as a limitation. Specifically, recall difficulties coupled with reporting biases may have influenced nurse-reported patient adverse events. In this regard, the prevalence of adverse events in patients may have been overestimated or underestimated since an objective measurement of this variable was lacking. Another limitation of the study concerns the use of surgical patient hospital discharge data as the sole source of data on adjustment for patient characteristics. This limitation could have a significant effect on the generalizability of the study findings. Question 5 LeEvidence from the study has a significant influence on nursing practice. First, the study findings provide evidence on the association between nurse staffing levels and adverse patient events in South Korea. Notably, such evidence was lacking prior to the study by Cho et al. (2016). With the evidence now available, nursing practice in the country is expected to use this information to design interventions to overcome barriers related to nursing shortages. Considering that healthcare quality is best described by patient outcomes, the study's evidence is likely to spur the need for policy change in the South Korean healthcare sector, with a strong focus on growing opportunities for healthcare organizations to raise levels of nursing staff. Qualitative research article: Oostveen, C., Mathijssen, E., & Vermeulen, H. (2015). Nursing staffing issues are just the tip of the iceberg: A qualitative study on nurses' perceptions of nursing staffing. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 52: 1300-1309.Question 1Researchers use the introductions section to provide an overview of the issue of nurse staffing levels and patient outcomes. A brief review of the literature on this area indicates that while nurse staffing levels should closely match the demand for care and positively influence patient outcomes, nurses have reported that current staffing levels are not adequate to ensure high quality care quality. The literature review section of the article is incorporated as part of the introductory section and advances the authors' discussion of the association between nurse staffing levels and patient outcomes. The authors also use this section to describe the concepts of nurse-patient ratio (NPR) and patient classification system (PCS) applied in the Dutch healthcare sector. The study used a descriptive phenomenological approach as part of its research methodology. The choice of this approach was based on the need to reduce the likelihood of participants presenting their individual experiences. Interviews were the primary data collection method of the study. Data analysis for the study used Colaizzi's analytical method and MAXQDA version 11. Data analysis first involved transcribing the audio recorded in the interviews and grouping them into meaningful segments. The transcribed data was then coded and grouped into themes for easier analysis. In their findings, the researchers noted three key themes central to nurses' experiences with nursing staff: nursing behavior; autonomy; and authority. Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that there are other significant issues related to the position of nurses, and nursing staffing is just the “tip of the iceberg.” Question 2The evidence presented in most sections of the article appears to support the researchers' conclusion. In the introduction and literature review sections, the authors note that previous studies have identified nurse staffing as a significant issue facing nursing practice. The authors' conclusion not only supports this previous observation, but also advances it by providing evidence for additional issues facing the profession. . It can also be noted that the evidence provided in the methodology section supports the researchers' conclusion. Using a method familiar to people.
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