Managing Medication Errors – A Qualitative Study, Essay Example

Qualitative evidence is used primarily to describe data sets that could not be better described by using numbers (Creswell, 2014). Instead of simply using statistical methods to support or refute the null hypothesis, quantitative methods are advantageous because they help researchers understand why an effect is seen. This is an advantage because it allows for the generation of an in depth comprehension of a topic. One of the most popular forms of qualitative methods involves issuing a survey or questionnaire that reveals information about health, patient opinions, or employee opinions. This information could be integrated in a manner that allows for the improvement of patient care, employee satisfaction, and more. This is an advantage of using this method because it helps generate a full understanding of the phenomena being studied.

Often qualitative evidence could be used in conjunction with quantitative evidence in order to gain advanced understandings about the topic being studied. Qualitative evidence can act as a disadvantage because it alone cannot confirm or deny the null hypothesis. When a quantitative understanding of data is generated, it is plausible to use a quantitative study to determine why an effect is being seen (Hamer & Collinson, 2005), which is an advantageous aspect of using this method. An example of a case that would be useful to conduct a quantitative study is in a situation in which a researcher wishes to know the percentage of medication errors made within a health care institution because this method will indicate why they are being made (Stetina et al., 2005). Overall, it is important to consider that data is somewhat meaningless if it is not used and that qualitative interpretations of data often allow a development of this understanding. While quantitative studies are also valuable contributions to the health care field, qualitative studies help uncover a deeper understanding of observations in a manner that could more directly enact positive change.

References

Creswell, J. (2014). Research design (4th ed.). Thousand Oakes, California: Sage Publications, Inc. [CourseSmart version]. Retrieved from http://www.coursesmart.com

Hamer, S. & Collinson, G. (2005). Achieving evidence based practice: A handbook for practitioners. (2nd ed.). New York City, New York: Baillere Tindale.

Stetina P, Groves M, Pafford L. (2005). Managing medication errors–a qualitative study. Medsurg Nurs., 14(3):174-8.