Nursing, Dissertation – Methodology Example

Introduction

The purpose of this research is to determine the nursing-sensitive indicators that RN’s use the most to ensure that there will be quality improvement in patient satisfaction/outcomes in hospitals of the southwest region of Montana. To do so, I will start by defining what the nursing-sensitive indicators are and review previous literature on the topic to determine which ones have the most significant impact on the nursing practice in addition to explaining why this is the case. Once these nursing-sensitive indicators have been identified, their effectiveness will be studied with regard to the unique needs of the southwest region of Montana.

Study Design

A research design is a plan of how a scientific research will be conducted. There are several types of research designs. They include descriptive such as case studies, naturalistic observation and surveys. Also, there are correlational studies consisting of case control and observational studies. Next is semi experimental, which embraces field and quasi-experiments. Reviews are another design taking the form of a literature exploration or systemic format. One last type is a meta-analytic whereby researcherscompare and contrast results from different studies (Adèr, Mellenbergh & Hand, 2008).

For the purposes of this study a descriptive design would be adopted.Descriptive studies are used to explain ‘what’ is occurring within a given population or relate events of a specific phenomenon. Usually descriptive categories are used to facilitate data collection and explanation. Some categorization methods include the periodic table assembling data overtime. It is believed that a descriptive design would be best for this study since it seeks to determine ‘what’ nursing-sensitive indicators RN’s use the most to ensure that there will be quality improvement in patient satisfaction/outcomes in hospitals in the southwest region of Montana (Creswell, 2012).

Threats to internal and external validity

Many threats to internal and external validity exist in both research designs and conduct. Three major threats to internal and external validity can occur irrespective of the research design adapted. They include whether the conclusion made by the researcher are correct; do the inferences between dependant and independent variable accurate and are there other attributable factors responsible for the phenomenon described that were no considered in the study. Importantly, internal validity is essential for describing cause and effect relationships acutely. Is the cause projected in the conclusion acutely measures concepts in the periodic table? In an alternative analysis external validity questions whether the conclusions can be generalized to other or similar populations (Shadish, Cook, & Campbell, 2002).

Setting and Subjects

The population for this study is nurses working within the southwestern Montana district. Consequently, the sample for this researchwill be drawn from both rural and suburban communities. The study will not discriminate on the basis of gender neither ethnicity.

Sampling Techniques

A representative sample of the population will be drawn using random selection of nurses on the job.

Data Collection

Data collection would be conducted through a simple survey of the sample within the specific geographic location.

Protection of Human Subjects

Human subjects in this research are nurses who will fill out survey pertaining to their experiences with patients. Both the nurses as well as patients identity must be protected. Consent tp participate must be obtained prior to commencement of the project(World Health Organization, 2013).

References

Adèr, H. J., Mellenbergh, G. J., & Hand, D. J. (2008). Advising on research methods: a consultant’s companion. Huizen: Johannes van Kessel Publishing

Creswell, J. (2012). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Shadish, W. Cook, T., & Campbell, D. (2002). Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs for Generilized Causal Inference. Boston:Houghton Mifflin

World Health Organization (2013). The process of obtaining informed consent.Research Ethics Review Committee WHO ERC