Improving the Effectiveness of Psychiatric Nurses
- A researcher investigated the behavior of nursing students in crisis or emergency situations. The investigator was interested in comparing the behaviors of students from BSN and diploma programs to determine the adequacy of the preparation given to students in handling emergencies. Fifty students from each type of program participated in the study. The investigator wanted to observe reactions to crises as they might occur naturally, so the participants were not told the exact nature of the study. Each student was instructed to perform a simple task, purportedly to investigate reaction time. A second person, who was described as another participant but who in fact was confederate of the investigator, simulated an epileptic seizure during the study. The investigator observed the timeliness and appropriateness of the student’s response through a one-way mirror.
- State the purpose of this study. Write an appropriate hypothesis for this study? What would the Independent Variable(s) and Dependent Variable(s) be? (20 points)
- The purpose of this study is to investigate the behavior of nursing students during a crisis or emergency.
- Null Hypothesis: There is no difference between BSN and Diploma nursing students in handling emergencies
- Research Hypothesis: The behavior of BSN nursing students is different from that of Diploma nursing students in an emergency or crisis.
- Independent Variable: Nursing Students Behavior
- Dependent Variable: Emergency Situation (Henwood, 2014)
- Evaluate the study with respect to ethical considerations. Are guidelines for ethical conduct violated? If so, is there any justification for this violation – that is, does the knowledge to be gained outweigh the ethical transgression? If not, suggest some modification that handles the ethical consideration better. (10 points)
When taking part in the research nurses have to cope with society, nursing and science hence conflicting with values of community and society. One of the ethical issues in this research is informed consent. There is an anonymous observer and a simulated epilepsy occurrence but the nurses have not been informed. Respect for confidentiality is also broken as the nurses carry out some tasks for the research but do not reveal that the results will actually be used for a study.
- in each of the following research problems, identify the independent and dependent variables: (20 points)
- Does assertiveness training Independent: __Assertiveness Training_____________________
Improve the effectiveness of
Psychiatric nurses? Dependent: __Psychiatric Nurses Effectiveness__________________
- Does the postural positioning Independent: _Postural Positioning__________________________
of patients affect respiratory
function? Dependent: _Respiratory Functioning____________________
- Is tolerance for pain related Independent: _Tolerance for Pain_________________________
to the age and sex of a patient?
Dependent: Age and Sex__________________________
- Are levels of stress among Independent: __Levels of Stress_______________________
nurses higher in pediatric
or general intensive-care units? Dependent: _Pediatric or general intensive-care units______
- In a study of how different doses Independent: _Drug Doses___________________________
of a drug affect the severity of
symptoms, a researcher could Dependent: ___Symptoms___________________________
compare the frequency and
intensity of symptoms when
different doses are administered.
- A researcher hypothesized that the wearing of dentures has a negative effect on the appetite of chemotherapy patients. She tested this hypothesis by comparing two groups of patients on chemotherapy at a small rural hospital – 15 who wore dentures and 15 who did not. Data regarding the patient’s appetite were collected in two ways. First, patients were asked 10 true/false questions concerning their eating habits and interest in food (e.g., ” I look forward to eating my meals” and “I don’t have as much interest in food as I used to”). Second, each patient was observed eating dinner; the observer rated patients on a 10-point scale in terms of (a) amount of food consumed and (b) degree of perceived appetite for interest in eating. The researcher found only small differences in the appetites and eating behaviors of the two groups and concluded that her hypothesis could not be supported.
- Describe the researcher’s overall research design. What extraneous variables might be important to
control in this study? Did the design control these variables? (10 points)
- Overall design:The study used a causal design. This type of research understands phenomenon s in terms of conditional statements. In this case the study has been used to measure what impact wearing of dentures has on the appetite of chemotherapy patients. In this case the variation of one phenomenon, an independent variable (wearing of dentures) leads to results (appetite of chemotherapy patients being affected). Causality is determined by the following conditions (Henwood, 2014):
- Empirical Association – Valid conclusion which is drawn from finding a connection between the independent and dependent variable, in this case the conclusion is wearing of dentures does not necessarily affect the appetite of chemotherapy patients.
- Appropriate Time Order – Cases must be exposed to a variation in the variables, in this case, the effect on the appetite of chemotherapy patients was measured on patients wearing dentures and those without.
Extraneous variables and how they are controlled: The Extraneous variables in this study is the setting where the study was done which is a small rural hospital. This variable can be controlled in the following ways:
- Randomization – The study should have assigned the experiments randomly to the groups by using a larger sample
- Matching – Matching of variables like gender and age could be done
- Experimental designs can be used
- Statistical control can be used to reduce impact of extraneous factors
- How were the research variables measured? Could they have been operationalized (measured) more effectively?
The research variables measured the eating habits of the patients both through questionnaire and through observation. Ordinal level of measurement was used as the patients were asked about their feelings towards food. The variables could have been measured more effectively by measuring nominal values such as gender and age so that the researcher could determine if such factors were an influence to the research.
- Describe the study sample. What type of sampling design was used? Were subjects selected so as to adequately represent the population? (10 points)
The study has used stratified sampling. This is a sampling method where the population is divided into separate groups and probability sample drawn from each group. The study used a sample of 30 respondents who were all undertaken chemotherapy (Mertler, 2015). Out of the 30 respondents, 15 were those who wore dentures and 15 did not wear dentures. The subjects did not represent the population well as the hypothesis could not be supported after the research.
- State whether each of the following is a nondirectional or directional hypothesis. (10 points)
- Nurses’ attitudes toward mental retardation vary ___ Non-Directional Hypothesis ______
according to their clinical specialty areas.
- Nurses who initiate conversation with patients ___ Directional Hypothesis _________
are rated as more effective in their nursing care
by patients than those who initiate less conversation.
- The incidence of decubitus ulcers is related to Non-Directional Hypothesis __________
the frequency of the turning of bed-ridden patients.
- Nurses and patients differ in terms of the relative _Non-Directional Hypothesis________
importance they attach to having the patients
physical versus emotional needs.
- Women who give birth by cesarean section are ____Directional Hypothesis__________
more likely to experience postpartum depression
than women who give birth normally.
- 5. A researcher hypothesized that aging negatively affects intellectual capacity and motor responsivity. To test this hypothesis, she randomly selected the names of 250 men aged 70 or above, 250 men in their 50’s, and 250 men in their 30’s from the residents living in a medium sized city in Illinois. The researcher realized that intellectual capacity is sometimes correlated with social class and that mortality rates vary by social class. Therefore, the subjects were selected in such a way that half in each group were from low-income households (household income of $15,000 or less) and half were from high-income households (incomes of over $15,000). The 750 subjects were each administered an individual intelligence test that measured verbal aptitude, problem solving, quantitative skills, spatial aptitude, and overall intelligence. In addition, the participants were given various reaction-time tests. The analysis of the data revealed that, as hypothesized, intelligence declined with age in both income groups. Except on the measure of verbal aptitude, the subjects in their 30s scored highest; the subjects in their 70s scored lowest on the subtests of intellectual capacity and on overall intelligence. The same pattern was observed for reaction time. The researcher concluded that the aging process causes deterioration of both intellectual and motor capacity.
- Evaluate the internal validity (the degree that the independent variable caused the observed effect) of the study. What are the threats to its internal validity? (10 points)
- Internal validity refers to whether the research was done right. The internal validity was effective as it looked at different aspects of intellectual capacity and motor responsivity like selecting subjects according to social class and looking at intelligence by measuring verbal aptitude, problem solving, quantitative skills and spatial aptitude. The threats to internal validity are selection bias as in the study no women were used. Other threats are history as the respondents history was not considered (Henwood, 2014). Maturation, which is the physical or psychological changes affecting a participant should also have been taken into consideration.
- What extraneous variables did the researcher identify, and by what method were they controlled?
How else might have those variables been controlled? (10 points)
The extraneous variables, which were identified, were the age of respondents when measuring intelligence as this is something that declines with age. Randomization should have been used in terms of selecting age.
- You are a nurse researcher in a mental health facility. You have been reading about social support theory, and you believe it might provide an explanation for some of the behavior displayed by adolescents in your facility.
The main principles of this theory are:
Social support facilitates self-actualizing tendencies throughout the lifespan
Social support involves interpersonal interaction that produce a sense of belonging
Social support communicates positive feelings.
Social support positively affects self-esteem.
- You decide to test this theory by developing a quantitativeresearch study utilizing some aspect of social support theory as your theoretical framework. Describe the process you would go through to design and implement this study, and include the following. (20 points)
- Write a hypothesis.
- Null Hypothesis: There is no direct link between social support theory and the behavior of adolescents in the mental health facility
- Research Hypothesis: The social support theory has a direct effect on behavior of adolescents in the mental health facility (Mertler, 2015).
- Identify the independent and dependent variables in your hypothesis.
- Independent Variable: Social Support Theory
- Dependent Variable: Adolescents Behavior
- What type of sampling would you use?
The sampling that will be used is stratified sampling, where the sample will be divided into strata and then observed based on the principles of the social support theory.
- How would you collect data on your variables?
The data will be collected through observation due to the nature of the facility
- What type of statistical analysis would be appropriate?
Descriptive statistics will be appropriate in analysing the quantitative data in a manageable form
- Describe a method for studying what you are experiencing with these patients using a qualitativedesign, including (20 points):
- The research question.
- How are adolescents who display positive feelings affected by the social support theory in the mental facility?
- How do interpersonal interactions affect the social behavior of adolescents in a metal facility?
- Does the way feelings are communicated to adolescents in a mental health facility affect their behavior?
- Data collection.
- Data collection will be done through a case study of the patients by picking a certain sample size and studying them over time (Mertler,2015)
- Data analysis.
- Qualitative data will be analysed through inferential statistics. This will help the researcher to reach conclusions, which go beyond the data that has been collected.
References
Henwood, K. (2014). Qualitative research. Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology, 1611-1614.
Mertler, C. A. (2015). Introduction to educational research. NY:SAGE Publications.
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