How does understaffed units with high nurse-patient-ratio impact patient care and readmission to the hospital?

Respond to discussion

Include citations/Use in text citation where needed

All sources must be 5 years old or newer

Only needs to be about a paragraph long

More like a discussion rather than a paper

Please add to the discussion in your peer responses with informative responses, instead of posts similar to “great idea! I really agree with you.”

Each response needs to have a citation

 

 

POST 1 (Jennifer)

Identifying a research question can be approached in several different ways. First I consider the audience that it will be directed at and then identify a problem that you may encounter. The research problem that I came up with is the staffing issues in the hospital setting. Staffing in the medical field I feel as if it is always an issue no matter what floor of what type of nursing your in. There are better ways to intervene the issue of staffing but the issue always seems to stem from financial obligations and the option to hire more staff never seems to be the the budget.

Various research study designs like quantitative and qualitative research help to determine which type of study will give you the best and most accurate result. Quantitative research designs serve to find solutions to research problems that ask questions and provide results that are quantifiable. This means that these questions are generally numerically based, or can be asked in such a way that the study yields quantitative or numerical data (The Foundations of Evidence-Based Practice, 2020). Qualitative research designs serve to provide the researcher with information about experiences, thoughts, and/or feelings. Qualitative studies often serve to examine research problems that have not been heavily studied in the past. In addition, these designs frequently serve as the foundation upon which quantitative research designs are built (The Foundations of Evidence-Based Practice, 2020).

I feel staffing issues regarding nurse to patients ratios I would take a quantitative approach to help to find answers. Quantitative research involves greater interactions between the person doing the research and the issue at hand. With this approach it is easier to set up data that can be statistically analyzed to set up surveys and questionnaires.

Potential barriers that exist in evidence based practice is change and lack of support. In the medical felt there is always resistance that you face any time there is change implemented. Nurses in general have negative attitudes about research and the implications of evidence based practice. Also the lack of support that management and leadership can be discouraging. It is difficult for nurses to implement findings in research if there leadership team is not supportive (The Foundations of Evidence-Based Practice, 2020). With barriers like these it can be challenging so it is imperative to have the evidence to support t the cause when your ready to present the change.

References

The Foundations of Evidence-Based Practice. (2020). Media Pearsons. Pg. 21,22,28 Retrieved from.

https://media.pearsoncmg.com/pls/us/edaff/1323465561/nur400_lps/nur400_rebpn_02_04_01.html

 

POST 2 (Karly)

In order to develop a research question, you must first know what it consists of. A research question is the main question that all research will be based off of (The Writing Center, 2018). This question should be based off of something that you are particularly concerned or passionate about. To come up with a well-developed research question you should make sure the topic is broad and interesting (The Writing Center, 2018). You should consider the audience, ask yourself questions, and then evaluate whether or not the research question is clear, focused, and complex (The Writing Center, 2018). After all these steps have been completed, you are ready to begin your research.

The research problem that came to my mind is nurse-patient-ratio and readmission rates. How does understaffed units with high nurse-patient-ratio impact patient care and readmission to the hospital? Unfortunately, the higher nurse to patient acuity, the less time that nurse gets to spend with each patient. Inadequate staffing can lead to more infections, falls, preventable medical errors, longer stay in the hospital, and a higher readmission rates within 30 days.

The different types of study designs include quantitative research, qualitative research, and outcomes research. Quantitative research focuses more on gathering numerical data collected from different sources and can be quantified (USC, 2020). Qualitative research is usually more complicated and cannot be quantified. It is designed to study areas that have not be heavily studied in the past (USC, 2020). Outcomes research is designed to understand the end results of particular health care practices and interventions (John Hopkins University, n.d.).

My research question can be answered using both quantitative and qualitative research. From a qualitative standpoint, nurses can be asked their thoughts and feelings regarding the high nurse-patient-ratios and inadequate staffing. How does this affect their stress level? How does it impact the care that they give to their patients? From a quantitative standpoint, patients and family members can be given a survey or questionnaire about their experience in the hospital, their experience with discharge instructions etc. Adequate discharge teaching is crucial when it comes to patient readmission rates into the hospital.

Two potential barriers that exist with evidence-based practice include heavy workload and lack of time to read literature. These barriers can occur at both organizational and individual levels. With inadequate staff, it is almost impossible for nurses to have extra time to research and review different areas of evidence-based-practice.

Reference:

John Hopkins University. (n.d.). Outcomes research. Retrieved from

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/gim/research/method/outcomes.html

The Writing Center. (2018). How to write a research question. Retrieved from

https://writingcenter.gmu.edu/guides/how-to-write-a-research-question

University of Southern California. (2020). Organizing your social sciences research paper. Retrieved from

https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/qualitative