Qualitative Studies
Background of Study
- Summary of studies. Include problem, significance to nursing, purpose, objective, and research question.
How do these two articles support the nurse practice issue you chose?
- Discuss how these two articles will be used to answer your PICOT question.
- Describe how the interventions and comparison groups in the articles compare to those identified in your PICOT question.
Method of Study:
- State the methods of the two articles you are comparing and describe how they are different.
- Consider the methods you identified in your chosen articles and state one benefit and one limitation of each method.
Results of Study
- Summarize the key findings of each study in one or two comprehensive paragraphs.
- What are the implications of the two studies in nursing practice?
Ethical Considerations
- Discuss two ethical considerations in conducting research.
- Describe how the researchers in the two articles you choose took these ethical considerations into account while performing their research.
Sample Answer
Qualitative Studies
Background of Study
The main problem explored by the qualitative study by Ahmeti et al. (2017) is the relationship between the quality of life of heart failure patients and their exercise capacity. The main purpose and objective of Ahmeti et al. (2017) study is to assess if there will be any relationship between the exercise capacity of heart failure patients and their quality of life. Ahmeti et al. (2017) adopt a prospective study approach to achieve their objective. The research question explored in Ahmeti et al. (2017) study is that among patients with chronic heart failure, what will be the relationship between their quality of life and exercise capacity? Ahmeti et al., (2017) study is important to nursing practice because its results can be used by nurse practitioners either to recommend physical exercise as an important intervention to improve the quality of life of heart failure patients or to advise patients to avoid physical exercise.
On the other hand, the main problem explored by the qualitative study by Rashidi et al. (2020) is the different factors that will have an effect on the ability of patients living with cardiovascular diseases to adhere to treatment plans. The purpose and objective of Rashidi et al., (2020) study is to determine the different factors that will have an effect on the ability of patients living with cardiovascular diseases to adhere to treatment plans. The main research question explored by Rashidi et al. (2020) is among people living with cardiovascular diseases, what are the different factors that will affect the adherence to treatment plans. Rashidi et al., (2020) study are important to a nursing discipline because the study results can be utilized by nurse practitioners to understand various barriers for different treatment plans among cardiovascular patients. Healthcare practitioners can therefore be able to come up with effective strategies to deal with the factors that may influence the adherence of cardiovascular disease patients to treatment plans.
How do these two articles support the nurse practice issue you chose?
Ahmeti et al., (2017) study will answer the picot question of ‘Among 65 years and older patients with cardiovascular disease what are their perceptions on self-care post-discharge education? By providing some examples of self-care exercises that elderly patients with cardiovascular diseases such as heart failure can be involved in. Ahmeti et al.’s (2017) study, therefore, presents exercising as an important self-care activity that elderly patients with cardiovascular diseases can involve themselves in post-discharge to improve their quality of life. On the other hand, Rashidi et al., (2020) study answer the picot question of among 65 years and older patients with cardiovascular disease what are their perceptions on self-care post-discharge education? By presenting various factors that might negatively influence the adherence of elderly patients with cardiovascular disease to treatment plans post-discharge. Rashidi et al., (2020) study highlights they are a combination of factors that will affect the perception of elderly patients with cardiovascular diseases post-discharge.
The intervention group in the picot question is post-discharge education, while the comparison group is not receiving post-discharge education. The intervention and comparison groups of the picot question differ from those of Ahmeti et al., (2017) study that utilizes involvement in exercises as the main intervention and comparison groups. The intervention and comparison groups of the picot question also differ from those of the Rashidi et al. (2020) study. The intervention and comparison groups of Rashidi et al. (2020) are the numerous factors that affect the adherence of cardiovascular disease patients to treatment plans.
Method of Study
Ahmeti et al., (2017) qualitative study utilize the prospective study approach. The prospective study approach involves watching for outcomes such as the development of illnesses during the study period and relating search outcomes to other factors such as suspected protection factors or risks. A prospective study normally involves recruiting cohort subjects and watching them over a long period of time. In contrast, Rashidi et al., (2020) qualitative study adopt the systematic review study method, which involves identifying and synthesizing the best available evidence related to the topic of study, which is the various factors that might impact the adherence of people living with cardiovascular diseases to different treatment plans.
The main benefit of the prospective study approach is the ability to provide clarity related to temporal sequences such as exposure and outcome. On the other hand, the main limitation of a prospective study is that it is time-consuming and requires researchers to follow a large population of participants (Hammoudeh et al., 2018). The main benefit of a systematic review is that it’s more reliable and useful than a single study. On the other hand, the main limitation of a systematic review is that it can become outdated quickly (Ahn & Kang, 2018).
Results of Study
According to Ahmeti et al. (2017), Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ) will be an effective measure for evaluating the exercise capacity of elderly patients with heart failure. According to Ahmeti et al. (2017), elderly patients with heart failure and who do not exercise frequently will have more complications compared to those that exercise frequently. Such complications will include high filling pressures in their heart and other physiological complications that significantly affect the response to treatment. Ahmeti et al. (2017) therefore concluded that as a result of experiencing complications, the quality of life of heart failure patients with a poor exercise capacity would be lower than that of patients with a higher exercise capacity. In this regard, heart failure patients with a higher exercise capacity will be more involved in physical activities and be able to avoid numerous complications during their treatment.
On the other hand, according to Rashidi et al. (2020), the main facilitators of adherence of cardiovascular disease patients to a treatment plan include having support and mentorship, engaging in exercise, the perceived value of taking medication, and lifestyle modification. In contrast, the main barrier to adherence of cardiovascular disease patients to their treatment plan included lack of engagement in exercise, lack of support lifestyle changes, and concerns about taking medication.
Ahmeti et al., (2017) study is important to nursing practice because its results can be used by nurse practitioners either to recommend physical exercise as an important intervention to improve the quality of life of heart failure patients or to advise patients to avoid physical exercise. Rashidi et al. (2020) is important to a nursing discipline because the study results can be utilized by nurse practitioners to understand various barriers for different treatment plans among cardiovascular patients. Healthcare practitioners can therefore be able to come up with effective strategies to deal with the factors that may influence the adherence of cardiovascular disease patients to treatment plans.
Ethical Considerations
Two ethical considerations in conducting research include informed consent and confidentiality. When conducting research, researchers have to maintain the confidentiality of research participants while also obtaining informed consent from research participants before any research process.
In both Ahmeti et al. (2017) and Rashidi et al. (2020) studies, The researchers maintained the confidentiality of research participants and also educated the Research participants, and obtained informed consent before involving them in any studies.
