Discussing a nursing research article.

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Introduction

        For this assignment the author will be discussing a nursing research article.  The article was published in The Journal of Advanced Nursing which is a quality peer reviewed journal.  This means that before an article is published it is reviewed by experts in the relevant field; they look at factors such as clarity, originality, relevance and the evidence base in order to improve the quality of publications, (Journal of Advanced Nursing, 2003a).

All articles are double-blind reviewed; medical statisticians also review articles with a statistical content, (Journal of Advanced Nursing, 2003b).

The article, titled ‘The Role of the District Nurse in Bereavement Support’ was published on 4th March 2002; it was developed and written by Birtwistle, a research nurse, Payne, a university professor, Smith, a university lecturer and Kendrick, a professor from a health center, (Birtwistle, Payne, Smith and Kendrick, 2002).

Throughout the discussion the author will cover topics such as, the rationale for the research being carried out, the research approach used, the methodology, data analysis, and the impact this research will have on today’s practice.  Throughout the assignment the author will be referring to a framework for reviewing and evaluating, the framework is from Cormack, (Cormack, 2000).

Literature Review

        One of the first major steps that should be carried out in research is a literature review.  This is when a researcher should seek out other research work that has been carried out previously on the same issue.  Researchers could benefit from what has been done before and perhaps thereafter they can offer something in return.  Sadly this step is sometimes missed out by researchers who are to keen to move on and start their data collection.  By reviewing previous literature many ideas and perspectives can be gained, this can aid in the formulation of research questions and will also prevent the exact same research being carried out twice, (Parahoo, 1997).

        Birtwistle et al describe how many of today’s district nurses provide follow-up bereavement visits and offer some type of bereavement counselling, advice and support.  Their literature search of this area produced very little evidence on which this practice could be based.  They carried out a comprehensive literature search using various popular databases such as CINAHL, Medline, Cochrane, Embase and Psychlit.  They also state that previous researches have found evidence to suggest that bereavement can increase mortality and increase the risk of mental and physical health problems.  They found conflicting research about whether there is an increased use of health services after bereavement.  Their search found no published research articles about district nurses involvement in bereavement support.  It was due to this lack of evidence and research that they decided to obtain information from a representative sample of district nurse’s about their beliefs and current practice surrounding bereavement care in the community, (Birtwistle et al, 2002).

Research Approach

 The Cormack framework asks us if the study clearly states the research approach used.  Although the article does not state whether qualitative or quantitative research is used it does say that a cross-sectional postal survey was carried out using an anonymous self-completed questionnaire.  The questionnaire required the nurse to tick a box from a choice of answers based on a five point lickert scale.  This would suggest that the approach used is quantitative.  They say this is the best way to obtain a large amount of data in a short period of time at a low cost.  This would suggest that Birtwistle et al have predominantly used a quantitative approach, although it is also clear that a small amount of qualitative research has been used.  We can tell they also used qualitative research as they mention that nine of the questions provided an opportunity for the respondent to provide additional information, (Birtwistle et al, 2002).

Most studies use either qualitative or quantitative however it is possible to combine both to good effect, this may provide a deeper understanding of the issue in question.  Quantitative research used to be known as the traditional research process, regarded as the acceptable method for developing a science.  With quantitative research complex information can be systematically broken down into simple components in order to develop an understanding of the research area, (Cormack, 2000).

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There are various techniques used by researchers to carry out quantitative research.  These may be some form of experiment, interview or various survey forms such as attitude measures or questionnaires, (Eachus, 2003).

Methodology

 Various parts of the Cormack framework cover the methodology, it asks if the subjects are clearly identified, if the approach to the sample selection is clearly stated, if the sample size is clearly stated and about the data collection, (Cormack, 2000).

For this study Birtwistle et al carried out a cross-sectional postal survey using an anonymous questionnaire.  They say this is one of the best ways ...

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