Ethical Considerations in Qualitative Study

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Ethical Considerations in Qualitative Study

Write a critical appraisal that demonstrates comprehension of two qualitative research studies. Use the \”Research Critique Guidelines – Part 1\” document (PLEASE SEE ATTACHMENT) to organize your essay. Successful completion of this assignment requires that you provide rationale, include examples, and reference content from the studies in your responses.Ethical Considerations in Qualitative Study

Use the practice problem and two qualitative, peer-reviewed research article you identified in the Topic 1 assignment to complete this assignment. (PLEASE SEE ATTACHMENT)

In a 1,000–1,250-word essay, summarize two qualitative studies, explain the ways in which the findings might be used in nursing practice, and address ethical considerations associated with the conduct of the study.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

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Research Critique Guidelines – Part I

Qualitative Studies

A research critique is the careful, unbiased and systematic examination of all aspects of a research article to judge its significance, meaning, limitations and merit based on the knowledge and experience of the topic. It is intended to support evidence-based practice by providing evidence for use in practice and broadening understanding about the topic (Hyett, Kenny & Dickson-Swift, 2014). The present research critique explores two journal articles that applied qualitative research approaches with the intention of answering a PICOT question on whether the application of hand hygiene could reduce the rate of hospital acquired infections (HAI) in acute care inpatients.

Article 1:

Herbeć, A., Chimhini, G., Rosenberg-Pacareu, J., Sithole, K., Rickli, F., Chimhuya, S., … & Fitzgerald, F. C. (2020). Barriers and facilitators to infection prevention and control in a neonatal unit in Zimbabwe–a theory-driven qualitative study to inform design of a behaviour change intervention. Journal of Hospital Infection, 106(4), 804-811. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhin.2020.09.020

Background of Study

Herbeć et al. (2020) acknowledges that HAI is an increasing concern for neonatal care as it is associated with morbidity and mortality. This is especially the case in low income settings where cost concerns limit care options. The authors note that while there are a range of options available for reducing HAI incidences, the options are limited for low income settings that cannot afford to spend more on health care. Still, there are opportunities for reducing HAIs that are available for low income settings. One such option is leveraging medical personnel and ensuring that their behavior conform to high hygiene standards that reduce the spread of pathogens thus reducing HAI incidences. With this understanding, medical personnel can develop targeted protocols for improving hygiene and reducing HAI incidences. Towards this end, the study sought to answer the question of whether there are barrier and facilitators to infection prevention and control (IPC) practice among medical personnel in a neonatal unit within a low income setting.Ethical Considerations in Qualitative Study

How do these two articles support the nurse practice issue you chose?

Herbeć et al. (2020) supports the use of hand hygiene as a nursing practice for reducing HAI. It notes that this is a low-cost and effective intervention that is useful even in low income settings. By understanding the barriers and facilitators of hand hygiene behavior adoption among nurses, it is possible to develop IPC policies that ensure the effective use of hand hygiene protocols. Although the article is useful for answering the PICOT question, there is a difference in the target population and practice setting thus creating generalizability concerns. The study focuses on neonatal care in low income settings with the research conducted in Zimbabwe, Africa, and yet the PICOT question focuses on acute care inpatients without specifying the patient demographics. This makes it difficult to determine whether the study results can be generalized for the PICOT question.

Method of Study:

The study presented in Herbeć et al. (2020) adopts a qualitative research approach that makes use of interviews and ethnographic observations. This entailed engaging the participants in question and answer session where their opinions on the study topic were collected even as their reactions were observed. The methodology had the benefit of allowing for flexibility in questions to explore emerging themes and seeks clarification with the interviewer able to observe the non-verbal responses that could have implications for the study. Still, this approach has cost limitations as it is expensive and time consuming to conduct so that only a small number of participants can be engaged in the research thus making it easier to overlook important themes (Jones & Smith, 2017).

Results of Study

Herbeć et al. (2020) identifies the facilitators and barriers to IPC. It identifies the facilitators as awareness of IPC, motivational beliefs that IPC practices are critical roles, and concerns about the consequences of failing to follow IPC protocols. The barriers to IPC include limited knowledge about the guidelines, lack of feedback on performance, lack of resources, and poor habit formation. The identified barriers and facilitators have implications for nursing practice as they would be areas of focus in developing appropriate interventions in terms of improving IPC practices among nurses.

Ethical Considerations

The study presented in Herbeć et al. (2020) engaged human participants. As such, permission was sought from institutional review boards to ensure that the study protocol did not expose the participants to undue harm. In addition, the participants were provided with informed consent forms before recruitment to ensure that their participation was voluntary. The two considerations ensured that the study was ethical.

Article 2:

Staniford, L. J., & Schmidtke, K. A. (2020). A systematic review of hand-hygiene and environmental-disinfection interventions in settings with children. BMC Public Health, 20(1), Article 195. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-8301-0

Background of Study

Staniford and Schmidtke (2020) acknowledge that adopting good hygiene habits is important for improving public health by eliminating opportunities for spreading pathogens. This concern is validated by the awareness that pathogens such as bacteria can live in virtually any environment even as they transition between hosts. Bacteria can live in the body or in the surrounding environment thereby creating the need for both personal and environmental hygiene to control the spread of bacteria. Given this awareness, the study sought to explore previous publications on behavior change interventions designed to increase hand hygiene and environmental disinfecting.

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How do these two articles support the nurse practice issue you chose?

Staniford and Schmidtke (2020) supports the nurse practice issue on hand hygiene for reducing the rate of HAI. Although the article does not talk on HAI specifically, it explores hand hygiene as an effective strategy for controlling the spread of microbes between humans and the environment thereby making it useful for answering the PICOT question.Ethical Considerations in Qualitative Study

Staniford and Schmidtke (2020) identifies the intervention (hand hygiene) but does not identify the practice setting. This is significant as it reduces the generalizability of the results for the PICOT question. The PICOT question identifies acute care inpatient setting.

Method of Study:

Staniford and Schmidtke (2020) adopts a systematic review approach that entails exploring relevant publications in different library databases. It identified two databases in which intervention studies were collected with a focus on hand hygiene and environmental disinfection behavior topics. The searches were refined using an eligibility criterion until an appropriate number of publications was identified. The systematic review approach has the benefit of delivering a clear and comprehensive overview of the available evidence on the topic thereby helping to identify existing gaps in know and research. Still, this approach has the disadvantage of only being useful for much researched topics with new topics that do not have enough primary research data presenting a problem on what to base useful conclusions (Snyder, 2019).

Results of Study

The results of Staniford and Schmidtke (2020) show that 29 studies met the inclusion criteria. It noted that the majority of the studies focused on hand hygiene alone with only two of the studies focusing on both hand hygiene and environmental disinfection simultaneously. The results indicate that the more commonly applied intervention is hand hygiene but that both hand hygiene and environmental disinfection can be applied concurrently to improve hygiene levels. The implications of the study are that nursing practice should consider applying both hand hygiene and environmental disinfection to improve hygiene levels in the practice environment.

Ethical Considerations

The study presented in Staniford and Schmidtke (2020) did not involve any human participants as it did not collect primary data. As such, ethical approval was not required for the study. In addition, all secondary sources of information were included as citations and in the reference list thereby addressing plagiarism concerns. The two considerations ensured that the study was ethical.

Conclusion

One must accept that a research critique explores a research article for its significance, meaning, limitations and merit based on the identified topic. In addition, one must acknowledge that Herbeć et al. (2020) and Staniford and Schmidtke, (2020) present the results of qualitative research on the implications of hand hygiene practices on HAI incidences. The two articles both apply appropriate research methodologies and show that hand hygiene is appropriate for reducing HAI rates in the health care environment. Ethical Considerations in Qualitative Study

References

Glasper, A., & Rees, C. (Eds.) (2017). Nursing and Healthcare Research at a Glance. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Hyett, N., Kenny, A., & Dickson-Swift, V. (2014). Methodology or method? A critical review of qualitative case study reports. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, 9(1), https://doi.org/10.3402/qhw.v9.23606

Jones, J., & Smith, J. (2017). Ethnography: challenges and opportunities. Evidence-Based Nursing, 20, 98-100. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/eb-2017-102786

Snyder, H. (2019). Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 104, 333-339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.07.039

Staniford, L. J., & Schmidtke, K. A. (2020). A systematic review of hand-hygiene and environmental-disinfection interventions in settings with children. BMC public health, 20(1), Article 195. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-8301-0

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 consideration in conducting research.
Describe how the researchers in the two articles you choose took these ethical considerations into account while performing their research.

Ethical Considerations in Qualitative Study

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