Clinical Question and Purpose of the Paper
COURSE OUTCOMES
CO 2: Apply research principles to the interpretation of the content of published research studies. (POs #4 and #8)
CO 4: Evaluate published nursing research for credibility and clinical significance related to evidence- based practice. (POs #4 and #8)
Solution
Clinical Question and Purpose of the Paper
The clinical question as per the group entails focusses on analyzing the role of nurses in discharge planning and how the planning impacts patient outcomes. Arguably, patient outcomes are positively associated with the way discharge planning is undertaken. As such, this clinical question is significant in nursing practice to enable better patient outcomes.
Significance of the Problem and
Furthermore, the discharge planning is crucial in enabling patients to receive quality medical care from nurses to inhibit re-hospitalization. In this research, we formulated a PICOT question to guide our research. In our research, we have to analyze how the recovery process (O) of both children and adults (P) admitted in medical institutions is affected (C) by the roles of the nurses regarding discharge planning (I) during and after the discharge process (T).
Hospitals discharge are rendered a critical
point within the gamut of care that solely affects patient outcomes. As such
there is need to improve the discharge planning process to cater for patients
in acute care. As such, the biggest
problem that faces nurses to fail in administering better discharge plans entails the heavy workloads,
multiple demands
Appraising Research Articles
| Article | Reference | Purpose Hypothesis | Variables | Study Design | Sample Size and Selection | Data Collection Methods | Significant Findings |
| Foust, J. B. (2007). Discharge Planning as Part of Daily Nursing Practice. Applied Nursing Research, 20(2), 72-77. | Examining the nurse’s efforts in the discharge plan during practice. There was no research question The hypothesis for the research was not indicated. | Dependent variable, in this case, was the discharge planning process The independent variable, in this case, was the nurse expectations of patient’s progress, discharge Assessments, planning over time, and teaching. P- Nurses I – Discharge planning C – Daily nursing activities O- Use of Discharge planning | Qualitative Study | Eight Nurses were under observation, and they were interviewed. Furthermore, the study was conducted in a 32-bed surgical care unit of a large medical center. The sample was guided by emerging data analysis. Each nurse had responsibility for patient’s care time during data collection. The age of nurses ranged between 22-42 years, and they were all Registered Nurses Results were not statistically significant due to the small sample of RNs. | Data collection methods entailed participant observations, informal and formal interviews, and use of relevant hospital resources such as discharge planning policies. | Major findings indicate that the nurse’s expectations of the progress of a patient were dictated by the discharge assessments, teaching, as well as planning over time. Furthermore, discharge teaching was found to be part of the daily practice at the facility, and it became to be more specific as hospital discharge approached. Also, there was a gap between the documented as well as the observed plan’s efforts which posed a significant challenge for nurses in many positions at the facility. | |
| Graham, J., Gallagher, R., & Bothe, J. (2013). Nurses’ discharge planning and risk assessment: Behaviors, understanding, and barriers. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 22(15–16), 2338–2346. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.12179 | The purpose of this research focused on examining nurse’s understanding, adherence and barriers to discharge planning. The study did not depict a research question but indicated that it was hypothesized to describe nurse’s discharge planning process as well as the risks assessment behaviors of discharge planning. Also, the study focused on describing an understanding of patient’s potential risks and barriers that nurses face during the discharge process. | The dependent variable in this research suggests the nurse’s understanding, adherence and barriers to discharge planning. The independent variable, in this case, indicated the support and encouragement as well as the discharge planning policies that nurses need to adhere to. | Descriptive Study | 64 Nurses at in acute words underwent a self-report survey of their understanding of the discharge planning process, adherences to discharge planning and barriers associated with implementing discharge planning. Results were statistically significant as the sample used was a bit larger for RNs. | The study took place in two 500-bed tertiary referral and general hospital in Australia. The nurse who qualified as participants had to be licensed and the recruitment tool place between November and December 2008. The 12-question surveys were anonymous and conducted in a private room and during work time in the afternoon. Pilot testing was conducted by ten nurses in the same words and eight nurses in an expert reference from. Face and content validity, clarity of questions, completeness were achieved by tuning language to the Australian context. | Results indicate that there was a 23 % adherence to discharge policy, which is low. The nurses had a general awareness of the reduced quality of patient outcome. Additionally, the researchers indicated that the most common barriers to discharge planning entailed limited time and patient’s factors. Additionally, it was evident that nurse understands the significance of discharge planning, but they fail to exercise it during practice. |
Description
In analyzing the two articles it was evident that researchers utilized the concepts of nursing practice in administering discharge planning in acute care hospitals. As such, with the two research articles stated above the, researchers used methods such as informal and formal interviews, observation, and self-reports to tune their independent variables. In confirming the validity and reliability of their instruments, the researchers focused on adhering to ethics and ensuring construct validities are achieved during the procedure of research. To answer the purpose of this paper, it is evident that nurse understand the importance of discharge planning but they are faced with barriers to implementing the process in practice. The next step for our group will entail formulation of methods to use and sampling our participants to find the how nurses play a role in discharge planning as well as how effective it is in patient outcomes.
Conclusion
Regarding research findings, it is evident that a discharge
planning process is an imperative
tool in improving patient outcomes. According to (Foust, 2007), it is evident
that few nurses perform discharge planning on a daily basis and that teaching
and patient assessments are imperative in administering discharge planning.
Furthermore, Graham,
Gallagher, and Bothe (2013) suggest
that most nurses are aware of the importance of discharge planning yet they
fail to practice it. Furthermore, discharge planning has its barriers
associated with patient factors and limited time due to multiple demands faced
by nurses.
References
Foust, J. B. (2007). Discharge planning as part of daily nursing practice. Applied Nursing Research, 20(2), 72–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnr.2006.01.005
Graham, J., Gallagher, R., & Bothe, J. (2013). Nurses’ discharge planning and risk assessment: Behaviours, understanding and barriers. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 22(15–16), 2338–2346. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.12179
