NSG2NMR Internal, External, and Ecological Validity Assignment Sample

Nursing And Midwifery Research

Error while giving the medication or preparation the medication plan can be very dangerous. Nurses might feel less confident and also may be interrupted several times while doing these tasks. Which ultimately, increase the risks about patient safety. So to make sure that which is the best practice it is important for nurses to critically evaluate the research. This essay will look deep into the study conducted by Grete, Randi, Thien, Inger and Saskia, Milena, Tanja, Christoph, Carlaso and will examine their validity. The contribution made by these researches will also be checked through this essay.

The aim of the study performed by Grete, Randi, Thien and Inger was aimed to investigate the experiences of the nurses with using the knowledge they have gained with the help of obligatory medication management programme (MMP). In their study, they have stated that it is important that healthcare providers have the knowledge as well as capabilities to meet with the present demands of the services. Having these two aspects increases nurses confidence in performing their roles. The nurses gained knowledge via MMP which is important for their tasks, roles and responsibilities as a nurse. Therefore, it is important to identify the development of their knowledge (Høghaug et al., 2019). The aim of the study completed by Saskia, Milena, Tanja, Christoph and Carla was aimed to research about the gap in the area of system and human factors by testing and evaluating the potential of training of the staff and wearing safety vests as a new altogether intervention to decrease the interruptions during the preparation of the medication and also while double-checking. They hypothesized the decrease in the number of the times nurses faced interruptions while making and rechecking the medication when they were using the novel intervention. In addition, they also explored the effect of the intervention on the sources and duration of interruptions (Huckels‐Baumgart et al., 2017).

In the study of Grete, Randi, Thien and Inger, they have first used a qualitative approach for better understanding of MMP based development of knowledge in nurses. Their programme brings together classroom teaching with e-learning. The main topics that were looked into were pharmaceutical preparation and its delivery. The participants were asked to complete some tests before, just after and 3 months later the completion of the programme. Then, they were asked for an interview. The participants that were chosen for the study were thirty nurses who were recently employed from medical and surgical wards and have completed all the tests. Data was collected via interviews and was later analyzed (Høghaug et al., 2019). Whereas, the study conducted by Saskia, Milena, Tanja, Christoph and Carla focused on a ward where patients having cancer or are in need of palliative care were admitted.

The ward consists of 20 beds and has the capacity to take care of 12 patients. The room was staffed by 28 nurses who worked according to their shifts. It was noted by them that one nurse was given the responsibility of preparation medication and the other nurse have the responsibility to recheck the prescribed medications. The study was done by an external observer. For the intervention, they first gave knowledge to the nurses about the risks involved in interruptions made by other people during medication preparation and also while double-checking it. Data was collected after doing this. Then for the second step, safety vest was introduced. Now, the nurses have the knowledge about the risks as well as have their safety vests. The vests have “Do not disturb” written on it. After this, data was collected and was examined (Huckels‐Baumgart et al., 2017).

Results that were obtained in Grete, Randi, Thien and Inger study mentioned that management of the medication is seen as very big responsibility by new nurses. They also fear that they might make mistakes. By undertaking this study, nurses had more sense of awareness about the knowledge and they become confident after completing the entire programme. Also, it was stated that nurses who have more experience in the area felt they were also benefitted as their knowledge about management of medication was updated. With the help of this programme, nurses learnt more information on aseptic techniques and how to implement them. It was also found that new information which was gained by nurses helped them to identify errors. By completing the study, many nurses also mentioned that they now require much lesser assistance from their colleague. The results, in addition, indicated that using MMP, nurses gained knowledge about knowing the patient (Høghaug et al., 2019). Outcomes of the study performed by Saskia, Milena, Tanja, Christoph and Carla suggested that frequency of the disturbances experienced by nurses reduced after they were given the knowledge about the risks of the interruption on making a medication plan and while double checking it and while they wear the safety vest. The reduction in interruption came down from 36.8 to 28.3 per hour and while double-check it was 27.5 to 15 per hour. In total interruptions reduced from 23.1% and 24.4% while preparing medication and also while rechecking it (Huckels‐Baumgart et al., 2017).

The conclusion of the study performed by Grete, Randi, Thien and Inger was to look at the experiences of the nurses while using the knowledge they gained with the help of MMP. They found that the nurses were aware of the information and that made them more confident professionally. Barriers were also recognized which makes the management of medication poor. The factors were poorly mentioned procedures and pressure on nurses because of time. Management of the medicines is one of the most significant roles of the nurse which makes them adequate to carry their job. Increment in nursing skills and improvised structure of the organization contribute towards gaining more confidence and decrement in medication error (Høghaug et al., 2019). In the study conducted by Saskia, Milena, Tanja, Christoph and Carla it was concluded that interruptions were made while preparing and rechecking medications by nursing staff is very frequent. The study showed a positive outlook after the staff was given knowledge on the same topic and were made to wear a safety vest while making medication plan and rechecking them. These changes decrease the interruptions which are specially made by their colleagues. The results showed the importance of undertaking safety of the patient while doing those two important tasks (Huckels‐Baumgart et al., 2017).

The validity of the research and study is known as how well the outcomes within the participants showcase the true findings. The concept of the validity applies to the study performed, its association, its prevalence, its intervention and the diagnosis. The validity of the study or research consists of two main parts. They are internal validity and external validity. Internal validity can be defined as the amount to which outcomes represent the truth within the population that are undertaken for the study purpose (Andrade, 2018). There can be various internal threats to the study. They are history, maturation, regression, attrition, testing and instrumentation (Patino & Ferreira, 2018, Torre & Picho, 2016). In the study performed by Grete, Randi, Thien and Inger it can be noted that history might affect the results as a number of events might occur outside the experiment which could affect the responses made by the participants. The subject might also mature over the course of the experiment. The participants might change physically and mentally as they grow up. The other threat to this study internal validity was selection bias as only female nurses were included while performing the experiment.

Undertaking male nurses would have brought a difference in the result because they might have different experiences (Høghaug et al., 2019). Whereas the internal threat to the study conducted by Saskia, Milena, Tanja, Christoph and Carla was again history. Over the time period, subjects might face events which are of large scale that could have affected their behaviour or their attitude which ultimately make changes to results of the study. They might also mature over the course of time and act in a different manner (Huckels‐Baumgart et al., 2017). Internal validity lacking implies that the outcomes of the study diverge from the truth and no conclusion can be drawn from it. If the research dies not to have internal validity then external validity is also disrupted. To increase this type of validity in research, the investigator needs to make sure to be careful while planning the study (Patino & Ferreira, 2018, Torre & Picho, 2016).

External validity can be defined as the limit to which the outcomes of the research are generalized for the patients (Patino & Ferreira, 2018, Khorsan & Crawford, 2014). There are various threats to the external validity of the research. They are multiple treatment interference, Reactive effects and Interaction of selection bias (Torre & Picho, 2016). The study conducted by Grete, Randi, Thien and Inger have limitation like the study was performed at a single site and only a few numbers of subjects were selected who all were female (Høghaug et al., 2019). And the research conducted by Saskia, Milena, Tanja, Christoph and Carla also has the same external threat that the study was again performed in a single ward of a hospital. Therefore, the outcomes might not be generalized to other wards, hospitals and nations. Another threat can be that only a small amount of observations were made during the preparation of the medication and also while rechecking it.

Hence, the researchers were not able to address all the sources that might have caused the interruption. Besides, the intervention which was introduced where the participants have the knowledge about the risks that can be caused because of interruptions and also have safety vests for wearing was observed for a short duration of time. Therefore, it was very unclear how long the effect of the interventions persisted among the participants. Also, wearing safety vests could not be regarded independently (Huckels‐Baumgart et al., 2017). External validity lacking indicates that the outcomes of the experiment might not apply to diseased individuals who differ from the population and study. This could lead to less amount of adoption of the methods tested in the experiment by other healthcare professionals. External validity could be enhanced by utilizing broader inclusion criteria so that the outcomes more closely match with real-life patients. Researchers could also choose interventions carefully so that they are feasible to use (Patino & Ferreira, 2018).

Therefore, after a deep analysis, it can be said that there are various barriers present to the safe administration of the medicines. The measurement validity was not mentioned in the papers. However, both the studies that were performed have multiple internal and external threats and those can affect the outcomes. Hence, the trustworthiness of both of these experiments was very less. Steps could be taken to increase the validity of the research.

References for Nursing And Midwifery Research

Andrade C. (2018). Internal, external, and ecological validity in research design, conduct, and evaluation. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 40(5), 498–499.

Høghaug, G., Skår, R., Tran, T. N., & Schou-Bredal, I. (2019). Nurses' experiences with newly acquired knowledge about medication management: A qualitative study. Journal of Nursing Management, 27(8), 1731-1737.

Huckels‐Baumgart, S., Niederberger, M., Manser, T., Meier, C. R., & Meyer‐Massetti, C. (2017). A combined intervention to reduce interruptions during medication preparation and double‐checking: a pilot‐study evaluating the impact of staff training and safety vests. Journal of Nursing Management, 25(7), 539-548.

Khorsan, R., & Crawford, C. (2014). External validity and model validity: A conceptual approach for systematic review methodology. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2014.

Patino, C. M., & Ferreira, J. C. (2018). Internal and external validity: Can you apply research study results to your patients?. Jornal Brasileiro de Pneumologia, 44(3), 183-183.

Torre, D. M., & Picho, K. (2016). Threats to internal and external validity in health professions education research. Academic Medicine, 91(12), e21.

Remember, at the center of any academic work, lies clarity and evidence. Should you need further assistance, do look up to our Nursing Assignment Help

Expand Your Understanding :

3015CCJ Family Process and Delinquency in an Ecological Context Assignment Sample

Looking For Complete Assignment Sample Get It On WhatsApp