Quantitative Research Critique Paper

Quantitative Research Critique Paper Building Capacity for Evidence-Based Practice: Understanding How Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) Source Knowledge Purpose of the study (10 points)   Why does the author think the study is necessary? o The author thought this study was necessary because there is insufficient data on how licensed practical nurses source their clinical knowledge compared to registered nurses. Do you agree with his/her justification? o As a LPN, yes, this writer agrees with the authors justification. In nursing school, EBP does not have an extensive focus like it does when attending nursing school for RN. Many clinical skills are learned at bedside and keeping up those skills a learning new information is often learned in the same fashion or by fellow colleagues. Although the use of EBP is known, access to those materials is limited. Hypotheses (10 points)    Are the hypotheses clearly stated and testable? o The hypotheses were not clearly stated in this article. However, the authors purpose of this study was to find out how LPNs source their knowledge in daily nursing practice. This information was testable through the use of an online survey. What previous research is it based on? o Unfortunately, based on this article, there is little research done on how LPNs source their knowledge. The author based their study on previous research conducted on the various methods RNs source their clinical knowledge. Are they grounded in theory? (if so, describe) o The author was able to gather a theory based on the small amount of research completed on the behaviors of other practicing nurses. The theory was grounded, and the author could hypothesize that LPNs source their information in a similar fashion to other practicing nurses. General methodology (15 points)   Is a quantitative approach appropriate in this case? o The quantitative approach is appropriate to this study because it allowed the author to determine the percentages of nurses using the different types of knowledge sources and compare those results to each other. What are its strengths and weaknesses (in this study)? o The weakness of this study is that it is self-selected, meaning participants chose whether or not they wanted to participate in the study. This method makes it difficult to determine if the sample is generalizable to the entire LPN population. The strength of using the quantitative approach allowed the author to determine the percentage of nurses using different types of source knowledge and amongst which groups that type of source knowledge is most common amongst. Sample (10 points)    Identify the stated population of interest. o The population of interest were licensed practical nurses in Canada. How are "subjects" selected/recruited? o The subjects were selected using a descriptive, cross-sectional survey that was emailed to all practicing LPNs in Alberta, Canada. Email reminders were sent out to increase response times. How generalizable is the sample? (Who's left out?) o The sample size was generalizable to the LPN population 99 times out of 100 with a five percent margin of error. Measures (15 points)   What are the independent and dependent variables? o The dependent variable are the LPNs and the independent variable are the different sources used to gather clinical knowledge. The different types of knowledge sources used would affect how the nurses applied their clinical knowledge from patient to patient. How are they operationalized and measured? o The researcher operationalized and measured the results by splitting the sample size into categories based on sources of knowledge, age, and years of practice. The sources of knowledge varied across sixteen different categories including but not limited to individual clients or patient, nursing school, personal experience, in-services or conferences, and policy and procedure manuals.  Are the measures valid and reliable? o It could be said the measures are valid and reliable because the results coincide with previous research completed regarding practicing nurses and the theory developed by the author for this article. Procedures (10 points)   What are pros & cons of how data were collected? o The form in which the data was collected allowed the author to gather as much information as possible from a large group of nurses across different clinical settings. The con to this particular method is the possible margin of error. Since the each nurse in the sample chooses to participate in the in the study, there is a slight possibility the survey sample may not be generalizable to the LPN population as a whole. Are there ways the procedure could be improved? o The reader does not believe the procedure of gathering data could be improved. The form in which the author gathered the information necessary for this study acknowledged many LPNs at various points in their career and assessed how each of them sourced their applied clinical knowledge. Data analysis (10 points)   Are analyses appropriate given the type of data? o The analyses were appropriate given the type of data. The gathered data allowed the author to determine the top knowledge source amongst RNs and LPNs was the information they gathered about each individual client. The same data stated the least utilized source of information were articles published in nursing, medical, and research journals. Could different methods of analysis been used? o The reader does not believe a different method of analysis could have been used. As stated before, the data collected encompassed a large group of practicing LPNs at various stages of their career. Each sourced their knowledge differently based on the amount of experience they had in the field. Results (10 points)   Are they consistent with the hypotheses? o The results were consistent with the hypothesis. The purpose of the article was to determine what sources of knowledge LPNs used to guide their clinical practice compared to their counterpart RNs. The results determined LPNs gained their knowledge in a similar fashion to RNs with intuition being the main source of knowledge as each nurse gained experience. What are their nursing implications? o The author believes if LPNs were offered education on evidenced-based practice through the use of continuing competency and professional development workshops, they would use that applied knowledge in their clinical care thus improving patient-centered care. Final thoughts…Summarize the research (10 points)    Was the study clearly presented? o The study was clearly presented, and the reader was able to follow along with the study easily. Was the study worth doing and publishing? o Yes, the study was worth publishing and it was an interesting to find out how each nurse used their clinical experience to guide their clinical practice. Going forward, this nurse would not only use intuition but apply more evidence-based practice through the use of nursing and medical journals in order to provide the most upto-date patient care. Describe a logical extension of this study. o A logical extension of this study could include how patient-centered care is affected by making evidenced-based practice in-services a mandatory CEU during license renewal. An example to this would be the mandatory opioid CEUs that nurse must take during license renewal.