Qualitative Research Article Critique
Name
Institution
Date
Article 1
Aparecida Cardoso Maroldi, M., da Silva Felix, A. M., Lima Dias, A. A., Yaeko Kawagoe, J., Padoveze, M. C., Ferreira, S. A., Zem-Mascarenhas, S. H., Timmons, S., & Moralez Figueiredo, R. (2017). Adherence to precautions for preventing the transmission of microorganisms in primary health care: a qualitative study. BMC Nursing, 16, 1–8.
Article 2
Hoffmann, L. M., Wegner, W., Biasibetti, C., de Ávila Peres, M., Gerhardt, L. M., & Koja Breigeiron, M. (2019). Patient safety incidents identified by the caregivers of hospitalized children. Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem, 72(3), 707–714
Study Background
Healthcare Acquired infection is a common problem affecting millions of hospitalized patients in the country. The problem is pronounced in children due to an underdeveloped immune system, which puts them at high risk of HAIs infections. Despite the benefits of hand hygiene practices in reducing HAIs, this practice is still uncommon in pediatric care. Upon noticing that only a limited number of qualitative research has explored the concept of hand hygiene in preventing HAIs, Aparecida et al. (2017) conducted a study to ascertain factors that influences the compliance of measures against HAIs transmission. The study was motivated by a lack of conformity to preventive precautions for HIAs by healthcare professionals and patients. The study objective was identifying important issues determining adherence to preventive measures against the spread of HAIs in primary care settings. On the same item, Hoffmann et al. (2019) conducted a study to identify issues of patient safety pointed out by the caregivers of hospitalized children. The objective was to assess whether HAIs is one of the critical safety issues affecting hospitalized children. The study explored the research question: What are the leading patient safety incidents identified by the caregivers of hospitalized children? In conclusion, the two studies are relevant in addressing the problem of high rates of HAIs in pediatric patients United States.
Support to chosen nurse Practice Issue
The promotion of hand hygiene practices as a preventive measure for HAIs in pediatric inpatients is the nurse practice selected issue. The PICOT question is: Does the promotion of hand hygiene practices by nurses (I) compared to non-adherence of hand hygiene practices (C) decrease the incidence of healthcare-acquired infections by patients aged 0 to 12 years (P) under inpatient care?
In support of proposed clinical intervention, Hoffmann et al. (2019) study pinpoint the main safety issues of concern for children identified by their hospital caregivers. Ideally, it is essential to establish whether, indeed, HAIs are classified among the safety problems to patients in pediatric facilities. Aparecida et al. (2017) study further examine hand hygiene practice by healthcare staff by identifying key factors influencing adherence to the implementation of methods against HAIs. Knowledge of these factors is fundamental in eliminating barriers and fosters the practice among healthcare givers and parents. In support of the PICOT question, both studies are focused on children’s safety in hospitals. Still, Aparecida et al. (2017) offer direct support to the chosen nursing issue compared to Hoffmann et al. (2019) study.
Method of Study
Both studies used a qualitative research design, and a voluntary sampling method to obtain participants. The study used an explorative-descriptive research design to collect and analyze data. A total of 40 caregivers of children from three hospital facilities in Port Alegre City, Brazil, were selected voluntarily to participate in the study. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from participants, and thematic analysis was done using NVivo version 11 software. However, Aparecida et al. (2017) study used four focus groups, each comprising 20 healthcare professionals to gather data from respondents. Data were transcribed and organized into common these for contents analysis. The benefit of using explorative-descriptive research design is gaining detailed and insightful information from the study respondents. However, this method can lead to a huge amount of data some unnecessary for the study and can also be cumbersome to organize and analyze. Therefore, it has the potential to affect the credulity of study results.
Study Results
A study by Hoffmann et al. (2019) found that hand hygiene is a significant patient safety incident among pediatric patients. The study implication to nursing is connected to encouraging nurse involvement participation in identifying opportunities to improve patient care and safety. It also identifies risk factors for preventable patient safety incidents. It, therefore, accords nurses a chance to participate in preventing such incidences and offering a voice to parents/guardians accompanying kids during hospitalization.
On the other hand, Aparecida et al. (2017) observed that inadequate training, low-risk perception, insufficient knowledge, insufficient infrastructures are key factors contributing to non-adherence of preventive. The study found a lack of knowledge on transmission-based preventive measures such as hand hygiene for HAIs among healthcare workers. It also found a lack of sufficient resources and standards for disposing of sharps. Given these findings, it is crucial to train healthcare workers on the transmission of pathogens in primary health facilities to guarantee a sufficient level of knowledge and risk perception. Investment in infrastructure is also critical in facilitating compliance with preventive measures and precautions and also minimizing the risk of disease transmission to patients and healthcare professionals.
Ethical Consideration
There are ethical considerations that need to be fulfilled before conducting actual research. These include informed consent on the part of participants and approval by the relevant research ethics committee. In both studies, the participation of participants voluntarily meant there was no compensation given to entice participants. The participants were asked to sign a written consent form to express their willingness to participate in the study. Therefore, informed consent was met by the researcher in the selected studies.
For the Hoffmann et al. (2019) study, the study was approved by the research ethics committee of all the health institutions that participated in the study. Further to that, institutions and participants’ names remained anonymous and were assigned letters to hide their identity. For Aparecida et al. (2017), apart from voluntary participation in the study, the research was also approved by the Federal University of Sao Carlos ethics committee. Participants also signed a written consent form before they can participate in the study. They were briefed on study objectives and procedures before participating in the research. Therefore, approval by relevant research committee was also met in both studies.
References
Aparecida Cardoso Maroldi, M., da Silva Felix, A. M., Lima Dias, A. A., Yaeko Kawagoe, J., Padoveze, M. C., Ferreira, S. A., Zem-Mascarenhas, S. H., Timmons, S., & Moralez Figueiredo, R. (2017). Adherence to precautions for preventing the transmission of microorganisms in primary health care: a qualitative study. BMC Nursing, 16, 1–8.
Hoffmann, L. M., Wegner, W., Biasibetti, C., de Ávila Peres, M., Gerhardt, L. M., & Koja Breigeiron, M. (2019). Patient safety incidents identified by the caregivers of hospitalized children. Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem, 72(3), 707–714.