A Summary of “Understanding the Research process in Nursing”
Priest, Roberts, Higginson, and Knipe (2006) in their article “Understanding the research process in nursing” explain the research process as follows:
Step 1: formulating the research question. In this case, the question was: “Can a package of information gathering and sharing tools, introduce pre-respite, contribute in a positive way to the respite experience for the patient and family caregiver?” (39).
Step 2: Reviewing the literature. This has to do with looking to see if there is any prior similar research. There were studies but none on respite care preparation so the investigation is worthwhile.
Step 3: Designing the study research. Deciding what to observe and under what circumstances. What data to collect, how to gather it, from whom, when, and what to do with the information. In this study they use a before and after design to assess the effectiveness of the pre-respite preparation.
Step 4: Approval and access. Ethical approval needs granting so to protect safety, rights, and welfare of study participants.
Step 5: Data Collection. Patient referrals to respite care receive a letter to consent to participate. The caregivers answer a serious of questions and the researcher documents them.
Step 6: Data analysis and interpretation. This deals with interpreting raw data for meaning. The information reveals in the course of a year that the caregivers found the visits useful therefore answering the original question “yes” (42).
Step 7: presenting and disseminating the findings. Hospital managers receive a written report. This prompts managers to provide sufficient staffing to permit pre-respite home visits. Similar settings may find the research useful so it was possible to publish it in a nursing journal.
It is impressive how a small study...