Loading Developing a Research Project

Introduction

In this activity, you will learn about the steps that are needed to conduct research for a project in nursing education. You will discover your areas of interest to create a project of value to you. The process of defining a research question will be examined. The many considerations involved when working with volunteers are an important part of the research project. It’s time to begin the journey into the world of gathering, documenting, and evaluating data in an area that has meaning for you.

Once you complete this activity, you will be able to:

  • Identify the topic of your research project.
  • Enlist volunteers/subjects for your research project.
  • Formulate questions and prepare to meet with your research volunteers/subjects.
  • Collect data through a variety of methods including surveys and interviewing.
  • Record the data to a storage tool such as MS Excel.
  • Review the data collected to better organize the results of your research.
  • Plan online meetings for communicating with volunteers/subjects.

Developing a Research Project for Nursing

How important is research to nursing? The ability to plan and design a research project may lead to unanticipated opportunities to make your own unique contributions to the world of health care. Research opens doors for the nursing student to discover answers to important questions in health and medicine. Researching skills are needed in all areas of nursing.

In many instances of the nursing profession, you will be required to perform research for a variety of reasons. Nursing is at the forefront of improving the quality of care for patients directly resulting in better outcomes for those nurses provide care for. Nursing research has lead to the development of evidence-based protocols promoting better patient care.

Identifying the topic or issue of clinical importance is your first step. For example, you may want to identify how nursing care delivery or safety can be enhanced, resulting in improved clinical outcomes.

In many instances of the nursing profession, you will be required to perform research for a variety of reasons. Nursing is at the forefront of improving the quality of care for patients directly resulting in better outcomes for those nurses provide care for. Nursing research has lead to the development of evidence-based protocols promoting better patient care.

While determining your topic or issue, keep the following in mind:

  • Your dedication to, or personal interest in, the topic: what, as a nurse, are you passionate about when it comes to patient care?
  • Noticed patterns in patient care issues
  • Understand and plan for the time that will be required to read, write, and speak about the project as background research and extensive knowledge about the subject will be needed to obtain support and funding.
  • Identify the specific research question that you want to answer.

Checkpoint #1

1. What is one consideration when identifying a research topic?


2. Identify the specific ______.


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Enlisting Volunteers and/or Subjects Video

Checkpoint #2

1. _______ are critical factors, as they contribute to the reliability of the research results.


2. Understanding the informed consent process includes:


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Locate a mentor who is willing to act in the role of supervisor for your project. The mentor should be a person who will assist in forming and developing your ideas. The mentor is an excellent resource for guidance when you have questions or encounter difficulties.

Read, read, and read some more. Reading multiple journal papers and scholastic books in your area of interest provides the foundation to move ahead. Internet searches and electronic journals are easily located. A thorough survey of existing literature on your topic will help you to describe the significance of the research. The gaps in knowledge are the places that excellent research questions exist. Your background work will enable you to explain how your project fits into the research already completed and how the results of your project will benefit the current body of knowledge.

Once the research problem is fully defined and the volunteer pool secured, the data collection begins. Considerations at this stage include data storage and retrieval and the analysis of data. Your systems may be as uncomplicated as organized card indexes and cross-referenced exercise books to complex electronic tools like spreadsheets, databases, bibliographic software and discipline-specific tools.

Keep in mind that you will encounter unexpected problems. The very nature of research is the unpredictability. Analyze the situation considering how the problem arose. Sometimes you may solve the issue by taking a few steps back and modifying your process as necessary. Supervisors will be great resources when solving unexpected problems. Remember that problems solved successfully are an important piece of information moving forward in the research and should be well documented.

Factor in enough time for report writing. The written report should be reviewed critically by your supervisor, edited and improved where needed.

References must be properly noted. Make sure to keep track of all references throughout the project. An exhaustive bibliography tells the reviewer that you are aware of and familiar with the research in your field. All references in nursing and health care must be peer reviewed.

There are a variety of data collection methods. Review each of the following methods to determine which methods may be best for you and your project.

Checkpoint #3

1. When conducting research, what is something you should keep in mind about unexpected problems?


2. How are patient-reported outcomes ideally measured?


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Record Retention

The record-keeping requirements vary depending on whether federal funding was provided for the project, whether there is funding from private industry with contractual provisions governing data retention, or whether the study was conducted under FDA regulations.

Original data must be retained for at least 5 years from the date of publication. Beyond that, where questions have been raised regarding the validity of the published data, investigators must preserve the original data until such questions have been resolved to the satisfaction of the organization and/or any involved government agencies. The director or chair of each department or research unit must decide whether to preserve original data for a given number of additional years or for the life of the unit.

For research involving children, the Organization requires that records must be retained (at a minimum) until the pediatric subject reaches the age of 23.

Under the HIPAA Privacy Rule, subjects have the right to ask for an accounting of certain disclosures of their identifiable health information for a period dating 6 years from the date of the last covered disclosure.

To ensure the researcher can meet this accounting requirement, investigators must retain study records, along with records of all disclosures of study information, for at least 7 years after either of the following (whichever is later):

  • The last subject has completed his or her participation in the study; or,
  • The date of the last disclosure of identifiable health information from study records, if disclosures continue after all subjects have completed the study. [45 CFR 164.528]

This requirement to retain study records and to account for disclosures also applies to research that involves the secondary use of medical records or other identifiable health information.

Clinical record review is a process aimed at obtaining retrospective data to answer queries.

  • It is also known by other names like ‘retrospective data analysis’, ‘clinical chart review’, ‘chart review’, and so on.
  • It is a useful method when data has been recorded in case notes or a structured database and an analysis of the data elements needs to be done.
  • It entails studying data that has already been recorded and involves summarizing the data, subjecting it to appropriate statistical analysis, and drawing inferences.
  • It has been widely used in various clinical disciplines like medicine, pediatrics, orthopedics, psychiatry, and dermatology.
  • Record reviews have extended and consolidated the scientific evidence base by evaluating disease characteristics and their course over time as well as treatment outcomes.
  • The other reasons for carrying out a clinical record review could include determining the appropriateness of diagnoses, problem identification, treatment and care planning.

A variety of data sources can be utilized to collect information for a record review. These sources include:

  • Hard copies of case notes and case files
  • Manually entered registers
  • Computerized databases
  • Inpatient case files
  • Attendance registers
  • Nursing and pharmacy records
  • Disease registries (like cancer registries)
  • Laboratory records
  • Adverse event monitoring systems
  • Clinical trial information
  • National demographic records

Steps include:

  • Identifying an appropriate data source
  • Devising a data extraction instrument
  • Extraction of the data
  • Re-evaluating a small dataset
  • Statistical analysis
  • Dissemination of findings

Application of record reviews:

  • Knowing the clinical characteristics of diseases
  • Studying the course and outcome of diseases over a follow up period
  • Attributes of patient population availing a service
  • Adverse events monitoring
  • Surveillance on health issues and indicators
  • Medical errors

Ethical aspects of record review:

  • Informed consent and patient confidentiality are the important ethical issues relating to record reviews.

Analyze data in Excel:

  • Select a range of cells then select the Quick Analysis button that appears at the bottom right corner of selected data.

Microsoft Excel is the foremost tool that was used for handling data by all industries before the advent of tools such as Tableau and Power BI. Even today, Excel is widely used for its powerful data analysis capabilities. One of the most important and widely used features of Excel is the Pivot table. You can select the entire data and insert a pivot table from the Insert menu in Excel.

Online tools for utilizing technology in your research: Simple group conference calls can be set up on a regular schedule for information sharing, feedback sessions, training, and teambuilding. Now, more than ever, it’s easy to connect and share online.

Checkpoint #4

1. Under the ______, subjects have the right to ask for an accounting of certain disclosures of their identifiable health information for a period dating 6 years from the date of the last covered disclosure.


2. Application of record reviews include all the following except:


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That is incorrect. The correct answer is:

The following are excellent options for remote collaboration with both co-workers and volunteers:

Now you should be able to:

  • Identify the topic of your research project.
  • Enlist volunteers/subjects for your research project.
  • Formulate questions and prepare to meet with your research volunteers/subjects.
  • Collect data through a variety of methods including surveys and interviewing.
  • Record the data to a storage tool such as MS Excel.
  • Review the data collected to better organize the results of your research.
  • Plan online meetings to communicate with volunteers/subjects.

This is the end of the activity.

Activity is complete.