NUR 550 Evidence-Based Practice Project Proposal Research Design Comparison

Sample Answer

Nursing Practice Problem

Falls and fall-related injuries among elderly patients in long-term care facilities remains a critical patient safety and outcome concern in nursing because of their impacts on patients and healthcare delivery. Falls remains a core prevalent accident among elderly patients with adverse effects and fatal injuries as well as complications like fractures, head injuries and increased hospitalization.

Again, falls are among leading causes of permanent disability and mortality among the elderly individuals in long-term care settings. As such, managing falls based on interventions to reduce and prevent their occurrences is critical to lower associated morbidity and mortality. Elderly patients are at an increased risk for fall due to several factors that include age and frailty, poor balance and an unsteady gait (Shao et al., 2023).

Developing and implementing evidence-based interventions like hourly rounding protocols combined with structured fall prevention education for nurses and patients can reduce and prevent the prevalence of falls and improve care outcomes.

Researching articles on the proposed interventions is essential to understand the methodologies and data collected to arrive at the findings and conclusion. Translational research articles on hourly rounding protocols and structured patient education illustrate the methodology and goals of the study (Leamy et al., 2023).

The purpose of this translational research graphic organizer is to two compare two translational research articles on the proposed interventions to reduce and prevent falls among elderly people in long term facilities. The graphic organizer identifies and compared qualitative and quantitative translational research articles.

Qualitative Article

Criteria Peer-Reviewed Translational Article and Permalink/Working Link
Anu, J. A. (2021). Hourly Rounding and fall prevention among the elderly in long term care a change process. Journal of Geriatric Medicine, 3(1) 1-5. DOI 10.30564/jgm.v3i1.2614

Methodology

Based on a formulated PICOT question, the author used hourly rounding tools including Studer Group hourly rounding log and hourly rounding competence checklist. The researcher used these tools to determine if education and implementation of hourly rounding interventions had impacts on the number or rate of falls. The author’s study design was case study with observation in the facility on the effects of education and implementation of hourly rounding.

Goals

The goal of this study was to enhance resident’s safety by reducing the total number of falls through hourly rounding protocol. Secondly, the study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of education on the providers after the implementation of hourly rounding in the long-term care facility. One of the primary objectives of the project was to assess nurses’ compliance in executing the 4Ps as the main tenets of hourly rounding and documenting on the rounding log.

Data Collection

The researcher collected data on hourly rounding for the study on hard copy log sheets during the implementation period. The researcher entered the data based on observation in the case study site. The documentation of the data occurred on a 24-hour basis for all residents in the long-term care facility.

Quantitative Article

Criteria Peer-Reviewed Translational Article and Permalink/Working Link
Albasha, N., Curtin, C., McCullagh, R., Cornally, N., & Timmons, S. (2023). Staff’s insights into fall prevention solutions in long-term care facilities a cross-sectional study. BMC geriatrics, 23(1) 738. DOI https //doi.org/10.1186/s12877-023-04435-7

Methodology

The authors used a descriptive cross-sectional study in 13 long-term care facilities (LTCF) in southwest Ireland. The researchers also used a survey to measure staff knowledge, skills, and attitudes through physical and online approaches.

Goals

The goal of this study was to explore long-term care facilities (LTCF) staff’s level of practices concerning fall prevention and their recommended solutions to prevent their occurrence.

Data Collection

The researchers collected data using a self-administered survey on various aspects of effective strategies like hourly rounding and education to prevent and reduce falls.

Conclusion

Hourly rounding and education can reduce and prevent falls among elderly in long-term care facilities (LTCF). The evaluation of the two translational research articles demonstrates the different levels of translational research using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The findings of the comparison are critical to inform effective approaches and study designs when evaluating articles and their findings for implementation in clinical practice settings like LTCF to prevent and reduce falls in selected patient populations.

References

• Leamy, M., Sims, S., Levenson, R., Davies, N., Brearley, S., Gourlay, S., … & Harris, R. (2023). Intentional rounding a realist
  evaluation using case studies in acute and care of older people hospital wards. BMC Health Services Research, 23(1), 1341. DOI https //doi.org/10.1186/s12913-023-10358-1
  
• Shao, L., Shi, Y., Xie, X. Y., Wang, Z., Wang, Z. A., & Zhang, J. E. (2023). Incidence and risk factors of falls among older people in
  nursing homes systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 24(11) 1708-
  1717. DOI 10.1016/j.jamda.2023.06.002.