Week 6 Discussion Begin your discussion by sharing your problem statement and research question

Sample Answer

Week 6 Discussion

The opioid crisis or epidemic remains a critical public health issue that requires interventions. Studies have consistently demonstrated that the emergence of the COVID-19 and its subsequent declaration as a pandemic exacerbated the problem of opioids due to measures implemented to restrict movement and spread of the condition.

Among these measures like social distancing, quarantine, and limited movement meant that more people could not go for recreational activities while others couldn’t access healthcare services (Dietze et al., 2019). The implication was the rise in the use and abuse of opioids across the country. As such, efforts like using medications to reduce the susceptibility, risk and adverse effects of COVID-19 are essential to control this epidemic because of its effects on individuals and their communities.

Administration of medications to reverse opioid action and counteract the effects of the overdose is one of the best interventions that the Food and Drug Administration recommends as a means of dealing with the opioid epidemic. Imperatively, the research question focuses on the efficacy of fast administration of medications to reverse opioid actions.

Research Question

Can rapid administration of medications that reverse opioid action counteract the effects of opioid overdose?

Sampling

Sampling entails identifying research participants through an elaborate approach which ensures that they are selected based on the intentions of the research study. In this case, research will select the sample from individuals using opioids before, during, and after the pandemic. To have a representative sample, the research will select twenty individuals using opioids in the targeted area.

Sampling method is essential as it ensures that a researcher gets an appropriate sample size based on a host of factors like time and resources (Doyle et al., 2020). In this case, the sampling method will be purposeful sampling since the study seeks understanding of the use of rapid medications to reverse the opioid actions.

This means that it will choose individuals who are addicted or are using opioids at this time and are willing to have fast medications to reverse their actions and effects. The sample is appropriate to the research design as the study would employ a qualitative approach to understanding the effects of using Naloxone as a treatment intervention to reverse the effects of opioids.

The sample also reflects the population as identified in the problem and purpose statement of this research. The research identifies individuals having the opioid overdose issue or addiction and proposes the use of rapid medications, especially FDA approved regimes of Naloxone to treat and reverse the effects of the opioids on the affected persons.

The sample size is appropriate since it would be expensive to have more participants on board (Ghose et al., 2022). The findings would be generalized to the general population, especially those at risk for opioid overdose and those suffering from such events. The limitations in generalizability include having all people treated the same yet they have different levels of opioid addiction and overdose.

Research Design

Research design entails the process of planning and implementing a study to get answers to certain issues. Researchers test their hypotheses through research designs. In this case, the study would use a correlational design to examine the interaction between the selected variables.

Correlational studies ensure that data is more reflective of practical situations in efforts to address the opioid use disorder or epidemic (Gill, 2020). The design seems to align with the proposed research problem, the chosen theoretical model, review of literature and hypothesis since it attempts to demonstrate the effects of using Naloxone on opioids and the overall impact on reversing the overdose impact.

References

• Dietze, P., Jauncey, M., Salmon, A., Mohebbi, M., Latimer, J., van Beek, I., … & Kerr, D.
  (2019). Effect of intranasal vs intramuscular naloxone on opioid overdose a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Network Open, 2(11), e1914977-e1914977. DOI 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.14977
  
• Doyle, L., McCabe, C., Keogh, B., Brady, A., & McCann, M. (2020). An overview of the
  qualitative descriptive design within nursing research. Journal of Research in Nursing, 25(5), 443-455. DOI 10.1177/1744987119880234.
  Ghose, R., Forati, A. M., & Mantsch, J. R. (2022). Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Opioid
  
• Overdose Deaths A Spatiotemporal Analysis. Journal of Urban Health Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 99(2), 316–327. https //doi.org/10.1007/s11524-022-00610-0
  Gill, S. L. (2020). Qualitative sampling methods. Journal of Human Lactation, 36(4), 579-581.
  DOI 10.1177/0890334420949218.