Foundations of Professional Practice Health, Medicine, Nursing Essay (Essay Sample)

CNA 153 Foundations for Professional Practice 2
Assessment Task 4: Research / Evidence-Informed Practice Report
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Introduction
The handing over process is a crucial step in nursing. This is because it ensures continuity of care (Raeisi Rarani and Soltani 2019). However, its significance is dependent on the communication of essential information that can enable the new-shift nurses to take over the care of the patient (Müller et al 2018; Ramasubbu Stewart and Spiritoso 2017). Handover miscommunication has been shown to be a significant contributor of preventable harms and errors in patients (Müller et al 2018; Stewart and Hand 2017). Therefore, the use of standardised tool can help provide frameworks that ensure there is no miscommunication or missing information that can impair the continuity of service delivery and the quality and safety of health care.
This paper/research focuses on the effectiveness and use of standardised handover tool as a measure to improve the quality of handover in my ward. The background to the research involves the nurses in my ward often expressing frustration with the handover process, which takes up a lot of time and does not always provide full or appropriate information. In response to these complaints, the Nurse Unit Manager recently introduced a new handover tool to standardise the process of handover.
Quantitative Research Question
Quantitative research studies focus on the measurement and analysis of correlational relationships between variables (Astroth and Chung 2018; Ingham-Broomfield 2014). Quantitative research is used to answer the type of questions that require determination of relationships between variables (Ingham-Broomfield 2014). Quantitative research focuses on numerical or quantifiable information (Astroth and Chung 2018). It is the type of research study that is used to test or confirm a theory or hypothesis (Ingham-Broomfield 2014; Zyphur and Pierides 2019). Quantitative research is used to answer questions that require objective answers; that are rooted in measurable scientific facts. Quantitative research is rooted in a positivistic research paradigm, and aims to provide explanations or correlations that allow health care workers to make predictions based on measurable outcomes (Ingham-Broomfield 2014; Zyphur and Pierides 2019). For this case study / research, the quantitative research question is: ‘What is the effectiveness of using standardised handover tool in improving the quality of handover among nurses?’