Critical Analysis of Smeulers et al. (2014) Article on Nurses' Experiences and Perspectives on Medication Safety Practices

This critical analysis examines Smeulers et al. (2014) article on nurses' experiences and perspectives on medication safety practices. The article's introduction, research problem, design and methods, findings, and relevance to contemporary nursing policy and practice are analyzed.

Running head: CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF ARTICLE 1
Critical Analysis of Article
Student’s Name
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CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF ARTICLE 2
Critical Analysis of Article
Introduction
This essay is an analysis of the work of Smeulers, Onderwater, Zwieten & Vermeulen
(2014) article “the nurses' experiences and perspectives on medication safety practices: an
explorative qualitative study”. Smeulers, Onderwater, Zwieten & Vermeulen (2014) focused on
the importance of reducing medical errors through increased safety in clinical settings. The aim
of the study was to asses the experiences of nurses in reducing medical errors through assessing
their experiences and strategies used to increase patient safety. Bhakar & Nathani (2015) suggest
that a good introduction should give an overview of the whole document by providing
background information on the research topic. This should be from a general or broader
perspective and later narrow down to the specific issues within the main focus of the study. The
introduction of the article meets the quality of empirical research since it highlights the issue of
errors from a medical perspective and the view of nurses and later narrows down to the real issue
of discussion which is the experiences of nurses in reducing medical errors.
From the study, the reader is led by the introduction since it focuses on the wider and
specific scope of the study. Through the introduction, Bhakar & Nathani (2015) suggest that the
researcher sets the reader in a broader context and narrows down to the research problem which
leads to research hypothesis by opening the mind of the reader to many questions about the
problem. The article properly puts the research topic of medical errors in context by explaining
why the study was done and through the statement of purpose, the reader is introduced to the
issue of medical errors and the need to reduce them as a way of increasing quality outcomes
within hospital settings.
The research problem and its significance

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Smeulers, Onderwater, Zwieten & Vermeulen (2014), present their research problem as
exploration of the perspectives and experiences of nurses in an attempt to prevent medical
administration errors. Smeulers, Onderwater, Zwieten & Vermeulen (2014) do not present their
research problem as a single part of the article but rather explain the research problem in the
introduction which gives the background of the study. The reader could easily highlight the
research problem when reading through the article at the end of the introduction. This research
problem is stated in a single line at the top of the article to allow the researcher to trace down the
main content of the research in the background information. According to Kush (2015) a good
problem statement should allow the reader determine the magnitude of the research, the rate of
change expected in the research, the people affected, and the system response to the problem. All
these characteristics could be seen in the research problem “to explore nurses’ experiences with
and perspectives on preventing medication administration errors”. This problem is stated clearly
and succinctly allowing the reader to connect its content with the introduction and conclusion of
the study.
From the above statement, the reader could generate research questions at the back of the
mind since the problem is clear. Further, it allows the researcher to place the topic in a particular
context. This allows the means to answer the “so what” question which makes the research study
to meet the relevancy test by yielding the same results when repeated again. Therefore, a good
research problem should meet the grand challenge characteristics by showing its relevance to the
field of study (Annamalai, Kamaruddin, Azid, & Yeoh, 2013). The research problem meets the
grand challenge requirement since it has relevance to the field of nursing and improvement of
patient outcomes.
The research design and the methods

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A research design a set of methods and procedures used by the researcher to collect and
analyze data through measuring of variables (Babbie, 2013). The case study approach allows the
researcher to gather actual data by directly working with respondents and engaging them on how
the research problem affects them. This design allows the researcher to collect real-time data
about the research problem and develop findings that meet the requirements of scientific
research. The research design allowed the researcher to have an in-depth and detailed
observation of the research respondents to gather appropriate data for the study.
The study relied on nurses as key informants of the study to understand the approaches
for reducing medical administration errors. Smeulers, Onderwater, Zwieten & Vermeulen (2014)
started by contacting the participants via email and then the snowball sampling technique was
used to collect information until they were satisfied that the information was enough. Creswell
(2012) suggests that the snow ball sampling works well when the researcher has a small
subgroup where the chain of reference approach is used to determine the direction of the
research. By applying a semi-structured interview and then using nurse reflection, Smeulers,
Onderwater, Zwieten & Vermeulen (2014) gathered adequate data based on the perceptions of
the nurses on their effort in reducing errors through increased accuracy on administration
through snow balling until saturatio was reached.
Research findings and their relevance to the contemporary nursing policy and
practice
Since the research topic had initially been acknowledged as meeting the requirements of
the grand challenge approach, then the findings of the study should have relevance to the nursing
practice. Shaughnessy, Zechmeister, & Jeanne (2011) suggests that findings of any study should
be presented in a qualitative or quantitative approach to allow the reader to understand the

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF ARTICLE 5
relevance of the findings. The findings of the study have been presented in a qualitative manner
using a set of subtopics from the interview questions. From the research, the nurses felt that the
need to develop feelings of responsibility by working on medications and giving the required
medicine concentrations as the best way of reducing errors (Smeulers, Onderwater, Zwieten &
Vermeulen (2014). Each subtopic of the study covered a specific issue of the research and
indicated how nurses could lead to reduced medical errors by being keen and observing the
required standards. The the grand challenge impact of the study is the application of clinical
reasoning cycle to asses patient conditions and make appropriate decisions for improving
outcomes.
Further, the study offers implications to the field of nursing by indicating that nurses
could reduce risks by observing the required characteristics for medical administration. A
holistic approach is proposed that allows collaboration between patients and practitioners to
create better conditions for reducing administration errors. Through engagement with the
clinical process, Smeulers, Onderwater, Zwieten & Vermeulen (2014) suggests that the nurse
plays a pivotal role in reducing administration errors.
Conclusion
A good research conclusion is like an end of a conversation that the researcher uses to
end the conversation. Since scholars use research to communicate the conclusion should be a
synthesis of key points and giving direction that the study proposes (Derntl, 2014). Smeulers,
Onderwater, Zwieten & Vermeulen (2014) concluded that nurses play a major role in reduction
of administration errors thus the need to develop mechanisms for increasing their capacity on
reducing these errors. Through knowledge and experience, nurses create increased healthcare
outcomes by reducing medical errors and enhancing output. Further, the study proposes use of

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF ARTICLE 6
management mechanisms like clinical reasoning and six sigma to reduce administration errors.
By analysing the role of managers in medical administration and the use of partnerships to
reduce errors, future research should focus on strategies for creating healthcare partnerships to
reduce errors. This conclusion ends in the grand challenge since it proposes the future for
research (Colquitt & George, 2011).

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References
Annamalai, N., Kamaruddin, S., Azid, I. A., & Yeoh, T. (2013). Importance of Problem Statement in
Solving Industry Problems. Applied Mechanics and Materials, 421, 1-11.
Babbie, E. (2013). The practice of social research. Belmont, . California, Wadsworth: Cengage
Learning.
Bhakar, S. S., & Nathani, N. (2015). A Handbook on writing Research Paper in Social. New Delhi:
Bharti Publications.
Colquitt, J., & George, G. (2011). From the editor publishing in amj—Part 1: Topic Choice. Academy of
Management Journal, 54(3), 432-435.
Creswell, J. (2012). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and
qualitative research. Prentice Hall: Uper Saddle River.
Derntl, M. (2014). Basics of research paper and writing and publishing. International Journal of
Technology Enhanced Learning, 6(2), 105-123.
Kush, M. (2015). The Statement Problem. Quality Progress, 48(6).
Shaughnessy, J., Zechmeister, E., & Jeanne, Z. (2011). Research methods in psychology. New York:
McGraw Hill.
Smeulers, M., Onderwater, A. T., Zwieten, M. C., & Vermeulen, H. (2014). Nurses' experiences and
perspectives on medication safety practices: an explorative qualitative study. Journal of nursing
management, 22(3), 276-285.