Research Pilot Design for Nursing Research Name of the Student University Name

Running head: NURSING RESEARCH
Nursing research
Name of the student
University name
Author’s note

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NURSING RESEARCH
Table of Contents
Introduction..................................................................................................................................2
Research question, aim and hypothesis........................................................................................3
Aim:.................................................................................................................................................3
Research question............................................................................................................................3
Hypothesis.......................................................................................................................................3
Key pieces of evidence relevant to chosen scenario....................................................................3
Research pilot design...................................................................................................................6
Background analysis........................................................................................................................6
Feasibility of the research................................................................................................................8
Time.................................................................................................................................................8
Cost..................................................................................................................................................9
Adverse events.................................................................................................................................9
Effect size......................................................................................................................................11
Methodology of the research......................................................................................................11
Research approach.........................................................................................................................12
Sampling........................................................................................................................................12
Data collection...............................................................................................................................13
Data analysis..................................................................................................................................13

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NURSING RESEARCH
Research ethics..............................................................................................................................13
Evidence in support of decisions and approaches.........................................................................14
Discussion of barriers in implementation of the research objectives............................................15
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................16
References..................................................................................................................................18

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NURSING RESEARCH
Introduction
Work life balance is one of the most talked about concepts within the current day
workplace scenario as stress in the place of work has been seen to affect the physical and mental
health of individuals considerably. The current study focuses upon the impact of long working
hours upon the health of nurses within an acute healthcare setup. The current research project
conducts a pilot study of the various factors within a workplace setting that can have a profound
effect on staff health and attendance. Here, sudden increases in the absence of the nursing staffs
have been noted which could be attributed to long working hours. The sudden changes in the
shift duration of 7.5 hours to 12 hours have drastically increased the sickness rate among the
staffs.
The longer duration of work, lack of sleep and rest can be some of the instigating factors
in deteriorating the health of employed nurses within a health care set up. Reports and evidence
have also directly correlated increased rate of accidents to overtired healthcare staffs (Leow &
Chan, 2017). The absence of an adequate number of staffs can also affect the care quality and
the services offered within a clinical, set up. In the current assignment, we have tried to focus
upon the key pieces of evidence which reflect upon the chosen scenario. The methodology of the
research had also been designed in accordance with the requirements of data analysis and
interpretation. The goal of the assignment is to highlight the contributing factors towards
increasing work pressure which has a negative impact on the mental, emotional and physical
well being of a staff. Apart from longer shift durations, there are other contributing factors which
also affect the well being of the staff such as workplace infrastructural support which is a
necessary component and should be planned carefully (Penkunas et al., 2016).

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NURSING RESEARCH
Research question, aim and hypothesis
Aim:
To investigate the claim about the effect of significant long working hours over the health of
nursing professionals
Research question
What is the impact of long working hours upon the health of nursing professionals?
Hypothesis
H0= Long working hours are not responsible for deterioration of health of the nursing staff
H1= Long working hours are responsible for health deterioration in the nursing staff
Key pieces of evidence relevant to chosen scenario
There has been evidence in the past where an overtired nurse has forgotten to brief
regarding the most important details pertaining to the health of a patient in emergency trauma
care to the concerned staff during shift change. As commented by Lin, Liao, Chen & Fan (2014),
such overtired staff has also been represented by a massive number of employee or staff
turnover. Therefore, a detailed study had been conducted over here exploring the different areas
of work division and maintenance of work-life balance within an acute care setup. As
commented by Zboril-Benson (2016), long durations combined with rotational shifts may
actually take the health of the nursing staff adding to fatigue which may impact the quality of
healthcare services. However as argued by Kuo, Lin & Li (2014), despite regulations for

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NURSING RESEARCH
cumulative shift length for residential physicians and workers in other industries such policy and
framework are lacking the nurses. The long working hours have been seen to result in greater
amount of ‘burnout’ within the nursing professionals (Steinmetz, de Vries & Tijdens, 2014).
Burnout could be characterised by emotional exhaustion, lack of attachment to patients, which
could greatly impair the care services (Jamieson, Kirk, Wright & Andrew, 2015).
In this respect, additional data collection and research analysis mentioned that nurses
working overtime would often not communicate well with the patients; neither were some of the
crucial things such as pain well managed or controlled (Volpe et al., 2014). Some of the
regulatory bodies such as Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)
have restricted the working or shift hours of the physicians. In this respect, three separate aspects
could be discussed in detail which consecutively impacts the health of the nursing professionals
such as lack of sleep, extended work hours and rotational shifts. The lack of sleep has been one
of the most common factors affecting the health of the nursing professionals. As commented by
Griffiths et al. (2014), less sleep can result in a number of problems such as mood disorders,
deficit of attention at place of work. These factors can significantly contribute to the
deterioration of overall health and well being of a person. The extended work hours and
consecutive shifts have often been related to digestive disorders, hypertension within the nursing
staffs. Reports and evidence have shown that a clear link exists between sleep deprivation and
obesity. As commented by Allen, Holland & Reynolds (2015), short sleep duration has been seen
to develop the tendency of glucose tolerance and promote incidents of diabetes in women. In this
respect, insufficient sleep has been seen to result in occurrences of cardiovascular diseases
among the healthcare professionals. Additionally, less sleep has been seen to cause hormonal
misbalance by disturbing the levels of leptin, cortisol and thyrotropin (Gross, 2017). Some of