(PDF) Qualitative vs Quantitative Research

Guided questions Answer Template (Please do not Remove the questions)
Guided Question Qualitative Study Quantitative Study
1. Aim and
Significance (5
marks 200 words)
a. What was the aim and
significance of the study?
The aim of study was to analyse and evaluate
the nursing perspective and experience in
prevention of medication administration errors
(MAE).
The study is significant because it encourages
the safe and precise clinical practices which is
necessary for the quality health care. Though
medications are prescribed by the physicians
but their administration is monitored and
accomplished by the nurses as per
prescription and health evaluation of the
patient. The experience of nurses and their
dedicated perspective in safe medication
practices can help to eliminate the clinical and
nursing errors by promoting safe medication
(Vaida, 2015). Thus, the study is vital for
promoting safe medication practices among
nurses.
This quantitative study aims at exploring the
importance of workplace relationship and support in
healthcare organisations and their impact on
medication errors.
The medication errors quite common and harmful
practices which are completely unacceptable from
the safety context. However, the positive and
supportive workplace environment can motivate the
nurses to be more focused on their work practices. It
can minimise the MAE and medication associated
health risks (Zrelak, 2018). The disruptive and
unsupported workplace environment can become a
critical threat for the safety of patients and thus it
becomes vital to analyse and understand the related
aspects between medication errors and workplace
support.
2. Methods (10 marks
700 words)
a. Identify the
research design used
in the study and was
In this study exploratory design is used and it
can be considered appropriate for the
discussed issue. Only a limited attention is
Exploratory study has been used for achieving the
research objectives of this quantitative study. The
use of exploratory design in this study helps

it appropriate for the
issue discussed?
given to the role of nurses in safe medication
practices despite the fact that they contribute
in safe medication. The use of exploratory
design helps to investigate the subject area
instead of merely describing the
characteristics of nursing roles. Thus,
exploratory design can be considered as an
efficient way to explore the basic theories,
ideas and knowledge regarding importance of
safe medication practices.
researcher to explore the phenomenon and related
association. Though this study uses exploratory
design but in context with the issue descriptive
design is more suitable for this study. The lack of
support and lack of cooperation among healthcare
professionals at hospital can be harmful for the
safety of patients. The use of descriptive approach
could have helped to describe this correlation in an
improved way.
b. Discuss the sampling
technique, inclusion and
exclusion criteria used for
the selection of sample in
the study
The study uses snowball sampling for gaining
the subject insight from every level. For this
purpose initially nursing managers, quality
innovators were included in the study. After
that the registered nurses which were
refereed by these samples were further
approached and included in the study. For
obtaining better research outcomes only
registered nurses who had direct participation
in medications related activities were included
in the study. The transition nurses were
excluded from the study. In order to improve
the quality of the data collected nurses at
different levels were included as samples so
that role o nurses in promoting safe practices
can be analysed at every level ranging from
drug identification to administration.
For the completion of this study 58 participants of
selected Australian university were selected. The
students who had active email on the university data
base and who gave their consent for the study
purpose were included in the study. In the study only
recent graduates from the university were included.
The experienced health professionals or nurses
which were not part of the database system of
selected universities were excluded from the study.
Only graduate nurses were chosen as the sample for
the study so that the actual impact of the workplace
influence can be analysed. The graduate nurses
face the most difficulties and lack of support in their
transition period and thus only they were included as
the study participants.
c.Explore the data
collection method and its
appropriateness to the
research design of the
study
For the collection of data semi-structured
interview was conducted in the study. From
the perspective of exploratory research design
it can be considered as effective way. The
close handed interview or group discussion
Online survey was conducted for data collection. The
data collection methods is less suitable for the
exploratory design. For the collection of data only
single handed questions were used in the study. It
limits the response of the questions and thus it

may not have proven to explore the concepts
in details. Thus, for this purpose open handed
semi-structured interview was conducted with
each participant for around 40-60 minute so
that better discussion can be done. It helped
to explore the nursing perspectives and their
various experiences related to medication
practices
becomes difficult to explore the collected data into
relevant facts or information. Further the data was
collected from the samples who gave confirmation
without choosing or having any specific criteria. For
instance for collecting the data the role and
efficiencies of the samples was not taken into
account.
3. Data analysis and
results (10 marks
600 words)
a.How was the data
analysed and was it
appropriate for the study?
The data analysis was carried out in parallel
with data collection process. Since the semi-
structured interviews were used for collecting
data the parallel analysis is the best suitable
approach. It helps researcher to properly code
and decode the response of the participants
without much manipulation or distortion.
The collected data was obtained from the online
survey tool and then its statistical analysis was
performed. The statistical analysis can be
considered as effective because it allowed
researcher to make judgements for the logical
responses. With the help of statistical analysis of the
data statistical concepts such as mean, correlation
and medians are used for the data interpretation and
development of conclusions. This type of data
analysis is appropriate for the study as it provides
the mathematical relation and proofs to validate the
existing concepts related to the research issue.
b.What were the
findings/results of the
study?
It has been analysed from the study that being
responsible for the safety of the patient nurses
must be appreciated and encouraged for
medication safety. For this purpose nurses
must apply their clinical reasoning, knowledge
and attentiveness to their practices.
However, nurses can contribute to this
responsibility only if they have sufficient
knowledge of medication administration as
From the study it has been found that the working
environment and workplace relations can influence
the communication and thus overall work efficiency.
It becomes more critical and essential for the novice
nurses. When novice nurses does not get enough
support at the workplace then they often get nervous
and due to complexity of work pressure they may fail
to apply their knowledge of medication accurately to
practices.

well as various circumstances in which
medications may have adverse impact on
health.
It has been also observed from the data
analysis that awareness has been one of the
critical element among nurses which
encourages and support them in elimination of
MAE. The busy schedule and predefined job
roles for the medication nurses prevents many
nurses from interrupting in the work of other
nurses. It often increases the risk of
medication errors.
The medication safety can be enhanced by
the incorporation of the evidence based
practices and experiences of the nurses.
Certain medications which possess higher risk
and side effects must be administered with
excessive care and attention by the nurses. It
will improve the patient safety and quality of
care provided to them.
Thus, it is required that health care
organisations must promote the
multidisciplinary team work so that probability
of such errors can be reduced and nurses
does not feel discomfort in monitoring the
medication prescribed or administered by
others.
It increases the probability of medication errors
(Wahr & Merry, 2017). It is also observed that when
medication errors occurs and nurses do not find
enough support from the seniors then they may not
inform the error and thus risks can be increased.
Thus, for reducing such errors and complications
supporting workplace and cooperative professional
relationships must be promoted at work place. It can
be concluded from the study that for the safe
medication outcomes factors such as workplace
relationships must also be assessed and improved
so that nurses can receive appropriate support and
can freely practice their duties related to safe
medication.
c.Discuss the limitations
and recommendations of
the study?
One of the key limitation of the study is that
this study is single centred and thus data
collection and analysis was performed at only
one hospital. Its outcomes and results can be
The key limitation of the study lies in its data
collection methods. The samples which were chosen
for the study were selected only on the basis of
email confirmations. Thus, it is also possible that

improved and can be made more exploratory
if variety of research settings were used.
Thus, for gaining more insight of the nurse's
role in safe medication it is recommended that
along with the nurses pharmacists and
physicians must also be interviewed so that a
broader perspective can be obtained
(Smeulers & et.al., 2015). Further, nursing
managers must also encourage nurses to
effectively apply their clinical reasoning skills
to provide safe medications to their patients.
potential and vast range or nursing graduates were
not included in the study. Due to this reason the
findings obtained from the study are also limited.
Further the user of self report and convenience
sampling makes the sampling process as bias
because the data obtained may not represent the
perspective of entire targeted population of the
study.
From the study it is recommended that for improving
the services a supporting and multidisciplinary
environment must be promoted within hospitals. It
will reduce the probability of medication errors which
often occurs due to non-cooperation to the nurses.
REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Smeulers, M. & et.al., (2015). Quality indicators for safe medication preparation and administration: a systematic review. PLoS
One. 10(4). e0122695.
Vaida, A. J. (2015, June). The Institute for Safe Medication Practices and Poison Control Centers: collaborating to prevent
medication errors and unintentional poisonings. In Journal of medical toxicology (Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 262-264). Springer US.
Wahr, J. A., & Merry, A. F. (2017). Medication Errors in the Perioperative Setting. Current Anesthesiology Reports, 7(3), 320-329.
Zrelak, P. A. (2018). Leading the Way by Adopting Safe Medication Practices Associated With Abbreviation Use. Journal of
Neuroscience Nursing. 50(3). 121-122.