Qualitative Research Critique on Nursing Workload and Patient Outcomes in NICU

Running head: Research Critique 1
Qualitative Research Critique
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Research Critique 2
Background of the study
Negative outcomes in the adult intensive care unit (ICU) in addition to death are linked with
nursing workload and higher patient-to- nurse ratios (Needleman, Buerhaus, Mattke, Stewart,
& Zelevinsky, 2002; Needleman et al., 2011). There is a scarce of studies on the impacts of
nurse staffing in the neonatal ICUs (NICUs), yet the British Association of Perinatal
Medicine 2005 report indicated that just two percent of the NICUs in the UK met the
standard approvals in staffing (Redshaw & Hamilton, 2005). Existing research on the
association between staffing and nursing results such as mortality are inconsistent (Hamilton,
Redshaw & Tarnow-Mordi, 2006; Grandi, González, & Meritano, 2010; Pillay, Nightingale,
Owen, Kirby, & Spencer, 2011). A proper understanding of the relationship between nursing
workload or nurse-to-patient ratios and outcomes of neonatal cases is significant towards
enhancing patient safety, low death rates and reduced cases of nurse burn out (Aiken et al.,
2002). Thus, this forms the research gap in the study.
The study is significant because a thorough comprehension of the link between nursing
workload or nurse-to-patient ratio will impact several elements of clinical practices,
organization of units, public policy, patient quality care, and decreased nurse burn out (Leiter
& Maslach, 2009).
The study aims at ascertaining the association between nursing workload or nurse-to-patient
ratios and the results in NICU patients by conducting a systematic review.
The inferred research question of the study include:
1. What is the relationship between nurse-to-patient ratios or work load and the results in
NICU patients?

Research Critique 3
The purpose and research questions of the study were relevant to the research problem since
both aimed at finding out whether nursing workload or nurse-to-patient ratios were linked to
results in NICU patients.
Method of study
The qualitative approaches used were best suited to achieve the objective of the study for
various reasons. The researches searched medical library databases using specific terms, such
as neonatal and staffing, workload and infant, or staffing and infant among others. These
search terms were also relevant to the study topic and objective. The eligibility of the studies
were also carried out.
The qualitative methods used in the study were the most appropriate to respond to the study
questions because the data was extracted using STROBE, which is a standardised data
collection tool (Von Elm et al., 2007). This implies that only the most appropriate studies
were included in the analysis.
The authors cited the adverse outcomes in addition to mortality rates in the mature (ICU) as
the perspective from which they designed their research. Additionally, the authors cited the
British Association of Perinatal Medicine report in which just two percent of NICUs of UK
met standard requirements. The conflicting nature of studies on the association between
staffing and results were also cited as the basis of developing the study.
The researchers cited both quantitative and qualitative studies associated the purpose of the
study. These were cited as part of the perspective upon which the study was developed which
included contradicting outcomes and findings from previous studies on the research topic.
Other types of literature included in the article are British Association of Perinatal Medicine
2005 report.