Critical Analysis of a Quantitative Cohort Study on Reasons for Entering or Leaving Nursing Profession

Running head: EVIDENCE BASED NURSING RESEARCH
Critical Analysis of research article
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1EVIDENCE BASED NURSING RESEARCH
Introduction- Critical appraisal refers to the process of systematically and carefully
evaluating a particular research article in order to judge the value, trustworthiness and relevance
of the findings in related context (Burls, 2014). This assignment will focus on critical appraisal
of a quantitative cohort study that was undertaken in order to investigate reasons that force
nursing students to enter or leave their profession. The selected research article aimed to create a
comparison between the reasons that influence nursing students to join or leave their profession.
It is based on conduction of a quantitative cross-sectional cohort study that used online surveys
to investigate the reasons (Eley, Eley & Rogers-Clark, 2010).
Research question- Although nursing is often considered as a rewarding career, it has
been recognized as a stressful profession which is thought to accelerate departure of more than
32% of these professionals in Australia (Hegney, Eley & Francis, 2013). Some studies have
identified low pay as the major factor that forces nurses to leave their profession ( Tuckett et al.,
2015). Others identified interest to care for people as the positive factors (Bartram et al., 2012).
Thus, the research question focused on reasons or events that influence joining or leaving the
nursing practice. It also aimed to investigate information on demographic profile of nursing
professionals. However, it had a drawback that it considered self-reflective answers of
participants from a specific locality (Queensland) which might have contributed to bias, since the
prevailing factors can change based on their geographic location (Ding et al., 2015).
Research Design- It was based on distribution of an online survey to the participants for
recording their responses to a set of formulated questions, following which results of the survey
was statistically analyzed and differences in the responses were assessed. It was appropriate
owing to the fact that in cross-sectional studies, samples are usually drawn from a larger
population and studied for once (Barnett et al., 2012). Use of the survey was a correct step as it

2EVIDENCE BASED NURSING RESEARCH
helped in measuring demographic variables, in addition to responses on the probable factors that
influence their profession. Surveys are most commonly used to assess opinion, feelings and
thoughts of an individual (Weigold, Weigold & Russell, 2013). Therefore, the design helped the
researchers to analyze behavior of the participants. Using a representative sample, they were able
to describe attitudes of the larger population.
Sample- 800 participants that included registered as well as enrolled nurses working in
Public Health Services of Queensland health district, along with 442 nursing students were
recruited for the study. The sample number was adequate as it would facilitate easy comparison
between the responses. Having a small sample size might have contributed to bias in the results
(Button et al., 2013). Enrolment of both nursing professionals as well as students was an
adequate step as responses from the students would help in determining the factors that influence
the decision to pursue the course. On the other hand, inclusion of RNs would provide adequate
data on the contributing factors that govern their retention or resignation.
Data collection- The researchers used an online survey instrument as the primary data
collection. The method was appropriate in the context of conducting a cross-sectional research
(Venkatesh, Brown & Bala, 2013). The online survey was participated to all respondents at the
university and healthcare services through email and instructions for provided on gaining access
to the instrument. In addition to asking the nurses to identify 3 reasons from the proposed list that
made them enter or leave their profession, information was also collected on demographic
variables. The researchers did not mention any ethical considerations that were taken into
account. However, they should have mentioned about the approach that was taken to prevent
fabrication of collected data (Sarwar & Nicolaou, 2012). Furthermore, there was no mention of
maintaining confidentiality of collected information (Petrova, Dewing & Camilleri, 2016).