Critical Appraisal of Qualitative Research: Student Assignment

This assignment presents a critical appraisal of a qualitative research study titled "Mental health nursing students' experiences of stress during training: a thematic analysis of qualitative interviews" by Galvin et al. The student meticulously evaluates the study's methodology, rigor, trustworthiness, and ethical considerations. The appraisal includes an analysis of the research question, design, sampling methods, data collection and analysis techniques, and the reporting of results. The student identifies the study's findings, theoretical concepts, limitations, and relevance to practice. The assignment also provides a PCC framework to understand the context of the study. The student's evaluation considers the congruity between the philosophical perspective, research methodology, and the interpretation of the results. Overall, the assignment offers a comprehensive critique of the chosen qualitative study, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses.

Running head: CRITICAL APPRAISAL
Critical Appraisal
Student Name
University Name
Author Note

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Worksheet for Critical Appraisal of Qualitative Study1
Citation: Galvin, J., Suominen, E., Morgan, C., O'Connell, E. J., & Smith, A. P. (2015).
Mental health nursing students' experiences of stress during training: a thematic analysis of
qualitative interviews. Journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing, 22(10), 773-783. Doi:
https://doi.org/10.1111/jpm.12273
Confirm this is an empirical/data-based study using qualitative methods by pasting
below a statement from the article (appropriately cited) that attests to this:
“Thematic analysis was chosen as appropriate because it is a commonly used method for
describing, analyzing, and reporting themes and patterns in data. The flexibility of thematic
analysis allows the data to be analyzed under a number of qualitative frameworks, and in
this instance, the framework was grounded theory (Galvin, Suominen, Morgan, O’Connell &
Smith, 2015).”
State the research question posed by the authors:
“What is the impact of stress on training of mental health nurses?”
Using PCC, identify the following:
The main context of the assignment was to find the influencing factors of stress among the
mental health nursing students in various nursing institutions. For the appropriate critique of
the article, it is important to deduce the PCC form of context such that relevant results could
be established.
P (= population): mental health nursing students
C (= concept): factors influencing the level of stress in mental health nursing students
C (= context): nursing institutions
APPRAISAL GUIDE COMMENTS
I. Ontological, Epistemological, Methodological and Ethical questions
1. Was a qualitative approach According to the study and other studies, nursing
1Developed based on and adapted from: The Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal tools for use in JBI
Systematic Reviews - Checklist for Qualitative Research; Critical Appraisal of a Qualitative Study; and The
Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine – Critical Appraisal of Qualitative Studies
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appropriate? Is the question being
asked seeking to further
understanding of people’s views,
opinions or experiences in relation to
a specific
setting/scenario/circumstance?
Explain
and mental health nursing students are likely to
experience stress and are unable to implement
positive coping strategies for stress reduction
(Itzhaki et al., 2015). It is for understanding the
perspectives of the nurses and influencing factors
of stress that interviews had been conducted.
2. Is there congruity between the
stated philosophical perspective, the
research methodology, the research
question, the methods, analysis and
interpretation of results? Explain
The purpose of the study stated the requirement to
learn about the factors related to stress and the
impounding effects each one of them has on the
performance of the students in their learning
program. It is for this that a questionnaire was
structured to understand it directly from the mental
health nurses specifically of the associating factors
of stress in their surrounding environment.
Therefore, it can be observed that there was high
congruity among the research methodology and
the philosophical perspective of the study.
3. Is the researcher’s position
described2?Is there a statement
locating the researcher culturally or
theoretically? Explain
In the research study conducted by the author, no
concise sentence could be found which depicted
the position of the author or represented culturally
or theoretically.
4. Is the research ethical according
to current criteria or, for recent
studies, and is there evidence of
Ethical approval was given from the School of the
Psychology Research Ethics Committee. The
Healthcare REC respected the Psychology REC
2 It is ideal that the researcher(s) clearly state their position in relation to the research question. For example –
their background, gender, and existing knowledge or personal experience of the topic to be researched.
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ethical approval by an appropriate
body? Explain
and allowed authorisation to get to the students. It
is before the participation of the members that they
were communicated about instances of uncovering
data representing a goal to hurt themselves or
revealed misbehaviour or problematic care. In an
event like this, the specialist is liable to break the
classification and report this information to other
people.
II. Rigour and Trustworthiness
1. Was the research question clear?
Was the need for the study
adequately substantiated? Explain
There could be no distinguished research question
observed in the research article. However, the
topic under which the research was conducted was
adequately substantiated. There has been
increasing research articles for the understanding
of the stressful factors that are associated with
increased stress in the nursing students and
specifically, mental health nurses.
2. What was the qualitative design?
Was it an appropriate fit for the
research question? Explain
A semi-structured balanced interview of a one-on-
one session was led with psychological wellness
nursing students selected on a three-year pre-
enlistment college degree at Cardiff University, UK.
The students enrolled in the study at the moment
are all focusing on BN (Hons) in Mental Health
Nursing, with enlistment in the emotional wellness
nursing field. Recruitment included purposive
inspecting, with the students being welcome to
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meet through their college email accounts. This
type of qualitative design was appropriate to
understand the opinion of the nurses as
implemented by Byron et al. (2015).
3. Describe the sample. How were
the participants/setting(s) selected
(i.e. what were the sampling
methods)?Does the sample include
a range of experiences, where all
relevant ‘variables’ are accounted for
(e.g. gender, age, geographical
location, severity of condition, social
support, socio-economic
background, access to services,
ethnicity?) If not, was the focus then
on depth of a limited number of
individuals and was this justified by
the theoretical and/or
epistemological framework used?
Were the sampling methods
appropriate for the research question
& design? Explain why or why not.
A purposive sample was deployed for the
recruitment of the nursing students for the
research study. Four males and eight females
were picked in 19-39 age groups, of Caucasian
ethnicity. No socio-economic background of the
participants was mentioned in the research article.
Despite the absence of socio-economic
background information of the participants, the
selection of a specific group of individuals was not
found.
4. How were data
collected/managed? Were the
techniques systematic and
comprehensive? Are data collection
methods described in sufficient detail
Open-ended inquiries in the form of interviews
identifying with the students' encounters on their
nursing degree program were inquired. Endless
supply of meetings and transcripts were arranged.
The topic guide is created by the author who
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to allow you to clearly understand
what was done? Are they
transparent and appropriate3?
Explain
organized a gathering with a recently qualified
psychological wellness nurse who, quite recently,
finished the course. This individual talked about a
portion of the primary issues they went over during
their emotional wellness nursing instruction and,
utilising this data as a guide, the inquiries to be
posed for members were created. The data
collection method was understandable because of
the clear usage of terms and language and was
transparent enough as evident in the study
conducted by Wilberforce et al., (2017).
5. How were data analyzed and how
were these checked? Was the data
analysis approach appropriate for
the methodology used4? Are the
analytical steps explained in detail
(are they transparent)? Are the steps
to ensure ‘quality control’
described5? Explain
A thematic investigation was picked as suitable
because it is an ordinarily utilized technique for
depicting, examining, and detailing subjects and
examples of the information. The adaptability of
thematic examination permits the information to be
investigated under various subjective systems, and
right now, the structure was grounded by
hypothesis. Utilizing this methodology, hypothetical
advancements were made in a base-up way so as
to be moored to the information. As interviews
advanced, the reactions to the inquiries given in
before interviews educated new inquiries to be
posed in future meetings.
3 E.g. Interviews are useful to explore individual experience(s); Focus groups are useful to explore views of a
particular group or elicit information that is generated during group discussions.
4 E.g. A grounded theory study would normally need to include constant comparison.
5E.g. Double coding, research team discussion of identified item, respondent validation, theoretical reasoning.
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III. Reporting of Results/Findings
1. What were the findings? Do the
results answer the question, do they
make sense and are they credible6?
Are the themes/theoretical concepts
presented credible and do they relate
to the research question? Explain
The findings of the research study conducted
have made sense and are in lieu of the research
purpose of the article. The themes identified are
credible and can be correlated with the purpose
or the objective of the research article.
2. Were the findings/interpretations
complete & substantiated? Explain
The findings and the interpretation of the results
of the research study are substantiated and
complete.
3. What (if any) theoretical findings
were presented?
There appeared three categorical concepts:
demands/control/support, attitudes regarding
pupils, and stress and coping.
4. Did the authors put their findings in
the context of the broader literature on
this topic?
How do the findings support or expand
our understanding of the topic?
Explain
This investigation gives an understanding of the
encounters of stress in psychological wellness
nursing students and adds to the current writing
at the moment. To help think about the
ramifications of these discoveries,
recommendations are made to permit nursing
instructors to ponder their training and consider
ways they can assist students with adapting to
the pressure of preparing. Moreover, discoveries
6 Have the authors provided a range of data (quotes) to support their interpretation (themes/ theoretical concepts)
of data? Are the quotes indexed so they could be traced back to the original data set? For example:
patient/participant #2. Have authors provided ‘negative cases’ i.e. narratives that do not fit the identified themes/
theoretical framework. For example, where some participants’ experiences differ from the main findings. Have
the authors provided context (background to participant) for quotes in order to interpret meaning? This should
be relevant to the findings discussed, for example age and gender/ length or severity of condition, socio
economic background, educational background, etc.
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are considered according to pressure and
nursing writing.
5. Are participants, and their voices,
adequately represented? Explain
In the research study, interviews have
adequately addressed the issues of the nursing
students and are adequately represented in the
article.
6. What were the limitations of the
study? Have the authors clearly
articulated them? Are there any
limitations not fully acknowledged?
How do the stated and non-stated
limitations impact on the overall quality
of the results? Explain
The complexity and scale of the sample of this
research indicated that, instead of offering a
wider social-structural context, the context was
based on participant expectations of schooling
and was impossible to generalize. We also
assert a broader scope for this review, however,
as some of the results mentioned here are
consistent with other studies focused on nursing
students.
7. Are the conclusions drawn justified
by the results? How well does the
analysis explain why people behave in
the way they do? How well does the
explanation fit with what we know
already and, if not, why not?
This paper represented the perspectives of
nursing students in mental health and discussed
the challenges these students face. The data
discussed here will translate into successful
management of preparation for mental health
nurses and ideally provide some guidance for
thinking to preparation providers.
IV. Translation to Practice
1. What relevance do the findings
have to public health practice?
The findings that are observed in the research
study are to be implemented in nursing practice
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Discuss how the findings can be
applied to practice
by correcting the attitudes of nurses and
communicating them about strategies that could
be implemented by them to ensure that their
mental health wellbeing is improved and a
positive health outcome for the patient is ensured
(Labrague et al., 2017).
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References used in your appraisal should be listed below:
Galvin, J., Suominen, E., Morgan, C., O’Connell, E.-J., & Smith, A. P. (2015). Mental health
nursing students’ experiences of stress during training: a thematic analysis of
qualitative interviews. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 22(10),
773–783. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/jpm.12273
Byron, G., Ziedonis, D. M., McGrath, C., Frazier, J. A., deTorrijos, F., & Fulwiler, C. (2015).
Implementation of mindfulness training for mental health staff: Organizational
context and stakeholder perspectives. Mindfulness, 6(4), 861-872. Doi:
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-014-0330-2
Itzhaki, M., Peles‐Bortz, A., Kostistky, H., Barnoy, D., Filshtinsky, V., & Bluvstein, I.
(2015). Exposure of mental health nurses to violence associated with job stress, life
satisfaction, staff resilience, and post
‐traumatic growth. International journal of
mental health nursing, 24(5), 403-412. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.12151
Labrague, L. J., McEnroe-Petitte, D. M., Gloe, D., Thomas, L., Papathanasiou, I. V., &
Tsaras, K. (2017). A literature review on stress and coping strategies in nursing
students. Journal of Mental Health, 26(5), 471-480. Doi:
https://doi.org/10.1080/09638237.2016.1244721
Wilberforce, M., Abendstern, M., Tucker, S., Ahmed, S., Jasper, R., & Challis, D. (2017).
Support workers in community mental health teams for older people: roles,
boundaries, supervision and training. Journal of advanced nursing, 73(7), 1657-1666.
Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.13264
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