Nursing & Midwifery Research: Influenza Vaccine for Pneumonia

This assignment delves into the research question of whether administering the influenza vaccine is beneficial for older adults with pneumonia during a flu outbreak. The student proposes a quantitative research paradigm using a non-experimental cohort study design as the most appropriate approach. The rationale emphasizes the quantitative paradigm's deductive nature, objective approach, and ability to assess vaccine efficacy by observing a large number of patients. The student justifies the cohort study's suitability for observing a group of older adults with similar characteristics and the prospective approach for ensuring validity and reducing errors. The discussion includes the limitations of cohort studies, such as long duration and potential costs, while highlighting their value in studying long-term trends. The student references supporting literature, including studies that analyzed the effectiveness of influenza vaccination in older adults with pneumonia, and contrasts them with the limitations of qualitative studies. The conclusion reinforces the justification for the chosen research method.

Running head: NURSING & MIDWIFERY RESEARCH
Nursing & Midwifery Research
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Student 3: (Name) Esther Thali
Write Research Question: Is it beneficial to administer influenza vaccine to older
adults with pneumonia during flu outbreak?
Discuss the best paradigm and the specific design (defining both paradigm and design) that is
most appropriate to answer this question.
The research paradigm to be chosen is quantitative and the approach would be non-
experimental design- cohort study. The quantitative study is considered most appropriate in
this case as it would be possible to obtain information about particular cases that will be
prospectively followed. According to Merriam & Tisdell (2015), quantitative designs are
deductive in nature as one can test a theory or a hypothesis. Therefore, it will be easy to test
the efficacy of the influenza vaccine as it is widely recommended during flu outbreak. The
quantitative paradigm has objective approach and it is well structured. Since the objective is
to assess the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine in older adults, quantitative approach is
justified. The rationale being aim of the quantitative research paradigm to provide inferences
on a population level.
Quantitative design is appropriate as helps deduce the relationship between the independent
and the dependent variable in the given population. Thus, this descriptive paradigm is
justified to establish association between the influenza vaccine and pneumonia during flu
outbreak as it requires observing large number of patients (LoBiondo-Wood & Haber, 2017).
It is cited in Tigchelaar et al. (2015) that a cohort study is beneficial in observational studies. It
helps to observe a group of people with similar experience or characteristics. For instance, in
this research, the criteria are to choose older adults 60 years or above suffering from
pneumonia for influenza vaccination. Therefore, it is justified to adopt this design for
research as it would involve observing a set of older patients with pneumonia. As per Pope &
Stanistreet (2017), prospective approach is the more robust approach. It ensures validity and
reduces errors. In the observational epidemiological studies, prospective cohort studies are
considered to be more reliable when compared with cross-sectional studies and the
retrospective cohort studies. There are flaws to the quantitative, population based cohort
studies such as long duration. However, the literature provides evidence that such studies are
generating excellent data. Although there is high potential cost of error, it is the great way to
study the long term trends. Thus, it is justified to study the trends when influenza vaccine is
used for protecting older adults with pneumonia during flu season.
In one quantitative study the effectiveness of the influenza vaccination was analysed in
people above 60 years with pneumonia. The metaanalysis quantified data with reporting the
visits involving cohort and case control studies on influenza vaccination. The limitations
include recall bias. However, in one population based cohort study, vaccination was found to
be effective in adults with pneumonia (Restiveo et al., 2017; Vila-Corcoles et al., 2016)

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There are limitations found in qualitative study using systematic review to explore
behavioural factors affecting the influenza vaccine among elderly. The credibility was low as
important evidence was excluded. Transferability is diminished. In another qualitative study,
semi-structured interview was used to identify the facilitator’s ad barriers of healthcare
providers in vaccinating elderly patients. However, the limitations include not conducting the
interviews in real time (Ellen, 2017; Kan & Zhang, 2018). It can be concluded that the chosen
method of research is justified.

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References
Ellen, M. (2017). Factors that influence influenza vaccination rates among the elderly: nurses’
perspectives. Journal of nursing management.
Kan, T., & Zhang, J. (2018). Factors influencing seasonal influenza vaccination behaviour among elderly
people: a systematic review. Public health, 156, 67-78.
LoBiondo-Wood, G., & Haber, J. (2017). Nursing Research-E-Book: Methods and Critical Appraisal for
Evidence-Based Practice. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Merriam, S. B., & Tisdell, E. J. (2015). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. John
Wiley & Sons.
Pope, D., & Stanistreet, D. (2017). Quantitative methods for health research: a practical interactive guide
to epidemiology and statistics. John Wiley & Sons.
Restivo, V., Costantino, C., Bono, S., Maniglia, M., Marchese, V., Ventura, G., ... & Vitale, F. (2017).
Influenza vaccine effectiveness among high-risk groups: a systematic literature review and
meta-analysis of case-control and cohort studies. Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics, 1-12.
Tigchelaar, E. F., Zhernakova, A., Dekens, J. A., Hermes, G., Baranska, A., Mujagic, Z., ... & Franke, L.
(2015). Cohort profile: LifeLines DEEP, a prospective, general population cohort study in the
northern Netherlands: study design and baseline characteristics. BMJ open, 5(8), e006772.
Vila-Corcoles, A., Ansa, X., Ochoa-Gondar, O., Satue, E., De Diego, C., & Rodriguez-
Blanco, T. (2016). Pneumococcal pneumonia in adults 60 years or older: Incidence,
mortality and prevention. Medicina Clínica, 146(5), 199-202.
doi:10.1016/j.medcli.2015.09.015