Qualitative Research Designs: ICU Nurse Perceptions and Experience

This report analyzes a qualitative research study that investigates ICU nurses' perceptions and experiences regarding pain, agitation, and delirium (PAD) management. The study, which used a qualitative descriptive design, aimed to understand nurses' perspectives on PAD management, identify barriers to evidence-based practices, and explore the impact of these factors on patient care. The research employed focus groups to gather data, and the report highlights the study's research questions, methodology, and limitations. The study focused on nurses' attitudes towards PAD, with the independent variable being the focus groups. Despite the absence of audio recording, the researchers addressed this limitation through detailed note-taking and transcription. The study also addressed ethical considerations by ensuring participant confidentiality and voluntary participation. The report provides an overview of the key findings, including the nurses' perceptions and the challenges they face in managing PAD in the ICU setting. The study emphasizes the importance of understanding nurses' perspectives to improve PAD management practices and enhance patient outcomes.

Running head: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGNS
M3 Lesson 11 Discussion: Qualitative Research Designs
Name
Institution

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QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGNS
Question 1.
Qualitative research approach to knowledge generation refers to the group of investigation
approaches aimed to generate knowledge about human beings’ experiential realm (Matua & Van
Der Wal, 2015). These approaches focus on understanding and describing the interpretation we
link to our encounters with other individuals, material objects, and cultural environments.
Question 2.
i. The researcher is considered as the instrument of gathering data.
ii. The design of the study emanate as the study unravels.
iii. Qualitative research is subjective as it involves personal interpretation of
events using in-depth interviews, participant observation, etc.
iv. Applies a strategy of inductive research by building hypothesis, concepts,
abstractions, rather than tests existing theories.
Question 3.
The article selected was “Qualitative descriptive study to explore nurses’ perceptions and
experience on pain, agitation and delirium management in a community intensive care unit.”
Question 4.
The problem area of the research was the attitudes of nurses towards pain, agitation and delirium
(PAD) management in an intensive care unit (ICU) based in Canada. The research questions
were:
i. What are nurses’ perceptions and experience with PAD management in the ICU?
ii. What are the barriers to evidence-based PAD management practices in the ICU?

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QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGNS
Question 5.
The research’s concepts included pain, agitation and delirium (PAD); the dependent variable was
the attitudes of nurses towards PAD while the independent variable was the focus groups.
Question 6.
The limitation of the study was that there was no means of recording the audios for transcription.
However, the author overcome the limitations by inclusion of committed team to transcribe notes
in details to simplify the data analysis process.
Question 7.
The author questioned the perceptions and beliefs of nurses in the ICU on ‘PAD management’ in
terminally ill patients.
Question 8.
The study incorporated human concern with effective nursing practice by ensuring the
participants confidentiality by anonymizing the data. Moreover, the participants were informed
prior to their participation and the voluntary nature of their involvement.

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QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGNS
References
Matua, G. A., & Van Der Wal, D. M. (2015). Differentiating between descriptive and
interpretive phenomenological research approaches. Nurse researcher, 22(6).
Tsang, J. L., Ross, K., Miller, F., Maximous, R., Yung, P., Marshall, C., ... & Law, M. (2019).
Qualitative descriptive study to explore nurses’ perceptions and experience on pain,
agitation and delirium management in a community intensive care unit. BMJ open, 9(4),
e024328.