How Fatigue Impacts Diploma Students in Acute Placement: Research

This research proposal investigates the factors influencing fatigue among diploma nursing students in acute placement, particularly those working shift work. The literature review highlights the challenges of long working hours, nurse-patient ratios, and the stress experienced by students in this environment. The methodology employs a deductive approach with an interpretivism philosophy and a descriptive design, utilizing interviews and questionnaires with a sample of 10 nursing students. The proposal addresses ethical considerations, including data protection and informed consent, and outlines a research schedule. It also discusses the validation and reliability of the data, potential barriers to the research, and plans for sharing the findings, which aim to improve healthcare quality. The study intends to identify factors contributing to fatigue and validate how fatigue affects patient well-being in the acute placement unit.

Running head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
How Does Fatigue Effects Diploma Students in Acute Placement Due To Shift Work
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Table of Contents
Research Question..................................................................................................... 2
Literature review..........................................................................................................2
Methodology and data collection.................................................................................2
Ethics Approval...........................................................................................................2
Research Schedule.....................................................................................................2
Validation, Reliability...................................................................................................3
Data analysis...............................................................................................................4
Barriers to Research................................................................................................... 4
Sharing of research findings....................................................................................... 4

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RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Research Question
1. What are the factors influencing Fatigue in diploma students in Acute
Placement
2. What to diploma students know about acute placement care in hospitals
3. Effects of fatigue of the diploma students in the Acute Placement Care
Literature review
The number of nurses in the hospitals and nursing homes are not in harmony
with the patient ratio. As a result the work pressure gets transported over to the
shoulders of the diploma students in the nursing care. The scenario is worse in the
Acute placement unit. This long working hours and that too in shift generates fatigue
among these diploma students who are new in this practical field (Yoder, 2010). The
study also showed that fatigue makes them feel coerced into working. The diploma
students are not aware of the kind of hard work prevalent in the acute placement
care and such training gives them the scenario of the harsh reality, which make them
feel more fatigue. According to Wei, Chen, Li, Chen & Chen (2015), nurses (diploma
students) who have to work for the night shift, creates the risks of additional fatigue
and they tend to commit medical mistakes. The guilt of making mistakes increases
stress; the stress further brings fatigue and dissatisfaction among the nurses. The
scenario gets worse for the nurses, who are recruited for the night duty and
immediately on the next day, their roaster change into day hours duty. The loss of
sleep causes drowsiness and the outcome is fatigue (Albers, Francke, de Veer,
Bilsen & Onwuteaka-Philipsen, 2014). Sometimes the cognitive behavioral problems
are seen and they fail to focus on their duty, hampering patient- nurse relationship.
Wu, Chi, Chen, Wang & Jin, (2010) defined that the occupational stress affects the
physiological as well as psychological state. The nurses are forced to work extra
hours, their mental health gets damaged and they fail to focus on their functions and
productivity decreases (Xie, Wang & Chen, 2011).
Methodology and data collection
For the research work, the researcher will use the deductive approach with
the interpretivism philosophy along with descriptive design is appropriate. For the

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RESEARCH PROPOSAL
data analysis, contextual data analysis along with the interview- questionnaire
method will be used. 10 diploma students in nursing in acute placement will be
chosen for the survey (random-stratified sampling).
Ethics Approval
It is the duty of the researcher to maintain the Data Protection Act (1998)
while conducting the research. However, in the research study, the researcher will
maintain the rules of the ethical consideration to avoid the legal issues. Before
conducting the research, the researcher will obtain approval from the institutional
committee and the hospital where the diploma nurses are attaining the training. The
researcher will try to avoid the biasness so that the errors can be reduced and stored
the data of the participants in a safe place. The researcher will only use the data for
the research purpose and will strictly avoid the personal or emotional questions that
can hurt the participants. Moreover, the researcher will not force the participants to
take part in the research study the interested participants will be selected only after
providing the dully-signed consent.
Research Schedule
Main activities/ stages Week 1 Week
2
Week
3
Week
4
Week
5
Week
6
Week
7
Data collection from
secondary sources
 
Creating layout 
Literature review   
Formation of the research
Plan
 
Selection of the
Appropriate Research
Techniques
 
Primary data collection  
Analysis & Interpretation of
Data Collection
 
Findings of the Data 

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RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Conclusion of the Study 
Formation of Rough Draft  
Submission of Final Work  
Validation, Reliability
Nurses have a key contribution in patient’s overall wellbeing. The acute
placement unit in the hospital demands strict nursing surveillance along with holistic
care to the patients. However, fatigue arising out of the shift work can cast a
significant impact on the well-being of the patient. The current study attempts to
validate the how fatigue actually affects the well-being of the patient in the acute
placement unit and the factors responsible for the generation of fatigue apart from
shift work. The reliability of the data, obtained via survey questionnaire will be
verified via citing references to previous research work.
Data analysis
The data analysis will be done via review of the literature along with
qualitative analysis of the data obtained via open-ended question.
Barriers to Research
The sample size taken for this research is small and hence there lies a
chance of bias responses, which may interfere with data analysis, leading to
erroneous result. The researcher will try to limit the degree of biasness. The
researcher has limited budget and time and these two factors will limit the overall
scope and area of the research. The researcher also could not access adequate
articles and journals, which needs to be cited due to the lack of adequate tome.
Moreover, researcher failed to increase the sample size due to the lack of the proper
funding. Therefore, in cumulative effect of the limited budget and time is, the
researcher could not implement more relevant information in the research work.
Moreover, in the all of the reviewed papers, articles, journals, newspaper articles and
media content, there is no first-hand information that can challenge the reliability of
the situation. So the research remain one sided as the researcher is unable to site
counter active data to validate the findings.

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RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Sharing of research findings
The current study identifies the factors contributing to the generation of fatigue
among the diploma students of nursing who work in shifts in the acute placement
unit of the hospital. The research findings would ultimately improve the quality of
health care services and will serve as the secondary data for further research.

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RESEARCH PROPOSAL
References
Albers, G., Francke, A. L., de Veer, A. J., Bilsen, J., & Onwuteaka-Philipsen, B. D.
(2014). Attitudes of nursing staff towards involvement in medical end-of-life
decisions: a national survey study. Patient education and counseling, vol.
94(1), pp. 4-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2013.09.018
Wei, Y. P., Li, H., Chen, P., Li, J., Chen, H., & Chen, L. L. (2015). Working
experiences of nursing aides in nursing homes: A qualitative
study. International Journal of Nursing Sciences, vol. 2(4), pp. 371-377.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnss.2015.10.006
Wu, H., Chi, T. S., Chen, L. I., Wang, L., & Jin, Y. P. (2010). Occupational stress
among hospital nurses: cross‐sectional survey. Journal of advanced
nursing, vol. 66(3), pp. 627-634. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2009.05203.x
Xie, Z., Wang, A., & Chen, B. (2011). Nurse burnout and its association with
occupational stress in a cross‐sectional study in Shanghai. Journal of
advanced nursing, vol. 67(7), pp. DOI 1537-1546. 10.1111/j.1365-
2648.2010.05576.x
Yoder, E. A. (2010). Compassion fatigue in nurses. Applied Nursing Resea, vol.
23(4), pp. 191-97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnr.2008.09.003