The Experience of Perioperative Nurses Involved in Organ Procurement - Research Paper Example

?Critique of a Qualitative Research Paper in Nursing: The Experience of Perioperative Nurses Involved in Organ Procurement The following paper critiques a Qualitative Research Paper written by Yi-Jen Wang and Chi-Yun Lin (2009). Problem The problem in this research was appropriately implied. Feelings and emotions of perioperative nurses towards the organ donation process is an important consideration as it is seen to play a role in the proliferation of organ donation and the success of the organ donation process (Wang & Lin, 2009). Purpose The purpose of this study was clearly stated as being “to explore the experiences and feelings of perioperative nurses during the process of organ procurement in Taiwan” (Wang & Lin, 2009, p. 279). The researchers believe that sufficient knowledge and understanding regarding this phenomenon can provide better rates of successes of the organ donation process and moreover provide encouragement of organ donors (Wang & Lin, 2009). Research Question Although the research question was not clearly stated, it was generally implied from the introduction of the research study. Essentially, the study wants to find out what the general feelings of perioperative nurses involved in the process of organ procurement in Taiwan are (Wang & Lin, 2009). With this research question, the course of the research was clearly directed from the beginning, a key requirement in the development of a fine qualitative research study (Ryan, Coughlan, & Cronin, 2007). Research Design The researchers took careful note of the relevance of the qualitative methods being employed in the study. As “organ procurement is a special surgery,” (Wang & Lin, 2009, p. 279) it may not be enough to simply quantify the nurses’ feelings and emotions. Rather, such feelings and emotions ought to be captured using the nurses’ verbatim account on the issue (Wang & Lin, 2009). This view is supported by the study conducted by Manuel, Solberg, and MacDonald (2010) as they looked into organ donation feelings, this time, of family members involved. Subjects The general nature of a qualitative study entails it to use subjects that are required for the specific purpose of the study. Thus, sample size is usually small, and participants are usually acquired using a purposive, non-probabilistic manner (Ryan, Coughlan, & Cronin, 2007). So is the case of this specific study, which utilizes only 6 participants, taken using purposive sampling. These participants are senior perioperative nurses from an organ procurement organization in Taiwan. The minimum work experience of these nurses was at three years, which is an appropriate length of service when considering the feelings they had developed while participating in the organ procurement process (Wang & Lin, 2009). Setting The research setting was a major consideration in this study as it is done in northern Taiwan, a place that is generally known for its cultural reservations on the topics of death and organ donation (Wang & Lin, 2009). This study precisely looks into how nurses in this area feel and so the research setting was appropriately chosen. There was no mention, however, of where the actual interview was conducted. Data Collection Methods Data collection in qualitative research studies generally utilized interviews, though of varying kinds, depending on the general conditions of the research setting and the goals that the research wants to achieve (Broussard, 2006; Ryan, Coughlan, & Cronin, 2007). As such, the research study used a semi-structured questionnaire while conducting individual face-to-face in-depth interviews with the participants. This was used in order to allow the researcher to “lead an open conversation” and “not limit participants in terms of sharing” (Wang & Lin, 2009, p. 279) in order to provide an opportunity for an interactive data collection process. Colling (2003a) considers this an effective data collection process especially when acquiring qualitative data. The researchers also make mention of the structured interview outline being designed from sufficient literature review, pilot tested, reviewed, and refined accordingly prior to release (Wang & Lin, 2009). Pilot testing is a preferred requirement of questionnaires or interview outlines as it allows the researcher to identify critical shortcomings of a vital research tool (Agresti & Finlay, 2009). The participants were interviewed for an average of 80 minutes although no time limit was initially set. The researchers also made sure to take note of the participants’ nonverbal signals and that preconceived notions had been set aside in order to make the discussion as objective as possible (Wang & Lin, 2009). Human Rights The study explicitly mentions the importance of expressed consent in a research study. This indicates the researchers’ awareness of the importance of keeping within the limits of the human rights of participants. This was indeed indicative of the section dedicated to research ethics wherein the researchers noted that permission from the school’s institutional review board was acquired. Moreover, participants were either personally called or visited by the researchers, and consequently informed of the purpose of the research and the rights that they had as interviewees. More importantly, the participants were required to sign a consent form in order to be allowed to participate in the study. The researchers also made sure to delete or appropriately substitute dummy words for any name of persons, places, or other identifying information mentioned during the interview (Wang & Lin, 2009). All these efforts are necessary to ensure that the research does not violate any ethical requirements and that its ethical integrity may not be put in question (Ridley, 2009). Data Saturation Evidence Data saturation is achieved when there are no new information that may be extracted from future sampling (Ryan, Coughlan, & Cronin, 2007). It is of this critic’s opinion that the point of data saturation was not reached in the study. As indicated by several points of documentation in the research, further sampling is necessary to acquire more robust information on the topic (Wang & Lin, 2009). Data Analysis Procedures Data analysis is one of the most sensitive parts of qualitative research because there are a number of ways to sugarcoat or mask findings to generate the results required. In order to avoid this bias, verification strategies should be employed by a research study (Ryan, Coughlan, & Cronin, 2007). The lack of verification strategies is one shortcoming of this qualitative research. As to be deduced from the text, the researchers were not able to take effort to have a third party analyst go through the data that they had and to consequently look into their interpretation of the transcript. However, with this aside, the researchers were able to use content analysis in categorize the data that they were able to acquire from the interviews into “Participant’s feelings of organ procurement” and “Participant’s issues of self-care” (Wang & Lin, 2009, p. 280). Within these categories, the researchers creatively used subheadings to subdivide the main categories indicated. Within these sub-categories, the researchers quoted the participants’ feelings and were able to objectively analyze the feelings and emotions expressed by the participants (Wang & Lin, 2009). As such, it can be said that appropriate data analysis was conducted in this study. Scientific Rigor As with human rights consideration, the study likewise explicitly mentions the importance of scientific rigor. They went as far as pointing out that qualitative research must be “consulted and contrasted in a form that is credible, transferable, dependable, and confirmable” (Wang & Lin, 2009, p. 279). Moreover, they were able to illustrate diligently that their research conformed to each of the given criteria. The study mentions the credentials of Wang as researcher, detailing that he is educated in qualitative research methodology and has the capabilities to interview participants and analyze the data collected. The research may also be lauded for employing a pilot study in order to ensure the quality of the interview guide. In addition, the researchers conducted meetings regularly with a group of experts in the field of qualitative research methodologies in order to ensure the veracity and appropriateness of the methods of data collection (Wang & Lin, 2009). Cross-checking of interview transcripts was conducted with the co-researcher to validate the accuracy of the text. Transferability of the collected data was ensured by collecting and analyzing considerable amounts of data ingrained with rich narratives. As pointed out earlier, dependability of the data was initially ensured through the recording of nonverbal cues together with the interview dialogues. Lastly, confirmability was obtained by having the researcher read the text a number of times in order to come up with reliable study themes during regularly held research meetings. However, it was not mentioned whether such research meetings were conducted with third party analysts or with the coresearcher only (Wang & Lin, 2009). Implications and Conclusion The implications and conclusion of the study should be able to place research findings within the context of new information in the nursing field (Ryan, Coughlan, & Cronin, 2007). The researchers were able to achieve this as they confirmed feelings of unease that perioperative nurses in Taiwan associated with the process of organ donation. The research was actually a landmark study as it was the first research in Taiwan to tackle the issue of organ donation. More importantly, it was able to point out the important role that can be played by health institutions in to assist staff nurses in adjusting to their important roles as part of the organ donation process (Wang & Lin, 2009). Suggestions for Future Research The researcher was prudent to point out that the study was limited by the number of participants that it had (Wang & Lin, 2009). This is one point that may be improved on by future researches that may tackle the same topic. In addition, future researches may also work on having the data validated by a third party analyst in order to ensure the validity of the interpretations of data. Literature Review The researchers employed the use of relevant studies pertaining to the research question in reviewing the available literature. The articles covered issues on organ donation and general feelings about the organ procurement process. The literature also covered these issues in a cultural context, using the Chinese culture in general as there was no study yet about regarding the same topic in Taiwanese literature. They included 15 academic journals as part of their literature review and only 2 or 13% were dated prior to 10 years of the conduct of the study (Wang & Lin, 2009). The literature review was exhaustive, thorough, and relevant to the topic at hand. Conclusion The research may be considered a landmark study as it is the first study in Taiwan to tackle the issue of organ donation. After careful critique of the aspects of this study, it can be said that the researchers succeeded in producing a quality source of information on the topic. Except for the non-validation of results by a third party analyst, the research followed a high rate of compliance with vital points of contention in a qualitative research study. Thus, any journal on the nursing profession would be privileged to have such a high quality and highly relevant piece of literature on their journal. References Colling, J. (2003a). Designing clinical research studies: Part I. Urologic Nursing, 23(5), 357-359. Broussard, L. (2006). Understanding qualitative research: a school nurse perspective. TheJournal of School Nursing, 22 (4), 212-218. Manuel, A., Solberg, S., & MacDonald, S. (2010). Organ Donation Experiences Of Family Members. Nephrology Nursing Journal, 37(3), 229-236. Ridley, R. (2009). Assuring ethical treatment of students as research participants. Journal of Nursing Education, 48(10), 537-541. Retrieved from CINAHL Plus with Full Text database. Ryan, F., Coughlan, M., & Cronin, P. (2007). Step-by-step guide to critiquing research. Part 2: qualitative research. British Journal of Nursing, 16(12), 738-744. Read More