Minnesota Hospital Nurse Staffing - Essay Example

"Minnesota Hospital Nurse Staffing" is a perfect example of a paper on care. According to the research, the 2013 Minnesota Legislature studied the correlation between patient outcomes and nursing staffing. The Minnesota Department of health used an expert workgroup n methodology and study approach. The main purpose of the investigation is to identify the relationship between the staffing of the nurses and patient outcomes. The problem statement was identified with the existence of the peer-reviewed research and the different effectiveness ratios witnessed by the health department on the patient outcomes. It results in the research question, what is the correlation between nurse staffing and the patient's outcomes? This brought about the hypothesis that good nurse staffing in an organization results in good patient outcomes. The theoretical underpinning includes the 2013 law that required effective nurse to patient ratios to have a good impact on the patients. The conceptual framework is apparent as it emphasizes the key focus of the research.

Literature Review

The authors relate the work to other studies done by providing evidence on the correlation between the nurse staffing along with patient outcomes produced and systematically analyzed in four reviews. They are current studies mainly from 2010 to 2013. The literature is relevant as they give systematic evidence on the relationship between the nursing staff and patient outcomes. They build the case for this study by providing background knowledge and prior methodological decisions, potential gaps, and results for carrying out the study.

Design

The research adopts a descriptive research design that tends to depict the participants in an accurate manner. The descriptive design is appropriate in this case as it helps in approving the hypotheses. The design is well described as the research identifies the correlation in more detail and filing the missing parts, hence, expanding the researcher's understanding. Additionally, most of the information is collected and does not rely on assumptions or predict the future through model elaborations.

Variables

Minnesota health department used the survey questions for qualitative analysis and interview responses for quantitative analysis. They considered the workgroup's feedbacks, literature reviews and examined the available data. The independent variables in the research are the patients, and the dependent variable is the nurse staff. Additionally, the nursing environment also plays a controlling variable factor. The workgroup's feedbacks are reliable as it is primary data that is not biased or exaggerated. The data is measured by comparing the different staffing and patient outcomes and weighing the workgroup responses on the correlation of the key variables.

Sample

The research target of the study is the workgroup, that is, the nursing staff and some patients in the Minnesota hospitals. The criterion for having selected the participants is that the workgroup and patients participant should be among the nurses in the health department. The sample got selected randomly from some of the Minnesota hospitals. The sample represents the target population as the research targets to show the relationship between the patients and the nursing staff. The rationale for the sample size is 100 nurses and 100 patients. However, the response rate is 75 percent. The sample showed the relation between nursing staffing and the patient’s outcomes. They show the different outcomes depending on the different treatments by the nursing workgroups. The researchers could easily compare the different outcomes as a result of different treatments. The groups that dropped out of the study did not much attention since they had no importance to the research.

Analysis and Results

According to the results and analysis, it was evident that the patient outcomes relate to nursing staffing. Hence, it answered the research question adequately. The statistical tests used included the rate of good patient outcomes in direct proportion to the nursing staffing. The analysis included a robust analysis that evaluates the existing data sources. The test is appropriate since it helps in proving the given hypotheses. According to the data, it is evident that the patient outcomes depend on nurse staffing. Hence, it is evident the given hypotheses is correct. The researcher observed that most of the participants agree with the hypotheses, and the observational data got recorded on tables. Therefore, the presented results are adequate since they correspond with the hypothesis and the problem statement. The results got generalized that there is a correlation between the two key variables; the patient’s outcomes and the nursing staffing.

Discussion and Conclusion

Minnesota health department research conclusion base on the data and results of the information gathered. According to the results, it is concluded that there is strong evidence there is a great correlation between patient outcomes and nursing staffing. The other alternative explanations for the evidence on the care outcomes include drug administration errors, patient length of stay, and missed nursing care.

Implications

The researcher discussed the relevance of the practice by gaining realizing several recommendations that would improve the patients. It emphasizes input from the workgroup and develops evidence-based on the outcome type.

Alternative Designs

The other research designs that can be used is the use of correlational and experimental design. The advantages of the correlational design are that they present a real-life case study proving primary data information. However, it has the limitation of a limited sample. On the other hand, the experimental design also gives the research room to observe the correlations however they may observe factors that are not present in some other areas.

Strengths and weakness

The research is adding to clinical practice as it emphasizes the improvement of clinical practices to improve patient outcomes. The strengths of this research approach are that it gives both qualitative and quantitative data hence provide an appropriate conclusion instead of relying on assumptions. The weakness of this research is that they could only get data from a single facility. Therefore, the analysis could not effectively conduct robust empirical research. The limitations are adequate as they emphasizing for further research. Hence, the research successfully proved the hypotheses but it was not sufficient for a general conclusion to every health department.

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