Nursing Research and its Importance
Nursing research is used to give data to support procedures used to improve and raise patient care standards. Research is an important aspect of modern healthcare since it helps to provide effective and safe health care. The profession of research nursing entails the examination and development of improved medication and treatment procedures for a wide range of medical issues (Holloway & Galvin, 2016).
Importance of Clinical Inquiry
A clinical inquiry must be relevant to a medical problem or a patient in order to facilitate the search for an appropriate solution. PICO(T) is a mnemonic for creating well-structured clinical inquiries. Knowing the type of fore ground question and methodology are two other important aspects of a well-built clinical question worth noting. Foreground questions may be related to therapy, diagnosis, prognosis or etiology (Melnyk, Gallagher-Ford, Long, & Fineout-Overholt, 2014). The objectives of this study include the identification of the roles of research and the formulation of a clinical question from a case study.
The Roles of Research in Nursing
A research nurse works to ensure any advancements in health care are made known. Research helps to examine a patient’s health history and experiences. This research plays an important role in various stages of health care in a patient including end-of-life and preventative care. The research involved in health outcomes and systems help in identifying ways in which organizations can improve quality of health care while limiting expenditure and focusing on the patient’s experiences. The researchers focus on exploring issues that may affect the patient and clinical services provided by an organization (Holloway & Galvin, 2016).
Research in Nursing Education
Research in nursing education revolves around the application of knowledge by nurses through the incorporation of technology to promote better treatment methods and learning. Nurses should be acquainted with modern medicine and be able to put into practice latest research in their various fields. The nurses also have an important role to play in ensuring patient protection and safety during the research process (Holloway & Galvin, 2016). Prompt reporting of adverse side effects or change in the health of a participant is fundamental. The success of research includes the involvement of multidisciplinary research members.
Importance of Reliable and Ethical Research
Reproducible and quality data are essential for ethical research. Good interpersonal and communication skills are important in explaining the possible risks and benefits plus the purpose of the study to patients. Reliable data collected from the patients requires attention to detail and integrity. Research helps in identifying long lasting interventions for individuals at risk of diseases and also gives the opportunity for future growth and broadened horizon in the medical field (Holloway & Galvin, 2016).
Clinical Questions Formulation
In a case study, an elderly 57 years old female patient had been diagnosed with diabetes for the previous 13 years. Due to the failure of oral hypoglycemic agents in controlling her blood sugar levels, she was given biphasic insulin aspart 30/70 although this was accompanied by frequent episodes of hypoglycemia. Her physician opted to give her an insulin pump however it proved tiresome for the patient to take the pump with her wherever she went. Her physician decided that she should start on insulin degludec and advocated for change in her lifestyle especially her diet. The patient had tremendous improvements in her fasting and post meals sugar levels while the doctor monitored her degludec insulin amounts (Kumar, 2015).
Foreground Clinical Question
My foreground clinical question will focus on the treatment or therapy of diabetes using the PICO (T) mnemonic as a guideline and the question is as follows:
In patients with diabetes what are the effects of using oral hypoglycemic agents and biphasic insulin in controlling blood sugar compared with the use of insulin degludec and dietary lifestyle modification in controlling blood sugar levels (Inzucchi, Bergenstal, Buse, Diamant, Ferrannini, Nauck, & Matthews, 2015).
Conclusion
Research is useful in ensuring best evidence based practices are employed in giving standard health care to patients. Well-built clinical questions facilitate the search for answers to thoroughly deal with rising issues in health.
References
Holloway, I., & Galvin, K. (2016). Qualitative research in nursing and healthcare. John Wiley & Sons.
Inzucchi, S. E., Bergenstal, R. M., Buse, J. B., Diamant, M., Ferrannini, E., Nauck, M., ... & Matthews, D. R. (2015). Management of hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes, 2015: a patient-centered approach: update to a position statement of the American Diabetes Association and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. Diabetes care, 38(1), 140-149.
Kumar, S. (2015). Type 1 diabetes mellitus-common cases. Indian journal of endocrinology and metabolism, 19(Suppl 1), S76.
Melnyk, B. M., Gallagher‐Ford, L., Long, L. E., & Fineout‐Overholt, E. (2014). The establishment of evidence‐based practice competencies for practicing registered nurses and advanced practice nurses in real‐world clinical settings: proficiencies to improve healthcare quality, reliability, patient outcomes, and costs. Worldviews on Evidence‐Based Nursing, 11(1), 5-15.
