Description
Suppose I were to conduct a study in applied nursing to examine the effectiveness of a new pain management protocol on post-operative patients’ recovery. In this scenario, I would opt for a randomized controlled trial (RCT) as the type of research design. RCTs involve randomly assigning participants to either an experimental group (receiving the new pain management protocol) or a control group (receiving standard care) to measure the effectiveness of the intervention (Polit& Beck, 2017).I would utilize quantitative methods to collect data for the RCT, such as structured observations and objective measurements. In this specific study, I might use tools like pain scales to quantify the level of pain experienced by patients at various post-operative time points. Additionally, I could collect quantitative data on recovery parameters like the time taken to regain mobility, the amount of pain medication required, and patient satisfaction scores. These objective and quantifiable data points would enable me to conduct statistical analyses to determine whether the new pain management protocol significantly improves post-operative recovery outcomes compared to standard care.Ensuring the validity and reliability of data collection methods is crucial in healthcare research. Therefore, I would pre-test the pain scales and other measurement tools to ensure their accuracy and consistency. By employing an RCT with quantitative data collection methods, I can rigorously investigate the effectiveness of the new pain management protocol in applied nursing, providing valuable insights for improving patient care.ReferencePolit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2017). Nursing research: Generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice (10th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.
