Description
i need one reaponse to each peer
hollie: Qualitative research seeks to explore, describe, uncover, and understand the human experience of individuals experiencing a specific phenomenon. Unlike quantitative research, qualitative research is done without numbers, measurements, or statistical analysis (Melnyk et al., 2023). Qualitative researchers are embedded in collecting information through observations, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and document studies. In healthcare research, this type of research is underrepresented. Typically, changes in clinical practices derive from randomized controlled trials because they are a higher hierarchy in the evidence-based medicine paradigm (Busetto et al., 2020).
To locate quality evidence-based data, researchers must become adept at research review. The steps involved include developing the clinical question, searching for the best evidence, synthesizing or appraising the evidence, implementing evidence into practice, evaluating improved outcomes with practice changes, and disseminating the results (Meadow-Oliver & Kapaale, 2023). These steps have led me to expand and adapt my PICOT question: will educating adults with symptomatic peripheral arterial disease (PAD) on lifestyle modifications improve their symptoms within six weeks compared to the current practice of not providing educational information on lifestyle modifications? Is education enough of an intervention? What are the types of information should patients be educated on? When should they receive this information? How should they receive the information?
Akerman et al. (2019) state that PAD patients struggle to comply with the gold standard of supervised exercise therapy to improve symptoms. Motivation to exercise for PAD varies due to the limitation of claudication. They state that only one in three PAD patients attend and complete a supervised exercise program, which warrants a need for an alternative approach, such as adding heat therapy before exercise, to improve compliance (Akerman et al., 2019). Perhaps these researchers applied this additional intervention after carefully reviewing qualitative research studies (Busetto et al. 2020).
References
Akerman, A.P., Thomas, K.N., van Rij, A.M., Body, E.D., Alfadhel, M., & Cotter, J.D. (2019).
Heat therapy vs. supervised exercise therapy for peripheral arterial disease: A 12-week randomized, controlled trial. American Journal of Physiology. Heart and Circulatory Physiology, 316(6), H1495-H1506.
https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpheart.00151.2019
Busetto, L., Wolfgang, W., & Gumbinger, C. (2020). How to use and assess qualitative research
Methods. Neurological Research and Practice, 2(14).
https://neurolrespract.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s42466-020-00059-z
Melnyk, B.M., Morrison-Beedy, D., & Cote-Arsenault, D. (2023). Generating evidence through
tammy:Melnyk and Fineout-Overholt (2023) defined qualitative evidence as the “how” and “why” of a clinical phenomena as opposed to quantitative evidence which is considered to be the “what.” Further explained, quantitative evidence was defined as the hard evidence, providing numbers and statistics; whereas quantitative evidence is the human experience, values and reasons behind those numbers and statistics. Qualitative is subjective while quantitative is objective.
My PICOT:
P – in patients having spine surgery
I – use of intraoperative powder vancomycin
C – compared to no use of intraoperative powder vancomycin
O – affect on post-surgical site infection (SSI) rates
T – up to 90 days after surgery
Research into my PICOT question has resulted in a multitude of quantitative evidence. Upon starting this research, I assumed there would be a statistical landslide, one way or the other, that the intraoperative powder vancomycin was effective or not. However, that has proven to be incorrect. The quantitative data is quite conflicting. Many studies indicate vancomycin powder to be effective in preventing SSIs. Many other studies indicate it has minimal to zero effect at all.
The qualitative data, however, has offered the benefit of helping explain and understand “why” there may be such variances in the quantitative data. Regarding randomized controlled trials, Gisselbaek et al. (2021) indicated qualitative data promotes an understanding of how a trial was designed as well as the process the researchers used to measure the outcomes. When I look at all the data collected for my PICOT question, the qualitative data indicates the design of the trials is certainly worth looking at. All of the studies indicated the patients had comorbidities, but did not consider these in the final statistics. Many of these comorbidities could medically impact whether or not patients developed an SSI, including diabetes, obesity, and hypertension. Other factors not considered were age, sex, or if the patient smoked.
Gisselbaek, M., Hudelson, P., Savoldelli, G.L. (2021) . A systematic scoping review of published
qualitative research pertaining to the field of perioperative anesthesiology. Canadian Journal of
Anaesthesia, 68(12), 1811-1821. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12630-021-02106-y.
Melnyk, B. M., Fineout-Overholt, E. (2023). Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing & Healthcare: A guide to
Best Practice. (5th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.
