The implementation phase of the project will involve highlighting the relevant stakeholder groups and the influence of the project on them, the materials and resources required to start the research, various legal matters associated with medical research, and the actual implementation schedule. The research process will include 4 phases, which are the data collection, data analysis, discussion, and dissemination phases. Each of these important steps must be outlined in the implementation part of the project to be used as a guideline once the endeavor actually starts. They are discussed in detail below.
Stakeholder Groups
There are four stakeholder groups involved in the implementation of the project. These stakeholders are as follows (Gastel & Day, 2017):
Patients
Although patients are not directly present in this research, they nevertheless represent a potent stakeholder group, as the results of the study will consider them. Patients are an integral part of healthcare, and all interventions are aimed at improving their wellbeing. The results of this study might help assist in future studies, thus affecting the quality of healthcare for patients.
Researchers
There is only one researcher working on this project, which could be considered a singular stakeholder in this category. Their stakes in this matter include personal time, resources, and reputation. The purpose is to increase the body of knowledge on chronic heart failure and to answer the research question cited in this study.
Government
The US government is the first country in the world in medical research, providing government-sponsored grants to nurse researchers (Lambin, 2017). They are interested in the results of the study and in responsible spending of the provided resources.
Medical community
The medical community is largely interested in the results of the research, as it would be possible to use them to support or disprove further inquiries associated with the role of nurses and treatments to reduce the number of readmissions in CHF (Chronic Heart Failure) patients.
As it is possible to see, the only active stakeholder group in this research project is the researcher group. Patients, the government, and the medical community at large are passive stakeholders with high interest in the results of this research. Therefore, it is of prime priority to keep them informed as part of project implementation.
Materials and Resources
Since the research involves analyzing academic literature and studies performed by other researchers on the subject of the role of nurses in reducing the number of readmissions for CHF patients, providing descriptions and analysis of effective interventions, and describing transitional care conditions (Ziaeian, & Fonarow, 2016), materials and resources required for this study are relatively limited. The required hardware and software are as follows (Gastel & Day, 2017):
- A computer to be used for research purposes, such as finding and disseminating information, storing data, and running search engines.
- Legitimate access to various article databases, such as Cochrane, Elsevier, PubMed, Taylor & Francis, CINAHL, and ProQuest.
- Statistical software in order to process and analyze the data extracted from medical articles. Some of the most popular ones in the USA are SAS and Stata.
Budgetary Concerns
As the computer is already in my possession, additional financial resources would be required to purchase access to various article databases mentioned in the previous section. In addition, it would be necessary to purchase a license for the statistical software in order to conduct statistical research and run multivariate regression analyses, as well as construct tables and graphs. The estimated budgetary expenses are stated in the table below:
Legal Matters
Approval to conduct this cohort study has to be obtained from the Institutional Review Board. Informal consent will no longer be required because all patients’ data should be used in a de-identified format. Therefore, there are no particular issues associated with conducting this research. In addition, the researchers will need to report any conflict of interest in regards to personal affiliation or sponsor affiliation to any corporate bodies (Lewis, 2015).
Data Collection Phase
This phase will take place from 1 February 2019 to 1 August 2019. During this time period, all relevant articles will be assembled and processed in order to leave out those not relevant to the research and leaving only the materials pertaining to our research questions. The primary search will be based upon the publishing date on the articles (between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2017), as well as keywords, which will include the following: “heart failure,” “chronic heart failure,” “readmission,” “discharge,” “nursing care,” and “intervention.” The estimated number of articles to be included in the research is 100.
Data Analysis Phase
The data analysis phase would begin on 2 August 2018 and last for three months. During this time, the data extracted from the articles will be processed based on the following criteria:
- Total number of patients readmitted for CHF in South Florida
- Time period
- Primary diagnosis
- Age of patients
- Length of stay
- Readmission.
This analysis will be done using SAS and Stata software; all data will have to be inputted manually and calculated utilizing the digital and computing abilities of the program.
Data Discussion
After the data is extracted from the articles, is processed, and compiled into groups, it will be necessary to highlight the connection between hospitals, the quality of nursing care, specific nursing interventions, and transitional care conditions in relation to readmission rates in patients. The information on hospitals as well as interventions could also be extracted from the articles. Formulating conclusions based on the available data would take 30 days or less.
Data Dissemination
As it was already stated, there are numerous passive shareholders interested in the results of the research. Data dissemination involves sharing the results of the article with the rest of the world. In order to succeed in that endeavor, it is necessary to compile the results of the data collection, analysis, and discussion into a comprehensible form. Writing the article and publishing it in an academic journal would take about six months. During that time, the draft of the academic paper will be sent to the local hospitals, governing officials, the press, and any other interested stakeholders.
Timeline
The timeline for the implementation of the study is as follows:
References
Gastel, B., & Day, R. A. (2016). How to write and publish a scientific paper (8th ed.). Santa-Barbara, CA: Greenwood.
Lambin, P. (2017). SP-0386: How to write a research proposal for a grant? Radiotherapy and Oncology, 123(1), 207-208. Web.
Lewis, S. (2015). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Health Promotion Practice, 16(4), 473-475. Web.
Ziaeian, B., & Fonarow, G. C. (2016). The prevention of hospital readmissions in heart failure. Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases, 58(4), 379-385. Web.