Study Design
The current study is going to feature an experimental design. This is necessary to address pressure ulcers extensively and include the information that was already identified by other researchers (Grove, Burns, & Gray, 2014). One of the main benefits of this approach will be the possibility to create an evidence-based intervention and align the current study with the key concepts of pressure ulcer treatment. Ultimately, all the information from the above can be used in practice.
Study Setting and Sample
The study will take place within a hospital where there are numerous patients with pressure ulcers of different degrees. The sample will be composed of both males and females aging from 18 to 65. The researcher is not looking to divide the sample into groups based on their race or any other definitive characteristics (Grove et al., 2014). The author of this experiment is going to use random sampling to increase the chances of obtaining relevant results that are not affected by bias.
Confidentiality
To protect the confidentiality of the participants of the study, the researcher will use anonymous questionnaires before, during, and after the study (Grove et al., 2014). These questionnaires will be stored both in written and electronic forms to ensure that all the data is in place and not stolen, breached, or edited without both the researcher’s and participants’ permission. As it is advised by Grove et al. (2014), the author of the research is going to talk to each of the participants in person as well to make sure that all the necessary information is included and they are not affected by the answers of their peers.
Intervention Outline
There will be two key protocols that will be implemented in practice. The first one will revolve around preventive measures for the patients in critical condition (Whitty et al., 2017). This is necessary to trigger the treatment of ulcers of stages I and II. The staff should take the efficient care of those patients and be empowered to treat their wounds without any prior consultation with the wound care nurses (Whitty et al., 2017). The second protocol will ensure that there an adequate number of nurse assistants that will take care of the process of repositioning bed-ridden individuals every hour because the previous strategy (rotation every two hours) turned out to be inefficient (Whitty et al., 2017). The repositioning protocol also suggests that the new staff should help the non-bedridden patients to get up and move to their chairs.
Measuring the Outcomes
The researcher will use a series of nurse-sensitive indicators to measure the outcomes of the implementation of the intervention proposed above. These include incident rate, patient injury rate, patient satisfaction, and patients’ satisfaction with the level of the provided care and implemented pressure ulcer protocols (Whitty et al., 2017). These measurements will be based on several surveys that are discussed in the next section of this paper.
Data Collection
The researcher is rather interested in collecting the baseline data before the implementation of the pressure ulcer protocols. Therefore, it will be necessary to employ a post-test that will validate any preliminary findings and create a foundation for future research (Whitty et al., 2017). The data will be collected using both interviews and questionnaires. The questionnaires will have to be filled in electronically, and the interviews will be conducted in person (one patient at a time) (Whitty et al., 2017).
References
Grove, S. K., Burns, N., & Gray, J. R. (2014). Understanding nursing research: Building an evidence-based practice (6th ed.). New York, NY: Elsevier.
Whitty, J. A., McInnes, E., Bucknall, T., Webster, J., Gillespie, B. M., Banks, M.,… Chaboyer, W. (2017). The cost-effectiveness of a patient centred pressure ulcer prevention care bundle: Findings from the INTACT cluster randomised trial. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 75, 35-42.