Significance to Nursing Practice and Nursing Research
Considering the necessity of helping people addicted to drugs to either fight this addiction or live with it healthier, it is likely to suggest that the qualitative proposed research findings on the phenomenon under study will contribute meaningful evidence in clinical settings and advance research. Since the main focus of this qualitative paper is to explore whether having harm reduction programs in treatment centers may increase the likelihood of actively using addicts going into treatment, the findings will provide a concrete answer to this question. This, in turn, will significantly help researchers and medics as they will know whether their efforts should be put into creating such clinical settings and programs or aimed at finding other options.
Any findings and results of this research will be helpful. First, participant observation and focus group interviews may show that harm reduction initiatives and nurses indeed increase the likelihood of drug addicts start their treatment. In that case, further research will be aimed at several important issues. First, exploring the best strategies and programs to introduce into substance abuse treatment centers will be necessary in order not to reduce their effectiveness. Second, it will be required to study additional factors influencing active drug users and the ways medics can benefit from them.
However, in case the answer to the research question appears to be negative, it will also be beneficial for advancing research. This result will allow medics to look for other methods of increasing the likelihood of drug addicts going into treatment and avoid putting much effort into creating a clinical environment that is not really effective. Therefore, the specific findings will allow gaining a clear understanding of the needs and preferences of such patients, and medics and researchers will most likely find it easier to communicate with active addicts and help them be safer.
Dissemination of Information
Apart from conducting this qualitative study and getting specific results, it is also vital to make sure that the valuable information is received by other researchers so that it may have an outstanding contribution to the current and future clinical setting. Therefore, before communicating the research proposal for the proposed qualitative study at the place of employment or for an educational conference, it is necessary to have a certain plan.
First, it is essential to begin with providing accurate statistics and stating the importance of the problem under study, as well as the research question. Thus, according to American Addiction Centers (2021), “19.7 million American adults (aged 12 and older) battled a substance use disorder in 2017” (para. 2). These numbers are increasing every year, and it is crucial to help these people fight their addiction and recover. What is more, American Addiction Centers (2021) states that “drug abuse and addiction cost American society more than $740 billion annually in lost workplace productivity, healthcare expenses, and crime-related costs” (para. 2). Thus, solving this issue will contribute to the health of society, so it is essential to find out whether harm reduction initiatives are actually effective.
Further, it is efficient to provide some ideas and facts from the literature review part. For example, Dubois (2017) mentions that harm reduction approaches allow persons with a substance abuse disorder to either safely change their habits when being under medical supervision or alter their practices to reduce the chances of being infected. These programs and interventions may become not a replacement but a vital complement to other prevention and treatment strategies. Finally, it would be helpful to note that this research adds to the study of this phenomenon and provides essential information related to its seriousness.
References
American Addiction Centers. (2021). Alcohol and drug abuse statistics. AAC. Web.
Dubois, T. M. (Ed.). (2017). Harm reduction. Journal of Addictions Nursing, 28(1), 42. Web.