Introduction
In the study, there were three types of variables: nurses’ work schedules, staffing data, and patient mortality. Work schedule variables were derived from self-report standardization measures referred to as the Standard Shiftwork Index; staffing data were provided by hospitals via the American Hospital Association Annual Survey; mortality was calculated primarily from discharge data related to certain medical conditions (Trinkoff et al., 2011).
Discussion
The Limitations section of the article indirectly mentions the reliability of one of the chosen instruments: since the information on work schedules was self-report-based, it contained various biases based on recall and the human factor. The study provides detailed and precise information regarding the interventions required to achieve the presented results. Firstly, all 12 work schedule variables of the self-report-based survey were named and supported with evidence of content validity analysis (Trinkoff et al., 2011).
Secondly, in terms of staffing data, not only the survey (American Hospital Association Annual Survey of Hospitals) but also the further implemented division and data organization (The National Quality Forum nurse-sensitive indicators) was mentioned in the study. Finally, Trinkoff et al. (2011) explained the choice of mortality statistics source (Agency for Healthcare and Quality In-patient Quality Indicators) accompanied by its validation technique (Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project selection rules).
Conclusion
The study implemented the cross-sectional design and secondary data analysis, incorporating data from nurses and their respective places of work. Unfortunately, researchers do not provide any justification for their design choice. In this context, they only comment on the study’s design in the Limitations section, noting that the yielded results are not to be overgeneralized due to their inability to capture the temporal predictors’ and outcomes’ sequence as well as variables not obtained in the primary data collection.
References
Trinkoff, A. M., Johantgen, M., Storr, C. L., Gurses, A. P., Liang, Y., & Han, K. (2011). Nurses’ work schedule characteristics, nurse staffing, and patient mortality. Nursing research, 60(1), 1-8. Web.