This paper critically analyzed a research study that was conducted to identify the various side effects of haloperidol on delirium patients receiving hospice care. The researchers largely followed the scientific method in conducting and presenting their study. Success was registered by the researchers because they were able to identify the net effects of haloperidol in the treatment of delirium in palliative care.
The article that was criticized was titled “Pharmacovigilance in hospice/palliative care: Net effect of haloperidol for delirium.” This analysis focuses on the title, abstract, introduction, and literature review of the article. Overall, the authors employed the scientific method and had scientific rigor. However, they failed to define the literature review clearly.
Title
The title of the article was clear and precise. Moreover, it summarized the whole purpose of the study, which was to identify various immediate, as well as long-term clinical related effects caused by the use of haloperidol to treat delirium among hospice care patients.
Abstract
The abstract of the study was brief, however, it was comprehensive because it summarized the entire study such that one could just read the abstract and have an overview of the background, purpose, research design, results, and the conclusion of the study. The authors used subheadings like “introduction”, “method”, “results”, and “conclusion” in structuring the abstract, thereby making the abstract easy to read and comprehend. However, their conclusion section in the abstract did not indicate the significance of the study findings in palliative care.
Introduction
The introduction was brief, but it gave a background of the study. However, the fact that the literature review section was not defined clearly would make the reader struggle to understand the introduction and the literature review sections.
Hypothesis and Purpose
There was no clearly defined hypothesis. However, the researchers presented the study purpose clearly by showing the missing information about the short- and long-term effects of haloperidol use in palliative care. Crawford et al. (2013) then narrowed down to the aim of the study, which was to establish the net effects of haloperidol in treating delirium in hospice care. The authors explained that there was a rarity of information regarding the topic of study. Filling this gap formed the purpose of conducting the study.
Literature review
Although the literature that was reviewed was not elaborate, given that the authors reviewed about 10-12 previous studies only, it was able to provide a background on the topic and the rationale for conducting the study. Recent research was appraised in providing a background to the research problem. However, some articles that were reviewed were very old, some being as old as 1994, 2001, and 2004, yet this study was conducted in 2012. Such literature could reflect outdated information.
Conclusion
The authors of this study employed the research method to establish a research gap, which they went ahead to address. They clearly showed the significance of the study in palliative care by indicating that knowing the net effects of medications used in palliative care can improve patient care. Moreover, they justified their focus on hospice care patients by stating that clinical information that was relevant to palliative care could only be obtained by studying patients who were undergoing hospice care. The findings of this study are relevant in nursing because they contribute to the knowledge about the effectiveness of haloperidol in the treatment of delirium in palliative care.
Reference
Crawford, G. B., Agar, M., Quinn, S. J., Phillips, J., Lister, C., Michael, N.,… Currow, D. (2013). Pharmacovigilance in hospice/palliative care: Net effect of haloperidol for delirium. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 16(11), 1335-1341.