Clinical Question
Sexually transmitted diseases (STD) affect the world’s population greatly nowadays. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about a million of them are acquired every day (WHO, 2016). Rather often, people are not even aware of their condition until the moment they experience adverse effects. Thus, it is vital to prevent further transmissions, encouraging adolescent and young adult females to avoid unsafe sex. It will be advantageous to start preventive measures on a research study that answers this clinical question:
Is more advantage obtained from patient education regarding STD when it is maintained by nurses than by social workers?
It is presupposed that education provided by nursing professionals will have better outcomes because they have a background in nursing and medicine, unlike social workers.
Type of the Study
Considering the peculiarities of the research question, a study that should be conducted will be identified as a quasi-experimental one. If a true experiment were used, it would be critical to assign groups randomly so that every participant included in a sample has an equal chance of being in both groups. However, quasi-experiment allows a researcher to avoid this element and make a study simpler and less resource-consuming even though they also test causal hypotheses. In this case, groups that already have a particular educator assigned to them will be approached so that the sample will not be divided into groups by the researcher.
Still, those biases that may be observed in this situation can be minimalized using various techniques, such as propensity score matching. What is more, the absence of time and logistical constraints is another important characteristic of this design. It allows a researcher to save time and focus on those initiatives that have been already implemented. In addition to that, quasi-analysis is often used when a study deals with some vague concepts, including morale and sexual education (White & Sabarwal, 2014).
Theoretical Framework
Considering the issues under discussion and proposed intervention, the self-care nursing model seems to be the most appropriate option. It was developed by Dorothea Orem to provide a theoretical framework for those cases when patients take care of their health themselves and nurses turn out to be only a mechanism that facilitates this process. According to it, all people should maintain those activities that promote their well-being. However, nurses are in charge of ensuring this ability.
They are expected to educate clients on how they can prevent illnesses or what they should do if they have some health problems, etc. These professionals should guide patients and create a positive environment for them to increase their self-care abilities. Nurses maintain a supportive educative role, assisting but not direct services. This theoretical framework meets the project perfectly because it is based on patient education. Future research will discuss its influence on the prevalence of STD among women. The way obtained information will change their well-being will be considered, which aligns with this nursing theory.
Thus, it can be concluded that quasi-experimental research is the best option for the proposed study because it provides an opportunity to test hypotheses just as a true experiment but, at the same time, allows a researcher to streamline and simplify this process. The self-care nursing model will be used to provide a theoretical framework for research because it allows professionals to focus on their role as educators.
References
White, H., & Sabarwal, S. (2014). Quasi-experimental design and methods.
WHO. (2016). Sexually transmitted infections fact sheet.