Research problem
The article by Mills and Fitzgerald (2011) focuses on the changing role of nurses in the modern society. The authors’ focus was to determine the new position that nurses in the modern society are taking within their areas of practice as the demand for their services continues to rise. In the past, nurses were considered assistants to the doctors, and therefore, were not allowed to make any critical decisions on how to address issues concerning patients. However, the workplace environment is slowly changing, and nurses are finding themselves in positions where they have to make key decisions. It is common for nurses to be present at the emergency departments or in the wards where patients need urgent attention. Nurses are currently finding themselves in situations where they have to make decisions even in the absence of the medical doctors. The authors were interested in determining how well-prepared nurses are in handling their new roles in the healthcare institutions.
Research question
The authors conducted a research and established that nurses are increasingly taking roles which involve making critical decisions within healthcare institutions. Their main research question was:
How well are nurses prepared in undertaking tasks which involve critical decision making?
Objectives
It is evident that the author doubted the capacity of the current nurses to handle the tasks which involve critical decision-making processes. The objective, therefore, was to determine the level of preparedness of the current nurses in handling their new roles. The researcher was also interested in finding ways through which nursing curriculum can be redefined to empower nurses who graduate from various institutions of higher learning.
Evaluating the Research Methods
In this article, the authors conducted a review of literatures to develop a background to their study. They provided literature review to help support their arguments in this paper. The secondary sources used in this article do not just focus on the country of interest. They reviewed books and journal articles published in the United States, Europe, and parts of Asia. This gives their report a global perspective. It demonstrates that the changing role of nurses is a global issue that may need a universal solution.
The article was published in January 2012. The issue under investigation is current and very relevant. In fact, this issue that the authors focused on is more relevant today than it was at the time when the article was published. Nurses are increasingly finding themselves in positions where they have to make important decisions regarding their patients because most of the medical doctors are overwhelmed by the increasing number of patients, especially in public hospitals. Nurses are forced to make decisions in order to spare the lives of patients.
In this study, the authors used action research as their methodology. According to Hassmiller (2010), action research is popularly used when there is a need to find a solution to a specific problem. In this case, the problem was that nurses are getting themselves in new roles without being adequately prepared. The method allows them to involve nurses and other experts in finding a solution to the problem through consultative forums. Instead of basing the solution on the ideas of a few experts, the method brings together all the parties affected in this issue to find a common solution.
In collecting their primary data, the authors used six reflective group meetings for a period of over six months. The meetings took place in six different locations within the country using a sample of about 3000 participants. The sample size was composed of the registered nurses, nursing educators, nursing students, medical doctors, administrators at local hospitals, and government officials. The five groups of stakeholders formed five strata that were used to collect data. In each stratum, simple random sampling was used to select the participants. The sample was very appropriate for this action research. It brought together all the relevant stakeholders who can help in addressing the problem. From this sample, the authors were able to come up with the findings which were acceptable to all the stakeholders.
The policy recommendations in this research are very practical and can be easily applied in addressing the current problem. It is easy to believe that this work is very reliable because of the approach that the authors used to come up with their findings. They started by reviewing the relevant literatures and then conducted a comprehensive primary data collection that lasted for six months. Data was collected from all the stakeholders affected by the issue. The policy recommendations are also simple and easy to apply. For instance, the authors strongly suggest that there should be a comprehensive change in the current curriculum that is used in nursing schools. Nurses should learn to be decision makers while they are in college instead of making them believe that they should always be receiving orders from the doctors.
The authors did a great work in colleting the primary and secondary data and in the analysis process. However, there is room for improvement. The authors would have done better if they could expand the scope of primary data collection. They did an excellent job in integrating literatures that were from other countries into their study, giving their work a global perspective. They should have made an effort to expand their data collection scope by visiting other countries to collect more data. This is a universal problem and by visiting other countries, the authors would have had the privilege of determining how other countries are trying to deal with it. This way, they would have had a better idea of how to handle this issue locally. In their policy recommendations, there is room for improvement. It is good to discuss a series of actions that should be taken to address the problem, just as they did in this article. However, it becomes better if the policies are classified based on the people who are expected to implement them. This way, each stakeholder will be aware of the specific issues that directly concern him in an attempt to solve the problems identified. This strategy makes the implementation process simple and more practical.
The article is written in a simple, clear, and straightforward manner. As mentioned before, the authors brought together various stakeholders, some of whom are not experts in the medical field. The report was not meant for medical experts only but also other professionals within the government and in other areas who can come together and find a solution to the current problem. As such, the writings used in the article were simple and easy to understand even among the non-professionals. The article also identifies the key words that readers may look up in the dictionary if they find them complex. A further research can be conducted on this subject.
Chinn and Maeona (2013) argue that the emerging role of nurses as decision makers in institutions of healthcare needs further research. In the recent past, focus has been put on how to empower the nurses to enable them make critical decisions in hospitals, which can help spare lives of their patients. This is the same area of focus for this research. However, Hassmiller (2010) warns that little attention has been given on how to harmonize the new role of nurses with the traditional responsibilities of doctors to avoid conflicts between these two medical practitioners. Doctors should also understand and appreciate the new role of nurses and how the two should now work together harmoniously in an environment where nurses are more empowered than they were before.
Conclusion
The article has focused on an issue that is becoming very important in the field of nursing. For the past one decade, there has been pressure on the nurses to make decisions that can save lives of their patients in the absence of the medical doctors. However, they lack a clear guideline on what they should do and how they should do it. This has impaired their ability to act in a timely manner when it comes to addressing specialized needs of their patients. The authors have brought out this issue very clearly and the solutions provided are very practical. However, it may be necessary to conduct further researches to support the findings of this report, especially on how doctors can also be involved in this new setting where nurses are empowered to make decisions in cases of emergency.
References
Chinn, P., & Maeona, K. (2013). Integrated Theory & Knowledge Development in Nursing. Chicago: Routledge.
Hassmiller, S. (2010). Nursing’s role in healthcare reform. American Nurse Today 5(9), 68-69.
Mills, J., & Fitzgerald, M. (2011). The changing role of practice nurses in Australia: an action research study. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing 26(1), 16-20.