Abstract
The research on the roles of nurses in providing nutrition safety has been proposed for submitting to the American Journal of Nursing. The paper at hand gives the description of the study, including a brief overview of the nursing issue, the purpose of the research, research question, methodology, implementation plan, outcomes of the experiments conducted, and study results. The paper also dwells upon implications that the issue may have for nurses.
Introduction
American Journal of Nursing (AJN) was chosen for submission of the research since it is the oldest and one of the most influential and reputable medical journals still in publication. AJN provides two options for its authors: immediate open access and delayed open access. The journal is indexed and abstracted in Psychological Abstracts, Chemical Abstracts, CINAHL, Embase, Public Affairs Information Service, Current Contents, and PubMed/MEDLINE.
Another reason for selecting AJN is that the journal welcomes several categories for submission: Clinical Review/Application Papers, Quality Improvement Studies, Original Research, Systematic Reviews, and Video Submissions. Submission letters must describe the study and provide an abstract, an outline, and some information about the author (“Information for authors,” 2017). No specific format for abstract is indicated; however, it must include problem statement and significance, research design, findings, and conclusions.
Research Steps
Title of the Project
Improving Nutrition Safety: The Role of Nurses in Patients’ Healthy Eating.
Problem Statement
While health care specialists pay a lot of attention to the safety of medications, care, technology, and hygiene, the problem of malnutrition remains heavily underestimated. However, healthy dieting may act not only as a preventive measure but also as an important recovery factor. Unfortunately, now this problem is directly addressed only when patients suffer from severe allergies, obesity, diabetes, or other critical conditions.
Purpose of the Project
The purpose of the research project is to identify if a nurse can contribute to patient healthy dieting as a part of a nutrition safety team and accumulate knowledge about current practices of managing malnutrition in different hospitals.
Research Questions
What steps do hospitals implement to improve nutrition safety in patients and what are the nurses’ roles and contributions to the solution to the problem?
Hypothesis
It is assumed that health care professionals have no legal right to regulate patients’ nutrition if they do not suffer from related conditions. Yet, nurses can help recognize cases when nutrition safety is undermined and educate patients on the topic.
Methodology
The study will use a literature review and interviewing as research methods. It is important to analyze what regulations and policies different hospitals have in terms of nutrition safety and how this problem is addressed. Nursing staff will be interviewed as per their personal experience in dealing with the issue.
Steps of Research Implementation
Several hospitals will be selected for investigating the policy issues concerning patient safety. A number of nurses will be chosen randomly and proposed to take part in an interview with open questions (individually). Afterward, the data will be compared with the results of the review.
Results
The hypothesis was partially confirmed. Most hospitals indeed do not have legal rights to impose dieting on patients whose condition does not require it. Yet, only a few of the nurses are actively involved in increasing nutrition safety.
Conclusion
Unlike other aspects of safety provision, nutrition safety still remains neglected. Most nursing staff representatives do not possess the required knowledge and skills to address nutrition concerns and to turn their patients to healthy eating.
Impact on the Nursing Career
I believe that the problem of nutrition safety should be incorporated into nursing education as all aspects of safety are crucial for professionals working in the field of health care. Each hospital must have clearly stated and well-grounded standards that would allow maintaining a due level of nutrition safety even in those whose condition is not related to the digestive system. All nurses must be qualified enough to be able to inform patients on the healthy eating necessity and address eating concerns before they start threatening patients’ well-being.
Reference
Information for authors. (2017).