In quantitative research, a variety of research designs are applied in order to provide nurses with important numerical information on relationships between phenomena, as well as on causes and effects of certain processes. Typical quantitative research designs that are actively used in nursing studies usually include non-experimental and experimental designs. Among non-experimental studies and investigations, researchers distinguish between descriptive, longitudinal, and correlational designs. Experimental designs include experimental and quasi-experimental studies. In order to support changes in nursing practice, researchers may refer to a correlational design to understand the relationship or correlation between phenomena without reference to cause-and-effect relationships (Schmidt & Brown, 2019). Furthermore, they can also use experimental and quasi-experimental designs for the purpose of examining changes and their outcomes in nursing practice and environments.
The most effective research design to support changes in nursing practice is quasi-experimental. The reason for selecting it among others is that, using this design, it is possible to determine how certain causes associated with implemented changes can lead to particular outcomes or effects (Curtis et al., 2017; Schmidt & Brown, 2019). This research design can be viewed as more applicable to a clinical setting because it is easier to organize a quasi-experiment based on applying certain interventions and changes than a true experiment requiring randomization of a sample. For example, a quasi-experimental research design can be applied to drive changes in nursing through testing how certain adjustments in shift schedules for nursing can affect their productivity and quality of care. If positive outcomes are determined, it is possible to plan specific changes to be applied in healthcare facilities and improve nursing practice. Therefore, one should conclude that a quasi-experimental research design is most appropriate for researching and driving changes in nursing practices.
References
Curtis, K., Fry, M., Shaban, R. Z., & Considine, J. (2017). Translating research findings to clinical nursing practice. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 26(5-6), 862-872.
Schmidt, N. A., & Brown, J. M. (2019). Evidence-based practice for nurses: Appraisal and application of research (4th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.