NURS 3150/ NURS 3151: Foundations of Nursing Research

Discussion – Week 1

Pregnancy is a crucial time for the development of a human life. There are many changes and growth that is happening during nine months of pregnancy. The pregnant mother must alter her lifestyle to meet the needs of her growing baby. Some of these changes include ending drug and alcohol abuse, eating appropriate foods and avoiding harmful foods, receiving proper prenatal care and staying active to promote a healthy pregnancy.

Patient Safety Problem

 

I live near an American Indian reservation and I have encountered countless mothers who had late or no prenatal care. In 2017, American Indians were most likely to report late or no prenatal care in 12 percent of births (Late or No Prenatal Care, 2019). The lack of prenatal care poses a risk for both mother and baby. In my experience, when a mother is not receiving prenatal care, they are also involved in reckless activities that are actively harming her and baby. Some of these reckless activities include using drugs and abusing alcohol. Using tobacco and drinking alcohol during pregnancy has been linked to increase the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can also increase the risk of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, intellectual disabilities, problems with vital organs and having a small head (What is prenatal care and why is it important, 2017). There are countless, long-term effects of children who have been born from a mother who used illegal substances during pregnancy while not receiving proper prenatal care. NURS 3150 3151: Foundations of Nursing Research.

 

Change in Practice

 

A change that could be beneficial for pregnant mothers on the reservation would be completing home visits. Research has shown that a home visiting program for pregnant women and their infants brings about participation and knowledge that will increase positive maternal and infant outcomes (Johnson, 2020). Often, these pregnant mothers do not have the means to go to an appointment or to provide a healthy lifestyle in pregnancy. A home visit would literally meet the expecting mother where she is, she wouldn’t have to try to find a ride to the clinic. Prenatal care and education would be completed, along with supplying necessary vitamins that include folic acid. Enrolling a mother in a drug or alcohol rehab that is safe for pregnancy could improve pregnancy outcomes for both mom and baby.

 

Research Question

 

Would home prenatal visits to low-income, high-risk expecting mothers improve pregnancy outcomes for mother and baby?

 

This question is an example of quantitative research. Common demographic variables utilized in quantitative research are gender and ethnicity (Grove, et al., 2013). Quantitative research contains probable designs, and this research question falls under the quasi-experimental category because it measures the cause and effect of prenatal care via home visits. I think that this type of research would best fit the question posed because quality prenatal care correlates with positive pregnancy outcomes. The other three types of research, descriptive, correlation and explanation, are not useful for this research question simply because they are not focused on the independent variable (prenatal care) that causes change in the dependent variable (pregnant mothers and their baby) (Grove, et al., 2013). NURS 3150 3151: Foundations of Nursing Research.

 

 

 

Late or No Prenatal Care. (2019, May 3). Retrieved July 14, 2020, from https://www.childtrends.org/indicators/late-or-no-prenatal-care

 

What is prenatal care and why is it important? (2017, January 31). Retrieved July 14, 2020, from https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/pregnancy/conditioninfo/prenatal-care

 

Johnson, M. B. (2020). Prenatal Care for American Indian Women. MCN: The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing, 45(4), 221-227. doi:10.1097/nmc.0000000000000633

 

Grove, S. K., Burns, N., & Gray, J. (2013). The practice of nursing research: Appraisal, synthesis, and generation of evidence. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier/Saunders.

 

Week 1: Overview of Research

Nursing practice is based on outcomes and best practices supported by research findings. That is, issues related to health are examined, and proposed solutions to promote patient safety and health care quality are tested to best determine nursing protocols for professional practice. Consider for example, current nursing protocols to minimize patient falls in health care settings. Without research, extensive testing, and an awareness of how to promote solutions to minimize the risk of falls, there is an increased risk that this very real patient problem would get worse.

 

This week you explore an overview of the different types of research uses in health care settings. You examine how each type of research is used by nurses in providing quality of care and in promoting positive patient safety outcomes. The week will conclude with an overview of the basic elements of the research process: (a) problem identification, (b) review of literature, (c) implementation of research methods, (d) analyses and presentation of findings, and (e) conclusions about implications for practice.NURS 3150 3151: Foundations of Nursing Research.

 

Learning Objectives

Students will:

Describe steps of the research process to advance knowledge about quality of care and patient safety

Develop a research question that guides the development of a study on patient safety

Develop a research question that guides the development of a study

Identify different types of research and their contribution to health care