Review This Week's Learning Resources And Focus On The Types
Review This Weeks Learning Resources And Focus On The Types Of Resear
Review this week’s Learning Resources and focus on the types of research questions that can be answered using a correlational statistic. Brainstorm a number of healthcare delivery or nursing practice problems that could be explored using correlational statistics. Then, select one problem on which to focus for this Discussion. Formulate a research question to address the problem and that would lead you to employ correlational statistics. Develop a null hypothesis and alternate hypotheses. Ask yourself: What is the expected direction of the relationship? Post a brief description of the selected problem that you identified for the focus of this Discussion and include your research question. Be specific. Explain your null hypothesis and alternate hypotheses for your research question and identify the dependent and independent variables that you would recommend to best support the research study. Then, explain your prediction for the expected relationship (positive or negative) between the variables that you identified. Why do you think that sort of relationship will exist? What other factors might affect the outcome? Be specific and provide examples. Make sure to incorporate insights from at least three credible sources to support your discussion points.
Paper For Above instruction
The utilization of correlational research methods in nursing and healthcare is vital for exploring relationships between variables without intervening or manipulating conditions. This approach allows researchers to identify whether associations exist, their strength, and direction, which can inform future interventions, policy decisions, and clinical practices. An example of a healthcare delivery problem suitable for correlational analysis is examining the relationship between nurses’ burnout levels and patient satisfaction scores within hospital units. Such an investigation can reveal insights into how the well-being of nursing staff influences patient perceptions and outcomes.
Main post: The primary focus of this discussion is to explore the association between nurses’ perceived stress levels and the quality of patient care in hospital settings. The concern is that elevated stress among nurses might correlate with increased errors, lower patient satisfaction, and overall compromised care. Recognizing these associations helps inform organizational strategies to improve staff well-being and patient outcomes.
Research question: Is there a relationship between nurses’ perceived stress levels and patient satisfaction scores in hospital units? Specifically, does higher perceived stress correlate with lower patient satisfaction?
Hypotheses:
- Null Hypothesis (H0): There is no significant correlation between nurses’ perceived stress levels and patient satisfaction scores.
- Alternative Hypothesis (H1): There is a significant negative correlation between nurses’ perceived stress levels and patient satisfaction scores.
Purpose statement: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between nurses’ perceived stress and patient satisfaction scores in hospital units, aiming to determine whether increased stress among nursing staff adversely affects patient perceptions of care quality.
Variables and expected relationships: The independent variable is nurses’ perceived stress level, measured via a validated stress scale such as the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). The dependent variable is patient satisfaction, quantified through standardized patient satisfaction surveys like HCAHPS scores. Based on prior research indicating that high stress impairs healthcare performance (Shanafelt et al., 2015), it is predicted to have a negative relationship: as stress increases, patient satisfaction decreases.
Rationale for predicted relationships and contributing factors: The predicted negative correlation is grounded in evidence suggesting that stressed nurses are more likely to make errors, experience burnout, and communicate less effectively—factors that can diminish patients’ perceptions of care quality (Hall et al., 2016). Other factors influencing this relationship include staffing levels, workload intensity, organizational support, and the presence of support resources such as counseling services. For instance, adequate staffing might mitigate stress's impact, thereby buffering effects on patient satisfaction (Aiken et al., 2014). Therefore, while the primary relationship is expected to be negative, external factors such as organizational culture and resource availability could moderate this association.
References
- Aiken, L. H., Sloane, D., Bruyneel, L., Van Den Heede, K., Griffiths, P., Busse, R., ... & Sermeus, W. (2014). Nurse staffing and education and hospital mortality in nine European countries: A retrospective observational study. The Lancet, 383(9931), 1824-1830.
- Hall, L. H., Johnson, J., Watt, I., Tsipa, A., & O'Connor, D. (2016). Healthcare staff wellbeing, burnout, and patient safety: A systematic review. PLoS One, 11(7), e0159015.
- Shanafelt, T. D., Goh, J., & Sinsky, C. (2015). The business case for investing in physician well-being. JAMA Internal Medicine, 177(12), 1826-1832.