Process of Decision-Making by Caregivers of Family Members With Heart Failure

Caregiver Decision Making for Heart Failure

Reading Research Literature #1

Type your answers to the following questions using complete sentences and correct grammar, spelling, and syntax. Click Save as and save the file with your last name and assignment, e.g.,NR439_RRL1_Smith. Submit to the Reading Research Literature #1 basket in the Dropbox by 11:59 PM MT Sunday at the end of Week 5. The guidelines and grading rubric for this assignment may be found in Doc Sharing.

RRL#1

[replace this text with The following questions pertain to: Sanford, J., Townsend-Rocchicciolli, J., Horigan, A., & Hall, P. (2011). A process of decision making by caregivers of family members with heart failure. Research & Theory for Nursing Practice, 25(1), 55 -- 70.

What is the purpose of this research?

The purpose was to determine how caregivers make decisions for family members with heart failure.

What is the research question (or questions)? This may be implicit or explicit.

How do caregivers make decisions for family members with heart failure?

Did the authors describe the design of this study? If so, give a description.

The design was a qualitative design with a grounded theory.

What characteristics does this study possess that are qualitative in nature? Review Chapter 2.

The study questions asked caregivers to describe how they make certain decisions. This is exploratory in nature.

What is the evidence that this journal is peer-reviewed? Does the journal have an editorial board? (Look for the journal's website to discover this information)

This information is not given.

Is there evidence of any conflict of interest? Do the authors have any potential financial gain from the results of this study?

There is no mention of conflict of interest or whether the authors had potential financial gain.

Describe the population for this study.

Twenty participants were recruited from cardiology offices, inpatient hospital units, and adult day cares.

How was the sample selected? What are the strengths and weaknesses of this sampling strategy?

Five caregivers of patients with heart failure were interviewed for each of the four stages of HF classification. Requirements were family relation, provide one ADL, assist patient, and not receive pay. A weakness is the small sample.

Were the subjects in this study vulnerable? Were there any risks for them as the result of participation in the research study?

Interviews were unstructured, which can cause risks and make subjects vulnerable.

One concern is conducting interviews in public places and no mention of HIPPA informed consents be signed.

The following questions pertain to:

Schwarz, K., Mion, P., Hudock, D., & Litman, G. (2008). Telemonitoring of heart failure patients and their caregivers: A pilot randomized controlled study. Progress in Cardiovascular Nursing, 23(1), 18 -- 26.

What is the purpose of this research?

The purpose was to examine whether telemonitoring reduced hospital readmissions, emergency room visits, and risk of hospital readmissions for patients with heart failure.