The relationship between nursing schedules and patient outcomes

Nursing Schedules, Patient Outcomes

The title of this article suffices, although it could stand some improvement to make it even better. It certainly identifies the pivotal variables elucidated within this study, which include nursing scheduling, staffing, and patient morality. It is succinct enough. However, it does not allude to the study population at all. There is also a slight degree of redundancy in the title, as the focus of the research is more on the schedule concerns for nurses than for staffing in general.

The abstract is probably one of the better features of this research study and its ensuing write-up. It certainly is concise in its summary of the primary features of the report. It is also detailed in that it provides the problem, methods used, results, and conclusions -- although it does not not necessarily deploy those particular terms in doing so. It provides a high level synthesis of the issues the original research in this article illustrates.

Problem Statement Clarity

The problem is stated without ambiguity in this research document. Specifically, the problem is that there was (prior to the conducting of research in this article) a paucity of empirical evidence correlating to arduous nursing schedules to patient outcomes (Trinkoff et al., 2011, p. 1). The authors allude to this fact early and often, begin with a statement to this effect in the introduction. As such, it is fairly apparent to the reader just what the authors are attempting to determine and even how they are attempting to do so.

Problem's Significance for Nursing

The problem actually has immense significance to nursing. There are numerous situations in which, due to arduous scheduling concerns, nurses are not at their best while working. Scheduling can create scenarios in which nurses are tired or even sick themselves, yet still required to maintain vigilance of their charges. The research conducted in this study implies that remedying those concerns could improve patient outcomes, which is the very point of nursing itself.

Research Problem and Methods Used

The match between the research problem and the methods used is adequate. A survey instrument was employed to determine how nurses felt about their scheduling. The outcome of this instrument is the researchers were able to gain significant insight into the issues scheduling presented for nurses. That outcome is one of the chief goals of the research problem -- to see how scheduling actually affects nurses and how that affect in turn correlates to patient outcomes.

Appropriateness of the Quantitative Approach

The quantitative approach was certainly appropriate for this research study. Its pertinence is largely based on the fact that the researchers were attempting to identify the impact of a number of variables on their research problem. Quantified data is essential to ascertain that impact. Utilizing such an approach the researchers were able to determine which specific conditions leading to mortality were affected by nurses scheduling, and other facets of patient outcomes as well.