Quantitative Research Design Medical and Nursing

MEDICAL AND NURSING

Medical and Nursing: Quantitative Research Design

Problem Identification

Diabetic patients suffering with stage 2 or 3 pressure ulcers use antibiotic creams and daily changing of the dressing in the standard care method. However, the healing time is quite long, sometimes weeks or months.

Purpose Statement

The research aims to test the theory that low-pressure pulsatile lavage would help decrease healing time for diabetic patients along with standard care treatment.

Hypothesis or Research Question

The proposed research question is:

Would low-pressure pulsatile lavage decrease the healing time of standard care treatment for diabetic patients with stage 2 or 3 pressure ulcers?

Intervention

Low-pressure pulsatile lavage might be beneficial for decreasing the healing time for diabetic patients since healing in diabetes is a challenge (Spampinato et al., 2020). It is because the biochemical components within the blood system of the diabetic patient show complex immunity, slower blood circulation, and malfunction in the microvascular system (Spampinato et al., 2020). The wounds are not noticed immediately by the body as the pain is numbed due to reduced leukocyte migration disorder circling the wound. The wounded area becomes highly vulnerable to infection, thus, causing slow healing and fewer chances of getting proper treatment.

Best Suited Research Design

The best research design for this purpose would be a randomized control trial (RCT). A direct treatment comparison would be created for the standard and low-pressure pulsatile lavage method (Battelino & Mauricio, 2021). Two groups of diabetic patients could be formed; one controlled group that would only get standard care and the other with additional intervention.

The reason for selecting this particular quantitative research design is that RCT is usually compared with numbers and statistics to measure the accurate performance of an intervention against the other (Stoppler, 2021). The quantitative nature of controlled experiments lets the investigator balance the benefits and harms of one treatment compared to another, which is the real intention of current research (Battelino & Mauricio, 2021).

Dependent (DV)/Independent (IV) Variables

The dependent variable is the healing time for diabetic patients with stage 2 or 3 pressure ulcers. The independent variable is the additional treatment, the low-pressure pulsatile lavage method, and the standard care method.

Conceptual Framework

Dependent variable: Healing time for diabetic patients