Nursing Client Relationships and How the Study

¶ … nursing client relationships and how the study is a valid research for practitioners. It has 26 sources in Harvard Style.

Research titles must be limited to fifteen words. In this case the author has exceeded the limitation by one count which is negligible. The importance of relevance of the title to the body of the research is that it must collaborate with the core study area. In the first line the author has already specified the relationship of the nurse-client at the beginning and categorizes it as a "partnership" whereas the title of the study must not reveal the results or even the anticipated results.

Authors and Abstracts

The authors T. Hostick and F. McClelland both the authors indicate in their abstract that the article aim in establishing nursing behavior when they are engaged in a nurse-client relationship. The abstract though is limited in expressing the content of the study it does however offer an insight into the importance of carrying out the research at hand and how it would impact on the nursing practices and managerial practices.

Introduction:

The development that the human race has had in the field of medicine has been momentous, but at the same time this development has seen intricacies and complication in nurse client relationships. (Leeman, 2001).

The profession of nursing is said to be a noble one that requires complete dedication on the part of those in the nursing profession so that patients get the attention that they need.

As patients are looked after in places outside their homes (hospitals) there is a greater need to make them feel as comfortable as possible while they are away from their families, friends, etc. This is especially the case with older adults, as most of them face abandonment by the closest of relatives (Leeman, 2001).

With the passage of time when developments were made in the field of medicine, health care grew to be more specialized and there was a gradual shift from care given within the home to institutions that could provide better care.

This system of care were ones that had all the required medical aid on hand to provide the patients with when they needed it in an emergency, which was in contrast to shifting the aid to their homes in an emergency.

Since establishing institutions like these was a success because of centered care, people now know exactly where to go on case of an emergency. It was because of this convenience that people also began to take these facilities for granted, which caused complications in nursing. This is because of the fact that the patients were put completely in the hands of the nurses at these hospitals.

The field of nursing is a vast one, as it involves many people and relationships. Their relationships are of extreme importance, as the success of healthcare directly depends on these relationships. This brings into play the importance of how healthcare is administered at different facilities.

Nurses and clients are directly influenced by the relationships that they are placed in. Their progress is influenced to such an extent that these relationships are worth examining if the best healthcare is to be provided.

Numerous studies have been conducted in order to determine the extent to which nurse client relationships are affected. This is the reason why co-operative inquiries have been carried out, as they provide the best possible means of revealing where advantages and disadvantages lie in a nurse-client relationship today. In the following study the author uses the Benton and Cormack Model of critiquing to analyze the article by Hostick and McClelland.

Literature Review:

The article "Partnership': a co-operative inquiry between Community Mental Health Nurses and their clients 2. The nurse-client relationship" demonstrates the way that the nurse-client relationship is explored. It describes how the participant-observation method is implemented in order to achieve the most authentic knowledge of this relationship.

In the process of exploring the nurse-client relationship, there are several advantages that have been noted. In the article it is suggested that these advantages can aid nurses in their day-to-day practice, as the findings seem to be encouraging.

Due to the fact that these participant observers were aware of the research process, recording of data was much easier. A streamlined approach to the research was assumed, and these aided in the recording of information.

Though the clients were aware of strategies employed to conduct the research it is optimistically emphasized that the research results are authentic, and that the process did not affect the outcome. However, there are areas in which the article indicates that the CPNs did face some problems when they had to share their time between recording information and tending to their patients. It is obvious that there would be significant problems created in this way, and eventually it is understandable that the outcome of the research would be affected significantly. The emotional and physical behavior of the clients could have so easily been affected. However, all issues that were raised by the inquiry were felt. This means that there was far more awareness about the conditions of the clients and the nurses.

By their being more awareness it is quite clear that outcomes of the research could have been affected. This means that in contrast to other research that is carried out independent of participant observation might have a very different outcome.

Hypothesis: The research presented in the article above contain few flaws that have reduced the authenticity of the research, hence there are some parts of the findings that are not valid due to the adoption of an unreliable method of research.

It is worth questioning how valid the research presented in the article is, and in order to do this there is a need to look at the finer aspects of the research method in the context of nurse-client relationships.

Research is work carried out in order to inform users of such information with detailed and accurate facts and what they mean. It is essential at every step of the way for researchers to be extremely careful with how they handle data and what comments they make about their findings.

Recording of data is on one hand a task that requires accuracy so that the most authentic recordings may be passed on. On the other hand, the assumptions and significance given to these recordings ought to be thoughtfully asserted. If not, the data recording and presentation may end up as a futile, being of little value at all.

The most common aspect of research is the participant method, in which individuals who are the researchers themselves participate in the studies. Possessing in depth knowledge of what has already been found in previous research may influence these people to react in desired or undesired ways, thus influencing the outcome of a piece of research. This is similar to what has been applied in the research article, "Partnership': a co-operative inquiry between Community Mental Health Nurses and their clients 2. The nurse-client relationship"

In this study, it has been witnessed that the participants are of varied ages, and they are all aware of the study, hence they may act according to this knowledge. This is the reason why the research is called a 'co-operative inquiry'.

In contrast to this form of research, clients that are unaware of the recording of statements, etc. are considered more appropriate, participant observers tend to alter outcomes.

If nurses are informed of these processes they will certainly be more aware of the types of outcomes, and they will also know how valuable a piece of research is.

According to one particular part of the research, it is said that there is a consensual difference between what is defined as friendship and the nurse-client relationship in this study. This may in fact lead to a highly generalized approach to nurse-client relationships [Hostick & McClelland 2002].

After reading this part of the article, if nurses are not aware of fallacies in research material, they might tend to believe that all nurse-client relationships are different from friendship. This is of course a denial in nursing practice, as there have been numerous accounts in which nurses and their clients have indulged in friendships beyond the barriers of nurse-client relationships.

This may in fact be a result of the participants in the study being aware of the study. In view of this, nurses who are aware and cautious of these findings may term research conducted through co-operative inquiry as fallible.

Though the consensual view of the nurse-client relationship claims that it is different to friendship, it may be used to the advantage of nurses for future practice. However, this is something that would need to be concealed. By allowing clients to believe that their treatment is being recorded client-nurse relationships may be ameliorated. This sounds like a heavy theory to put down, but it seems that this is what could be done as the practicality of the research article isn't at its best. This refers to the fact that detail has been lost in the research process, and the research process is what may be termed as fallible. This is clearly mentioned in a part of the article where it states, "the method adopted for collecting data means that a lot of detail was lost."

In addition to the negative aspects of research articles it must also be stated that there are several findings within these articles that can improve the performance of nurses professionally speaking. Newer techniques in inoculation that reduce pain for instance may aid nurses significantly.

Particularly in relation to psychiatric health nurse-client relationships are of extreme importance. This is because even greater care needs to be taken so that the client can be guaranteed the best care.

If nurses do not recognize their limits they can very easily worsen a client's state of health through their incompetence. This is another reason why nurses need to continuously be in contact and remain informed with latest pieces of revealing research. This will help them remain on top of their profession and will also lend them the psychological advantage of knowing that they can guide themselves according to the latest findings. This could help considerably when nurse-client relationships mature through several stages. These stages have been described as orientation, identification, exploitation, and resolution. If a nurse has been treating a client over a period of time there are stages at which they might have to refer to past experience, and this is what makes it a whole lot easier for them.

The extent of success in a nurse-client relationship, "shows progression of patients in terms of definable improvements (e.g., outcomes of services) and therefore shows development of skill (competence) in patients, interpersonal and intellectual skills such as are needed for improved relationships of patients with other people" (Forchuk, 1989).

Results

Studies that have been carried out in recent times on nurse-client relationships may serve many purposes. As far as nurses are concerned, it must be realized that research material can aid them significantly, as they will be able to conform to latest findings. Hence, their work performance would stand a great chance of being ameliorated.

Nurses of course must be aware that research is open to fallacies as they are to positive findings. This means that nurses need to know exactly how to use research material to their advantage. This can be done through nurses being aware of all the fundamental issues underlying research. This refers to the fallacies that are likely to prevail in a piece of research along with the advantageous findings revealed.

Research findings may have fallacies in them for several reasons. This is because of the fact that the methodologies applied may have flaws in them. For instance, the individuals used for the research may or may not possess certain traits that others do. Hence, they may react in certain ways that others would not.

Conceptualization is a process through which a researcher obtains a definition that is specifically related to the type of case that s/he is dealing with. The definition cannot be one that is obtained ordinarily from a dictionary. This simply won't do because there are various considerations that have to be made in order to gain acceptance for scientific application.

Once a definition is obtained applying it to a subject is the next step. When this is done results obtained are recorded. The results that are obtained must be valid. But in order for the results to be valid the means of arriving at these results must be reliable. It can be seen from here that reliability and validity are related directly and that validity cannot exist without reliability.

Subjects/Sample selection Data Collection

It must be realized here that a study of any subject may be reliable too but it may not always be valid. The processes used to arrive at a conclusion may be reliable but not necessarily valid. In contrast to this it may be stated that a study can in no way be valid prior to it first being reliable.

It must be noted here that errors in the design of the research or the collection of data may undermine the evaluation process. (Salvucci, 1997) These kinds of errors are damaging to the reliability or validity of a study. They can occur if the instruments of measurement are unreliable. An instrument of measurement is said to be reliable of it the results can be obtained consistently. In order to explain the way that something may be reliable and valid, examples of research designs must be reviewed. (Moss, 1994)

In order to understand reliability in a research design one may consider the scores that one achieves in an examination. Simply because an individual scored 60 in a college examination does not in any way mean that the individual would obtain the same score. The score of the individual is liable to change, as the same examination questions repeated in the research design are not reliable. This means that the test can simply not be run again and again to prove the authenticity of the results. The same thing is true for the results that are obtained from I.Q Tests.

The results that are obtained from these tests do not accurately define the exact intelligence of an individual. This is because of the fact that there are individuals who have their own preferences in answering questions that they would like to. This is in contrast to those that feel confident in answering a particular set of these kinds of questions and therefore may be seen as intelligent. I.Q. tests only really determine how prepared an individual is rather than him or her being intelligent. This may be argued on the basis of an individual specializing in a specific part of mathematics and being with related questions. It is obvious that the individual is likely to score well in these. But yet if the same individual is tested in another area of mathematics s/he may not be seen as a brilliant student simply because s/he has not been prepared.

Ethical Considerations

Through analyzing different research designs that are used commonly in institutions one may be able to determine the reliability and validity of the results that are obtained from them. Having accurate research designs in more crucial institutions is of high importance. It must be noted here that research design here refers to the methods employed to research a particular area of interest. In the article concerned, the author identifies the research method in particular to the field of Community Health Nursing and their clients.

Furthermore, relationship building and development of the relationship in an uncontrolled environ differ great from those that are governed. In a co-operative inquiry of the groups, the researchers have already established relationships with the participants therefore the validity and authenticity of the inquiry is questionable. This is in particular if one were to consider the implication of how policies impact relationship between the nurse and clients. Since the researcher has identified policy context as the external factor that influence relationships and that nursing practices greatly impact healthcare activities, it can be said that the nurses involved in the policy making process differ from those of the staffs. Authenticity of the research results from the groupings therefore is questionable because, these individuals may or may not be acting in the interests of their peers.

Results

Results in a research study are of critical importance and relevance to the outcome of the research. This is because the results imply the validity and practical implication of adopting a model for nurses. In the article the author have extracted four different results from the participating groups. According to the author in Dialogue Group 1, caring is considered to be important but the dialogue did not reveal what client really want when they refer to "caring." Similarly Dialogue 2 and 4 demonstrate the nurse's relationship with the client and how client define being engaged with their nurses mean. In a qualitative study like this article, the determination of the relationship between the client and the nurse is not clear because of these rather vague definitions of the roles each party wants to be identified with. Therefore the results become invalidated.