Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Research Article
Australian Graduating Nurses Knowledge, Intentions and Beliefs On Infection Prevention And
Control: A Cross Sectional Study.
Authors
Brett G. Mitchell- Faculty of Nursing and Health, Avondale College of Higher Education;
School of Nursing Midwifery and Paramedicine.
Anne Wells- Department of Health and Human Services, Tasmanian Infection Prevention and
Control Unit, Australia.
Fiona Wilson- Department of Health and Human Services, Tasmanian Infection Prevention and
Control Unit, Australia.
Linda Cleote- Faculty of Nursing and Health, Avondale College of Higher Education.
Lucinda Matheson- Faculty of Nursing and Health, Avondale College of Higher Education
Article URL
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6955/13/43
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Quantitative Critique: Australian Graduating Nurses Knowledge, Intentions And Beliefs On Infection
Prevention And Control: A Cross Sectional Study
Table of Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Summary ......................................................................................................................................... 4
Title ................................................................................................................................................. 5
Authors ............................................................................................................................................ 5
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 6
Background ..................................................................................................................................... 6
Method ............................................................................................................................................ 8
Design ............................................................................................................................................. 8
Results ........................................................................................................................................... 10
Discussion ..................................................................................................................................... 11
References ..................................................................................................................................... 11
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 12
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Quantitative Critique: Australian Graduating Nurses Knowledge, Intentions And Beliefs On Infection
Prevention And Control: A Cross Sectional Study
INTRODUCTION
of both the positive and negative qualities of a research report (Taylor B., 2006). A research
critique is a careful and objective appraisal of a studys strengths and limitations and is
different from a research summary or synopsis (Polit & Beck, 2010). The aim of this project
Intentions and Beliefs on Infection Prevention and Control whilst employing Beck and
Polits Nursing Research: Appraising Evidence for Nursing Practice as a manual and
reference to review the study. The critique will commence with a synopsis of the research
article, succinctly identifying the important qualities of the study, followed by the
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Quantitative Critique: Australian Graduating Nurses Knowledge, Intentions And Beliefs On Infection
Prevention And Control: A Cross Sectional Study
SUMMARY
Mitchell, B.G., Richard, S., Wells, A., Wilson, F., Cloete, L., Matheson, L. (2014). "Australian
Control: A Cross-sectional Study." BMC Nursing 13.1: 1-17. Academic Search Complete.
5 Nov. 2017.
The study encompasses the need for education about hospital acquired infections and
the demand for infection control. The participants utilized were third year nursing school
students, who were evaluated based on their knowledge about standard precautions and
transmission-based precautions on the topic of Infection Prevention and Control (IPC). The
results showed that students exhibited a considerably stronger level of knowledge on the
observation was particularly pertinent because of the increasing presence of new and
reducing the spread of Hospital Acquired Infections (HAIs). The study also identified some
interesting themes on how student nurses obtain IPC information. Nurses prefer to
approach colleagues for information rather than access evidence-based resources. This
nurses, primary health nurses, and acute and critical care nurses. The literature also reveals
that nurses generally ask for information from a colleague who they perceived to be more
knowledgeable or experienced than they are, whereas text-based resources as useful only
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Quantitative Critique: Australian Graduating Nurses Knowledge, Intentions And Beliefs On Infection
Prevention And Control: A Cross Sectional Study
TITLE
Polit and Beck (2010) emphasizes that a good title conveys the nature of the study
in fifteen (15) words or less, and generally indicates the independent and dependent
variables and the population. The title of this article Australian Graduating Nurses
Knowledge, Intentions and Beliefs on Infection Prevention and Control: A Cross Sectional
Study, contains exactly sixteen words and gives the reader a distinct image of the
significant key variables in the research. The study population was also clearly expressed
in the title, giving the reader a clear insight into the type of research and the populace
involved. The overall title was appropriate and very distinctive with its bold, larger font
AUTHORS
The authors, along with their credentials were suitably placed in the beginning of
the document. The researchers positions indicate a degree of knowledge in the particular
WRITING STYLE
Research reports should be well written, grammatically correct, concise and well
organized. The use of jargon should be avoided where possible. The style should be such
that it attracts the reader to read on (Polit and Beck, 2010). In this report, some grammatical
errors were noted in the abstracts background section; however, no use of jargon noted
and the format of the paper is well laid out and organized, making it seem inviting to read.
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Quantitative Critique: Australian Graduating Nurses Knowledge, Intentions And Beliefs On Infection
Prevention And Control: A Cross Sectional Study
Operational Definitions: In a research study, the researcher needs to ensure that the reader
understands what is meant by the terms and concepts that are used in the research. To
ensure this any concepts or terms referred to should be clearly defined (Parahoo, 2006).
The researcher provided sufficient definitions of terms used in this study, by expanding all
ABSTRACT
Polit and Becks (2010) definition states that an abstract is a brief summary of a
study in about one hundred to one hundred and fifty words that summarizes the main
features of the report. The organization of the abstract is consistent with main headings in
the report, rendering the abstract to yield more than the standard number of words, with
202 words. The abstract effectively recapitulated the article, giving a straightforward idea
of what is in the study. The objective of the study, the design, setting and participants were
lucidly identified as the purpose of the study. The appropriate measures were used to
effectively gather the information, the results and the conclusion identified that further
BACKGROUND
The introduction of a research article entails the research problem and its context
thereby familiarizing the audience with content such as the central phenomena, concepts,
or variables under study, the study purpose and research questions, or hypotheses to be
tested, a review of the related literature, the theoretical or conceptual framework, the
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Quantitative Critique: Australian Graduating Nurses Knowledge, Intentions And Beliefs On Infection
Prevention And Control: A Cross Sectional Study
significance of and need for the study (Beck and Polit, 2010). The first paragraph of the
introduction outlined a brief but fitting definition of terms and abbreviations, namely HAIs
In the second paragraph, statistical values were mentioned along with suitable
references of sources, namely the World Health Organization. The second paragraph also
contained the measures that were launched for the prevention of HAIs in Australia the
population, which was beneficial to the reader. The problem statement, mentioned in the
beginning of the introduction, was easily identifiable. It can be effortlessly determined that
the population is final year undergraduate nursing students, nurses knowledge, intentions
and beliefs on infection prevention is the dependent variable and the compliance against
This makes the title of the report a relevant one. In the background section of the
study, there was no mention of the types of data collection methods and statistical analysis,
which would have been fitting in the introduction and which was unsatisfactory about the
article. By incorporating previous research studies, the researchers used statistical data
collected in Australia as a basis for justifying the need for this research, which is to provide
healthcare staff with the necessary knowledge to make enhanced decisions and deplete the
number of HAIs.
The study stated that there is a lack of conceptual frameworks, theories and models
in the field of infection prevention and control, but, as mentioned in the study, the first step
theoretical framework proposed by Mitchell and Gardner, which requires further critique
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Quantitative Critique: Australian Graduating Nurses Knowledge, Intentions And Beliefs On Infection
Prevention And Control: A Cross Sectional Study
introduction section. The purpose of the study was identified, which included the key
variables and study population, which were both fitting. The statements made in the
METHOD
AIM: The aim of the study was aptly captioned and the research questions proposed
to the graduating nursing students knowledge towards IPC practices were organized
according to the sequence in which the results were reflected. The purpose of the study was
clearly identified.
DESIGN
based survey to conduct this research, which was not an idyllic marker of practice because
it can only be used for identifying the beliefs and intentions rather than self-reported
practice. Nevertheless, the non-experimental cross sectional web survey was valuable
because it formed possible hypothesis for future research and tentative explanations.
Setting and Participants: The degree to which a sample reflects the population it was
factor in determining the adequacy of a study (Polit and Beck, 2010). In selecting the
sample, the researcher should clearly identify who the target population are and what
criteria were used to include or exclude participants. It should also be evident how the
sample was selected and how many were invited to participate (Russell, 2005). In this
study, the target population were 349 participants from six universities, who were carded
to graduate in three months and were at the end of their final year of study. The target
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Quantitative Critique: Australian Graduating Nurses Knowledge, Intentions And Beliefs On Infection
Prevention And Control: A Cross Sectional Study
population was clearly identified and was of adequate size for this study. Probability
sampling was employed and the inclusion of the criteria was easily recognized.
Ethical Considerations: The participants were invited via email and were fully
informed about the nature of the research and, as such, ethical permission was granted for
the study. The students were asked to participate in an anonymous survey with no
obligation to participate. An incentive of winning an iPad was offered, which was effectual
in gaining participants. The confidentiality of the participants were guaranteed and the
participants were protected from harm. The study was also approved by the Avondale
DATA COLLECTION
Methodology: The cross sectional research design was clearly identifiable in the
study and the data-gathering instrument, which was an online survey, was described
meticulously and was appropriate for the type of research. It was developed with the help
of the research team, trialled with infection control experts and cross- referenced against
national guidelines to determine the correct response. Reliability and validity testing were
assumed by presenting demographic questions in the survey. One negative aspect of the
survey was there was no evidence of academic performance of the students, such as grade
point average collected. No results were discussed in the data collection section, as it was
analysed later on in the study. No pilot study was undertaken in this research.
DATA ANALYSIS
Data analysis was performed using an applicable data and statistical analysis
method, which was the IBM Statistic SPSS (SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA). All the students in
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Quantitative Critique: Australian Graduating Nurses Knowledge, Intentions And Beliefs On Infection
Prevention And Control: A Cross Sectional Study
the sample participated and findings were suitably divided into knowledge and beliefs
questions and self-reported compliance against infection control procedures, which was
RESULTS
To enhance readability researchers frequently present their findings and data analysis
section under the headings of the research questions (Russell, 2005). This can help the
reviewer determine if the results that are presented clearly answer the research questions.
Tables, charts and graphs may be used to summarize the results and should be accurate,
and the type of study that was undertaken, then an explanation of how the outcomes of the
survey were calculated. The following section of the results displayed three tables, which
accurately exhibited the results collected. This type of classification allowed the average
reader to understand the findings easily. The results were directly related to the title of the
study.
The significance of the findings showed that approximately sixty percent believed
that HAIs were preventable and compliance had no correlation to gender and age. The
results also displayed the participants information seeking behaviour, which was also
appropriate for the type of study conducted. This finding concluded that most of the
participants were likely to seek information from an infection control professional than a
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Quantitative Critique: Australian Graduating Nurses Knowledge, Intentions And Beliefs On Infection
Prevention And Control: A Cross Sectional Study
DISCUSSION
The discussion of the findings should flow logically from the data and should be
related back to the literature review thus placing the study in context (Russell, 2005). In
the discussion section, the researcher linked the current results to previous research in order
to make a connection and validate the information by giving a clearer understanding whilst
making reference to support the data. The negative aspect of the article was that the
The researcher gave a brief but detailed discussion on the various limitations in the
research. These limitations could have potentially produced a different result, which affects
the credibility of the results. Despite the limitations, the researcher considered them as
alternative explanations for the findings. The discussion was fluent and clear and the
limitations and strengths of the study were examined. Recommendations were composed
Another downfall was the lack of hypotheses or research questions which had no
justification for its absence stated anywhere in the study. The study also did not state any
conceptual framework, theory or model used as the basis for the research. Although the
absence was not justified, it did not affect the significance of the research due to the nature
of the topic.
REFERENCES
The research study should conclude with an accurate list of all the books, journal
articles, reports and other media that were referred to in the work (Polit & Beck, 2010). All
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Quantitative Critique: Australian Graduating Nurses Knowledge, Intentions And Beliefs On Infection
Prevention And Control: A Cross Sectional Study
the books and journals cited in this study were appropriately referenced using the American
CONCLUSION
To conclude, this article was particularly thorough research project that was
generally well presented, with little negative aspects. It was well written and well
organized, with very few grammatical errors. Suitable headings to each section made the
study easy to follow and understand. The results can be easily interpreted by the average
reader, as each abbreviation was expanded and words and phrases were properly defined.
The report followed the steps of the research process in a logical manner, making the steps
flow and the linkages clear. The conclusion in the study gave a concise review of the entire
paper, along with few recommendations. In my opinion, overall, this study would be useful
in the field of research, as adequate and valid investigations were done efficiently.
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Quantitative Critique: Australian Graduating Nurses Knowledge, Intentions And Beliefs On Infection
Prevention And Control: A Cross Sectional Study
REFERENCES
Parahoo, K. (2006). Nursing Research: Principles, Process and Issues. Houndmills Basingstoke:
Palgrave Macmillan.
Polit, D., & Beck, C. (2010). Essentials of Nursing Research. Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott
Russell, C. (2005). Evaulating Quantitative Research Reports. Nephrol Nursing Journal, 32(1),
61-4.
Taylor B., K. S. (2006). Research in Nursing and Health Care: Evidence for Practice. London,
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