Nursing Outcomes Classification Assignment

The purpose of this study was to describe the difference in Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC) outcome change scores of hospitalized patients who are older in age (Scherb et al., 2011). The population of patients that participated also had either pneumonia or heart failure (Scherb et al., 2011).

Specific data that was examined for differences among Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC) outcome change scores include age, number of comorbid conditions, length of stay (LOS), number of nursing diagnoses, and number of nursing interventions (Scherb et al., 2011). Researchers who conducted this study used data from three U.S. hospitals, which was then formulated into a descriptive correlational design to properly analyze the collected data (Scherb et al., 2011).

Some potential threats to internal and external validity include data collection methods, sample sizes, organizational differences, reliability of the data, and data elements that were documented and available for retrieval (Scherb et al., 2011). For example, a small sample patient population, numerous visits made by a small sample patient population, quality and accuracy of documentation methods, and representation of patients more than once in the demographic summary are specific to this study that caused threats to internal and external validity (Scherb et al., 2011). Due to these threats, more studies need to be conducted to build upon the current results to ensure validity (Scherb et al., 2011).

Adhering to ethical standards and principles when conducting research studies is essential to protect the dignity, rights, and health of each participant (World Health Organization [WHO], 2015). When research is being conducted on human beings, ethics committees must continually review the study to ensure ethical standards are being upheld (WHO, 2015). The ethical principles of beneficence, justice, and autonomy are also central to an ethical review done by ethics committees (WHO, 2015).

The researchers who conducted this study ensured that ethical research standards were followed by gaining approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB), de-identifying data to protect personal health information, declaring no conflict of interest in regards to the authorship and publication, and declaring a receipt for financial support and authorship (Scherb et al., 2011). Without upholding these ethical standards, the research would be considered unethical and unjust, which could potentially cause many ethical dilemmas. Due to the importance of ethical standards and principles, nurses must review research studies involving their patients to ensure these concepts are always incorporated into the study.

References

Scherb, C. A., Head, B. J., Hertzog, M., Swanson, E., Reed, D., Maas, M. L., . . . Weinberg, B. (2011). Evaluation of outcome change scores for patients with pneumonia or heart failure. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 35(1), 117-140. DOI:10.1177/0193945911401429

World Health Organization. (2015, February 25). Ethical standards and procedures for research with human beings. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/ethics/research/en/…Get Science homework help today