Grand Canyon University
Introduction to Nursing Research
NRS-433V
Mary O'Connell
September 13, 2013 Quantitative Research Critique
This is a quantitative study research critique of the research study conducted by Lisa M Black PhD,RN,CNE, Tragedy into Policy: A Quantitative Study of Nurses Attitudes Toward Patient Advocacy Activities. The findings from this research study was used in the state of Nevada to protect nurses when reporting unsafe conditions in patient care practices, thus providing a safer work environment where nurses can feel safe when speaking out where patient safety is in jeopardy from unsafe care practices.
Protection of Human Participants
The benefits of this study were the creation of legal protection for whistleblowers in the state of Nevada. There were no risks to any participants’ safety for this study. Informed consent was not needed as retuning the completed survey was viewed as consent to be included. All participation in the study was viewed as voluntary. Approval of the survey tool was obtained from the University of Nevada, Reno prior to beginning data collection. (Black, 2011, p. 29)
Data Collection
The dependent variables in this study are the registered nurses licensed to practice in the state of Nevada; the independent variable was the Registered Nurses’ Workplace Support for Patient Advocacy Activities Study Questionnaire.(Black, 2011, p. 29) Data was collected through the developed questionnaire that was sent to 1725 registered nurses with active, current licensure and residing in the state of Nevada at the time of the survey.(Black, 2011, p. 29) The author provided no rationale for using the chosen data collection method, I would assume that this was the most cost effective and best way to maintain privacy for all respondents. The surveys were sent out using the United States Postal Service on September 8, 2008. (Black, 2011, p. 30) The respondents were asked to complete the