Quantitative Research Critique Paper

Quantitative Research Critique
Charles Good, RN
Nursing Research NUR 418
Thomas Edison State College

Abstract The critique of the study on job-related stress and sickness absence among Belgian nurses was conducted on the studies validity and reliability. The study was analyzed and broken down using the methods learned throughout the semester, and proved to be reliable and valid. The study was absolutely applicable to the field of nursing and translated well into our society. The methods and results proved to be accurate yielding high confidence intervals. There is a high level of clinical relevance to the study and the field of nursing.

Introduction I will be analyzing a study done on 527 Belgian nurses, the
Another post-doctoral researcher was from the department of epidemiology and health promotion school of public health, in the Free University of Brussels, Belgium, and lastly one lecturer, from the Department of Health in Brussels. The group of men and women who researched and designed this study were well educated in the field, and highly qualified. The study itself was put through a double blind peer review, an expert peer review and a peer review for qualifications and validation. The authors of this study set out with the purpose of investigating the influence of job stress on sickness and absence of nurses and to determine the predictive power of the Demand-Control-Support or DCS model, and the Effort-Reward-Imbalance–Over Commitment or ERI-OC. Over the years nursing demand have grown, as the population grows, so does it populous of sick or ill population. Tasked with the daunting and never ending task of being at the front line are nurses and hospital staff. This Particular study used a measure of formulas based off of surveys conducted, the surveys measured job stress and stressors, and the sample was made up of 527 Belgian nurses. The nurses were followed up on and evaluated on absences, due to sickness and that was sub categorized in short-term,
The data was collected of a 12 month or one year period, and had the approval of the University Hospital of Ghent’s ethics committee. The survey or questionnaire was comprised of work environment characteristics, and health indicators, as well as social habits that could be negative to stress adaptation and behaviors that could enhance stress. The data was analyzed using the ERI- OC and DCS models which in previous studies indicated very high confidence intervals, as well as high levels of reliability and validity in measuring stress. Analyzing the data was done by using the DCS, and the ERI-OC models individually and then combined subsequently. The groupings were broken off into four sub-categories, with relative and different levels of stress exposure, and different levels of stress adaptation by the participants. The results showed no significant differences in gender, age, and education level as it related to absences whether they be short, long-term, or multiple episode sickness. The results breakdown the evidence supporting previous findings, that nurses and how thy cope and adapt to stress has an overwhelming effect on call outs and absences. There was limited predictive value though for the study, and showed a lack of evidence on short-term absence, the theory here and I have to agree with it is that the shortage of staff in the field and the