HYGIENE PRACTICES IN A HEALTH CARE UNIT
Research Details
This research is meant to identify the challenges encountered when implementing the hand washing program within a health unit. The research therefore is like a feedback tool, following the previous project.
Research Question
What are the challenges associated with implementing a staff hand washing program, and what are its advantages and disadvantages?
Research Aims
The aim of this research study is to find out challenges encountered during the implementation of the staff hand washing program, as well as ways to overcome the challenges, so as to ensure total success of the program. Another aim of this research is to identify the merits and demerits of implementing this program.
Research Design
The research approach used for this study is the quantitative research approach. This type of approach is mostly used for scientific kind of studies. It is most appropriate for this study because it helps establish a connection between observations made and the numerical expressions of the observations (Creswell, 2008, p.235). The methods used for this study are surveys and experiments. The surveys will be conducted to find out what opinions people have on the program, their attitudes towards it, and anything else in connection to the program. The experiments are to help find out if the program has actually worked or not, and if not, provide a basis for finding better ways to help reduce spread of infections.
Research Setting
The research will be conducted in a health center setting. The health care center will be fully functional. This setting is most appropriate for the study because in health care center, there are medical practitioners such as doctors and nurses. Again, in such a setting, there are a number of patients suffering from various ailments. All these will be needed for the surveys and experiments that are to be conducted to test the set hypothesis. The setting will also have all the needed equipment to carry out the study.
Participants and Recruitment
a) Participants
For this research, the participants will be nurses, doctors, and patients. A few supporting staff will also be used for the study. In the health care center, there are departments that are set depending on the type of ailment and age of patient. Allocation of nurses to these departments is done based on their qualifications and experience. The doctors are generally in charge of the center and so can operate in any department. The supporting staff is responsible of maintaining a conducive environment for smooth running of the center.
Recruitment of Participants
Five participants will be expected in each department. The participants will be picked randomly from each department. Those picked will then be consulted in person and if they consent to taking part in the study, the research will commence immediately.
Data Collection
As explained earlier, surveys and experiments will be used. To support the surveys, questionnaires will be prepared for those who have the ability to read and write, (considering the fact that some patients are either too old or too young to read and write) (Stawarski, & Phillips, 2008, p.75). The type of data collected will be descriptive, since the questions in the questionnaires will need some explanations. Again, the results of the experiments will call for some explanation. The results of the data will be analyzed using various methods. Tables and charts will be used to show the results of the experiments and the questionnaires. Tables and charts are deemed to analyze the collected data since they are easy to study and interpret. Again, they are also easy and cheap to prepare (Bernhardt, 2004, p. 68).
Ethical considerations
Risks and Benefits
A risk is a potential form of harm, discomfort, or inconvenience. The potential risks in this research are as shown below.
Physical risks Psychological risks
Social risks Other risks
Legal risks No risks
Physical risks are least expected in this study (Gallin, & Ognibene, 2007, p.111). The expected risks are legal and psychological risks. Legal risks include the nurses and other medical practitioners not having the proper certification to operate. Again, the center may also lack the proper documents needed to qualify is as a suitable place to conduct the study.
For the psychological risks, patients who take part on this study may be affected by the experiments that will be carried out on them. This is likely to happen if the reason and aims of the study are not well explained to them.
The expected benefit of this research to the participants and the community are that they will learn the importance of hygiene not only in a health care center set up, but general hygiene.
Consent Process
Those picked to participate in the research will be consulted in person. They will have the freedom to turn down the offer or take it up. To ensure that consent is freely obtained, a session will be held for everyone in the center to be made aware of the research, its aims, and objectives. This will be done by people from external bodies and will do their sampling based on records of the persons in the center. When picking the participants, a number of them will be kept aside as reserves in the chance that a participant choses to withdraw. This is because the participants will have the freedom to withdraw whenever they want, but not a time will be set after which, a participant will not be allowed to withdraw (Gallin, & Ognibene, 2007, p.132).
All details about the research will be made clear to the participants. All terms and conditions will be clearly explained to the participants. This is highly recommended to reduce chances of the participants withdrawing when the study is already on. This will be done before commencing the study, so as to give the participants to decide well if they want to take part in it or not. To motivate the participants and show appreciation, a small token will be given to each of them.
Confidentiality and Storage
Any information deemed relevant to the study will be collected. Personal information will be collected and stored using identifiable codes. However, names will be hidden to ensure confidentiality. When storing the collected information, codes will be used and the information will only be accessible to a few people until when analyzed and put in tables and charts (Grebner, 2008, p. 48). The procedures that will be put in place to ensure confidentiality of participants during the collection of data, storage of the data, and in the publication of the results include not using the real names of the participants. Again, those conducting the research will be people who are not familiar with the participants.
The storage of data during the research and after the completion of the study will be automated, and a backup system established. This data will be accessible to only a few chosen people, until the final results are made public.
References
Stawarski Cathy, & Phillips Pulliam Patricia. (2008), Data Collection: Planning for and
Collecting All Types of Data (Measurement and Evaluation Series), (1st Edition), London: Pfeiffer Publishers, p. 32-80.
Bernhardt Victoria. (2004), Data Analysis 2nd, (2nd Edition), New York: Eye on Education, p. 68.
Grebner Leah. (2008), Ethics Case Studies for Health Information Management, (1st
Edition), New Jersey: Delmar Cengage Learning, p. 48.
Gallin I. John, & Ognibene P. Frederick. (2007), Principles and Practice of Clinical Research,
Second Edition (Principles & Practice of Clinical Research), (2nd Edition), New York: Academic Press, p. 39-169.
Creswell W. John. (2008), Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods
Approaches, (3rd Edition), London: Sage Publications, p. 235.
