AN IMPORTANT TOOL IN THE PRACTICE OF NURSING
Research Report: Qualitative Research
Introduction
Intuition is the ability of a person to attain immediate recognition or quick and ready insight without concrete evidence of balanced thought or inference. At one time or the other, nurses are more often than not reported to direct decisions concerning patients’ care using sixth sense or just perception. This is done secretly due to the difficulty associated with the explanations of such to other colleagues who if older will advocate for the use of logical and rational reasoning for patients’ care. One disadvantage of using inference is the lack of enough experience which is a prerequisite for the use of inference and this may result to misdiagnosis of patients due to the lack of conscious recognition, by learner nurses. The paper is intended to criticize the article by Lisa bad Hendy on the predictors of novice nurses’ use of intuition to guide patient care decisions.
Research Problem and Purpose
The problem of the study is build on the fact that, novice nurses, like all other experienced nurses, are more involved in the services of patients. For this reason, such nurses use intuition to judge patients’ care but due to the unawareness of what prompts the use of intuition they become reluctant to seek for assistance from supervisors. The purpose of this study was to discuss intuition in the health care setting and the provision of information about what kind of past experience relevant to predict the use of intuition by learner nurses.
The purpose of the study is important as this provides knowledge on the scope of past experience that is necessary to practice intuition on patients care. The focus is therefore made clear and with several research predictor variables being put into place like age, gender, hospitalization, religion, and self-esteem. Predictor variables included the use of past experience from personal, interpersonal and professional sources.
The population used to carry out the study was gathered from all over the United States with a total of 151 programs being implemented in four regions of North Atlantic, Midwest, South and West.To the nursing field, the problem is significant as it will regulate or reduce the number of patients’ misdiagnosis or wrong treatment due to the application of intuition by novices. In addition, this will increase accountability of trainee nurses as they got to answer to a supervisor.
The study was not feasible to conduct because most students after graduation got dispersed and not readily available. In addition, the availability of participants was quit low due to the fact that of all the target deans (151), only those in 35 of these stations allowed participants to be sampled from their recent graduates. In addition, the need to have nurses from the 35 institutions represented with demographic information found a bottle neck.
Literature Review
Novice Nurses’ Use of Intuition
Relevant previous studies have been identified and described and so are relevant theories and models. The studies are not all recent since some sources go as far as beyond 10 years. As of the past 10 years, there are only 3 books.The studies are criticized by the authors like for instance, according to Lieberman 2000, p.110 the dangers of intuition for the patients health is at times prompted by the speed involved in such decisions and especially from learner nurses.
In addition, the use of nursing intuition is facilitating by the shortage in the workforce as compared to the number of patients in the need for attention. In this light, the Nursing accreditation commission in 2002 demonstrated the effect of such shortage in the place where available nurses go for advanced practices while the novices would be left with the patients. Moreover, the information about the use of intuition by nurses would be vital to help them openly discuss the issue with their colleagues and supervisors.
Ruth-Sahd, (2003), recommends the use of intuition by both novice and experience of nurses to supplement clinical diagnostics. However, few studies have focused on the study of types of experience that determine the use of intuition on nurses. Some studies like that by Ruth-Sahd 2003 and that by King and Clark 2002 suggested that he use of experience is dependent on a number of factors like personal, interpersonal and professional experiences. From the two sources, much use of intuition directly links to personal factors like age, and collective experience in life, gender and high esteem and confidence. It is also evident that nurses’ empathy links to their experience of hospitalization. Other experiences that were linked to intuition included aging, experience of serious health or life problems, possession of great self-worth and confidence in personal decisions and perceptions. Some of the nurses participating in the study also noted that to some extent their intuition was dictated by spirituality openness and firm believes in religions.
Other interpersonal experiences influenced nurses’ intuitiveness and determined the collectiveness or discord in work. According to Ruth and Sahd 2003 and MuCutcheon and Pincombe 2001, nurses applying intuition frequently were associated with close and mutually sustaining workmates, friends and family. From Ruth and Sahd 2003 it was observed that the 16 learner nurses interviewed had spontaneous and identical family members and mentors relationships and attributed this to the service to children and other needs. Lastly, the literature review is well organized and demonstrates progressive development for the same using source according to their relevance in the study.
Framework of study
The study framework is identified and is intrinsically presented and must be accompanied with some extractions from the literature review. Despite this, the framework is clear and with logical flow. As a framework for the study, the theory of direct proportionality between intuition and the experience is seen and used through out the paper to enhance the cohesion of flow in the study and define its limits. The study identifies the concept of interests as in the case of intuition and personal, interpersonal, and professional relationships. In the framework is a concept of interest is in promoting accountability among the nurses and doctors and for this reason by defining their responsibility.
Additionally, the association between the concepts is not well established as the readers need to know how exactly the relationship exists like in the case of urgency of patient care, to what extent is the novice responsible in making the decision to save the life of the patient. The concepts in the study are the novices’ use of intuitions and the experience associated with the nurses’ use of intuition. The personal experiences are on the other hand associated with age, gender and self-worth this links to the study purpose as the novices’ experience doesn’t provide room for them to practice intuitions. No more frameworks would fit into this logically.To some extent the proposition is tested and doesn’t need further research since it is true that with experience one is said to have more accumulated knowledge pertaining a given field of study as compared to lack of experience.
Research Objectives, Questions, or Hypotheses
The main research objective is to determine how one can predict the level of intuition applied by the nurse in handling the patient; it is also to investigate the relationship between personal experiences’, interpersonal experiences and the professional experience. The question is why there is need to use intuition sparingly and inclusion of referral and consultations by novice practitioners. The hypotheses are in the midst of all the problems facing the nursing section in the healthcares, the nurses must practice the spared use of intuition on the patients care. The two do link well with the research purpose and the concepts and the relationships even though I feel more emphasis should have been laid on intuition by the novice nurses and the training in their practice.
Variables
The major variables and/or concepts have been defined one such is the use of intuition, personal experience, interpersonal experience and professional experiences. The independent variables are personal experience like age, self-worth, religiosity; interpersonal experience like number of children, and social support, finally is the professional experience the grades obtained in high school and one month of job experience. The dependent variable is the use of intuition. These variables reflect the concepts identified in the paper.
Design
The design of research is well addressed in the form survey with is the best design for this study. In this design, there is room to examine the objectives and questions or hypothesis. The target sample is defined and but with bias since most directors refused to have their graduate students participate in the survey. The samples were obtained randomly from all over United States and the sample is not representative because the sample turn out was hindered by the directors who refused to involve their students. In this case there was a resultant bias in terms of many women 96% as compared to men who represented the 4%. The setting was right but the population was misrepresented.
Measurements
The measurement strategies were not reliable and neither were they valid. For instance, the use of intuition did not cover the entire measurements well since only 6 out of the 18 items in the Willingness Act Intuition subscale were used to conduct the research. The personal experience instrument depending on age and gender as well as the interpersonal experience from the number of children and the experience from relationships with family members and friends mattered. Scales are clearly defined unlike the questionnaires. Again the technique of answering them was also not so clear. It is not clear what is to be observed and neither did the interview questions address the concerns of the research problem fully.
Interpretation of Findings
It is observed that most nurses only use intuitions more to direct the patient care only at an older age, hospitalizations, and with more social support. The theory by Lieberman (2000) was used in the examination of possible predictors of novice nurses use of intuition. It is also found that, personal and interpersonal experience by the learner nurses played a part in the inclination of the novice nurse to use intuition and little did this depend on the professional experience. On the other hand, it is probable that the trainee nurses who had had experiences in hospitalization and with historical health problems would easily empathize with patients and use the knowledge as a way to take the patients through the hospitalization process.
Reference
McCutcheon, A., & Pincombe, J., (2001). An important tool in the practice of nursing. Journal of Advanced Nursing. Vol. 35, P. 342-348
Ruth S., (2004). See everything hear what is not being said. Unpublished doctorial dissertation. PennsylvaniaStateUniversity: Middletown.
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