Clinical
Our clinical nursing articles aim to inform and educate nurse practitioners and students. This is achieved through the publication of peer-reviewed, evidence-based, relevant and topical articles.
Narrative research methods with vulnerable people: sharing insights
Producing well-told narratives can transform practice
Innovations in dissemination: research participants sharing stories at a conference
Involving research participants can provide unique perspectives, but needs careful planning
Is Facebook a viable recruitment tool?
Background Effective participant recruitment strategies are crucial to the success of research studies. A targeted, well-designed recruitment plan provides researchers with a rich bed of information to fully explore research questions and achieve statistically significant responses. Aim To discuss the importance and methodology of participant recruitment in achieving reliability and validity, and to provide an example of a recent study that used Facebook to recruit participants and achieve statistically significant findings. Discussion A targeted Facebook recruitment campaign was highly successful in attracting qualified participants who could provide essential information relevant to the study’s research questions. A series of Facebook posts strategically targeted the population of interest and presented them with a short, ten-minute survey. It resulted in responses from 175 qualifying participants, achieving a statistical significance greater than 90%. Conclusion Successful recruitment strategies must provide access to the population of interest and in sufficient numbers to provide a good representative sample of the population of interest for the study. Facebook provides efficient cost-effective access to target populations. Implications for practice As communication technology advances, nurse researchers must learn to adapt to the changing avenues of communication to reach potential study participants. Effective recruitment and a good representative sample is the key to reliability, validity and transferability of research findings.
Using storylines for bilingual dissemination of a grounded theory
Disseminating findings through a storyline written in the local language
Decision-tables for inferential statistical tests in comparative and correlation studies
Structured decision-tables can help in choosing which statistical tests to use
Strategies for balancing internal and external validity in evaluations of interventions
Review of strategies in an evaluation of a cognitive-behavioural intervention for insomnia
Implementing the actor-partner interdependence model for dyadic data analysis
This article may help to create a more consistent framework for nurse researchers
Memory in narratives and stories: implications for nursing research
The meanings underpinning memories are central to qualitative enquiry and are to be valued
Temporality and existential mood in Heideggerian phenomenology
Background The philosophical perspective of a research methodology should explicitly underpin the decisions the researcher makes throughout the research. It is therefore important to understand the philosophical background and origins of Heideggerian phenomenology when using it as a research methodology. Aim To discuss in detail the main philosophical ideas underpinning Heideggerian phenomenology. Discussion Anxiety and boredom are two significant existential moods in Heideggerian phenomenology. Time is the basis of these moods and is an ‘originary temporality’. Originary temporality consists of a unified structure that includes the past, present and future. The experience of being human (‘dasein’) and its care/worry structure are significant features of originary temporality and consequently existential mood. Existential anxiety discloses the threefold characteristics of temporality to the individual, while existential boredom disrupts its unified structure. Both moods highlight the limits of existence to the individual and may culminate in additional distressing moods. Conclusion It is essential for nurse researchers using Heideggerian phenomenology to understand the philosophical ideas underlining it. Implications for practice The depiction of originary temporality and existential mood illustrated in this article could help nurse researchers embarking on a Heideggerian phenomenological study. The article could also inform researchers new to Heideggerian phenomenological research of the methodology’s philosophical background.
Using literary folkloristic method to understand why people refuse medical interventions
Healthcare providers should account for the viewpoints of those directly affected
Current practice in qualitative end of life research with the bereaved
A focused mapping approach of the recruitment to studies of grieving and bereaved people
Methodological considerations when using ethnography to explore home care
Background Ethnography has been widely and successfully used in nursing and healthcare research, in particular to explore culture in clinical settings. Ethnographic studies are less often used to explore the effects of home medical technologies, despite the ongoing drive for patients to assume responsibility for their own care and to receive care at home. Aim To discuss methodological considerations when conducting ethnographic research in patients’ homes, drawing on a study exploring the culture of patients and their families living with peritoneal dialysis in their homes. Discussion In-depth insights obtained by observing participants in their homes, recording field notes through text and diagrams, minimising intrusion, and promoting participants’ privacy with adapted periods of observation are examined. The author’s role in caring for ill participants in the home is also covered. Conclusion Ethnography can generate holistic, rich data, but must be adapted when used in participants’ homes. Implications for practice Ethnography can help healthcare professionals and policymakers to understand the effects on patients and their families of living with home medical technologies.