Summary of Group Research Table

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1. Below type the number and type of studies reviewed by your group.

State the overall comparison research question(s) or research objective.

For example, you might summarize as follows: 5 studies were reviewed, 3 were descriptive and 2 were quasi-experimental. All studies were conducted in hospitals with elderly patients being treated for CHF. All studies had clear problem and purpose statements, however the research questions or hypothesis were missing from 3 of the articles. The overall research objective was to determine...

2. Below type in the importance of the literature review for these studies. Explain how the literature review or theory was applied to this study. Is the study problem placed within the context of existing knowledge and previous research on the topic? Explain.

For example, 3 of the 5 studies used the self-care theory and one used adult learning theory to guide selection of instruments and select the target population of CHF patients requiring repeated Emergency Room visits. One study had no theory or conceptual framework ad therefore was not specific in questionnaires used or data gathered.  Results from this study were too broad to be helpful.

3. Below type comments on strengths and weaknesses of the research designs and statistics used in the studies.

For example, the descriptive studies were explanatory so that the age, education level and severity of disease could be corrected with the number of ER visits post discharge from the hospital. The experimental designs were both ex post facto and retrospective. Thus the number of ER visits of CHF patients prior to the interventions (1. nurse follow-up telephone calls and 2. Videotapes on home CHF care given at discharge). The ordinal data was not the correct one for the tests used in the experimental study. Note any probable sources of error that might influence the results.

4. Below type your evaluation of all the researchers conclusions, and across the studies describe evidence (findings) that would or would not support putting these results into practice. State implications for nursing if given by the author. Identify these, if not presented by the authors.

For example, the descriptive studies provided evidence that CHF re-admissions are frequent and thus very costly; unfortunately, a limitation of was no cost data were collected. Both experimental studies had evidence that indicated nurses telephoning or providing videotape patient education guidance for self-care did decreased ER visits compared to control samples. The implications for nursing across all studies were that our profession needs to think in terms of populations of patients and what specific nursing intervention can contribute to improved outcomes including lower costs.

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