Decision making during episodes of acute illness
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A qualitative analysis of decision making by nurses when caring for patents who are acutely ill
IRAS ID
193835
Contact name
Fiona Creed
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Brighton Doctoral college
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Changes in the delivery of health care systems and an increasingly aging population have meant that nurses are caring for more acutely ill patients.Previous research studies have suggested that clinical deterioration in hospital patients is not always adequately assessed, managed or communicated effectively by nursing staff and other health professionals.
This study therefore plans to explore processes involved in nurses’ decision making when caring for patients who are acutely unwell and will seek to answer the research question:
What factors influence acute care nurses’ decision making when caring for patients whose condition is deteriorating?
The study will utilise grounded theory methodology and aims to interview registered nurses to seek their opinion on decision making during an episode of acute patient care utilizing reflective interviewing techniques. The study’s main focus is on nurses working at acute care trusts and interviews will either be conducted at a local NHS provider or at the university campus( depending on the participants preference).
It is anticipated that data collection will occur over the period of a year. Participants will be asked to attend an interview that will last approximately one hour.During the interview participants will be asked to reflect on a recent acute care episode. Some participants may be invited to attend a follow up interview to either clarify what they meant in the first interview and/or to explore reasoning in more breadth or depth following data analysis.REC name
London - Surrey Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/0474
Date of REC Opinion
18 Apr 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion