ARTICLE CRITIQUE
ArticleCritique
Unit
Purpose
The article“Implementation of the American Academy of PediatricsRecommendations to Reduce Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Risk inNeonatal Intensive Care Units: An
Evaluation ofNursing Knowledge and Practice” by Grazel, Phalen and Rosemary(2010) examines the neonatal ICU nurses’ knowledge in fightingsudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) before discharge. The articleclearly identifies its aim and is clearly listed in the abstract ofthe paper.
Review of literature
The article providesa deep review of literature in the introduction section of the paperthough it is not labeled. The review has a wide variety of sourcescited including National Institute of Child Health and HumanDevelopment, and American Academy of Pediatrics and several otherprimary studies. The authors used a mixture of updated articlespublished beyond 2000 and those published earlier including somepublished in the early 1990s. All these articles are relevant to thetopic and strengthen the authors’ basis for the study.
Theoretical framework
The paper does notprovide any theoretical or conceptual framework.
Hypothesis
The paper also lacksa clear indication of the research hypothesis. However, articulationof the few questions covered by the study trough questionnairesclearly indicates the direction of the study.
Research methods
In terms of theresearch method, the paper provides a clear guideline on the methodsused to conduct the study. The researches took measures to protectthe privacy of participants and participating institution in thesurvey by making responses anonymous and also aggregating responsesso as to identify responses with institutions. Permission was soughtfrom the management of respective institutions to carry out a studyon nurses in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Research design
The study usedquestionnaires to collect data from a convenience sample. Thisapproach suits well the type of data targeted as indicate by researchobjectives/questions. Using an online-based questionnaire was a veryinformed decision in order to protect the privacy of participants andaggregating responses also ensured that participating institutionswere not identified with the responses.
Population and sample
A 14-itemquestionnaire was used which makes it short to remain interesting toparticipants and detailed enough to answer research questions. Asample of 417 from 17 institutions out of the targeted 1080participants and 19 institutions targeted was enough to provide aclear view of the situation and increase validity, reliability, andcredibility of findings.
Data collection
The data collectionmethod sis simplified by conducting it online. However, there areclear indications such as previous training on SIDS but the onlyconsideration was years of nursing experience.
Data analysis
The data analysisprocesses were suited to this type of quantitative study with asignificant number of participants. SPSS (Version 15.0) andregression analysis as well as frequencies and descriptive statisticswere generated to show general trends in the data. Although volunteersite coordinators from various hospitals were deeply involved in thestudy, there is no indication of any training offered on ways ofconducting the study.
Presentation
Besides percentages,graphs were used to present data with each research question coveredon its own. The implications of the study are well-articulated.Research limitations such as lack of a pilot study was are also andpotential bias are made well known. Nonetheless, there are norecommendations offered by the paper.
Qualitative
Research tradition
The article“Attitudes, and Risk for Sudden Unexpected Infant Death in Childrenof Adolescent Mothers: A Qualitative Study” by Caraballo,Shimasaki, Johnston, and others (2016) examines the among adolescentmothers’ knowledge, practices, attitudes, and beliefs regardingsudden infant death syndrome and the best public health interventionstargeting the particular reasons of this population.
2. Purpose
The study clearlyidentifies the purposes as to investigate a lived infant handlingpractices, attitudes and behaviors of teenage mothers which makes theinferred research an investigation of lived experience. This isbecause the study explores the experiences of the target study group.
3. Research design
The research designis clearly indicated as targeted focus groups including 43 adolescentmothers. Given the nature of the research purpose, focused groupswere best suited because they provide the right environment foradolescent mothers to open up and share their experiences and beliefsregarding SIDS and how they position their infants during sleep. Thisresearch question cannot be fully addressed using quantitative meansbecause the data sought is subjective and purely descriptive.
4. Theoreticalframework
The report makes noreference to any theoretical framework but this does not seem toaffect the credibility of the study. In the current study, aphenomenography research framework would be suitable because thestudy investigates a certain phenomenon and seeks to answer questionsabout thinking and learning.
5. Data analysis
Data was collectedby recording and transcribing the focus group interviews and lateranalyzed using NVivo 10. The analytical tool is suited for suchdescriptive data that involves subjective experiences.
6. Scheme
Although a computerprogram, NVivo 10, was used to analyze the data, the scheme is andcoding operations were achieved manually. A codebook was developedthrough an iterative process for line by line comparisons.
7. reliability
The code reliabilitywas tested using percent agreement and kappa statistics. The schemeis provided in the results section that detail various themescovered. These themes were identified using a grounded theoryapproach.
8. actual analysis
Core themes thatcapture the narrative emerged from the study. They include sleepposition, sleep environment, smoke exposure, sleep location, andparenting ability among others. Another emergent issue from the studyis the role played by peers and parents in providing parentinginformation and skills.
9. Data collection
The study providesdetailed steps on data collection, description of sample as well asproviding clear data analysis methods. However, there is noindication on the reliability and credibility or even ways ofreplicating the study.
Meaningful insights
The study coversmajor themes well. Most importantly, the research recognizes the roleof nurses in modeling subsequent home practices in handling infantsduring sleep. This issue has also been covered by several qualitativestudies such as by Masters and Kennedy (2014).
Integrity
The study provides aclear insightful picture of the issue at hand. Actual responses fromthe participants in the focus groups are sampled and provide a clearsubjective picture of the situation. The researchers went to greatlengths to enhance the reliability of the findings using exemplarycoding methods and application of computer programs to aid in thesame. Coding of descriptive data is of the most challenging issuesfor researchers using qualitative approaches.
12. Limitations
The studyacknowledges various limitations and their effects on findings. Theresults were interpreted in light of other findings as the authorsnote the findings agree with most of the past studies on the subject.Future research direction proposed is to examine the role ofethnicity in influencing baby care behaviors which may affect SIDS.
References
Caraballo, M.,Shimasaki, S., Johnston, K., Tung, G., Albright, K. & Halbower,A. (2016).
Knowledge, attitudes, and risk for sudden unexpected infant death inchildren of adolescent mothers: a qualitative study. Journal ofPediatrics. Retrieved fromhttp://www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476%2816%2900346-2/abstract
Grazel, R., Phalems,A. & Polomano, R. (2010). Implementation of the American academyof
pediatrics recommendations to reduce sudden infant death syndromerisk in neonatal intensive care units: an evaluation of nursingknowledge and practice. Advances in Neonatal Care 10(6)332-342.