Formulating the Research Question

Present a potential problem (“Unsafe nurse patient ratios”) and an innovative solution (“see note below) specific to your role (nurse administrator) specialization.

First share your refined problem and proposed. Next, follow the steps to help define your research question.

1. Craft the problem statement and research purpose.

2. Design your research question aimed at solving (a part of) the problem and include the following components which will focus the literature review.

PICOT Question:

Patient, Population or Problem

1. What are the characteristics of the patient or population?

2. What is the condition or disease you are interested in?

Intervention or exposure

3. What do you want to do with this patient (e.g. treat, diagnose, observe)?

Comparison

4. What is the alternative to the intervention (e.g. placebo, different drug, surgery)?

Outcome

5. What are the relevant outcomes (e.g. morbidity, death, complications)?

3. Ensure that the research question is answerable, feasible and clinically relevant

Example: Problem Statement, Purpose Research Problem: Includes the significance, background, and a problem statement.

Problem Statement:  The problem statement identifies the specific gap in the knowledge needed for practice.

Example: There is a gap in knowledge regarding the potential benefits of a nurse-led intervention aimed at educating obese middle-school children on strategies to improve health outcomes.

Research Purpose: The research purpose is a clear, concise statement of the specific goal or aim of the study that is generated from the research problem.

The purpose includes:

-Type of Study (qualitative, quantitative, intervention, outcomes) to be conducted.

-Population

-Setting

-Variables

Example: The purpose of this research is to test the effectiveness of a nurse-led educational program aimed at improving health outcomes (weight, exercise) and nutritional knowledge of obese middle-school children in a rural community located in the Northwest.

Potential Innovation

Perhaps the reason why these problems have continued to exist stem from the fact that burnout has continued to be linked with increased depression and a lack of job satisfaction amongst providers. However, although the situation appears dire, all is not lost as there are ways to which the effects of unsafe staffing levels can be mitigated. For example, engaging a collaborative atmosphere within the hospital setting has been proven to impact the health sector in a positive way. It is through collaboration that work gets shared out amongst providers and this enables a fluid working relationship based on the capacity of these workers to handle a specific number of patients.