Qualitative Research Approach in Nursing Paper Example

In the modern era of healthcare, qualitative research style approaches are predominantly and increasingly being applied in conducting healthcare-related research that entails both cultural and social dimensions. A qualitative research approach mainly aims at determining the implication of a phenomenon via a detailed description particularly from a group of those going through the situation under investigation. The primary purpose of qualitative research is thus to implement important concepts that assist in the comprehension of a natural phenomenon putting much focus on the perceptions and experiences of the participants (Holloway & Galvin, 2016). For instance, with the current increase in premature births across the globe, adopting a qualitative research approach would effectively aid in addressing the emotional status of the parents caring for preterm infants that are in critical need. When a preterm infant is born, it enormously requires the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) hospitalization, which in turn poses challenges to the parent and infant closeness due to the often prolonged separation. Ideally, parents of preterm infants' experiences a great emotional impact and therefore the need to address or conduct qualitative studies to identify the parents' experiences during hospitalization and come up with useful strategies in addressing the emotional aspects associated with the infants' neonatal intensive care (Feeley et al., 2016). The profound emotional effects on parents of preterm infants are hugely contributed by the lack of coordination and adequate information given to parents concerning the health status of their infants. As a result, a qualitative research approach would be of critical importance to understand and address the unique mechanisms that should be used to improve the parent emotional status or provoke the feeling of separation.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Qualitative research approach when addressing parents' emotional status during a preterm infant hospitalization would mainly involve observational studies as well as a semi-structured interview with the infant's parents during the hospital stay. Furthermore, for a more successful qualitative research design, a purposive group of parents with preterm infants should be considered to obtain profound information regarding the emotions and thoughts experienced by parents with their babies in the neonatal intensive care unit. The information collected during the research should then be analyzed thematically to provide the best recommendations or mechanisms that can be applied to improve the mental health of the parents. Equalizing the infant closeness and separation with their parent are the primary themes of such type of a qualitative research approach primarily because the disturbing thoughts which include hope mainly lead to the parents' mental problems (Arnold et al., 2015). Through qualitative research, essential concepts concerning the emotional status of the parents with preterm infants would be determined and emphasis put on the best solutions to address the issue. Such strategies may include the implementation of collaborative work between the nurses and parents within the neonatal health unit or principles that require the healthcare workers to value the emotions of the infant's parents.

References

Arnold, L., Sawyer, A., Rabe, H., Abbott, J., Gyte, G., Duley, L., & Ayers, S. (2015). Parents' first moments with their very preterm babies: a qualitative study. BMJ open, 3(4), e002487.

Feeley, N., Genest, C., Niela-Vilen, H., Charbonneau, L., & Axelin, A. (2016). Parents and nurses balancing parent-infant closeness and separation: a qualitative study of NICU nurses' perceptions. BMC pediatrics, 16(1), 134.

Holloway, I., & Galvin, K. (2016). Qualitative research in nursing and healthcare. John Wiley & Sons.