Research questions that lend themselves to a qualitative approach often address questions about how people construct meaning. In this way, qualitative research questions set the stage for open-ended, inductive inquiry. For this Discussion, review the case study entitled, "Social Work Research: Program Evaluation." Consider the kinds of questions that inform a qualitative approach. Think about the quantitative method described in the case study and consider methods you might use to investigate...

Evidence-based practice is integral to social work, as it often informs best practices. Competent social workers understand this connection in general and the ways it benefits clients in particular. For this Assignment, consider your informed opinion on the relationship between qualitative analysis and evidence-based practice. By Day 7 Submit a 2-page paper that addresses the following: Choose two qualitative research studies from this week's resources and analyze the relationship bet...

Assignment: Introduction to Research Proposals Just because you thought of an interesting research question and have a desire to conduct research does not mean that your research will automatically be supported by faculty or funded by an organization. In order to gain stakeholder approval, you must submit a research proposal. Much like an outline of a paper or a treatment of a movie script, the research proposal contains several parts that begin with a research question and end with a literat...

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In the article “Managing to Improve Quality: The Relationship Between Accreditation Standards, Safety Practices, and Patient Outcomes,” the authors discuss the growing trend by medical insurance companies to eliminate reimbursement for Never Events. As these types of mistakes should be easily preventable, hospitals have developed protocols to lessen or extinguish the occurrence of these events. In addition, The Joint Commission (TJC) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) hav...

To prepare for this Discussion: Review the Resources pertaining to alternative therapies. Select one of the following areas where alternative therapies are being used: o    Cancer treatment o    Cancer symptom management o    End-of-life care o    Palliative care Find at least one scholarly journal article discussing alternative therapies in your chosen subtopic. By Day 3 Respond to the following: Identify at least one challenge associated with the nurse’s role ...

As Dr. Rempher and Ms. Manna discussed this week, data from the NDNQI is used to improve nursing practices and support the strategic outcomes of an organization. This data is also used to create the Dashboard. The Dashboard, then, is used to create an action plan. Correctly interpreting information presented on the Dashboard provides nurses with a better understanding of the goals of the action plan. To prepare For this Assignment, use the Dashboard located in this week’s Resources, to interpr...

As a nurse, you are the individual who has the ability to empower patients in the decision-making process pertaining to their health care. In addition, you are in a unique position to empower your nursing colleagues to improve job satisfaction and use performance indicator data from dashboards to effect social change. In this week’s Learning Resources, you examined both the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI) and the key role nurses play as advocates for patient rights. To a...

Assignment: How Illnesses and Injuries Affect the Mind Health complications can be stressful, especially in more vulnerable populations like young children and the elderly. With stress and loss of function often come depression and other psychological manifestations. As a nurse, part of your job is to recognize and educate patients and caregivers on how to deal with the psychological complications of a health crisis. In this Assignment, you will educate either a caregiver of an elderly patient...

The nurse’s role goes far beyond that which is expected. Nurses are the main communicators between patients, doctors, and family, and they care for more than just physical ailments. Often, nurses are presented with difficult situations where being an advocate becomes paramount to the healing of the patient. One of the issues that patients with acute and chronic illnesses or extended hospitalization face is a tendency to become depressed. The nurse’s role in this situation requires more than just...