A Quantitative Study Essay examples

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A Quantitative Study: Intervention for Ineffective Airway Clearance in Asthmatic Children
Kristina Adams
Grand Canyon University
NRS-433 V
Christine Thompson-Sanxter
March 28, 2015

A Quantitative Study: Intervention for Ineffective Airway Clearance in Asthmatic Children
Simple and non-invasive nursing interventions can have a profound and positive effect on patients. Nursing interventions such as changing positions or stimulating a cough, along with standard care, can improve obstructive symptoms in asthmatic children. It is important for nurses to utilize all nursing interventions that can be beneficial for patients. This study researched specific nursing interventions for ineffective airway clearance in asthmatic children. An analysis of the study will include a brief overview of the participants, how data was collected, how data was analyzed and managed using various tests, interpretation of findings, implications for nursing practice and suggestions for further research.
Protection of Human Participants The participants consisted of children who were less than or equal to three years of age. Due to their age and situation being hospitalized, the participants were passive in participation. Written consent was obtained prior to the study by the children’s parents or guardians. Researchers reassured the importance of confidentiality to protect the children’s identities. The authors did not directly discuss benefits or risks for participants involved in the study. Perceived benefits would be children benefiting from nursing interventions that can promote the status of their health. The only risk observed is for the children in the control group who received the standard medical care and not the interventions proposed. This study was approved by the institution’s Internal Review Board (Lima et al., 2013).

Data Collection The authors presented a chart listing the variables and indicators for the study. The independent variables were gender, age, height, and nursing interventions. The dependent variables were obstructive symptoms such as choking, excessive sputum, ineffective cough, and adventitious breath sounds. Forty-two children were randomly split up between two groups; the intervention group and the control group. In the intervention group, participants received the proposed interventions along with standard medical care. The control group only received standard medical treatment. Data collection was based from Nursing Outcomes Classification and used indicators to assess for any changes in the variables, such as: (a) anxiety, (b) respiratory rhythm, (c) adventitious breath sounds and (d) choking (Lima et al., 2013). Researchers collected data by evaluating the participants without knowing which group they belonged to after three interventions were administered in a particular order. The first was placing the child in a prone position and tapping their chest. The second was stimulating a cough by placing the thumb on the tracheal conduit. Lastly, placing the participant in the supine position with the HOB at 45 degrees (Lima et al., 2013). The participants were assessed before and after the interventions within the two days of hospitalization time. Four tables were provided that listed the comparison of the control group and intervention group regarding age, gender, weight and hospitalization time; defining characteristics observed in the groups; average rank of indicators before and after the interventions and intra-group mean ranks before and after the interventions (Lima et al., 2013).

Data Management and Analysis
Researchers used various methods for quantitative variables. Statistical tests were used to identify the characteristics of the children to ensure an even distribution among groups. According to Lima et al. (2013), the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to check the normality of the data and Levene’s test in order to check for homogeneity of variances and to compare means. Non-parametric