This article is a descriptive qualitative study that aims at exploring the beliefs and experiences of nurses concerning family presence (FP) when carrying out cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The research lacks a research problem statement. It has not been clearly identified as it is supposed to be in a title on its own. However, the research significance is valid. According to the author, minimal research has focused on the nurses’ opinions in other areas of acute care or has included pediatric nurses’ beliefs. Regardless of the nurses’ personal opinions, tradition has been to sequester grieving families during resuscitation efforts. The research topic is well researchable and the choice of respondents is excellent. Ten RNs with a minimum of 4 years of clinical experience working in diverse acute care units will provide the necessary data. The research is also feasible as the respondents are professionals who will not require extra help or attention in order to give the required information. The purpose of this research is clearly stated by the author. It aims at studying the effects of family presence when conducting cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The research purpose statement is well focused and also ethical with all the components identified and will provide the necessary answers to the gap that exists in the study area. Notably, the literature review is quite brief. The previous studies identified are not well described. However, the references used are current and the studies are well critiqued. The researcher seems to have an up-to-date knowledge of the research problem as he highlights all the current issues well. In the theoretical framework section, the author expresses the section briefly. The concepts of interests are well described giving clear descriptions of how nurses face hard decisions where families request to be present during a cardiopulmonary resuscitation and how they deal with it. Theoretical framework is precisely to the point and is well related to the nursing’s body of knowledge.
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The research has a clear hypothesis. However, the research objective section and the research questions are missing. Using the research hypotheses, though, the research is well tied to the research problem, literature review and theoretical framework. Study variables used are not clearly shown. This may be due to the fact that the target recipients of this article are elite people in the field of nursing and are therefore familiar with all the concepts. Conceptual and operational definitions have been omitted, probably due to the same reason. Demographic variables are clear though. The researcher uses 10 respondents to carry out the research, collect data and make conclusions. Demographic and background data on the age, sex, nursing education, and clinical experiences were categorized and summarized, as seen in Table 2. There were nine women and one man, and most were aged between 31 and 41 years. Several were staff nurses as well as charge nurses and two were in supervisory roles. Five were pursuing master’s degrees in nursing. All had participated in resuscitation procedures where family members were present. One worked in labor and delivery, one in the neonatal intensive care unit, two in the emergency department pediatrics but in different roles, one in the pediatric cardiac intensive care unit, and five in the adult health units ranging from intensive care units to coronary artery bypass graft units and emergency departments. The researcher uses the maximum variation sampling method. The researcher quotes Sandelowski (1995), who expresses that this kind of sampling may be especially useful in qualitative descriptive studies. The researcher further explains that this type of sampling cuts through variations to isolate the common patterns. To use the sampling method, the researcher explains phenomenal variation as a subtype of maximum variation sampling where variation in the target phenomenon is sought. For this study, the target phenomenon was perspectives on the FP during cardiac resuscitation, and the research sought RNs employed in acute care settings who were likely to be either witnesses to or participants in cardiac resuscitation procedures where families were available. The study further sought RNs who worked in different types of hospital units and who had different work responsibilities, so that we would obtain maximum variations in perspectives on the FP target phenomenon. No other inclusion criterion was used as the sample method was enough to draw the required conclusions. A sample of ten nurses was used as this would provide sufficient sample (target phenomenon) diversity.
The researcher chose to use a descriptive qualitative methodological design. According to the researcher, this design allowed selection of a general area of inquiry, the use of maximum variation sampling procedures, and a restricted sample size. The researcher quotes Sandelowski (2000, p. 335), who puts forward that qualitative description is a distinctive category of qualitative analysis that does not require methodological acrobatics (efforts of qualitative researchers to force their studies to fit into complex qualitative paradigms such as grounded theory when, in fact, the study is at the basic descriptive level of qualitative research). The research design is appropriate and feasible. The measurement tools and procedures used to collect data in this research study are well utilized. The researcher uses a questionnaire with open-ended questions to 10 respondents all in the nursing profession. Data are well analyzed and presented. The research findings are carefully and thoroughly explained. They are well related to the whole study framework and are almost what is expected out of this research study. None of the findings recorded were unexpected. According to the research, the findings imply that family presence during the CPR process depends on four themes: conditions, staff’s feelings, family decision making and the impact of FP to the family. Based on this critique, the research study can be quite useful in healthcare institutions when a decision to allow or disallow family presence arises.