MANAGEMENT

Critical Appraisal Skills Program

CRITICAL APPRAISAL SKILLS PROGRAMME: Making sense of evidence

Introduction

We will be reviewing the research paper Dignity in Practice: “An exploration of the care of older adults in acute NHS Trusts”, (Tadd et al, 2011) which was undertaken due to the reports of mistreatment of the elderly people in hospitals. Numerous publications and researches have been conducted which shows that older people are not given dignified care at NHS and Trust hospitals. It is also proven that the distinguished care given to the patients results positive health long with the optimistic health results. This lack of dignified care has caused numerous complaints and has attracted significant media debates. The value of research is in the reusability of the research. It is therefore desired and is appreciated of the nurses to be able to read and understand colleague's research as it aids in their work (Clifford, C, 1997).

Providing the best possible care for their patient is the prime responsibility of nurses (NMC, 2010).correct understanding, interpreting and implementation of research help nurses to bring positive results regarding patient's health and well being. If the nurses are able to correctly understand, interpret and implement a research, it will affect a patient's result and well- being. With the advances in the research work, it has become customary for the nurses to be aware of the latest research being done in their line of work as it will not only improve their skills but will also improve the patients recovery process (Cormack, D, 2000). A decision about the validity and reliability of a research, despite of being peer-reviewed, is made upon the soundness of its validity and reliability along with the indication of its practice or further implications (Parahoo, 2006). It is because reviews always do not possess appropriate knowledge regarding the subject and a sign of possible bias may be found (Marshall, G 2004). This is the reason that novice reviewers should use frameworks in order to critique and understand the research and also to apply the knowledge into practice. Following a framework may help to understand the complicated research in which unfamiliar jargons are used.

According to Harber et al (2002) there are four stages for understanding and interpreting a research. These stages include; knowing the research, assessing it, having a closer to its different section and putting these sections together. It is noted by Burns and Grove (2005) that identifying the aim and objective of the research article allows its readers to consider the value and trustworthiness of the study. In order to improve the authenticity of the study, the “ Department of Health” has developed the “Research Governance Framework for Health and Social Care (2005)”. This framework outlines the process of how a research should be conducted which includes, findings, accountability, ethical considerations and responsibilities of the researchers. According to Hickson (2005) frameworks are there to guarantee the best practices are considered while conducting a research.

The reason behind choosing this research study is that this topic is widely studied ...