Nursing Research

A randomized Trial of Rocking Chair Motion on the Effect of Post-Operative Ileus Duration in Patients with Cancer Recovering from Abdominal Surgery. (Massey, 2010)

Statistical procedures

The statistical procedures used in this study are stratified random sampling and data collection. The analysis is quantitative which means it is statistics based. The findings are reported based on numbers and calculations to give results on the research.  The procedures applied make the research open to geographical mobility of the researcher. The respondents do not have to be in one specific location because the variables are not limited to location. The respondents only have to be cancer patients recovering from abdominal surgery, which can be any hospital that the researcher can access.

Appropriateness of the procedures

The procedures used in the study were appropriated. The way the hypothesis was states, it could be tested in a way that allows the researcher to accept or reject.  The procedure was also appropriate for the research questions. The researchers in this study was keen on developing the research methodology. The level of measurement was also appropriate especially since the respondents were all patients. The study can be termed as successful when factoring in the type of information being collected as well as the respondents being targeted in the research.

The variables were defective, because the medication administered to the patients post-surgery was different. The whole treatment procedure was different making it difficult to show whether the rocking chair was any more effective than when the patient did not use it post-surgery. The amount of time an individual would take to be well medicated for the pain to subside is different. This makes it difficult to conclude whether the rocking chair was effective. The sample size was also limited for the study which makes the findings not effectively represented.

The procedures were also effective because the respondents were effectively protected. They were selected first based on age to ensure that each patient was legally allowed to make decisions on their own. It was biased at the same time because the patients had to be literate and English speakers. This means that if by coincidence all the respondents reacted the same way to the medication and the rocking chair without any clinical evidence that the rocking chair was working or not, the findings would be inconclusive. The procedures were mainly appropriate save for the selection of the respondents. The patients had to willingly accept participation for them to be included in the study (Harris, Johnson , Jones, Joostens, & Sartorius, 2011). The safety procedures for the patients was well taken care of.

Post hoc analysis

A post hoc analysis is the analysis of data that was collected without prior planning but is relevant to the study (l., 1996). For instance when researching on the mortality rate of infants due to poor maternal health care, findings could also spill over and collect data that shows the poor maternal health care is due to a shortage of space, funds or even nurses and doctors. A post hoc analysis is important, therefore, in providing extra background information to a research problem in a research. The post hoc analysis is used to generate hypotheses for a new study separate from the one which has already been done. The post hoc analysis is also used to ensure that all the areas of the research were well covered and provide a problem for another research or even ultimately support a separate study altogether. It is a way of ensuring that nothing collected during a research is wasted. The post hoc analysis are important in ensuring that the research findings can be analysed as per the objectives and avoid digressing from the main point. 

In this study, the post hoc analysis was important in giving the researcher the hypothesis. The post hoc analysis was misleading because the clinical perspective finds that the rocking chair does not make a significant difference in the treatment of cancer patients. The post hoc analysis in this case was significant in nullifying the recommendations that may have kept coming from other researchers working on the care of cancer patients and post-surgery care.

The author’s interpretation of the results

The author’s interpretation was appropriate but not fully covering the research. The author did not expressly include all the factors of the study. For instance; the abstract was not inclusive of any conclusion. It was left as a proposal would appear and not a completed research. Therefore, the interpretation of the results were appropriate save for the omission on the abstract of the final report. The interpretation covered the research procedure in totality and ensured that someone reading the report would understand the research that had already been conducted. The findings were well analysed which made it easy for the author to interpret appropriately. 

Clinical significance of the findings

The conclusion of the findings from this study is one, the rocking chair cannot be implemented as a medical therapy procedure. Clinically, the rocking chair is insignificant. The use of the rocking chair is not harmful or dangerous, therefore, its use is not clinically dangerous. The findings from a clinical perspective are not in any way improving the effectiveness of the treatment. The only thing that it does, is make the patient comfortable. A new and more extensive research would have to be conducted to ensure that the rocking chair has been proven to help in the medication procedures of the cancer patients. Clinically, the findings are insignificant.

References

Harris, T., Johnson , M., Jones, R., Joostens, R., & Sartorius, D. (2011). Quantitave and Qualitative Research Article Critique. Ferris State Univeristy. Retrieved from Ferris Attes University.

l., E. H. (1996, September 1 14). Post Hoc Analysis: Use and Dnagers in Perspective. Retrieved from PubMed: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/8934374/

Massey, R. L. (2010). A randomized Trial of Rocking Chair Motion on the Effect of Post-Operative Ileus Duration in Patients with Cancer Recovering from Abdominal Surgery. Applied Nursing Research, 59-64.