Research Applications Essay Sample

Research Application Essay Introduction

The Verweij study which was conducted in 2014 intended to assess the use of drug round tabards in reducing medication errors in healthcare facilities. The research was premised on evidence that most hospitals struggle to overcome performance interruptions and medical administration mistakes in the everyday undertakings of nurses. Its other aims were to evaluate the relationships between the interruptions and errors in medical administration and explore the different experiences that nurses have when using the tabards. The research employed mixed methodological approaches to attain its objectives. Three observation periods were designated in three Dutch medical facilities. Both pre- implementation and post implementation observations were conducted during the drug rounds. The results of the study were subjected to descriptive statistics and invariable linear regression specifically to know the effects of tabards on medical outcomes. This paper explores the various conclusions that can be drawn from the entire research and its appraisal for implementation in medical practice.

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Conclusions Drawn From the Study

Medication administration errors (MAEs) are common occurrences within various healthcare settings involving different professionals such as nurses and physicians (Verweij et al., 2014). Based on the commonality of such mistakes, it is imperative that research be directed towards approaches such as the tabards necessary for transforming the healthcare delivery in virtually every society (Verweij et al., 2014). Medical practitioners in acute care settings experience errors in their daily activities thus leading to patient deaths. The need for research on the use of tabards in medical practice is to ensure that patients attain optimum and safe treatment environments (In Zipperer, 2014). The initiatives such as studies and implementation of tabards among healthcare professionals raise the opportunity to address some of the pertinent issues relating to patient safety to ensure that the essence of hospitals as medication and healing centers is reinforced.

Nurses and other medical practitioners play an integral role in ensuring the effective reception and implementation of new approaches such as the tabards in healthcare to achieve positive medical outcomes (Verweij et al., 2014). For instance, in the study, embracing of the tabards and their subsequent implementation by nurses within the different healthcare facilities resulted in a substantial reduction in medical administration errors (Verweij et al., 2014). Empirically, the implementation of drug round tabards among the randomly selected nurses within the Dutch hospitals accounted for a 66% decline in MAEs (Milligan & Robinson, 2003). Depending on the experiences of nurses with wearing the drug round tabards, their effectiveness in reducing MAEs can vary widely from positive and enthusiastic to negative and even rejection thus determining the life of the patients by extension.

Based on the findings of the study, there are several sources of medical administration errors that require proactive research and interventions to address (Urden, Stacy & Lough, 2015). Some of the most common sources of procedural medical administration errors include lack of patient identification, wrong time of medical administration and lack of adherence to best medical practices or standard medical procedures (Child & Institute of Medicine (U.S.), 2004). For instance, the study revealed that cases of little or insignificant reductions in MAEs after the implementation of drug round tabards within various research facilities were attributable to administration of wrong medication, use of inappropriate medication procedures and administration of medications for incorrectly perceived medical needs of the patient (Verweij et al., 2014).

Implications of Research in the Use of Drug Round Tabards for Clinical Practice

Nurses are bound by their professional and best practices of their profession to undertake active drug rounds within the wards to ensure timely and adequate administration of medicine to patients. However, research indicates that various interruptions limit the effectiveness of nurses in responding to their duties at work (Urden, Stacy & Lough, 2015). Therefore, it is important to carry out extensive research to assess the active and potential sources of disruptions within medical facilities and design proactive measures to address them (Verweij et al., 2014). In most cases, available information does not show the extent and ways in which the work interruptions that nurses often face contribute to errors in medical administration errors. Due to this limitation, it is important to undertake further research that incorporates other emerging factors that are key contributing factors to medication administration errors (Verweij et al., 2014). The evidence provided by such studies are essential in developing effective prevention measures that include the use of drug round tabards.

Recommendations for the Implications of the Research for Clinical Practice

The first recommendation is that working relationships in healthcare facilities, especially in critical situations such as intensive care should be revamped to increase the concentration of medical practitioners during the administration of significant care needs to the patients (Verweij et al., 2014). These changes can involve introducing assistive equipment such as the tabards or motivating the spirit of teamwork to prevent oversight by a single nurse working during critical care provision (Milligan & Robinson, 2003). Changing the organizational framework also involves proactivity of leaders along the administration rugs in demonstrating support for patient safety which the junior practitioners would emulate thus leading to an improved concentration at work.

Apart from the realignment of organizational frameworks to revitalize concentration of nurses in their daily medical administration to patients, there is the need to universally adopt the use of a prominent identity symbol in the form of drug round tabard (Verweij et al., 2014). This tabard serves multiple roles in healthcare facilities including identifying the nurses, indicating to other people within the hospitals that nurses are administering medications, and confers an implicit communication that the nurses undertaking drug administration require a conducive environment that is free from all forms of distractions to give efficiency. The Standard protocols for medication administration should be established based on evidence-based guidelines to complement the use of drug round tabard.

Conclusion

The 2014 Verweij study was intended to assess the use of drug round tabards in reducing medication errors in healthcare facilities. The research was motivated by the fact that most hospitals struggle to overcome the interruptions and medical administration mistakes in the everyday undertakings of nurses. The study included a pre-implementation and post-implementation assessment of the use of drug round tabards whose findings showed a dramatic decline in medical administration errors and distractions. Various factors including the absence of patient identification, wrong administration time and non-adherence to standard procedures of reporting were discovered as the primary sources of MAEs.