ResearchProposal Draft
Inday to day practice of nursing, there are various interventions thatcome in handy in aiding to avert different situations. The main aim,at any given time is to ensure that the patience or the person underthe care of a nurse is improving as time goes by. At the same time,it is important to note that it is often the desire of the caregiveror the nurse, the family, and the patient to gain back theirfunctionality. This is the reason why many practitioners engage inperiodic monitoring such that, at one point, the patient will be ableto handle some of their activities independently. The main challengeto a practicing nurse emerges when they are dealing with an agingperson or a senior who is living their sunset days under the care ofa caregiver (Aldwin & Gilmer, 2013). Research shows that evidencebased practice, as well as the patient and their caregivers, demandthat a culture of continuous strive to self-dependence is attained.However, Families, friends, and some nursing practitioners are ofteninsistent on the patient being placed under permanent care. Thisoften occurs in institutions and care homes where these seniorcitizens are restricted and everything is done for them. In manycases, it has been found that these patients end up feeling lockedup, lose the enthusiasm of life, and somehow just live through therest of their lives. In this regard, the quality of life of theseaged people as compared to their active counterparts, is relativelymuch better. This research seeks to conduct a survey on quality oflife as affected by the kind of care environment in which the patientis paced.
TheProblem and Purpose of the Study
Evenfrom a young age, the environment has the potential of affecting theoutcome of growth and development of a young person. At the seniorage, the individual is as vulnerable as any other person in need ofadequate care. Their environment also affects their perception oflife and how they live. The significant difference between a youngperson and an elderly individual is that the latter has been used tobeing active and doing things on their own (Dening, 2013). Thereforebeing restricted and having much of the things done for them makesthem have a feeling of inability, which further trickles down totheir quality of life. The problem that this study endeavor seeks todelve into is that the choice of location and type of care has anegative or positive impact on the quality of life of the personunder the care of a practicing.
Witha focus on aged persons under the care of nurses, the study is aimedat highlighting the relationship between the type and the location ofcare, and the quality of life as perceived by the person under care.In doing this, the outcome is expected to show that persons who arelocated at their places of residence, able to do many things on theirown, and are actively involved in their well-being tend to perceivelife more positively as compared to the more restricted, inactive,and over-cared for.
Researchquestion, Hypothesis, and Operational definitions
Fromthe foregoing, it is within reason to imply that this research takesa qualitative approach of study and data interpretation. The focus isto associate the independent variables and dependent variables, whichinclude location, activity, and type of care, satisfaction, optimism,happiness, and strength. The project aims to study how thesevariables affect each other in the daily lives of the chosen samplepopulation (Holloway & Wheeler, 2013).
Inthis regard, the research question revolves around the concept of thequality of life being affected by the location, type, and activityduring the caregiving process. This is to find out whether the placechosen, the activities, and type of care affect how the patient viewstheir lives.
Inthe light of the above the hypothesis of the research is that if aperson is taken away from their home, is given intensive care, and isnot allowed to do much on their own, they will have a negative viewof life. The null hypothesis, therefore indicates that the reverse ofthis assertion is true (Holloway & Wheeler, 2013). Theindependent variables of the research include the location of care(home or away), type of care (intensive or flexible), activity(whether the patient is active or not). On the other hand, thedependent variables include satisfaction (with their care/life),optimism (perception of the future), happiness (whether they aregenerally in good moods), and strength (their ability to handlechallenges). The sample population is divided into four groups, eachof which is made up of randomly selected the elderly people undercare at home and caregiving institutions e.g. a home for the aged. Aseries of questions are administered in order to establish theoverall indicator of the response. Using the determined scales ofmeasurements, the results will be computed to prove either theresearch hypothesis or null hypothesis.
References
Aldwin,C. M., & Gilmer, D. F. (2013). Health,illness, and optimal aging.New York: Springer.
Dening,T. (2013). Oxfordtextbook of old age psychiatry.Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Holloway, I., & Wheeler, S.(2013). QualitativeResearch in Nursing and Healthcare.Chicester: Wiley.