Thesis Proposal (PICOT Question)
In the contemporary medical world, various issues affect the delivery of healthcare. A case in point of such issues and the sole focus of this discussion is nursing shortage. Nursing shortages may be due to increased staff turnover and aging nursing staff (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2014). Currently, nursing shortage is no news given that most healthcare facilities have learned to live with this situation and operate with the available limited human resources. Despite such adaptive mechanisms, healthcare facilities have continuously struggled to provide quality care due to the increased workload that curtails their efficiency of attending to all patients’ needs. That said, formulation of PICOT questions seeking to establish strategies for improving nursing staff retention are of the essence.Elias, Polancich, Jones, and Convoy,(2015) are of the opinion that a well-formulated PICOT question allow one to obtain the best available evidence. A befitting example of such a question is; “In nurses working in an inpatient setting with high acuity, does use of transformational compared to transactional leadership styleaffect nursing retention over one year?”
The rationale of formulating this PICOT question is the need for combating nursing shortage, which has huge implicationson healthcare delivery. For instance, nursing shortages due to low nurse retention and turnover lead to delayed decision-making, overdependence on physicians and poor healthcare outcomes. Notwithstanding, leadership styles adopted by individuals are essential in improving the retention of nurses. Such is the case given that many studies have shown an existence of a positive association between transformational leadership and the perception of job satisfaction andnurse’s intent of remaining at the same work place (Lenhart, 2017). As such, investigating about the efficacy of transformational leadership in comparison with transactional leadership style is worthwhile.
References
American Association of Colleges of Nursing.(2014). American Association of Colleges of Nursing | Nursing Shortage. Aacn.nche.edu. Retrieved 14February 2018, from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/media-relations/fact-sheets/nursing-shortage
Elias, B. L., Polancich, S., Jones, C., & Convoy, S. (2015). Evolving the PICOT Method for the Digital Age: The PICOT-D. Journal of Nursing Education, 54(10), 594-599.
Lenhart, N. K. (2017). Nursing Leadership Influence on Evidence-Based Practice Culture and Integration (Doctoral dissertation, Walden University).
