The information provided by the study participants on specific area of research called the data are very important that enable accurate information on the research work done by nurse researchers. Data collection methods are used to collect data in a systematic way. The researchers choose and use various data collection methods. They are broadly classified as self -reports, observation, and biophysiologic measures. This article highlights on the sources of data and on the various data collection techniques which include interviews, questionnaires, scales, category system and check lists, rating scales, and biophysiologic measures. It also analyses the advantages and disadvantages of each of these methods. Emphasis should be given on choosing appropriate method to collect accurate information which will lead to good quality research outcomes.

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Conceptual models and theories provide structure for research. Research without a theoretical base provides isolated information which may not be used or applied effectively. The challenge for nurse researchers is to identify a model or theory that would a best fit for their area of study interest. In this research series article the authors unravel the simple steps that can be followed in identifying, choosing, and applying the constructs and concepts in the models or theories to develop a research framework. A research framework guides the researcher in developing research questions, refining their hypotheses, selecting interventions, defining and measuring variables. Roy’s adaptation model and a study intending to assess the effectiveness of grief counseling on adaptation to spousal loss are used as an example in this article to depict the theory- research congruence.

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Acute poisoning by organophosphates (OPs) for suicidal purpose poses a major problem, leading to high mortality in the developing countries. This occurs as OPs irreversibly bind to acetylcholinesterase, leading to the accumulation of acetylcholine at the neuromuscular junction and subsequent over-activation of cholinergic receptors in various parts of the body. Early identification of the signs and symptoms and prompt management enhance better outcomes reducing mortality. Atropine, oximes, neuroprotection and quality care remain the mainstay of treatment for OP poisoning and can reverse the life-threatening features of acute poisoning. Supportive treatment includes maintaining airway, breathing, circulation and decontamination of the poison. Nurses working in the critical care units play a vital role in monitoring the patient closely, providing quality nursing care and thereby preventing complications.

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Qualitative research deals with data collected in narrative form which requires an in-depth knowledge in selecting appropriate sampling techniques and data collection methods. Unlike quantitative studies, non- probability sampling techniques are used in qualitative studies to enhance information richness. Sample size is not determined using statistical formula, but is based on the principle of data saturation and the type of qualitative study methodology. Qualitative studies adopt flexible data collection plans which may evolve as the study progresses. Observation, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions are the primary data collection methods in qualitative studies.

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The word statistics and the process of statistical analysis induce anxiety and fear in many researchers especially the students. Difficult and different terminologies, complex calculations and expectations of choosing the right statistics are often daunting. However, it is well recognized that statistics play a key role in health and human related research. As it is not possible to study every human being, a representative group of the population is selected in research studies involving humans. Statistical analysis assists in arriving at right conclusions which then promotes generalization or application of findings to the whole population of interest in the study. This article attempts to articulate some basic steps and processes involved in statistical analysis.

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Evaluation is a systematic investigation of the value of a program. More specifically an evaluation is a process of delineating, obtaining, reporting, and applying descriptive and judgmental information about some object’s merit, worth, probity, and significance. A sound evaluation model provides a link to evaluation theory, a structure for planning evaluations, a framework for collaboration, a common evaluation language, a procedural guide, and standards for judging evaluation. This model tends to observe the obtained result than pretending to get the result as per the preset goal or the expected outcome of a curriculum. One evaluation model that is used widely to evaluate a curriculum or programme is the Context, Input, Process, and Product (CIPP) model. This article attempts to describe the CIPP model and explains the application of the model in a research project.

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Violence means the behaviour involving physical force intended to hurt, damage or kill someone or destroy something. Violence is a part of the national mythology. Generally, if something or someone has been harmed, then it is regarded as violence. Violence seen among patients in acute psychiatric setup imposes a greater risk on the staff, other patients as well as the treatment process. Certain psychiatric illnesses such as personality disorders and substance dependence are highly associated with violent behaviour in those patients. Care of such patients and family requires collaboration with various members of the health team. Nurses can play a pivotal role in identifying early warning signs, assessing the risk and in mitigating and managing violent behaviours and situations. The nursing management of a patient with violent behaviour in a mental health facility is discussed in this article.

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Perioperative care refers to the care rendered during pre-operative, intra-operative and post-operative (PIP) care of patients undergoing surgery. A patient undergoes these three phases in different environments and also experiences much stress and anxiety. The relationship between patient and nurse during these phases significantly improves the outcome. Although the operating room (OR) nurses play a pivotal role in patient care, they are often unseen. With the view of linking alleviation of stress and anxiety of the patient and the visibility of OR nurses and also the fragmented and isolated care provision, the PIP nursing care pathway was developed based on the perioperative dialogue model. This pathway helps in connecting the three phases of transition, which ensures the fusion and integration of care. Based on this model, the OR nurse makes a pre-operative visit and explains about the OR environment. The same nurse receives the patient in the OR and assists in surgery. The post-operative visit is also made by the same nurse. Adapting this pathway influences patient and OR nurse satisfaction to a great extent. It also empowers the OR nurses to facilitate managed care. Visibility of OR nurses is improved by this pathway because of their interaction and involvement in all the phases. With the support of management, this pathway can be successful in order to provide effective perioperative care, which is fused instead of fragmented and integrated instead of isolated.

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The research instruments are the tools that the researcher uses to collect data. There are different types of instruments based on the structure or format, purpose, nature, and availability. The common types of instruments used in the nursing studies are questionnaires and scales. Instruments are selected based on the research question. The selection of instrument is a very important part of the research process and is lengthy and involving various steps. The credibility of an instrument depends on the validity and reliability. Whether, standardized or developed by the researcher, the validity and reliability has to be established before it is used.

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Data analysis in qualitative research is an iterative and complex process. The focus of analysis is to bring out tacit meanings that people attach to their actions and responses related to a phenomenon. Although qualitative data analysis softwares are available, the researcher is the primary instrument who attempts to bring out these meanings by a deep engagement with the data and the individuals who share their stories. Although different approaches are suggested in different qualitative methods, the basic steps of content analysis that includes preparing the data, reading and reflection, coding, categorising and developing themes are integral to all approaches. The analysis process moves the researcher from describing the phenomenon to conceptualisation and abstraction of themes without losing the voice of the participants which are represented by the findings.

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Psychiatric emergencies are situations in which individuals' thoughts and behaviours are acutely altered causing potential or actual risks to the life of the person or others in the environment. Prompt identification and appropriate interventions will reduce the mortality and disability caused due to psychiatric emergencies. This article reviews the major psychiatric emergencies such as suicide, violence, delirium tremens, stupor and drug-related emergencies and highlights the nursing care of patients with these psychiatric emergencies.

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Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) is a major condition in an Intensive Care Unit. It was previously known as non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema. It is caused by various conditions due to damage to the lung, but the main reason is sepsis. It damages the alveolar capillary membrane that leads to interstitial and alveolar edema, diffuse alveolar damage, refractory hypoxemia, and ventilation perfusion mismatch. The common clinical manifestation is dyspnea with diffuse infiltration in chest X-ray. The management of ARDS includes setting low tidal volume, high Positive End Expiratory Pressure (PEEP) and low plateau pressure. Prone positioning will improve perfusion to the patient and thereby increase PaO₂/FiO₂ ratio. The recent trend of High Frequency Oscillation Ventilation (HFOV) is used to manage ARDS.

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Edwards' syndrome, also known as trisomy 18, is a rare genetic disorder caused by the presence of extra 18^th chromosome. Most babies with this condition die before or shortly after being born. Some children with this disorder rarely may survive beyond 1 year or into adulthood. Their growth and development is severely hampered. They have severe mental and life-threatening physical disabilities. A child with trisomy 18 is usually born with low birth weight, associated with heart defects and other abnormalities such as micrognathia, clenched fist with overlapping fingers, short sternum and club foot. There is no definitive treatment for babies with Edwards' syndrome. It is very challenging and difficult for parents to take care of a child with trisomy 18, so it is important for parents to get support from healthcare providers to provide the best quality of life for the child.

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The days and weeks following child birth are a critical phase in the lives of mothers and newborn babies. According to the WHO, 45% of under-five deaths occur during the 1^st month of life. Several factors contribute to neonatal mortality in India and one of the reasons is following harmful newborn care practices such as applying different unsterile material on the umbilical cord and instilling liquids and oils in the ears and nose. These practices are often associated with the cultural beliefs. The objective of this focused ethnography study was to bring forth a description of the cultural aspects of newborn care in South India and identify cultural themes related to newborn care which will help health professionals to understand and tailor interventions in the health-care setting. Three focus group discussions were conducted in the post-natal units of a tertiary hospital in South India using a semi-structured interview guide. Data from translated interviews were coded and categorised to identify cultural themes. Themes such as rituals, beliefs, resistance and adaptation and solutions evolved from the study. The study was successful in highlighting cultural practices and their meanings, which provides an insight for nurses on how to deliver educational messages, considering the cultural values and beliefs of the mothers.

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Fever has been recognised as a symptom and not a disease in itself. The thermoregulatory centre in the hypothalamus regulates body temperature. Hydrotherapy in the form of cold and tepid applications has been historically used for reducing increased body temperature. Many studies have looked at effect of hydrotherapy over pharmacological measures and have found that tepid or cold sponging reduces body temperature rapidly, but are associated with discomfort for the patients. There is some evidence that hot water soaks to foot reduces body temperature effectively. Hot water footbath is considered as a non-pharmacological, safe, side effect-free, cost-effective and easy-to-administer therapy to reduce fever. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of hot water footbath therapy (HWFBT) in reducing the body temperature in adult patients with fever. Sixty patients were selected by convenient sampling technique, of which thirty patients were allotted to experimental group and thirty to control group by random method. HWFBT was given to experimental group. The control group received the standard care as per practice of the hospital. The findings showed that the difference in the mean body temperature in the post-test was significantly lower in the experimental group (P < 0.001). HWFBT may, therefore, be effectively used as an intervention to reduce the body temperature in patients with fever.

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Thyroid gland dysfunction is present in a large number of the people. It is commonly seen in women and is sometimes associated with other endocrine problems. Dysfunction of the thyroid gland causes deranged metabolic functions of the body leading to altered energy levels in performing the daily tasks. Thyroid disorders should be identified at the earliest to prevent complications and to improve the physiological functions of the body. Majority of the disorders are associated with increase or decrease in the serum level of thyroid hormones. Enlargement of thyroid gland leads to respiratory distress, voice change, and dysphagia. It also causes body image disturbances in young patients. Though medications control the growth of the gland, surgery becomes an option to reduce the clinical effects of an enlarged gland. As thyroid is a highly vascular organ, precautions need to be taken before and after surgery to prevent hemorrhage. Nursing care involves preparation of the patient for surgery and meticulous postoperative care to prevent complications associated with the injury to parathyroid gland and laryngeal nerve. Early identification of complications will enable prompt management and improved quality of life of the patient. This article focuses on the various thyroid disorders, the clinical manifestations, assessment and diagnostic tests, the surgical management and the nursing care. The nursing care of patient undergoing thyroidectomy is discussed in detail.

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It is well known that nursing as a profession is considered stressful. Multiple factors such as patient-care demands, professional issues, work environment, organisation policies and procedures are associated with job stress in nursing. Personal- and family-related issues also play a vital role in causing stress for nurses. Job stress can inadvertently affect patient care as well as health of nurses. Appropriate coping strategies are needed to mitigate job stress and ensure optimal patient-care outcomes. Organisational and nurse supervisor's support is essential to enable nurses to cope with job stress. In this article, the prevalence and associated factors of job stress and the general coping strategies adopted by nurses are discussed.

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Old age is a critical period which requires special attention in adapting to the changes of life. A descriptive comparative research study was conducted to assess the quality of life (QOL) and its components among the older adults staying in old-age home and staying with family in selected area of Kolkata, West Bengal. A total of 100 senior citizens above the age of 60 years were selected as samples for the study, of which 50 were from old-age home and 50 from those staying with family. Standardised tool Short-Form 36 Version 2 - Health Survey and Multidimensional Scale for perceived social support were used to measure the QOL. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The study findings showed that there was a significant difference in the mean scores of QOL and the different domains of QOL of older adults staying in old-age home and family at (P < 0.05). Older adults staying in old-age home perceived better QOL as compared to those staying with family.

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Pregnancy Induced Hypertension (PIH) is one of the major causes of maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity. Although early detection of PIH is essential, knowledge on care and prevention of complications is utmost to prevent life threatening complications in the mother and child. This study was conducted with the aim to assess the knowledge of antenatal women regarding PIH. Using convenience sampling technique 100 pregnant women attending antenatal clinic at a tertiary care centre in Chhattisgarh were included in the study. A structured interview schedule was used to collect data. The study findings revealed that about 14% of pregnant women had good knowledge, 55% had average knowledge, and 31% had poor knowledge regarding PIH. The study also revealed that there was a significant association of knowledge with education, occupation, family history of hypertension, family history of PIH and parity of pregnant women. Based on the findings, a health education leaflet was prepared covering the different aspects of pregnancy induced hypertension and given to the subjects.

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Alcohol withdrawal is a set of symptoms seen in an individual who reduces or stops alcohol consumption after prolonged periods of alcohol intake. Withdrawal signs and symptoms are usually minor, but they can be considerable and even fatal. Alcohol withdrawal delirium commonly known as Delirium Tremens or ‘DTs’, is the most serious manifestation of alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Nurses play a major role in early identification and management to rehabilitate these patients. A case report is presented in this article including clinical presentation, diagnostic measures and management.

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The issues surrounding the quality of qualitative research are many, and there are different perspectives to the same. This has led to the proliferation of terminologies, criteria and frameworks to judge the quality, which causes confusion for novice qualitative researchers. This article highlights the following: (1) three issues in the quality of qualitative research (rigour and validity versus trustworthiness, generic standards versus tradition specific standards, and the process evaluation versus post hoc evaluation); (2) Lincoln and Guba's qualitative framework and (3) quality enhancement strategies.

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Mixed-methods research emerged in the late 1970s as a methodological approach that uses both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods in one single study. In this article, I present an overview of what mixed-methods research is and identify its defining features. Key considerations in designing mixed-methods research are priority, sequence, stage of integration and use of theory. Each of these is discussed briefly with pointers that could serve as a starting point in designing a mixed-methods research. There is a brief description of the core mixed-methods research designs, namely convergent, exploratory sequential and explanatory sequential, with some examples relevant to the Indian context. Finally, I present some challenges commonly faced in conducting mixed-methods research.

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Occupational health is a growing concern in hospitals. Health care professionals are highly prone to develop occupational health disorders that include musculoskeletal disorders. De Quervain disease is one of the musculoskeletal disorder prevailing among health care providers. The cause is inflammation of a tendon that involves disruption of normal flexor tendon function in the hand. Factors contributing to this disorder are overuse like straining while writing, and long computer use and other repetitive tasks which involve the use of fingers and wrists. Breast feeding mothers and patients with history of arthritis and diabetes are at high risk for De Quervain disease. The outcome of the disorder depends on early diagnosis and treatment.

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Cardiac pacing is an emerging lifesaving procedure that is being widely used in the recent times. Therefore, it is considered vital for the healthcare professionals to be aware of patients' knowledge and experience after the cardiac device implantation and also the impact these implanted devices have on their day-to-day life. This study was conducted with an aim to assess the knowledge and attitude of patients regarding permanent pacemakers (PMs) and their quality of life (QOL) after the permanent PM implantation. A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used in this study. A total of seventy patients were chosen by total enumerative sampling technique among those patients attending the cardiology outpatient department, PM clinic and selected cardiology wards of a tertiary care centre in South India. A knowledge questionnaire, an attitude scale and RAND Short-Form-36 health survey were used to collect data. The mean age of the study patients was 61.71 ± 12.42 years, and 60% accounted for men. The median duration of implantation was 2.9 ± 5.21 years. Majority of the participants (54.3%) had moderately adequate knowledge, 55.7% of the participants had moderately favourable attitude and 46% of them experienced moderate QOL. There were a positive correlation between the knowledge of participants and their QOL (r = 0.340; P = 0.004) and a statistically significant positive correlation between the attitude of participants and their QOL (r = 0.559; P = 0.001). A significant association between attitude and age was found. Conscious effort must be taken to help patients cope better and experience good QOL through systematic teaching after the PM implantation. This will help patients to function maximally and live life to their best capacities in the family and society.

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Theory development in nursing profession continues to raise more debates about critical issues. The present study aimed to explore the critical and contemporary issues and concerns about theory viewed from both the discipline- and professional-related perspectives. This narrative literature review was done in 2020. English articles in the electronic databases of Medline, Scopus, PubMed, CINAHL and Google Scholar were searched using the keywords: concerns, issues, nursing theory development, nursing theory construction, nursing discipline and nursing profession, and literature was retrieved and screened for eligibility. The date limit considered in the literature search was from 2010 to 2019. In the initial search, a total of 179 studies were retrieved and assessed for eligibility; 163 studies were eliminated due to not meeting the exact criteria set, leaving only 16 studies that were finally included in the content analysis. Content analysis method was used to extract our findings. Four themes (issues) emerged and were grouped into two overarching categories of discipline-related issues/concerns and profession-related issues/concerns. The four themes were (1) philosophical issues, (2) issues with validation of nursing theories, (3) multiplicity of nursing theories and divergent practice paradigms of nursing and (4) integration of theory into professional practice. This paper offers a promising premise to reconcile various concerns arising from nurses' attempts to develop, use and test theories. Identification and discussion of these issues should inform the nursing profession to plan activities to resolve or reduce them systematically.

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