Mixing qualitative methods versus methodologies: A critical reflection on communication and power in inpatient care

Return to practice for allied health professionals with protected characteristics: a mixed-methods study

INTRODUCTION

Return to practice is one mechanism for recruiting and retaining allied health professionals (AHPs) within the health and care workforce in England. It is not known how this affects persons with protected characteristics.

AIM

To understand experiences of AHPs with protected characteristics of returning to the workforce through a return to practice programme.

METHOD

A QUAL (semistructured interviews) + qual (focus group interviews) mixed-methods study. 12 online semistructured interviews with return to practice AHPs, followed by 2 online focus groups.

RESULTS

Our research identifies a new type of returners who have to use the return to practice programme as a vehicle to step into health and social care as they have not been able to find employment. A main driver to return to practice was financial reason.

CONCLUSION

To date there, is little evidence of leaders understanding the complexities of AHPs in a return to practice programme, the considerable contribution they can make to the workplace and the current inequities that exist.

Finding a path in a methodological jungle: a qualitative research of resilience

Qualitative research provides an in-depth understanding of lived experiences. However, these experiences can be hard to apprehend by using just one method of data analysis. A good example is the experience of resilience. In this paper, the authors describe the chain of the decision-making process in the research of the construct of "resilience". s The authors justify the implications of a multi-method, pluralistic approach, and show how the triangulation of two or more qualitative methods and integration of several qualitative data analysis methods can improve a deeper understanding of the resilience among people with chronic pain. By combining the thematic analysis, narrative analysis, and critical incident technique, lived experiences can be seen from different perspectives.Therefore, the thematic analysis describes the content and answers to "what" regarding resilience, the narrative analysis describes the dynamics of resilience, and answers to "how", while the critical incident technique clarifies the most significant experience and the answers to "why" changes happen. This integrative approach could be used in the analysis of other psychological constructs and can serve as an example of how the rigour of qualitative research could be provided.

The struggle is real-A mixed qualitative methods synthesis of challenges in nursing care in activities of daily living

INTRODUCTION

Supporting care receivers in Activities of Daily Living (ADL), irrespective of diagnosis, setting, or cultural background, lies at the heart of fundamental nursing care. The pursuit of quality ADL care becomes increasingly challenging with the changing complexity of care needs. ADL care delivery is often undervalued and is considered a low-status task despite its crucial importance to care receivers. This study aims to synthesize challenges in ADL care irrespective of the care setting.

METHODS

In the mixed qualitative methods study, we used expert panel consultations, world café sessions, and a rapid literature review. For data analysis, we simultaneously analyzed the three data sets using inductive and deductive inquiry.

RESULTS

We identified four challenges and their corresponding subthemes. They are (1) Undervalued common-sense work versus complex, high-skilled care provision; (2) Limitations in professional reflective clinical decision-making; (3) Missed opportunities for shared ADL decisions; and (4) Meeting ADL care needs in a high-throughput system.

CONCLUSION

These challenges reveal the complexity of ADL care and how its paradoxical narrative relates to the conditions in which nursing professionals struggle to create opportunities, for reflective clinical reasoning and shared ADL decisions, by facing organizational and environmental barriers.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

This study is relevant to nursing professionals, care organizations, policymakers, and researchers aiming to improve ADL care and provide insights into challenges in ADL care. This study forms the starting point for a changing narrative on ADL nursing care and subsequent quality improvements in the form of, for example, guidelines for nursing professionals.