Part 1: Assessing the Quality of Quantitative or Qualitative Research

Carlson et al. (2019) "Attitudes about and access to influenza vaccination experienced by parents of children hospitalised for influenza in Australia."

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Immunisations are undoubtedly important for the children, which replicates to the improvement of overall public health. One of the topics that arise when the idea of immunisation comes into mind is the role of parent attitudes in influenza immunisation uptake for children. For this topic of research, getting background information is critical as it ensures that one understands the initial context in a paper. This involved reading a study conducted by Carlson, Scanlan, Marshall, Blyth, Macartney and Leask (2019), titled "Attitudes about and access to influenza vaccination experienced by parents of children hospitalised for influenza in Australia." The paper will critique this qualitative research.

Title

The title of this study is well articulated and not ambiguous. It is attractive and well introduces the key variable as well as the phenomenon of interest and the study population. Reading the title lets one know that the paper will concentrate on investigating how attitudes of parents affect access to influenza vaccination o their children and this is in the context of Australia. The title is not supposed to be long, but should as much as possible reflects what the research is all about and at the same time, it should not validate or invalidate the study (Grant, 2013). It is a phenomenon that is well-followed in the title of this research.

Abstract

The abstract is not concise and clear of what will be discussed in the research because it does not briefly summarise all the main features of the research. The abstract gives the introduction, methods, results and conclusion, but it omits the discussion part of the study.

Problem statement

A formal heading for problem statement lacks, but it is well written in the introduction part. The sound written problem statement in the introduction gives a clear explanation of the phenomena of interest, particularly after consideration of what made the researchers conduct this study. It is highlighted that this study aimed to understand attitudes about and access to influenza vaccination experienced by parents of children hospitalised for influenza and therefore come up with strategies to improve influenza vaccine uptake.

Literature review

Although there are references in the introduction part that include up-to-date information, a formal title is lacking. Nevertheless, the authors refer to prior studies in this study. For instance, in the introduction part, it is highlighted that studies have identified multiple barriers to pediatric and antenatal influenza vaccination in Australia, such as lack of health care provider (HCP) recommendation. The sources cited here are original, and this gives the justification of this study.

Methodology

The methodology of this study is comprehensive and explains well what was followed to complete the study. Case ascertainment and recruitment is the first aspect of the methodology that is explained in this section. Parents of children were approached to participate in the study and were not coerced but willingly agreed to participate. However, there is no mention of how the research was explained to the participants, their rights were not explained, and there was no explanation of how their confidentiality and privacy were maintained.

The selection of these participants was made using purposeful sampling to ensure that only parents of children aged six months and below were interviewed. Application to theory is also highlighted in the methods section with the researchers highlighting that they were guided by the Social Ecological Model (SEM) and the Michie et al.'s Behaviour Change Wheel models. Data collection is also well explained with the study highlighting that surveillance nurses collected data related to demographics, comorbidities, vaccination history, hospitalisation details, and clinical features. Additionally, semi-structured interviews with parents were also conducted. The interviews were recorded and checked for accuracy before the analysis was conducted. The last aspect of methods is the data analysis, and here, it is well articulated that thematic analysis was done to interview transcripts. Braun and Clarke's method guided it for thematic analysis in qualitative research. Additionally, it is explained that medical and demographic data were calculated using Microsoft Excel to arrive at the desired descriptive statistics.

Results

The results of this study were presented according to the analytical typologies. Statistical information arrived in the analysis directed the study to arrive at the barriers to influenza vaccination. It was after the analysis that the researchers were able to identify that lack of opportunity, missing motivation, and limited capability were the major barriers to influenza vaccination.

Discussion

The discussion part of this article partly explains the results of this study and at the same time, explains the strengths and the limitations of the study. It is important to note that research is not always done to prove a point but also to give a basis for furthering research (Caparlar & Donmez, 2016). It is a phenomenon that is reflected in this paper, where the future direction for a related study is given.

References

This part of the study is very informative as it contains both old and new sources. The research has included sources from books, peer-reviewed journals, reports, credible magazines, agencies such as WHO and Australian government departments. For those who want to further reading on this topic, this list of references provides an excellent starting point (Masic, 2013).

Part 2: Reflection

As a nurse, I understand that I am a primary caregiver, and this means that many lives are dependent on how well I give care. Before undertaking this assessment, I already knew immunisation safety for children and pregnant women. Although I heard many concerns among people regarding vaccine safety, I understood the fact that vaccines save lives and protect against the spread of diseases. Therefore, if one refuses to immunise, they put the lives of their children at risk as well as the lives of others who come into contact with the child. To me, it was clear that getting vaccinated was much better than getting the disease. Furthermore, I had already read in school that some deadly diseases such as polio had greatly reduced or even eradicated in some areas overtime courtesy of immunisation. Nevertheless, it was also clear to me that vaccines were always studied and closely monitored by government agencies, and therefore, their safety was ensured, which made them safe to use.

As a child who always aspired to become a nurse, I was curious to understand various nursing aspects and one of these aspects was immunisation, particularly their safety on children and pregnant women. I read magazines and journal articles about this subject, and this is where I got information that childhood vaccines are 90% to 99% effective in preventing disease, and it is rare for side effects to be serious (Orenstein and Ahmed, 2017). It made me realise that immunisations could be entrusted to saving millions of lives with side effects such as swelling where the shot was given lasting for a short period. I had also learned from school that vaccines are studied, and safety is monitored even after licensure. As a result, doctors have to report side effects and parents could do the same to further study identified vaccine safety concerns. As a curious child, I also approached my neighbour, who was a nurse, and she assured me that vaccines were always safe. As she explained, before vaccines were licensed, they had to meet the standards of effectiveness as well as safety. Furthermore, every lot of vaccine is tested to ensure quality and government agencies regularly inspect where the vaccines are made.

To a greater instance, I did not have opinion bias regarding the safety of immunisation in children and pregnant women. The vast sources of information concerning the safety of immunisation that I had come across had made me adamant that safety in immunisation was paramount and was always ensured by the relevant authorities before vaccines were availed to the population. My only concern was that I had come across several articles that aired their concern over the safety of immunisations, particularly the use of Thimerosal as a preservative in some flu vaccines (Mrozek-Budzyn, Kieltyka, Majewska and Augustyniak, 2011; Tucker, 2007; Hughes, 2009). From what I had discovered before the assessment, this preservative contained mercury (ethylmercury) which could cause less harm.

The course has made me believe even more that immunisations are safe. My only concern before I made assessments was that the preservative that was used in some of the flu vaccines had mercury. I have now learned that scientific evidence shows that Thimerosal is safe when used in vaccines because the body readily eliminates it and the only side effects are minor such as swelling and redness at the site of injection. What has even reaffirmed my take that vaccines are safe is learning that in case safety issues emerge, vaccines are called until it is concise that they are safe for use in children and pregnant women. It means that immunisations, in any case, are critically evaluated for their safety until it is clear that they have no adverse effects on the user. To the extreme, the vaccines are even withdrawn to the slightest detection of quality irregularities of the manufacturer.

I have learned how to interpret qualitative research to understand how credible it is to use it. It is so because I now know that a good study must encompass key elements including a good title, a concise abstract, a proper literature review, a concise problem statement, a detailed step-by-step methodology, well-explained results and discussion as well as a list of credible resources. Exploring the studies that meet these criteria has made me realise how important vaccinations are for pregnant women and children. For instance, in the article analysed above, it is apparent that influenza is a major public health problem that could be addressed through immunisations. Consequently, this has led the research to identify barriers to influenza immunisations and strategies to thwart these barriers. As a nurse, I believe that it is paramount that children and pregnant women are immunised to protect themselves and their children. It comes hand in hand with securing future generations from infectious diseases to save lives.

As a registered nurse, I have the responsibility of caring for patients to ensure that they get the best care. Nevertheless, it is prevalent that I cannot take for granted the health beliefs of patients because they form a crucial part of their lives. It comes to the point of balancing a person's health beliefs with evidence-based practice when assisting them with choices about health care. Interactions, in this case, are critical for achieving this balance, and these are achievable through the practices of awareness, asking and acceptance (Black, 2018). Awareness, in this case, calls for identifying my own beliefs before caring for others as this will help to control personal biases on others. Acceptance, on the other hand, involves accepting patients and their myriad of problems and complexities, which in turn makes me an agent of healing. Asking is the other important practice, and this will involve enquiring from the patient about their beliefs, and this will ensure that I cater adequately to their needs.

References

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