Haematological cancer nurses experience the threat of patients

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1. Does the abstract clearly and concisely summarize the main features of the report?
Introduction: Statement of the Problem

The abstract in this particular study was effective in providing a concise overview of the problem as it eloquently highlighted the conundrum faced by nurses who work in the cancer patients wherein the research wanted to analyze how nurses consistently dealt with the threat of their patients dying. The abstract highlighted the specific cancer unit, which was a malignant haematology unit that was located in Ontario, Canada. The abstract provided information on the methodology used for the study, the sample size of the study, and the qualitative research techniques that were used throughout the study.
In reference to the statement of the problem, this was less clear as the authors did not explicitly state the problem in laymen terms. In reference to the actual problem, from what I can deduce as a researcher myself who has engaged in scholarly research for over 14 years, the researchers were attempting to understand how nurses dealt with the internal conflict associated with attempting to cure patients of their disease and help them fight it with comfort, understanding, and care while also preparing patients for the likelihood of dying from their cancer. Researchers wanted to understand how nurses were able to consistently deal with the mandatory task of informing patients of their impending death while also trying to prevent this from occurring. Researchers found that nurses needed an enhanced capacity to deal with this complicated issue wherein many nurses are uncertain on how to accurately respond or whether they should even attempt to respond to patients and family members once a patient is considered beyond the help of man-made medicine. The researchers found that nurses were able to better assist patients with their distress and fear about dying when they were properly trained and prepared to provide the necessary assistance in regard to emotional and mental health once a patient is going to die from cancer.

2. Was the problem stated unambiguously, and is it easy to identify? Does the problem have significance for nursing?

No, the problem statement was not easy to identify for the average layman. If being observed by a fellow researcher or someone with experience in academia, the problem would not have been too difficult to identify, but for the average person, the problem would be somewhat difficult to identify. The researchers only identified the problem in the "results" section of the abstract wherein they stated that nurses often had difficulty dealing with their internal struggle to provide care to a dying patient while also preparing the dying patient for death. How to most compassionately provide this comfort as well as remain dedicated to providing care that could theoretically save the patient's life was the main problem identified in the study.

3. Was there a good match between the research problem and the paradigm, tradition, and methods?

Yes, there was a good match between the research problem and the paradigm used for the study. Qualitative research is the most effective research to use when attempting to gain knowledge on an unknown phenomenon. In this particular study, the unknown phenomenon was "how doe cancer nurses cope with the necessity to provide the highest quality of care for patients while also preparing them to die". The only way researchers could obtain insight into this problem was by utilizing qualitative research, which allowed researchers the ability to engage in observations, use interviews, and capitalize on other qualitative techniques that would assist in answering this question through the words and actions of cancer nurses. Therefore, the researchers chose the perfect paradigm and research methods to address this particular research question.

Introduction: Research Questions

4. Were research questions explicitly stated? If not, was their absence justified?

The research questions were explicitly stated within the article with the three research questions being listed in the beginning of the paper. These questions included ascertaining how nurses were able to engage patients who were under threat of facing their mortality, how BMT when placed into context was able to situate nurses concerns about inpatients who were under the threat of mortality, and how patients impending or probable death from cancer affected nurses ability to care for these patients while preparing them to die.
Introduction: Literature Review
5. Did the report adequately summarize the existing body of knowledge related to the problem or phenomenon of interest?

The authors did not conduct a literature review of the problem as there was little to no literature on the subject that was provided within the article. This typically occurs when the phenomenon being researched is a new concept, which was the issue with this parituclar study wherien this phenomenon had not been heavily researched before. ...