This essay contains my critical appraisal of a quantitative research paper by Kennedy, Curtis and Waters, (2014). I will critique the research paper using an appraisal guide adapted from Ingham-Broomfield (2008) and Solutions for Public Health (2010). I will work through the article in a systematic way, beginning with the title and going right through to the conclusion. Critiquing an article in this way helps enable one to weigh up the strengths and weaknesses of the research and make balanced judgments about the quality and usefulness of it (Moule & Hek, 2011). As a nursing student, my ability to read, understand, critique and implement research will be an essential part of providing competent and …show more content…
All three authors are registered nurses and all of them have completed postgraduate studies that are relevant to this research paper. One of the authors has a graduate certificate in emergency nursing and another of the authors has completed a PhD on how trauma nursing care management and intervention affects patient outcomes (The University of Sydney, 2015). The last author is another expert in the nursing field and has done extensive research on health related matters (The University of Sydney, 2015). From these facts, it can be taken that the authors are not only suitably familiar with the nursing scene but also have previous research …show more content…
This abstract indicates that the research problem is the limited investigation into what personality characteristics would make someone choose, and/or be suited to, emergency nursing. There is also an outline of the methodology and methods used. The authors say it was a survey design and they name the personality test used for data collection. It is clear the participants were recruited from a single Australian Emergency Department. The sample size and time frame for data collection are also given.
The results are then briefly outlined, with the authors stating that the study participants scored higher than the general population in the areas of extroversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, excitement-seeking and competence. Finally, the conclusion is stated with the authors maintaining that a better knowledge of these personality differences may help in the recruitment and retention of emergency nurses. One weakness of this abstract is that it does not include any recommendations (Coughlan, 2007).