Sampling Plan Essays Examples

Mortell explains the reasons for the prevalence of healthcare associated infections and why hospitals remain some of the most dangerous places. The article describes the weak tendency of healthcare givers to cater for their patients by washing their hands and points out that ironically, nurses (the least educated regarding patient safety) are the ones who hindermost to WHO guidelines regarding hand washing whereas doctors and surgeons wash their hands less often thereby compromising the health of their patients. The sampling plan used to reach the conclusion that physicians are less vigilant in hand washing compared to nurses remains unclear. However, the study is revealed to have taken place in the United States in a healthcare context. The article fails to explain whether the sampling was random or selective, but it highlights that the data was obtained through observation (Manfred, 2012).
A better sampling plan would have included the number of professionals examined for the study. The sample should also have been statistically significant to enable correct inferences to be drawn from the survey (Rao, 2007). The random sampling method with a predetermined sample size of, for example, fifty doctors, fifty nurses and fifty clinical officers could have yielded a more reliable outcome (Debnath, 2009). The observation should have been remote such as through the use of hospital footage from CCTV cameras in such a way that the professionals were unaware of the investigation. This random sampling would have yielded the best and most dependable data for the research (Eshetu, 2013).
For the sampling plan to be more culturally applicable, the sampling plan should be designed in such a way that it captures the professionals in various periods, rooms and premises within the healthcare centers and during their working hours. It would give a clearer insight of their hand washing tendencies and point out the areas or sections where hand washing is least practiced (Bennett et al., 2007).

References

Bennett John V; William R Jarvis; Philip S Brachman (2007) Bennett & Brachman's hospital infections. Philadelphia : Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Debnath Rita (2009) Professional Skills in Nursing : a Guide for the Common Foundation Programme. London : Sage Publications
Eshetu Getnet (2013) Involving children for hand washing behavior change : repeated message delivery to foster action [S.l.] : Anchor Academic Publishing
Mortell Manfred (2012) Hand hygiene compliance: is there a theory-practice-ethics gap? Infection Control British Journal of Nursing Vol 21, No 17
Rao, N. (2007) Textbook of Microbiology for Nursing Students. Gardners Books