Appraisal of the Hallas, Banner and Wrays Study of the...

Introduction A qualitative study of the psychological experience of patients during and after mechanical cardiac support by Hallas, Banner, and Wray (2009), is a study that evaluated the psychological adjustment and quality of life of patients being treated for end stage heart failure with ventricular support assist device (VAD) in situ compared with patients who underwent heart transplantation or had the VAD removed. This critique will appraise the author’s presentation of the elements of the research study to include: the stated problem, purpose, research question, conceptual framework, literature review, measures of concept, results reporting, sample and research design. Problem In the introduction of the article (Hallas et al.,†¦show more content†¦According to (Polit Beck, 2011), a problem statement articulates the problem and describes the need for the study through the development of an argument. The researchers of this article have provided the basis for the research study which is to identify necessary issues that research has left unresolved in regards to the psychological well-being that are affected by living with a VAD (Hallas et al., 2009). Purpose The purpose of this study is clearly stated in the article and the format is appropriate for this study. It is presented as the aim of the study, which is to identify the psychological processes that patients use to construct and make sense of their adjustment to a VAD and to determine whether the conceptual construction of adjustment and well-being in heart failure patients is consistent for patients with different surgical outcomes (Hallas et al., 2009). The setting of the study is not clearly identified in the purpose statement. However the setting is mentioned later in the article. The type of study is a qualitative cross sectional study although it is not clearly stated in the purpose statement but it is stated in the objectives. Research Questions The research questions are not clearly stated in a question format; however, in the introduction, the researcher states there has been scarce data related to the following statements and little knowledge