If a nurse researcher wanted to study the relationship between a surgical procedure and the length of hospital stay, which source for collection of data would the nurse use?

Question

1. International standards of care.
2. Quality improvement and risk data.
3. Retrospective chart review.
4. Local standards of care.

Answer 1

3
Rationale 1: Standards of care identify information relating to the provision of care expectations and interventions for selected diagnoses/populations.
Rationale 2: Quality improvement is a source of information containing statistical data related to a variety of topics.
Rationale 3: The only source that will provide individualized data is the retrospective chart review.
Rationale 4: Standards of care identify information relating to the provision of care expectations and interventions for selected diagnoses/populations.