Identify a current research problem related to advanced nursing practice that is of interest to you.

1. Identify a current research problem related to advanced nursing practice that is of interest to you. Include WHY this is a problem. (Limit response to no more than 3 sentences).
Catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) is a growing problem in hospitals today. Complications associated with CAUTI cause discomfort to the patient, prolonged hospital stay, and increased cost and mortality. Evidence-based practice show that to reduce the rate of CAUTI we need to shorten the time of catheter use with timely removal of urinary catheters.
2. Develop a research question to provide information about the research problem. This needs to be stated as a question. (This should be a one sentence response).
Can Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) be reduced by evaluating the need every shift (q12 hours) for them to remain indwelling?
3. Looking at the above research question, do you believe it will best be answered by a qualitative or quantitative study and support your decision as to why you believe the answers would best be provided by the type of study you have chosen. (This should be a response of no more than 3 sentences). It is possible to have a mixed methods study but it is not recommended that you choose to do this type of project. It may be too complex for novice researchers.
A quantitative study will be our approach to support the evidence. Information in regards to the study is best retrieved in a hospital setting by acquiring the information from the different units within. We will be looking at catheters that have remained indwelling for unexplained intervals to determine if the incidence of UTI’s is higher in longer length of catheter use.
4. Now, again looking at your research question you framed above, identify your variables. If, applicable identify which is the dependent [outcome] and which is the independent (or predictor) variable. (Here, limit to 1 predictor or independent variable, and 1 dependent or outcome variable.)
Independent Variable: Length of Urinary Catheters
Dependent Variable: Urinary Tract Infections (UTI’s)
“The presumed cause is the independent variable, and the presumed effect is the dependent variable” (Polit & Beck, 2008, p.58).
5. What conceptual or operational definitions will you assign to your variables chosen to explore? (Conceptual and operational definitions are very important and are not the same things. Check with the Nursing Research text by Polit and Beck (9th edition, 2012) page 52 for description of conceptual and operational definitions.) Tell me which definition you are providing.
In quantitative studies, such as the one stated above, concepts need to be defined from the beginning of the study. This will indicate how the variables will be measured. “An operational definition of a concept specifies the operations that researchers must perform to measure it” (Polit & Beck, 2012, p. 52). In the above study, the operational definitions of the variables are as follows:
Independent Variable: Urinary catheters will be measured in number of catheters patients with indwelling urinary catheter with a diagnosis of UTI.
Dependent Variable: Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) will be defined as number of diagnoses of UTI with a positive urine culture > 100,000.
References
Polit, D. F., & Tatano Beck, C. (2012). Nursing research: Generating and assessing evidence for Nursing Practice (9th ed.). Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.
Wilson, M., Wilde, M., Webb, M., Thompson, D., Parker, D., Harwood, J.,…Gray, M. (2009). Nursing interventions to reduce the risk of catheter associated urinary tract infections. Journal of Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nursing, 36(2), 137-154.