Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The STEP trials

A round-up of the STEP phase 3 clinical trials evaluating semaglutide for weight loss in people with overweight or obesity.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
BMC Health Services Research
Published in: BMC Health Services Research 1/2017

Open Access 01-12-2017 | Research article

The role of simulation in mixed-methods research: a framework & application to patient safety

Authors: Jeanne-Marie Guise, Matthew Hansen, William Lambert, Kerth O’Brien

Published in: BMC Health Services Research | Issue 1/2017

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

Research in patient safety is an important area of health services research and is a national priority. It is challenging to investigate rare occurrences, explore potential causes, and account for the complex, dynamic context of healthcare - yet all are required in patient safety research. Simulation technologies have become widely accepted as education and clinical tools, but have yet to become a standard tool for research.

Methods

We developed a framework for research that integrates accepted patient safety models with mixed-methods research approaches and describe the performance of the framework in a working example of a large National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded R01 investigation.

Results

This worked example of a framework in action, identifies the strengths and limitations of qualitative and quantitative research approaches commonly used in health services research. Each approach builds essential layers of knowledge. We describe how the use of simulation ties these layers of knowledge together and adds new and unique dimensions of knowledge.

Conclusions

A mixed-methods research approach that includes simulation provides a broad multi-dimensional approach to health services and patient safety research.
Literature
1.
Institute of Medicine. Emergency medical services for children. Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press; 1993.
2.
Institute of Medicine. Crossing the quality chasm: a new health system for the 21st century. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press; 2001.
3.
Institute of Medicine. Patient safety: achieving a new standard of care. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press; 2003.
4.
Institute of Medicine. Emergency medical services at the crossroads. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press; 2006.
5.
Institute of Medicine. Emergency care for children: growing pains. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press; 2007.
6.
Kohn L, Corrigan J, Donalson M. To err is human: building a safer health system. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press; 1999.
7.
8.
Leape LL, Brennan TA, Laird N, et al. The nature of adverse events in hospitalized patients: Results of the Harvard Medical Practice Study II. N Engl J Med. 1991;324(6):377–84.CrossRefPubMed
9.
Leistikow IP, Kalkman CJ, Bruijn H. Why patient safety is such a tough nut to crack. BMJ. 2011;342:d3447.CrossRefPubMed
10.
11.
Haji FA. From bricks to buildings: adapting the medical research council framework to develop programs of research in simulation education and training for the health professions. Simul Healthc. 2014;9:249–59.CrossRefPubMed
12.
Shekelle PG, Pronovost PJ, Wachter RM, et al. Advancing the science of patient safety. Ann Intern Med. 2011;154:693–6.CrossRefPubMed
13.
14.
15.
Donabedian A. The quality of care: how can it be assessed? JAMA. 1988;121(11):1145–50.
16.
17.
Guise JM, Mladenovic J. In situ simulation: identification of system issues. Semin Perinatol. 2013;37(3):161–5.CrossRefPubMed
18.
Woods D, Thomas E, Holl J, et al. Adverse events and preventable adverse events in children. Pediatrics. 2005;115:155–60.CrossRefPubMed
19.
Brennan TA, Leape LL, Laird NM, et al. Incidence of adverse events and negligence in hospitalized patients. N Engl J Med. 1991;324(6):370–6.CrossRefPubMed
20.
Thomas E, Studdert PM, Burstein HR, et al. Incidence and types of adverse events and negligent care in Utah and Colorado. Med Care. 2000;38(3):261–7.CrossRefPubMed
21.
Morgan DL. Focus groups as qualitative research. Newbury Park: Sage Publications; 1988.
22.
Morgan DL. Integrating qualitative and quantitative methods: a pragmatic approach. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications; 2013.
23.
O’Brien K. Using focus groups to develop health surveys: an example from research on social relationships and AIDS-preventive behavior. Health Educ Q. 1993;20(3):361–72.CrossRefPubMed
24.
Corbin J, Strauss A. Basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing of grounded theory. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage; 2008.CrossRef
25.
Creswell JW, Plano-Clark VL. Designing and conducting mixed methods research. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications; 2007.
26.
Hasson F, Keeney S, McKenna H. Research guidelines for the Delphi survey technique. J Adv Nurs. 2000;32(4):1008–15.PubMed
27.
28.
29.
Guise JM, Meckler G, O’Brien K, et al. Patient safety perceptions in pediatric out-of-hospital emergency care: Children’s safety initiative. J Pediatr. 2015;167(5):1143–8. e1.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
30.
Weick KE, Sutcliffe KM. Managing the unexpected assuring high performance in an age of complexity. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass; 2001.
Metadata
Title
The role of simulation in mixed-methods research: a framework & application to patient safety
Authors
Jeanne-Marie Guise
Matthew Hansen
William Lambert
Kerth O’Brien
Publication date
01-12-2017
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Health Services Research / Issue 1/2017
Electronic ISSN: 1472-6963
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-017-2255-7

Other articles of this Issue 1/2017

BMC Health Services Research 1/2017 Go to the issue

Research article

Risk-adjustment methods for all-payer comparative performance reporting in Vermont

Research article

Building freeways: piloting communication skills in additional languages to health service personnel in Cape Town, South Africa

Hypothesis

The influential role of personal advice networks on general practitioners’ performance: a social capital perspective

Research article

The prevalence of non-cardiac chest pain (NCCP) using emergency department (ED) data: a Northern Ireland based study

Research article

The safety attitudes questionnaire in Chinese: psychometric properties and benchmarking data of the safety culture in Beijing hospitals

Research article

Validation of work pressure and associated factors influencing hospital nurse turnover: a cross-sectional investigation in Shaanxi Province, China