Page 39 - Nursing Education in Malaysia

3/ tHE status of NursiNg iN Malaysia

In short, nursing education should include as early as possible in the curriculum, the
application of NURSING PROCESS and PROBLEM-SOLVING PROCESS such as
PBL approach, as a basis for better understanding of the research process.

3. Nursing research incorporates both quantitative and qualitative research and two new
methodologies: outcomes research and intervention research.

(a) Quantitative research (objective, systematic process of using numerical data
to obtain information) and qualitative research (subjective approach used to
describe life experiences to give them meaning and values) compliment each
other, because they generate different kinds of knowledge and are useful in
nursing practice. Combined (triangulation), the two methods will ensure the
most comprehensive approach taken to solve a research problem.

(b) Outcomes research (end-results of care or a measure of the change in health
status of the patient) should be encouraged or made a necessity, because healthcare
is costly and nursing should be held responsible for answering questions about
the quality and effectiveness of nursing care and the patient outcomes related to
nursing service. Outcomes research can influence:

i. Patient health status;
ii. Delivery of practitioners service
iii. Use of limited resources
iv. Development of public policy
v. Purchaser demand

(c) Intervention research (investigation of effectiveness of a nursing intervention
in achieving the desired outcomes in a natural setting) provides a methodology
for determining how, when and for whom an intervention works. The goal is
to generate sound scientific knowledge for nursing actions that can be used by
nurses to provide evidence-based nursing care.

To make nursing research a reality, nursing needs nurses who are qualified to undertake
research. In Malaysia, there are about 10 nurses with Ph.D qualification and 30-40 more
are registered in PhD programmes locally and abroad. In addition, there are about 200 or
more masters’ prepared nurses. Together as a group, research activities could be activated.
There is a need for a mechanism to facilitate research activities, even if it is centralized,
to make nursing part of the research community, and in the process, facilitates nursing
autonomy.

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