International journal of nursing studies
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Sleep is essential for well-being and recovery from illness. The critically ill are in significant need of sleep but at increased risk of sleep loss and disruption. ⋯ There is evidence that intensive care patients' sleep is significantly disrupted. Alternative methods of quantifying sleep for intensive care patients may be required. Few large observational or interventional studies have used polysomnography and simultaneous recordings of intrinsic and extrinsic disruptive factors. These studies are required in order to improve sleep for intensive care patients.
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Comparative Study
Comparison of 'think aloud' and observation as data collection methods in the study of decision making regarding sedation in intensive care patients.
There is recognition that different data collection methods gather different aspects of decision making data. Although the selection of a method to explore nurses' decision making is partially determined by the theoretical perspective that informs each study, some flexibility remains. Description of the relative benefits of each method will enable future researchers to selectively identify which method is most suited to answering their specific research question. ⋯ The two data collection methods of think aloud and observation resulted in identification of different decision tasks. These results suggest an essential consideration in design of decision making studies is the method of data collection and the type of decision data that is likely to be identified. It may be appropriate to use a combination of data collection methods to optimise the completeness of data capture.