background information, and evidence.
background information, and evidence.
Respond to the Main post bellow, in one or more of the following ways:
Ask a probing question, substantiated with additional background information, and evidence.
Share an insight from having read your colleagues’ postings, synthesizing the information to provide new perspectives.
Offer and support an alternative perspective using readings from the classroom or from your own review of the literature in the Walden Library.
Validate an idea with your own experience and additional sources.
Make a suggestion based on additional evidence drawn from readings or after synthesizing multiple postings.
Expand on your colleagues’ postings by providing additional insights or contrasting perspectives based on readings and evidence.
INITIAL POST
An Intervention Program to Promote Health-Related Physical Fitness in Nurses
This quantitative, quasi-experimental study conducted by Yaun et al. (2009) aimed to determine the effects of an exercise intervention on nurses’ health-related physical fitness. The researchers also expressed an explicit interest in the relationship between physical fitness and the incidence of musculoskeletal disorders. Taiwanese nurses from five different units volunteered to be part of the study. The participants were divided into two groups with 45 nurses in the experimental group and 45 nurses in the control group. There was no randomization, but all the participants gave written informed consent (Yaun et al., 2009).
Internal Validity
According to Polit and Beck (2017), internal validity pertains to the empirical relationship between the independent variable and the final results. Researchers must establish that the intended cause created the effect, and that it was not influenced by other variables (Polit & Beck, 2017). After all, correlation does not equal causation, and an astute researcher will adeptly identify and control convoluting variables. Further, Andrade (2018) asserts that internal validity assesses whether the design of the study, the conduct of the researchers, and the analysis of the results answer the research question without bias (Andrade, 2018).
Consequently, the research conducted by Yaun et al. did have some issues that negatively impacted the internal validity of their research. Firstly, convoluting variables were not adequately controlled. The exclusion criteria consisted of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, renal disease, pulmonary disease, severe musculoskeletal aches, and pregnancy. However, other significant variables such as age, gender, marital status, educational level, or other medical issues. It is worth noting that the diet and exercise habits of the participants were not limited by the researchers.
Moreover, the nurses in the experimental group worked a fixed schedule whereas nurses in the control group worked alternating shifts. Secondly, the lack of randomization coupled with the fact that the participants worked for the same organization could have contaminated the results. Thirdly, while the results of the research showed the exercise intervention improved the physical fitness of the participants in the experimental group, participants were not evaluated
