Ethical
Research Question, Hypothesis, and Variables with Operational Definitions
What are the work-related factors which make nurses compromise patient safety at the local healthcare facility and what are the strategies which can be used to improve patient safety? Null hypothesis: there is a relationship between nurses' occupational stress and patient safety. Research or alternative hypothesis: there is no relationship between the nurses' occupational stress and patient safety. This study entails two variables, the nurses' occupational stress and patient safety. The dependent variable is the patient safety while the independent variable is the nurses' occupational stress. For this study, patient safety is operationally defined as the prevention of unexpected or unintended harm to patients when offering healthcare services. Nurses’ occupational stress is operationally defined as physical and emotional responses which come about when the nurse is interacting with his/her patients, their families, and other healthcare team members where the workload exceeds the resources and the abilities.