Postoperative Arm Massage: A Support for Women With Lymph Node Dissection

Research Critique
Postoperative Arm Massage: A Support for Women With Lymph Node Dissection
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Article Research Critique
Abstract
The paper has a clear abstract that has defined the aim and the several sectors of the paper. The names of the authors have been included and the year of publication of the article has been clearly identified. The levels of nursing practice of the authors have been identified giving the paper much credibility.
Introduction
The paper lacks an introduction. What is provided as the introduction paragraph is a very short paragraph that only mentions the aim of the study at the end of the paragraph which is “to examine the usefulness of arm massage by a significant other in the immediate postoperative period” (Forchuck, 2004, p.264)
There are quite a number of subsections that are lacking in the introduction part. Firstly the authors have not identified the introduction part, after the abstract the authors have started writing about the women and breast cancer. This section should have been given more attention than what the authors have done. In the introduction section they should have provided background information on the problem under study. For instance, this section should have given the statistics on the number of women who are diagnosed annually of the breast cancer.
The statement of the problem lacks in the introduction part. Although it’s can be identified it in the summarized introduction part of the paper, a clear demarcation and identification for the statement of the problem should have been done. When the problem is identified it becomes easier for the reader to understand the magnitude of the problem under study.
Research questions are also vital in giving the reader a clear picture on the nature of the problem under study and the focus of the study. There are no research questions as the authors did not identify them. The variables for the study are not identified in the introduction part.
Literature Review
In the paper this section has been named as the current knowledge. It starts off by telling us how serious the issue of breast cancer was as by the year 2004 when the article was written with an estimated lifetime risk of 1 in 9 for every woman in Canada and the USA.
The section has discussed the lymph node dissection and has mentioned the pain that is associated with the dissection. The authors have also discussed the massage in relation to lymph node dissection and the number of people who have been affected indicating that 12% of women who have undergone breast surgery and lymph node dissection can constitute a handicap for the patients.
This section contains quite a number of sources that have been used to support massage as an alternative in solving the problems of pain that come after the dissection. The sources that have been used are within the framework of five years and have given a clear image on the nature of the problem under study. Several authors have supported the use of massage in tackling the postoperative problems of the lymph node dissection: range of motion and pain.
The authors have also identified the gap in the literature indicating that despite several documented literature on the effect...