Survey Response Inducements for Registered Nurses

Abstract

The past 20 years have seen an overall decline in survey response rates and an even more pronounced decline in samples of health care professionals. The authors tested the use of a "thank you" or "reminder" postcard as a method by which to stem the tide of declining response rates. The authors conducted a mail and telephone survey of 49,605 registered nurses for the 2000 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses and sent an extra mailing to a random subsample (n = 4,968). They then compared response rates for both groups. Contrary to prior research, this study found that reminder postcards did not improve response rates or rates of return. There may be several reasons for this finding, including the general familiarity with, and high saliency of, this research project for the nursing community. These results suggest that even widely accepted best practices for survey methods deserve scrutiny when applied to special subpopulations.

A Comparison of Two Distribution Methods on Response Rates to a Patient Safety Questionnaire in Nursing Homes

“…As tools that characterize employee perceptions in various health care settings are widely disseminated, 21 ramifications of design elements on issues of validity must be explored. In contrast to previous work that found the use of a simple reminder postcard had little impact on response rates from a large sample of nurses, 22 the value of multiple mailings was evident in the current study. Repeat mailings improved the racial and socioeconomic diversity of the respondent pool.…”

“…Indeed, some suggest mailing advance incentives to all potential participants as a way to increase response rates. 22 Future better-controlled studies should address this potential bias. Third, the survey questions addressed a potentially sensitive subject-patient safety.…”

Understanding Nurse Perceptions of a Newly Implemented Electronic Medical Record System

“…In addition, follow-up of nonrespondents was difficult as there was a limited period for data collection and responses were likely to be affected once the system went ''live.'' Also, there was a low response rate of the nurses, although other studies have reported this to be particularly challenging with healthcare professionals (Hill, Fahrney, Wheeless, & Carson, 2006), it still leaves some unanswered questions. Finally, the survey examined one hospital using a particular EMR system and interviewed nurses from the ICU=CCU only.…”

Canadian pediatric emergency physician knowledge of concussion diagnosis and initial management

“…It has been found that in surveys of the health care professionals, response rates are often influenced by respondents' characteristics and high workload demands. 47 Other limitations are similarly inherent to the use of surveys examining practice variation. For example, respondents may not practice in the manner that they indicate in the survey.…”