A Pediatric Nurse, Who Has Worked on the Inpatient Unit

A pediatric nurse, who has worked on the inpatient unit for 7 years, is enrolled in a master's program. The nurse notes that children who are homeless and who are admitted to the inpatient setting have longer lengths of hospital stay, appear to have poorer verbal skills, and seem to be more fearful of separation from their parents. The nurse designs a study to measure these variables in homeless children and to compare the findings with the average patients on the same unit. What are the research variables in this study?

A) Patient age
B) Verbal skills
C) Homelessness
D) Parental presence
E) Fear of separation from parents
F) Length of hospital stay