The collection of evidence is an activity that occurs with an endgame in mind. For example, law enforcement professionals collect evidence to support a decision to charge those accused of criminal activity. Similarly, evidence-based healthcare practitioners collect evidence to support decisions in pursuit of specific healthcare outcomes.

In this Assignment, you will identify an issue or opportunity for change within your healthcare organization and propose an idea for a change in practice supported by an EBP approach.

To Prepare:

• Reflect on the four peer-reviewed articles you critically appraised in Module 4, related to your clinical topic of interest and PICOT.
• Reflect on your current healthcare organization and think about potential opportunities for evidence-based change, using your topic of interest and PICOT as the basis for your reflection.
• Consider the best method of disseminating the results of your presentation to an audience.

The Assignment: (Evidence-Based Project)

Part 4: Recommending an Evidence-Based Practice Change

Create an 8- to 9-slide PowerPoint presentation in which you do the following:

• Briefly describe your healthcare organization, including its culture and readiness for change. (You may opt to keep various elements of this anonymous, such as your company name.)
• Describe the current problem or opportunity for change. Include in this description the circumstances surrounding the need for change, the scope of the issue, the stakeholders involved, and the risks associated with change implementation in general.
• Propose an evidence-based idea for a change in practice using an EBP approach to decision making. Note that you may find further research needs to be conducted if sufficient evidence is not discovered.
• Describe your plan for knowledge transfer of this change, including knowledge creation, dissemination, and organizational adoption and implementation.
• Explain how you would disseminate the results of your project to an audience. Provide a rationale for why you selected this dissemination strategy.
• Describe the measurable outcomes you hope to achieve with the implementation of this evidence-based change.
• Be sure to provide APA citations of the supporting evidence-based peer reviewed articles you selected to support your thinking.
• Add a lessons learned section that includes the following:
  • A summary of the critical appraisal of the peer-reviewed articles you previously submitted
  • An explanation about what you learned from completing the Evaluation Table within the Critical Appraisal Tool Worksheet Template (1-3 slides)

Students are required to submit weekly reflective narratives throughout the course that will culminate in a final, course-long reflective journal due in Topic 10. The narratives help students integrate leadership and inquiry into current practice.

This reflection journal also allows students to outline what they have discovered about their professional practice, personal strengths and weaknesses, and additional resources that could be introduced in a given situation to influence optimal outcomes. Each week students should also explain how they met a course competency or course objective(s).

In each week’s entry, students should reflect on the personal knowledge and skills gained throughout the course. Journal entries should address one or more of the areas stated below.  In the Topic 10 graded submission, each of the areas below should be addressed as part of the summary submission.

2. Health policy

While APA style is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and in-text citations and references should be presented using APA documentation guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

Introduction

The ultimate goal of EBP is to create a culture of evidence in an organization or practice setting. This assignment enables you to finalize the steps of the EBP process in relation to a health care challenge and to incorporate the importance of interprofessional communication and collaboration to appropriately assess and address the health care needs of patients and to promote and advance the health of populations.

Instructions

Write a paper in which you complete the steps of the EBP process and promote a culture of evidence.

Paper Format and Length

Format your paper using APA style.

• Use the APA Style Paper Template [DOCX]. An APA Style Paper Tutorial [DOCX] is also provided to help you in writing and formatting your paper. Be sure to include:
  • Title page and references page. An abstract is not required.
  • A running head on all pages.
  • Appropriate section headings.
• Your paper should be 4–6 pages in length, not including the title page and references page.

Assignment Grading

The following requirements correspond to the scoring guide criteria, so be sure to address each point. Read the performance-level descriptions in the scoring guide for each criterion to see how your work will be assessed.

• Analyze the outcomes of an evidence-based intervention (step 5 in the EBP process).
  • Restate the PICO(T) question from your Week 5 assignment, and provide a transition to Step 5 of the EBP process, after an evidence-based intervention was implemented and data related to the outcomes have been gathered.
  • Review the information provided in the Vila Health: Creating a Culture of Evidence multimedia simulation, showing results from 2020 (after the intervention) compared to baseline data from 2018 and 2019 (before the intervention).
  • Analyze both qualitative and quantitative outcomes.
• Develop a continuing evaluation plan in relation to the outcomes from an evidence-based intervention (still part of Step 5 of the EBP process).
  • Discuss additional data that needs to be collected and methods for doing so.
    • Was the data collected sufficient to show whether the intervention was successful?
    • When, and how often, should the same or other data be collected to continue evaluating the intervention?
    • Justify your conclusions and recommendations.
• Recommend strategies to disseminate outcomes and sustain the evidence-based practice improvements through collaboration with professionals in health care and other fields (Step 6 in the EBP process).
  • Strategies could include how to teach providers or staff about EBP, how to facilitate changes in attitudes and behaviors, and how to lead change.
  • Make recommendations about how the organization can create a culture of evidence.
  • What evidence do you have to support your recommendations?
• Organize your writing so ideas flow logically, with smooth transitions.
• Apply selected resources to improve your writing skills.
  • Include an appendix after your reference page in which you identify writing improvement tools or resources you’ve used, based upon feedback received during the course from Smarthinking and your instructor.
  • Include evidence of the use of such tools as the Personal Writing Assessment, MEAL plan, outlining, reverse outlining, and (or) other resources explaining the appropriate use of evidence.
  • Explain how you used these tools or resources to improve your writing for this assignment.

Scenario 1:

Your patient C.S is 78 years old. Admitted to the nursing home you work at, with a diagnosis of dehydration. C.S., has been ordered to increase her oral fluid intake to 2500cc per day. When offering her a glass of water, she pushes away your hand and says “I hate water and I don’t drink it much”. You note that after one and a half days she has dry mucous membranes and poor skin turgor.

Questions:

1. What should your assessment be on this patient? Explain in detail.
2. After completing your assessment, what should your next step be? Be specific.
3. Write 3 complete nursing diagnosis from above information. Include all 3 sections (NANDA, Related to (R/T) & Evidence based practice (EBP) & include 2 nursing interventions for each nursing diagnosis.

Scenario 2:

Ms. Cohen is hospitalized for repair of a fractured hip after a fall at home. She requires intravenous (IV) antibiotics after surgery. Shortly after the first dose she became restless and started picking at her IV line and frequently tried to get out of bed. Several restraint alternatives were attempted; but, because of her restlessness, she was successful at pulling out her IV line and getting out of bed. It becomes necessary to restrain Ms. Cohen.

Questions:

1. You know that a health care provider’s order is required for the restraint. What are essential components of the restraint order?

2. Which assessments do you need to perform on Ms. Cohen while she is restrained?

3. The physician orders a belt restraint. Your assessment of Ms. Cohen the next day reveals that during the day she is alert and pleasantly confused but not attempting to get out of bed. Do you continue use of the restraint? Explain.