Purpose

The purpose of this assignment is to synthesize the literature that supports the evidence-based intervention for the quality improvement project.

Course Outcomes

This assignment enables the student to meet the following course outcomes:

CO 2: Demonstrate effective project management strategies (POs 2, 3, 6, 7, 8).

CO 4: Apply theory and evidence from management, policy, and perspectives to support quality improvement and patient safety in healthcare systems (POs 3, 4, 6).

Due Date(s)

The Late Assignment Policy applies to this assignment.

The assignment title is due by Sunday 11:59 p.m. MT at the end of Week 4.

Total points possible: 50

Preparing the Assignment

Follow these guidelines when completing each component of the assignment. Contact your course faculty if you have questions.

Synthesize at least 10 (no more than 5 years old) primary research studies and/or systematic reviews; do not include summary articles. This synthesis should focus on the evidence-based peer-reviewed research articles that support your intervention. This section is all about the scientific evidence rather than someone else’s opinion of the evidence. Do not use secondary sources; read the entire article and make your own decision about the level of evidence, quality of the evidence, and applicability to your question. The evidence cited in this section must relate directly to your intervention. This is a synthesis where you address the similarities, differences, and controversies in the body of evidence to support your intervention.

The Johns Hopkins Individual Evidence Summary Tool and the Johns Hopkins Research Evidence Appraisal Tool are located in the Student Resource Center.  You will be submitting the Johns Hopkins Individual Evidence Summary Tool with this assignment.

Consider organizing this section through use of themes inherent in the literature. For example, if you are focusing on falls prevention, organize this section as demonstrated below through use of level II headings.

Falls Prevention: Hourly Rounding Process

Falls Prevention: Team Huddles

Falls Prevention: Additional Strategies

The following are the requirements for the literature synthesis and Johns Hopkins Evidence Table as spelled out in the rubric:

Literature Synthesis Requirements:

1. Identifies search strategy utilized to identify sources to include appropriate databases such as CINAHL, Cochrane, and PubMed. Do not use Google Scholar or general search engine. Discusses key words utilized including combination of keywords, total articles found and inclusion/exclusion criteria to narrow search.
2. Synthesizes 10-12 research articles that are Evidence Level 1, 2 or 3 (unless faculty approved) to support evidence-based intervention. Describe how the intervention has been utilized to solve a similar problem by defining common themes found in the literature.
3. References are less than 5 years old (unless seminal) and professional. PermaLink of all articles is attached.

Literature synthesis table:

1. Completed with evidence level and quality (High, Good, Low or major flaws) identified for each article, including appropriate appraisal of the level of evidence.
2. Identifies appropriate study design.
3. Accurately assesses how the article can inform the project. If article does not inform the project, then it should not be used.

Clarity of Writing

1. Use of standard English grammar and sentence structure.
2. No spelling errors or typographical errors.
3. Organized around the required components using appropriate headers.

APA Formatting/References

All information taken from another source, even if summarized, must be appropriately cited in the manuscript and listed in the references using APA (current edition of the APA manual) format.

1. Document setup
2. Title and reference pages
3. Citations in the text and references