Discussion Question:
The 2016 NINR five-year strategic plan lists five priority areas for nursing research:
- Enhance health promotion and disease prevention.
- Improve quality of life by managing symptoms of acute and chronic illness.
- Improve palliative and end-of-life care.
- Enhance innovation in science and practice.
- Develop the next generation of nurse scientists.
First, do you agree with the priorities or would you recommend addition or elimination of some of the priorities? Second, describe how these research initiatives can be translated into evidence-based practice in your own work environment.
Assignment:
Identifying A Clinical Question
Write a 1000-1500 word essay addressing each of the following points/questions. Be sure to completely answer all the questions for each bullet point. There should be three main sections, one for each bullet below. Separate each section in your paper with a clear heading that allows your professor to know which bullet you are addressing in that section of your paper. Support your ideas with at least five (5) sources using citations in your essay. Make sure to cite using the APA writing style for the essay. The cover page and reference page in correct APA do not count towards the minimum word amount. Review the rubric criteria for this assignment.
Identify a clinical question related to your work environment, write the question in PICOT format and perform a literature search on the identified topic.
Purpose
To enable the student to identify a clinical question related to a specified area of practice and use medical and nursing databases to find research articles that will provide evidence to validate nursing interventions regarding a specific area of nursing practice.
Review the Application Case Study for Chapter 3: Finding Relevant Evidence to Answer Clinical Questions as a guide for your literature search.
Guidelines
- Identify a clinical question related to your area of clinical practice and write the clinical foreground question in PICOT format utilizing the worksheet tool provided as a guide.
- Describe why this is a clinical problem or an opportunity for improving health outcomes in your area of clinical practice. Perform a literature search and select five research articles on your topic utilizing the databases highlighted in Chapter 3 of the textbook (Melnyk and Finout-Overholt, 2015).
- Identify the article that best supports nursing interventions for your topic. Explain why this article best supports your topic as you compare the article to the other four found in the literature search.
Assignment Expectations:
Length: 1000 – 1500 wordsStructure: Include a title page and reference page in APA format. These do not count towards the minimum word count for this assignment. Your essay must include an introduction and a conclusion.References: Use appropriate APA style in-text citations and references for all resources utilized to answer the questions. A minimum of five (5) scholarly sources are required for this assignment to support the topic.
Expert Solution Preview
Introduction:
As a medical professor, I agree with the priorities listed in the 2016 NINR five-year strategic plan. These priorities align with the current health care trends, need for innovation, and focus on improving outcomes for patients. In this assignment, the students will identify a clinical question related to their work environment, write the question in PICOT format, and perform a literature search on the identified topic. This assignment will help students understand the importance of evidence-based practice and the role of research in improving patient care outcomes.
Answer to the Discussion Question:
I agree with the priorities listed in the 2016 NINR five-year strategic plan. All five priority areas are crucial for nursing research, and eliminating any of them will hinder the progress towards achieving optimal health outcomes for patients. Enhancing health promotion and disease prevention, improving quality of life, improving palliative and end-of-life care, enhancing innovation in science and practice, and developing the next generation of nurse scientists are all equally important.
These research initiatives can be translated into evidence-based practice by focusing on implementing innovative strategies aimed at enhancing patient outcomes. For instance, for enhancing health promotion and disease prevention, healthcare professionals can focus on providing education and awareness to patients to help improve their health outcomes. In improving palliative and end-of-life care, healthcare professionals need to provide compassionate care to patients and their families. The next generation of nurse scientists can be developed by providing them with the appropriate platforms for research and development.
Answer to the Assignment:
Identifying a Clinical Question:
Clinical foreground question in PICOT format: In adults with diabetic foot ulcers, does the use of honey dressings (P) compared to standard wound dressings (C) improve healing time (O) within four weeks (T)?
Description of the clinical problem or opportunity for improving health outcomes: Diabetic foot ulcers affect approximately 15% of diabetic patients, and they can cause significant morbidity and mortality. Traditional wound dressings may not provide the best outcomes in terms of healing time, and alternative therapies such as honey dressings may be effective in treating diabetic foot ulcers.
Literature search and selection of articles: A literature search was conducted using the databases highlighted in Chapter 3 of the textbook, including MEDLINE, CINAHL, and Cochrane Library. The search terms used were “diabetic foot ulcers,” “honey dressings,” “wound dressings,” and “healing time.” The search yielded several articles, and five research articles were selected based on their relevance to the PICOT question.
Identification of the best article that supports nursing interventions: The best article that supports nursing interventions for diabetic foot ulcers is a randomized controlled trial conducted by Jull et al. (2008), which compared the effectiveness of honey dressings with usual care in patients with chronic wounds. The study found that honey dressings significantly reduced healing time compared to traditional dressings, thus providing support for the use of honey dressings in diabetic foot ulcers. This article best supports the PICOT question as it provides empirical evidence for the effectiveness of honey dressings in reducing healing time for chronic wounds.
Conclusion:
Overall, this assignment has helped students to understand the importance of identifying clinical questions in their work environment and the role of evidence-based practice in improving patient care outcomes. The use of PICOT format provides a framework for developing clinical questions and enables healthcare professionals to search for relevant literature on a particular topic. By implementing the findings from research studies, healthcare professionals can provide the best possible care to their patients, which aligns with the priorities listed in the 2016 NINR five-year strategic plan.
