Assignment Objectives
This paper requires students to demonstrate the ability to:
1. Formulate a clinical scenario based on an individual leading to aforeground question in the Intervention domain that requires a search for researchevidence to answer.
2. Strategicallysearch for high-level evidenceto answer the foreground question.
3. Use published critical appraisal tools to appraise evidence.
4. Create an evidence synthesis table to organize appraised evidence.
5. Synthesize the body of evidence that you have selected.
6. Discuss how the evidence informs clinical recommendations you make to the individual in the scenario.
7. Identify your most significant area of learning upon reflection of evidence appraisal, synthesis, and application.
8. Submit scholarly work using proper elements of writing, in-text citations, and a reference list in APA (7th edition) format.
The Rationale for the Paper
You have been reading, listening to/watching videos, and engaging in learning activities to facilitate your learning about research evidence. You have come so far!
The list of essentials skills that you have learned in this course includes (but is not limited to):
·recognizing the different types of foreground questions
·using the PICOT process to develop and structure a foreground question well
·strategies for efficient and effective searches for evidence
·criteria to evaluate the strength of evidence against
·how to evaluate search results and select high-level evidence
·critically appraising evidence
·reporting study results
·interpreting study results
·applying the results of a study to clinical practice
So, using all that you have learned (and feedback from relevant learning activities, assignments, and peer discussions), you will demonstrate your knowledge and skills regarding the construction of a synthesis table, synthesizing evidence, and clinical application of best evidence in this paper.
Instructions
· Develop a clinical scenario leading to an intervention-type foreground question for this paper. We recommend revising the clinical scenario and foreground question that you developed for Assignment #3 using the feedback we provided.
· Use the PICOT search strategy to perform a systematic search for high-level evidence. We recommend revising your search strategy and search results from Assignment #3 using the feedback we provided. We do not need the degree of detail that we asked for in Assignment #3, where we were looking to evaluate the details of your search strategy. Provide a concise version of the search in this paper.
· Select three (3) ORIGINAL research studies from your search results that you feel represent high-level evidence.
o Do not use systematic reviews or meta-analyses. We recognize the limitations in omitting these types of high-level evidence in terms of reporting on truly best evidence. However, this approach to this assignment gives you more practice critiquing and appraising original articles.
· Formally appraise the selected evidence using published appraisal tools.
o For this paper, please use the required critical appraisal tools (located under Assignments in Blackboard)
Please complete and save an appraisal for each of the articles you selected that is appropriate to the design of a given study. You likely remember that detailed information about the critical appraisal process and an exemplar are in your EBP textbook.
o Use full sentences on the appraisal template to enhance readability.
o Please submit a document for each of your critical appraisals (as an attachment in Blackboard when you submit your paper).
§ Name the .docx as follows: First Author (year) Appraisal
o Please submit a PDF of each article (as an attachment in Blackboard when you submit your paper).
§ Name the PDFs as follows: First Author (year) Article
Organize the information/data relating to the chosen studies by constructing a Synthesis Table. You likely remember that detailed information about constructing a Synthesis Table and an exemplar are in your EBP textbook.
o Please use the
required Synthesis Table
(located under Assignments in Blackboard).
o You will need to report on and interpret the results of the studies right in your table.
o Please complete and save a copy of your Evidence Synthesis Table to include as an Appendix in your paper. Make sure to use APA format when creating your appendices.
· Use the Synthesis Table to assist you in synthesizing the articles.
o Provide a narrative synthesis of the evidence (e.g., similarities, contradictions, controversies, knowledge gaps among the research studies in terms of study findings, strengths, weaknesses, etc.).
o You will need to report on and provide your interpretation of the results of the studies in your paper, where appropriate. No worries—you already have this information on the table.
o Also, remember the Panopto video in the learning module about Evidence Synthesis has some helpful information.
· Discuss how you would apply the evidence to the individual in the scenario you posed at the beginning of this paper.
o You will need to support your recommendations with what you wrote in your synthesis and provide citations where needed.
· Reflect upon your greatest area of learning regarding each of these topics: (a) study design and the level of evidence, (b) evidence appraisal, (c) reporting and interpreting study results, (d) evidence synthesis, and (e) application of evidence.
o Note that references are not often needed in a reflection section because you are sharing your own thoughts about your learning.
· Use the
required template to write your paper
(located in the Assignments
section of Blackboard).
o There are additional helpful hints in the template to assist you in writing the paper.
Paper and Supplemental Documents Submission
The format of the paper should be in APA publication style (as usual).
Submit the Evidence Synthesis Paper in .doc or.docx format to Blackboard on or before the assignment due date.
There is a maximum of 7 pages for this paper.
Also, remember to submit the following: three critical appraisal documents (.docx) and three original research articles (.pdf). See above for directions on how to title these documents.