Course Project: Part 1-Literature Review
This is a continuation of the Course Project presented in Week 2. Before you begin, review the Course Project Overview document located in the Week 2 Resources area.
The literature review is a critical piece in the research process because it helps a researcher determine what is currently known about a topic and identify gaps or further questions. Conducting a thorough literature review can be a time-consuming process, but the effort helps establish the foundation for everything that will follow. For this part of your Course Project, you will conduct a brief literature review to find information on the question you developed in Week 2. This will provide you with experience in searching databases and identifying applicable resources.
To prepare:
• Review the information in Chapter 5 of the course text, focusing on the steps for conducting a literature review and for compiling your findings.
• Using the question you selected in your Week 2 Project (Part 1 of the Course Project), locate 5 or more full-text research articles that are relevant to your PICOT question. Include at least 1 systematic review and 1 integrative review if possible. Use the search tools and techniques mentioned in your readings this week to enhance the comprehensiveness and objectivity of your review. You may gather these articles from any appropriate source, but make sure at least 3 of these articles are available as full-text versions through Walden Library's databases.
• Read through the articles carefully. Eliminate studies that are not appropriate and add others to your list as needed. Although you may include more, you are expected to include a minimum of five articles. Complete a literature review summary table using the Literature Review Summary Table Template located in this week's Learning Resources.
• Prepare to summarize and synthesize the literature using the information on writing a literature review found in Chapter 5 of the course text.
To complete:
Write a 3- to 4-page literature review that includes the following:
• A synthesis of what the studies reveal about the current state of knowledge on the question that you developed
o Point out inconsistencies and contradictions in the literature and offer possible explanations for inconsistencies.
• Preliminary conclusions on whether the evidence provides strong support for a change in practice or whether further research is needed to adequately address your inquiry
• Your literature review summary table with all references formatted in correct APA style
Course Project: Part 2-Translating Evidence Into Practice
In Part 3 of the Course Project, you consider how the evidence you gathered during Part 2 can be translated into nursing practice.
Now that you have located available research on your PICOT question, you will examine what the research indicates about nursing practices. Connecting research evidence and findings to actual decisions and tasks that nurses complete in their daily practice is essentially what evidence-based practice is all about. This final component of the Course Project asks you to translate the evidence and data from your literature review into authentic practices that can be adopted to improve health care outcomes. In addition, you will also consider possible methods and strategies for disseminating evidence-based practices to your colleagues and to the broader health care field.
To prepare:
• Consider Parts 1 and 2 of your Course Project. How does the research address your PICOT question?
• With your PICOT question in mind, identify at least one nursing practice that is supported by the evidence in two or more of the articles from your literature review. Consider what the evidence indicates about how this practice contributes to better outcomes.
• Explore possible consequences of failing to adopt the evidence-based practice that you identified.
• Consider how you would disseminate information about this evidence-based practice throughout your organization or practice setting. How would you communicate the importance of the practice?
To complete:
In a 3- to 4-page paper:
• Restate your PICOT question and its significance to nursing practice.
• Summarize the findings from the articles you selected for your literature review. Describe at least one nursing practice that is supported by the evidence in the articles. Justify your response with specific references to at least 2 of the articles.
• Explain how the evidence-based practice that you identified contributes to better outcomes. In addition, identify potential negative outcomes that could result from failing to use the evidence-based practice.
• Outline the strategy for disseminating the evidence-based practice that you identified throughout your practice setting. Explain how you would communicate the importance of the practice to your colleagues. Describe how you would move from disseminating the information to implementing the evidence-based practice within your organization. How would you address concerns and opposition to the change in practice?