Learning Outcomes Assessed

1. Apply information literacy skills.
2. Employ a systematic approach to locating evidence to address a specific clinical situation.
3. Appraise evidence and use critical thinking skills when applying evidence in clinical contexts.
4. Reflect on the purpose of evidence in practice and explain why clinical decision making should be based on the best available evidence.

 

Aim

The aim of this assessment is for you to demonstrate the skills to formulate an answerable clinical question and search for evidence using a systematic approach to answer the question. You will demonstrate how you critically appraised your search findings and then reflect on this process. Your clinical question is based on one of the scenarios below. The information required to undertake this assessment in covered in Weeks 1 to 4.

 

Please note that this task provides the foundation for Assessment Three.

 

Choose one of the following scenarios:

 

Scenario 1: Oral hygiene in patients with altered levels of consciousness

As a registered nurse working in a medical ward, you notice that one of your nursing colleagues does not provide regular oral hygiene to Mr. Baati, a 78-year-old male who is being fed via a nasogastric tube as he has decreased level of consciousness due to a recent haemorrhagic stroke. You ask your colleague why they are not providing regular oral hygiene, and they reply that “it isn’t as important as he’s not eating anyway”. You have always thought regular oral hygiene was important for ALL patients, regardless of their clinical status. Your task is to find credible evidence to provide evidence-informed advice to your colleague regarding this issue.

 

Scenario 2: Diet and mental health

You were recently at a nursing conference and one of the speakers discussed the importance of diet and mental health. You would like to know more about this and wonder what the evidence behind this is. Your task is to find credible evidence-based information on the effects of diet on mental health.

 

Instructions

Please follow the steps below to complete your assessment task:

Select ONE contemporary healthcare issue (from the two scenarios provided above).

1. Task 1: Formulate your answerable clinical question from your chosen scenario using the PICO framework and structured search strategy (30 marks)

a)    Summarise your preparatory work using the PICO format. An example of how to structure a PICO table is provided on the Assessment tile in Moodle.

b)    Create a search string including at least four (4) Boolean operators and other filters.

c)    Develop one (1) specific clinical question.

d)    Identify two (2) appropriate databases that you are going to search. Please do not include Google Scholar as a database.

e)    Identify four (4) search filters or limiters.

f)     Identify your inclusion criteria.

g)    Identify your exclusion criteria.

1. Task 2: Level of evidence appraisal. Provide references, in American Psychological Association (APA) 7th edition referencing style, for four (4) current credible peer-reviewed journal articles that you intend to use to answer your research question. Important: The resources must be current, i.e., 2018 to the present. Do not use clinical practice guidelines, editorials, opinion pieces, JBI (Johanna Briggs Institute) resources, hospital policies or web pages for this assessment. Under each reference, identify the level of evidence in the article using the Pyramid of Evidence (30 marks).
   1. Task 3: Reflection (500 words±10%) (30 marks)

Write a reflection on the use of the PICO framework. Please consider the following points in your reflection:

a)    Why is it important to start a search with a well-structured clinical question?

b)    Is it important to follow a systematic process when searching for clinical evidence? If yes, why? If not, why not?

c)    What challenges and benefits did you encounter when using the PICO framework to find credible evidence to answer your research question?

d)    Do you think that this assessment task could have been appropriately undertaken by solely using an AI generative tool such as ChatGPT? Why/why not?