Research Critiques and PICOT Statement Final Draft
Sources must be published within the last 5 years(2017-2022)
Assessment Description
Prepare this assignment as a 1,500-1,750 word paper using the instructor feedback from the previous course assignments and the guidelines below.
PICOT Question
Revise the PICOT question you wrote in the Topic 1 assignment using the feedback you received from your instructor.
The final PICOT question will provide a framework for your capstone project (the project students must complete during their final course in the RN-BSN program of study).
Research Critiques
In the Topic 2 and Topic 3 assignments, you completed a qualitative and quantitative research critique on two articles for each type of study (4 articles total). Use the feedback you received from your instructor on these assignments to finalize the critical analysis of each study by making appropriate revisions.
The completed analysis should connect to your identified practice problem of interest that is the basis for your PICOT question.
Refer to “Research Critiques and PICOT Guidelines – Final Draft.” Questions under each heading should be addressed as a narrative in the structure of a formal paper.
Proposed Evidence-Based Practice Change
Discuss the link between the PICOT question, the research articles, and the nursing practice problem you identified. Include relevant details and supporting explanation and use that information to propose evidence-based practice changes.
General Requirements
You are required to cite a minimum of three peer-reviewed sources to complete this assignment. Sources must be published within the last 5 years, appropriate for the assignment criteria, and relevant to nursing practice.
Prepare this assignment according to the APA guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. A link to the LopesWrite technical support articles is located in Class Resources if you need assistance.
Sample Paper
Research Critiques and PICOT Statement Final Draft
Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) largely affect the US healthcare system. The HAIs are those infections not present at the time of patient admission but acquired after hospitalization during the care processes or from the general environment. According to CDC (2018), one in every 25 hospitalized patients is at least diagnosed with one type of acquired infection from hospital care or settings. The HAIs are caused by pathogenic infestation, with some being antibiotic-resistant, which may lead to sepsis or death in the patients. There are three main types of HAIs: catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs), central-line-associated bloodstream infections, and surgical site infections (SSIs). The surgical site infections result from numerous factors, including prolonged surgical procedures, poor hygiene for the patient and the healthcare practitioners during practice, using non-sterilized surgical equipment, and leaving exposed wounds after surgery (Mukagendaneza et al., 2019; Tanner & Melen, 2021). Hand hygiene among the healthcare providers in the surgical room is one of the preventive strategies used to reduce the rates of SSIs. Through a study, Haverstick et al. (2017) supports the use of the strategy with results showing a significant reduction in infection rates. Treating surgical site infections is costly. This may increase the economic burden to the patient and the hospital apart from contributing to adverse effects such as increased readmission rates, litigations, poor patient outcomes, and lack of patient trust in the affected facilities or treatment units. This paper provides a critical review of research articles on the effectiveness of implementing hygiene practices in reducing the prevalence of SSIs in hospitals.
Significance to Nursing
Surgical site infections are types of hospital-associated infections that affect the quality of patient healthcare. The quality of care relies on the safety of patients, the effectiveness of the care procedures, and the timeliness of care and recovery. The study is focused on establishing the effectiveness of key interventions, which is important for the nursing practice. The study findings are significant for nursing practice since they inform the nurses on whether relying on particular hygiene interventions would help improve SSI prevalence in healthcare facilities for improved quality of care. This knowledge will apply to all nursing practices. Thus healthcare organizations and regulatory bodies may include the recommendations in the standard guidelines and policies for effective protection of the patients during care.
Purpose of the Study
The study aims to determine the significance of nursing hygiene in postoperative care in preventing surgical site infections among hospitalized patients.
Objectives
- To reduce the levels of surgical site infections in hospitals by 60%.
- To increase adherence to hygiene in the healthcare facilities, especially in the surgical room, by 100 percent.
PICOT Question
For patients in the surgical progressive care unit (P), how effective are improved nursing hygiene practices (I) compared to no improved practices (C) in decreasing surgical site infections (O) during the hospitalization period (T)?
Supportive Articles
Surgical site infections affect the healthcare system. Making decisions in the healthcare system relies on evidence-based articles and experiences that support the particular actions in avoiding cost, delays, errors, and risks during the implementation process of the action. In a PICOT question, the acronym stands for Population (P), Intervention (I), Comparison (C), Outcome (O), and Time (T). The focus population in the research PICOT question is surgical progressive care unit patients. The intervention is hygienic practices. The comparison is lack of improved hygienic practices. The outcome is reduced prevalence of SSIs, and time is patient hospitalization period. These elements in the PICOT question help determine the quality and type of evidence-based practice resources that support the question. The analysis comprises four research journals.
The first supportive article is Loftus et al. (2020) which focuses on the effect of improving the basic preventive measures in the perioperative care unit against SSIs. This article supports the PICOT question because it seeks to prove the effectiveness of the preventive measures, including hygiene observation in the surgical units, in preventing SSIs among patients who are the target population of the PICOT question. The second article is by Lopez Pereira et al. (2017) that focuses on the “Epidemiology of surgical site infection in a neurosurgery department .”The study records the changes in the implementation of hygienic standards in improving SSI rates in the neurosurgery department among the patients, thus supporting the PICOT question.
The third supportive article is Qvistgaard et al. (2019), a qualitative study examining nurses’ experiences in the operating room on Intraoperative prevention of Surgical Site Infections. The study addresses nurses’ experiences in employing hygienic standards to prevent SSIs in the operating room. The main focus of the study is on the effectiveness of various measures in preventing the occurrence of SSIs. The fourth supportive article is Rodriguez (2021) on Surgical Site Infections and Hand Hygiene Discharge teaching in the hospitals towards the prevention of SSIs. The qualitative study maintains a close link between hygienic standards and SSI infections in the care unit depending on nurse behaviors. These elements support the PICOT question that seeks to establish the effectiveness of hygienic practices in reducing SSI rates in postoperative care.
Methods
The supportive research journals are majorly qualitative and quantitative. Loftus et al. (2020) and Lopez Pereira et al. (2017) are quantitative research articles that quantify the data collected for analytical purposes. Loftus et al. (2020) used a randomized control trial (RCT) design whereby two groups were used to experiment with the effectiveness of the intervention by placing one on the intervention and the other one on the control zones. Lopez Pereira et al. (2017) used a prospective observational design in collecting epidemiological data on SSIs. This method differs from the RCT design since it is not experimental but observational; thus, there are no controls on the target population.
The qualitative studies used in this study are Qvistgaard et al. (2019) and Rodriguez Hernandez (2021). Unlike the quantitative research design that quantifies the data collected, the qualitative research design is exploratory on SSIs and hygiene research issue. Qvistgaard et al. (2019) used a reflective lifeworld research design, a qualitative method that describes the issue experienced by the participants. Rodriguez Hernandez (2021) used an observational method supported by root cause analysis (RCA) in tracking the various causes of SSIs in cases presented in the hospital. The reflective lifeworld research method involves engaging the participants on their views or experiences towards the issue. The RCA tracks back the cause of the issue without emphasizing the participant’s views.
