Length: No more than 4,000 words

Aim

The aim of this assessment is for you to develop a quality improvement project. To successfully complete this assessment, you will need to engage with the unit material on the NURS20174 Moodle site and regularly meet with your unit coordinator to discuss and monitor your progress. The resources offered will support you to complete this assessment task.

Instructions

You are writing a report to disseminate the findings of your quality improvement project. Following CQUniversity ethics approval, you will conduct the project you developed in NURS20173 Nursing, Midwifery and Social Sciences Project 1. You will develop this report in the form of a manuscript for submission to the peer-reviewed nursing journal, International Journal of Nursing Practice. The link will take you to the journal information: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/1440172x/homepage/knowledge_transfer__implementation_science__quality_improvement_papers.htm

Please follow the steps below to write your report and complete this assessment task:

Abstract

Write an abstract that introduces a quality improvement (QI) project. Your abstract should include the following headings: Aims (of the paper), Background, Design, Methods (including year of data collection), Results/Findings, Conclusion. The Aim should simply state: ‘To…” The abstract should not include abbreviations (200 words).

Introduction

• Clearly identify the rationale, context, and international relevance of your topic.
• Present the conceptual, theoretical, or evidence-based framework or guidelines that informed your QI project, identifying and providing an overview of the conceptual model, theory, evidence, guidelines and/or implementation/quality approach. Identify and define key concepts or QI project variables. Explain the connections between the conceptual model, theory or evidence/ guidelines and your QI project variables.
• Provide a critical review of relevant theoretical and empirical literature, which draws conclusions from theory/current evidence, and informs the rationale for your QI project.

Methods

Aim(s)

• State the aims of the QI project as a narrative research purpose or as research questions or hypotheses to be tested; for example, ‘The aim of the study was to…’

Design

• Identify the QI project as a knowledge transfer/implementation science/QI study and detail the specific design used; for example, randomised controlled trial, quasi-experiment, etc. Mixed methodology is often appropriate, and if this is used, refer to the EMPIRICAL RESEARCH - MIXED METHODS section of the journal information website above. If appropriate it may be helpful to include a PRISMA flow diagram to illustrate the design and conduct of the QI project.

Sample/participants

• Identify the sampling strategy/strategies used, such as random, stratified, convenience, purposive (state what purpose). For example, ‘A convenience sample of registered nurses were recruited…’, or ‘A consecutive sample of patients was recruited…’
• Identify the inclusion and exclusion criteria; for example, ‘The inclusion criteria were…’, ‘The exclusion criteria were…’, and explain how participants were recruited.
• Identify the size of the sample (and the population, if appropriate). Report the sample size calculation, or power analysis, if appropriate; if not appropriate or not undertaken, provide other relevant justification for the sample size.

The intervention

• Provide a detailed discussion of any intervention being implemented or evaluated in relation to its supporting evidence/guidelines. Include any measures to examine uptake/fidelity of the intervention.
• Concisely discuss the processes used to implement any intervention, including from the perspective of stakeholders.

Data collection

• Use subheadings for different types of data collection techniques, if appropriate, e.g., questionnaires, assessments. For example, ‘Data were collected using a questionnaire…’, ‘Individual assessments were conducted …’.
• Discuss strategies to support the rigour in your QI project. Instrument rigour: Provide types of and estimates for rigour of assessments and/or the psychometric properties of quantitative instruments. If translation has been required from the original language, please explain the procedures used to maintain validity of translated tools. If tools were developed for this study, describe the processes employed, including validity and reliability testing.
• Piloting/pilot study – if undertaken, identify what changes (if any) did this lead to for the main study?
• Identify the data collection timeframe, for example, between November 2012 - October 2022. Data collection should have been completed no more than five years before submission of the manuscript.

Ethical considerations

• Identify any ethical issues that were associated with this research. Provide a statement of ethics committee approval, if appropriate. Do not name the university or other institution from which ethics committee approval was obtained; state the approval number and that ethics committee approval was obtained from a university and/or whatever other organisation is relevant. Explain any other approvals obtained, for example, local site arrangements to meet research/quality improvement governance requirements. If, according to local regulations, no formal ethical approval was required or undertaken, please state this.
• Clearly state in the text that all participants gave their informed consent prior to their inclusion in the study, or the rationale provided for any deviation from this. Details that might disclose the identity of the subjects under study should be omitted.

Data analysis

• Describe the techniques used to analyse the data and demonstrate uptake/effects of the knowledge transfer initiative, including computer software used, if appropriate, for example, ‘SPSS version X was used to analyse the data, or Analysis of variance techniques were used to test the hypotheses. If the paper contains statistical analyses, consider the guidance on statistical reporting.
• Include analysis of process findings and consider progress/achievements in relation to plan/expectations.

Results

Start with a description of characteristics of sample, for example, ‘The study participants ranged in age from X to Y years…’. Always include age (range and mean) and gender distribution.

• Present results explicitly for each study aim, objective, research question or hypothesis. Indicate whether each hypothesis was supported or rejected. State clearly the extent to which new knowledge was adopted, and the effects in relation to study outcomes.
• Use subheadings as appropriate.
• Use figures and tables as needed but try to limit to no more than three or four tables and one or two figures. Each figure/table should be referred to in the text, but do not repeat in the text material which is set out in tables. Rather, identify key points in text, and refer readers to figures/tables for detail. Tables/figures should be comprehensible without reference to the text, i.e., all abbreviations should be explained; all tests used identified, with provision of appropriate values.

Discussion

• Discussion must be in relation to the conceptual or theoretical framework and current evidence/ guidelines/ best practice. Do your findings match or differ to previous research findings/ evidence?
• Draw conclusions about what new knowledge has emerged from the study for the topic and for clinical practice/ future knowledge transfer. Be explicit about what your work adds to this topic.
• Consider study limitations including but not confined to sample representativeness and/or sample size, any pertinent features of the study context and the generalisability of the results.

Conclusion

• Do not just summarise/repeat findings. Draw conclusions about the adequacy of the implementation approach and the evidence framework. Identify implications/recommendations for practice/research/education/management as appropriate, consistent with study limitations.

Literature and references

In this assessment use at least 30 contemporary references (<5 years) sourced from the CQUniversity library to support your discussion. You may also use seminal scholarly literature where relevant. Suitable references include peer-reviewed journal articles as well as textbooks and credible websites. When sourcing information, consider the 5 elements of a quality reference: currency, authority, relevance, objectivity, and coverage. Grey literature sourced from the internet must be from reputable websites such as from government, university, or peak national bodies: for example, the Australian College of Nursing, or the World Health Organisation. Note, websites such as Stat Pearls, Life in the Fastlane, and Wikipedia are not suitable for this assessment task.

Requirements

• Use a conventional and legible size 12 font, such as Times New Roman or Arial, with double line spacing and 2.54cm page margins (standard pre-set margin in Microsoft Word).
• Include page numbers on the top right side of each page in a header.
• Write in the third-person perspective using past tense.
• Use formal academic language.
• Use the seventh edition American Psychological Association (APA) referencing style. The CQUniversity Academic Learning Centre has an online APA Referencing Style Guide.
• The word count is considered from the first word of the introduction to the last word of the conclusion. The word count excludes the reference list, tables and appendices list but includes in-text references and direct quotations. Avoid direct quotes as this reflects the knowledge of others and not your unique interpretation of the evidence.

Resources

• You can use unit provided materials and other credible sources (e.g., journal articles, books, grey literature) to reference your argument. The quality and credibility of your sources are important.
• We recommend that you access your discipline specific library guide: the Nursing and Midwifery Guide; Social Work and Community Services Guide.
• We recommend you use EndNote to manage your citations and reference list. More information on how to use EndNote is available at the CQUniversity Library website.
• You may wish to submit a draft to Studiosity.
• For information on academic communication please go to the Academic Learning Centre Moodle site. The Academic Communication section has many helpful resources including information for students with English as a second language.
• Submit a draft before the due date to review your Turnitin Similarity Score and report before making a final submission. Instructions are available here. Please note, the Similarity Score is expected to be high due to the use of similar information from NURS20173; however, you still need to ensure you have paraphrased the work of others adequately.

Submission

Submit your assessment via the unit Moodle site in Microsoft Word format only.

Marking Criteria

Refer to the marking rubric on the Moodle site for more detail on how marks will be assigned. Assessment re-attempt is not available for Assessment 1.

Learning Outcomes Assessed

1. Conduct an ethically approved research project.
2. Collect and analyse research project data.
3. Disseminate research findings and recommendations to a broader audience.

Following Assessment

Your unit coordinator will collaborate with you to prepare the manuscript for submission to the journal. Mentors may also be assigned to help you, or you may like to include your nurse manager in this process.

Authorship Criteria

Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for the content. Authorship credits should be based on substantial contributions to: (i) conception and design, or analysis and interpretation of data; (ii) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and (iii) final approval of the version to be published. Conditions (i), (ii) and (iii) must all be met by all named authors.

NURS20174

NURSING, MIDWIFERY AND SOCIAL SCIENCES PROJECT 2 STUDENT NAME:

Markers Comments:

Aim

The aim of this assessment is to develop your skills in designing and presenting an academic poster to disseminate your quality improvement (QI) project findings and recommendations. These presentation skills can be used in the future to disseminate your findings to a wider audience such as your workplace or conference.

Posters are widely used in the academic community, and most conferences include poster presentations in their program. Research posters summarise information or research concisely and attractively to help publicise research findings and generate discussion. At a conference, the researcher stands by the poster display while conference participants view the presentation and interact with the author.

To successfully undertake this assessment, you will need to engage with the unit material on the NURS20174 Moodle site and meet with your unit coordinator to discus and monitor your progress. The resources provided in this unit will support you to complete this assessment task.

Instructions

You will prepare an academic poster that provides a summary of your QI project. You will present the poster to your unit coordinator. You are then asked to present the poster in your work area or at a conference (if you choose). Please follow the steps below to complete your assessment task.

Academic Poster

Using Microsoft PowerPoint design a poster that summarises the key elements of your QI project presented for Assessment 1. The poster should include the following information and a concise summary of your QI project:

1. Make font size legible from approximately 2–3 meters. About 80 – 96 point for titles, 30 – 36 point for headings, and 18 – 24 point for text. References and acknowledgements may be much smaller.
2. The title should be short and draws the audience’s interest.
3. Word count of approximately 300 to 800 words.
4. Text is to be clear and succinct.
5. Use of bullet points, numbering, and headings to facilitate readability.
6. Effectively use graphics, colour, and fonts.
7. Have a consistent and clean layout.
8. Include acknowledgments, references, your name, and institutional affiliation.

Presentation

You will present a verbal summary of your QI project to your unit coordinator. Your presentation will be no longer than 5 minutes in length followed by approximately 5 minutes question time. You are presenting a narrative, telling the story of your QI project. Divide your presentation into 3 sections.

1. The introduction should set the scene and introduce:

• The background information about your QI topic that the audience must know.
• How did the background lead you to your QI question, and what were you hoping to find and why?
• Who are the multidisciplinary health care team and resources involved and required to complete your QI project? (Registered nurses on your ward, medical staff, patients, patient medical records, medication records, etc).

2. The middle section is the adventure, it answers:

• How did you get from your QI question to your conclusion? Why did you choose to take that route?
• What did you find on your way? Were there any interesting twists to your project?

3. The conclusion should include:

• What were the main findings of your QI project? What does this mean for your characters?
• Identify the recommendations from your QI project.

Remember: You are the narrator; it is your responsibility as the storyteller to make the content both compelling and exciting.

Literature and references

Use at least five contemporary references (5 years or less) sourced from the CQUniversity library in this assessment to support your discussion. You may also use seminal scholarly literature where relevant. Suitable references include peer-reviewed journal articles as well as textbooks, and credible websites. When sourcing information, consider the 5 elements of a quality reference: currency, authority, relevance, objectivity, and coverage. Grey literature from the internet must be from reputable websites such as government, university, or peak national bodies, for example, the Australian College of Nursing. Websites such as Stat Pearls, Life in the Fastlane and Wikipedia are unsuitable for this assessment task.

Requirements

• You may use one of the Microsoft PowerPoint slide templates available on the NURS20174 Moodle site for designing your poster. If you include tables or graphics to present data, you must label them appropriately. If you use a background or embedded photo or picture in your poster, this must be published with a Creative Commons (CC) licence and the source attributed as per the requirements of their CC licence. Do NOT use animations or clipart.
• Write in the third-person perspective, however you may use the first-person perspective for the verbal components of your presentation.
• Use formal academic language.
• You must include in-text citations, and a reference list, however both can be included in small font to reduce visual impact.
• Academic posters usually use Vancouver Style referencing but you may use American Psychological Association (APA) style (7th ed.) if you prefer.

Resources

• You can use unit provided materials and other credible sources, e.g., journal articles, books, grey literature to reference your argument. The quality and credibility of your sources are important. Please note, lecture notes are not peer reviewed primary sources of evidence.
• We recommend that you access your discipline specific Nursing and Midwifery Resource Guide.
• We recommend you use EndNote to manage your citations and reference list. More information on how to use EndNote is available at the CQUniversity Library website.
• For information on academic communication please go to the Academic Learning Centre Moodle site. The Academic Communication section has many helpful resources including information for students with English as a second language. There are also Oral Presentation resources.
• For information on using PowerPoint please go to the Academic Learning Centre Computing Basics section – How to use PowerPoint.
• For information on using Zoom to present your assessment please go to Zoom web conferencing.
• You may wish to submit a draft to Studiosity.
• Submit at least one draft of your assignment before the due date to review your Turnitin Similarity Score before uploading your final submission. Instructions are available here.

Submission

Submission will be a two-part process:

1. Submit your assessment via the unit Moodle site in PDF format only by the due date. The poster submitted and presented must be identical.
2. You will be presenting live to your lecturer and fellow students using Zoom, a video conferencing program. Your lecturer will help you with using Zoom and arrange a suitable time with you to present. With your permission, your presentation may be filmed for marking purposes. Only your lecturer will have access to this video which will be stored securely.

Marking Criteria

Refer to the marking rubric on the Moodle site for more detail on how marks will be assigned. Assessment re-attempt is not available for Assessment 2.

Learning Outcomes Assessed

1. Conduct and ethically approved research project.
2. Collect and analyse research project data.
3. Disseminate research findings and recommendations to a broader audience.

Following Assessment

Your unit coordinator will collaborate with you to prepare the poster for printing for display in your workplace. If you choose, you will also be supported to submit an abstract to display your poster at a relevant conference.

NURS20174

NURSING, MIDWIFERY AND SOCIAL SCIENCES PROJECT 2 STUDENT NAME:

ASSESSMENT 2 – Poster presentation

Markers comments: