Note: Each assessment in this course builds on the work you completed in the previous assessment. Therefore, you must complete the assessments in this course in the order in which they are presented.
For the first section of your final capstone project you will develop a proposal for an intervention plan to fulfill a need within a specific population. This assessment is meant to capture your initial thoughts about the need and impacting factors to help focus your in-depth analysis later on in the course.
First you will brainstorm and crystallize some of your ideas for this assessment, specifically ideas around needs, a target population, and some initial support from the literature and other sources of evidence. The problem statement is an important part of your capstone project as it will help illustrate the importance of your project, as well as help to clarify your project’s scope.
Preparations
Read Guiding Questions: Problem Statement (PICOT) [DOC]. This document is designed to give you questions to consider and additional guidance to help you successfully complete this assessment.
As you prepare to complete this assessment, you may want to think about other related issues to deepen your understanding or broaden your viewpoint. You are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of your professional community. Note that these questions are for your own development and exploration and do not need to be completed or submitted as part of your assessment.
As you reflect on your work in the field, what population do you feel has the greatest need? Why? Is the need across the population, or within a specific setting?
What interventions already exist for the selected population? Are they effective? Why or why not?
How will site support from your practicum and your preceptor support your goals and objectives?
Instructions
Note: The assessments in this course are sequenced in such a way as to help you build specific skills that you will use throughout your program. Complete the assessments in the order in which they are presented.
Your problem statement will focus on presenting information related to the problem-intervention-comparison-outcome-time (PICOT) approach to nursing research. You will also present a brief literature review that supports the need you identified in your problem statement and the appropriateness of your broad intervention approach. Provide enough detail so that the faculty member assessing your problem statement will be able to provide substantive feedback that you will be able to incorporate into the other project components in this course, as well as into the final draft of your project.
At minimum, be sure to address the bullet points below, as they correspond to the grading criteria. You may also want to read the scoring guide and the Guiding Questions: Problem Statement (PICOT) document (linked above) to better understand how each criterion will be assessed.
Reminder: these instructions are an outline. Your heading for this this section should be titled Problem Statement and not Part 1: Problem Statement.
Your Problem Statement (PICOT) should be structured as follows:
Part 1: Problem Statement (2–3 pages)
Need Statement (1 paragraph).
Analyze a health promotion, quality improvement, prevention, education or management need.
Population and Setting (1–2 paragraphs).
Describe a target population and setting in which an identified need will be addressed.
Intervention Overview (1–2 paragraphs).
Explain an overview of one or more interventions that would help address an identified need within a target population and setting.
Comparison of Approaches (1–2 paragraphs).
Analyze potential interprofessional alternatives to an initial intervention with regard to their possibilities to meet the needs of the project, population, and setting.
Initial Outcome Draft (1 paragraph).
Define an outcome that identifies the purpose and intended accomplishments of an intervention for a health promotion, quality improvement, prevention, education, or management need.
Time Estimate (1 paragraph).
Propose a rough time frame for the development and implementation of an intervention to address and identified need.
Part 2: Literature Review (10–15 resources, 3–6 pages)
Analyze current evidence to validate an identified need and its appropriateness within the target population and setting.
Evaluate and synthesize resource from diverse sources illustrating existing health policy that could impact the approach taken to address an identified need.
Address Generally Throughout
Communicate problem statement and literature review in way that helps the audience understand the importance and validity of a proposed project.
Practicum Hours Submission
Additional Requirements
Length of submission: 5–9 double-spaced pages.
Number of resources: 10–15 resources. (Your final project summation will require 12–18 unique sources across all sections.)
Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style. Header formatting follows current APA levels.
Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.
Competencies Measured
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:
Competency 1: Lead organizational change to improve the experience of care, population health, and professional work life while decreasing cost of care.
Explain an overview of one or more interventions that would help drive quality improvement related to an identified need within a target population and setting.
Competency 2: Evaluate the best available evidence for use in clinical and organizational decision making.
Analyze a health promotion, quality improvement, prevention, education, or management need.
Analyze current evidence to validate an identified need and its appropriateness within the target population and setting.
Competency 3: Apply quality improvement methods to impact patient, population, and systems outcomes.
Describe a quality improvement method that could impact a patient, population, or systems outcome.
Competency 4: Design patient- and population-centered care to improve health outcomes.
Propose a rough time frame for the development and implementation of an intervention to address an identified need.
Competency 5: Integrate interprofessional care to improve safety and quality and to decrease cost of care.
Analyze potential interprofessional alternatives to an initial intervention with regard to their possibilities to meet the needs of the project, population, and setting.
Competency 6: Evaluate the ability of existing and emerging information, communication, and health care technologies to improve safety and quality and to decrease cost.
Evaluate and synthesize resources from diverse sources illustrating existing health policy, health care technologies, or other communications that could impact the approach taken to address an identified need.
Competency 7: Defend health policy that improves the experience of care, population health, and professional work life while decreasing cost of care.
Define an outcome that identifies the purpose and intended accomplishments of an intervention for a health promotion, quality improvement, prevention, education, or management need.
Note: You will also be assessed on two additional criteria unaligned to a course competency:
Communicate problem statement and literature review in a way that helps the audience to understand the importance and validity of a proposed project.
Demonstrate completion of hours toward the practicum experience.
See the scoring guide for specific grading criteria related to these additional requirements.
