Description, Requirements, and Student Guidelines
Please create a PICOT question for this research assignment.
Changes in departmental policies and procedures have led to employee dissatisfaction. It was decided that patients
would switch from aerosolized nebulizer treatments (Duonebs, Albuterol, Atrovent, Pulmicort, & normal saline)
combined with common canister MDI (meter-dose inhaler) and DPI (dry-powder inhaler) treatments (Symbicort,
Stiolto, Spiriva, Striverdi, Azmanex, Albuterol, etc.) to only aerosolized nebulizer treatments of Duonebs, Albuterol,
Atrovent, Pulmicort, and normal saline. This is accomplished by getting rid of the LAMAs (long-acting muscarinic
antagonists) and LABAs (long-acting beta-agonists) without replacing them. What benefit will this have for patients? The second question is: How is the “while awake” protocol for modalities possible after 2300 hours (if a patient is
sleeping, wait until the morning to wake them up) if the long-acting medications are not replaced? According to the
hospital, the change in policy/protocol was prompted by cost considerations. Nevertheless, the hospital was
compared with one that did not follow the common canister protocol and they provided every patient with their own
inhaler. Further, the hospital did not have institutional dose inhalers (inhalers with only one or two weeks’ worth of
medication instead of one full month’s worth, therefore wasting no medication). Another reason for the change is that the Director believes that the common canisters protocol creates an infection control hazard, despite the fact that all patients being placed in isolation receive their own inhalers. Do you think this change is wise when there is currently a global respiratory pandemic (Covid) underway?
Put together a SHORT PAPER and POWERPOINT PRESENTATION on why they should or should not implement this
change.
Completion of the final project to the course coordinator by Jan. 19, 2022.
PROJECT GRADING:
The project grade is determined based on the following point criteria. This grade is based on a total of 45 points for this project.
Quality of addressing statement of purpose (2-3 paragraphs) 5 pts
Description of the current state of research and the research methods. (1-2 pgs./article 4-5 articles) 10 pts
Results or plan and conclusions (3-7 pages) 20 pts
Quality of paper/ PowerPoint presentation (10-12 slides) 10 pts
Step 1: Convert the need for information into an answerable question.
Create a PICOT question for this research assignment. Submit a 2-3 paragraph
statement describing your project (statement of purpose). Step 1 is due on or
before Jan. 7, 2022.
Step 2: Describe the research design needed to address the question above. This can be:
1. A review of the literature.
2. A survey or program analysis
3. A clinical research question.
4. A specific analysis in the literature of issues related to your project.
Step 3: Track down the best evidence with which to answer that question.
Constructing a well-built clinical question can lead directly to a well-built search strategy. Find the best 4-5 articles
related to your topic or question. Judge the articles by the current date, quality of the article, and how comprehensive the article is in addressing your question.
Literature search options: Use the resources made available from your core courses.
1. Large databases such as MEDLINE will give you access to the primary literature. MEDLINE is the most common resource for health-related literature searches and is accessible to everyone through PubMed.
2. Health Affairs is a professional journal dealing with health management.
3. The Cochrane Library provides access to systematic reviews that help summarize the results from a number of studies.
4. For topics that have been researched by professional organizations look at the clinical guidelines recommended by those
organizations. Unless there is current research into new methods these clinical guidelines (if they have been updated in the past 5 years) have done evidence-based research. Also, use the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality for the recent
accumulation of good evidence (www.ahrq.gov).
Step 4: Integrate the critical appraisal with your clinical expertise and draw conclusions about your topic. It is here
that you will write your plan and evaluate the effectiveness of what you have discovered.
The final paper should be 5-7 pages in length, double spaced with 1-inch margins. Completion of
the final project to the course coordinator by Jan. 19, 2022.
Project Format
Each paper will consist of the following:
Title Page: The first page should be a title page.
Introduction: Define the question you have chosen. An overview of the area covered in the paper should be presented here. Discuss why it is important, the state of current knowledge, identifying any gaps in information (if any), a clear statement of what you will show, or how it is applicable to the reader.
Methods: This section should fully describe the literature reviewed, the bibliographic indexes and databases searched, limits on years and languages, and search terms.
Results: A complete discussion of the fine points of the issue including all literature-based references. This section may include a summary of the literature reviewed, a plan, or the fine points of the issue you have addressed.
Conclusion/Discussion: Summarize the validity of your argument and/or relevance of your topic, any research concerns or issues for the future, and summarize your findings. This section may begin with a brief recap of the key findings. Critique of the findings may also occur in this section.
References: Provide a listing of the texts, journals, conference proceedings, Internet sites, personal communication, and other possible sources of information for your paper presentation.
The final PowerPoint should be 10-12 slides based on the final paper. Please submit on or before Jan. 19, 2022.
Copyright, plagiarism, and honor code are all available in the College of Health Professions Policy Manual, Towson
University.
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