Developing Good Search Techniques

This assignment provides a forum for discussing relevant topics for this week based on the course competencies covered.
For this assignment, make sure you post your initial response to the Discussion Area by the due date assigned.
To support your work, use your course and text readings and also use the South University Online Library. As in all assignments, cite your sources in your work and provide references for the citations in APA format.
Start reviewing and responding to the postings of your classmates as early in the week as possible. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ initial postings. Participate in the discussion by asking a question, providing a statement of clarification, providing a point of view with a rationale, challenging an aspect of the discussion, or indicating a relationship between two or more lines of reasoning in the discussion. Cite sources in your responses to other classmates. Complete your participation for this assignment by the end of the week.
Developing Good Search Techniques
This assignment will focus on the steps necessary when conducting a comprehensive literature search to identify existing external evidence (research). This is the first step in identifying the best evidence to guide your quality improvement (QI) or practice change project. Most nurses know how to search the literature. However, conducting a comprehensive search of the literature with the goal of uncovering the entire body of evidence that pertains to your topic involves much more. You need to identify the databases that will most likely provide the best yield and find the right search terms to uncover published research. Because your goal is to delimit the body of evidence on your topic, you cannot stop when you find a few articles; the goal is to find them all. This may take some trial and error with search terms and manipulation using various Boolean operators. Keeping track of the terms you used as you search will help you avoid repeating your steps.
You will use the scenario and PICOT question from Week 2 Discussion as the basis for this discussion. Because the goal for this week is to learn how to conduct a thorough literature search and not locate all the evidence, you will search only one database, Medline.
Using the South University Online Library, conduct a Medline search to locate evidence for the PICOT question that you developed in Week 2 Discussion. To do so:
Go to the library’s home page.
On the Toolbar at the top, point to Search by Subject and click Nursing.
Scroll to the bottom of the next page and click Medline.
It is recommended that you use the template titled “Search Tracker Template” to keep track of the search terms and steps taken as you search as practice. Include your PICOT question and the search terms and results of each search in the tables. Refer to the exemplar titled “Search Tracker Exemplar” to view an example of how the grids should be completed as you search.
Click here to review the Search Tracker Template.
Click here to review the Search Tracker Exemplar.
On the basis of your Medline search, respond to the following:
Which search terms did you use initially? Why?
Reviewing the article titles and a few of the abstracts, did your search terms yield potentially useful research articles? Why or why not?
Which Boolean operators and MeSH terms did you use to expand your search? If none were used, did adding them increase the number of articles retrieved? Which Boolean operators did you use for which search terms?
Which method did you use to track your search? Was it helpful or cumbersome? Discuss any alternative methods you used or would consider using to avoid retracing your steps.
Which additional databases are appropriate to search and to find the research for your topic? Why?
Below is a reference for an article that you may have encountered during your search.
Rhee, M. K., Ziemer, D. C., Caudle, J., Kolm, P., & Phillips, L. S. (2008).Use of a uniform treatment algorithm abolishes racial disparities in glycemic control. The Diabetes Educator, 34, 655–663.
Discuss the level of evidence that this article represents. Defend your choice.
Write your initial response in 300–500 words. Apply APA standards to cite sources.
Respond to at least two of your classmates’ postings and comment on the search terms used by your classmates and the usefulness of those terms.
Rubrics
SUO Discussion Rubric (20 Points) – Version 1.2

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