Critical Appraisal Tool for Quantitative studies

Critical Appraisal Tool for Quantitative studies

Upon completion of this module the student will critiqued a quantitative research report related to his or her previously identified and explored clinical or practice problem and meets the course objectives of:Compare and contrast research designs used to answer clinical research questions. Identify, appraise and synthesize sources of evidence for practice implications in the context of evidence-based practice.

Reading assignment:
Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt Chapter 5 and Garrard: chapter 4-5

DELIVERABLE:
Using the Critical Appraisal Tool for Quantitative studies uploaded to you. complete a review of a primary quantitative research article you found while searching for your PICOT question ” Does implementation of a nursing education program on development of end-of-life care plan(intervention) among the (P) nursing assistants in a selected health care facility increase the number of patients with end of life care plans and their health outcomes (O) compared to a health facility where the program has not been implemented (C), 6 months (T) following implementation of the program?
Module 6
You’ll continue reading about research methods that use quantitative evidence, and building your matrix (or table). This week, you’ll use a Rapid Critical Appraisal form to help you answer important questions about the quality of a primary quantitative research article. These questions will help you learn to evaluate study strengths and weaknesses. Usually, quantitative methods will use structured instruments to collect data which will then be analyzed statistically. The articles you are using to practice the appraisal process should become a part of your evidence you are compiling to answer your practice question.
The statistics module will guide you through understanding power analysis and effect size. Power analysis is a method for estimating in advance how big the sample size should be in order to detect a true difference between groups in the study. The effect size is related to the strength of the relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable.
What you should be doing to prepare for upcoming poster assignment: Reviewing and evaluating literature to answer your PICOT question, and adding to your evidence table. Scan the websites listed in Box 16.3 (p. 364) of Melnyk and Fineout-Overholt for general tips about poster design. Here is a great site to find poster templates: http://www.makesigns.com/SciPosters_Templates.aspx. Make sure to review the poster rubric that will guide the evaluation of your poster.