The purpose of this assignment is to:

Outline a plan to translate research findings by completing a scholarly EBP synthesis paper.

This EBP Synthesis Paper is the culmination of the work completed thus far throughout the course. Using the approved PICO question, and the chosen 3 research studies, a scholarly paper, 9-10 pages in length (body), is to be written. The paper will describe the significance of the research topic and elaborate on the reason it was chosen for review. The process of the literature search and synthesis of three studies is to be highlighted. The paper is to be typed and formatted according to APA style 6th edition. Please use headings/subheadings. An abstract is required. Selected works must be RESEARCH. A majority of the selected works should be published in peer-reviewed nursing journals. It is expected that other supporting publications will be utilized within the paper.

Where to Begin?

1. Access your APA reference materials!! (APA Manual listed on the required text list for this course, electronic formatting software available online – check out the webliography, Purdue Owl website, and other references in the webliography) No excuses, it is a must have and APA is not going away 🙂

2. Begin by thoroughly reading through the grading rubric for the EBP Synthesis Paper. This can be found in doc sharing in the tab labeled “EBP Synthesis Paper”, and is included at the end of these instructions for your convenience.

3. Use the Annotated Bibliography that was completed earlier in the course. Choose 3 of the research studies that most accurately answer the PICO question. This was compiled into the Evidence Summary. The Evidence Summary will be an Appendix in your paper, and will be the table that is inserted into the center of your Poster.

4. Read 2 or 3 additional publications that you can use to help support the significance of the topic. You will need these additional references for this support and will cite them in the Significance section. It is not required that these sources are research, but you may choose to use articles from your Search & Retrieval – that is fine!

5. After you’ve read and reviewed all the evidence, review your approved PICO question.

6. Consider:

Was the evidence “good”?

Based on the knowledge I have from Essentials in Nursing Research, is this considered research with scientific merit? What was the appraisal of the evidence?
What is the answer to the PICOT question?

What does the evidence tell us related to the issue?

How should clinical nursing practice change as a result of this “evidence”?

How would we go about making these proposed changes?

7. Now you are cooking with gas!! Once you’ve answered these questions, you have officially written your paper in your brain! You’ve done all the hard work – this is called SYNTHESIS

Now, begin to work on pulling the info, the answer to the above questions, into the appropriate formats. One will be a poster, and the other is a paper.

Here are some tips to help you strategize your paper:

1. Know the requirements for the assignment.

2. Feel very confident with all the studies (the evidence) which will be synthesized.

3. Develop a time line and stick to it! Allow extra time for proofing (via a tutor, Writing Center).

4. Begin writing as soon as possible.

5. Pay careful attention to APA – every point counts! (include title page, abstract with keywords, etc.)

The main Sections of the EBP Synthesis paper should include the following:

Statement of the Problem: Analyzes the topic and describes its significance to nursing practice. This is the section that you will share your PICO question. Background information should be cited! Information that is not cited appears to be opinion, and this is not an opinion paper. Be sure to conclude this section with the posing of your PICO question.
Process: Summarizes the approach & findings of the literature search. This is the section where you will share your search strategies, list the keywords that you used, report the number of results the keywords yielded, and finally state how you came to the determination that the THREE studies you chose were the best to answer your PICO question.
Critical Appraisal of the Evidence: In this section, review each of the three chosen studies. Share the purpose, sample, details about what occurred and the results. Use sub-headings to differentiate between each study.
Synthesis of the Evidence: Synthesizes the scientific merit of the three research studies selected as relevant to the topic. In this section you will pull the three studies together for your SYNTHESIS. Synthesis is the breaking down of something into parts and rebuilding it into something different – focusing on the WHOLE. The Synthesis section addresses the 3 studies, but building it up as a whole – focusing on what the evidence tells us.
Recommendations: Propose THEE practice changes and associated criteria. In this section, you will make recommendations to change practice based on the evidence’s answer to the PICO question. Answer the question, and share how nursing practice should change based on the answer to the question. Use concrete examples to make recommendations based on the evidence (not your own thoughts; these recommendations are all supported in your 3 studies). The information should be presented strongly and clearly: Recommendation #1, Recommendation #2, and Recommendation #3.
Implementation Plan: Designs an implementation plan for successful translation at a specific organization/ setting. In this section, pretend that you have to implement the proposed recommendations. What would be your implementation plan ? Share a plan of how you would go about this.
Conclusions: Summarizes content of paper from problem through implementation plan. Refer back to the Abstract and close the “book”. Review what your paper has accomplished, and the purpose that has been met.
References: current, nursing, relevant, scholarly, APA formatting
Evidence Table: Appendix of paper; accurate. This is the Evidence Summary. Be sure it is titled according to APA formatting. (comes after the References). Your Evidence Table should be set-up in landscape and not portrait to best visualize the information. Please click on the following link to demonstrate how to accomplish this within your paper:
Portrait and Landscape in the same Document (Links to an external site.)
. Be sure that you have made the corrections to the Evidence Table after it was graded. Remove the PICO question header and your name from the table. Add the running head and pages as per APA formatting.

Consider the following suggestions regarding the pages of your paper. This is just a suggested format, your individual paper may have slight variations.

Page 1: This is the cover page. It includes your RUNNING HEAD, the title of your paper, the authors, affiliation, and page number 1. The running head has a character limit; it is a shortened version of your title (but must match exactly throughout the paper).

Page 2: This is your abstract. The abstract lines up flush left without indentation. The RUNNING HEAD is on the top of the page with page number 2. Drop the pre-fix “RUNNING HEAD” and just keep your specific text. The abstract should be short and sweet and is not a duplicate of your introduction. The abstract should consist of:

– one to two sentence intro which grabs the readers’ attention related to the topic/issue

– clear delineation of the purpose of the paper: The purpose of this paper is to……demonstrate significance, search the literature, synthesize the evidence, recommend changes for practice, suggest plans for implementation…ta da! Done!

Page 3: The first page of the BODY of the paper. Includes your RUNNING HEAD and page number 3. The Title of your paper (matches exactly from the cover page) is centered on the first line. Then the paper begins with a 1 to 2 paragraph introduction. Do not use the header “Introduction”! Just begin immediately after the title. After the intro, insert the sub header Significance… and begin. Sub headers are bolded according to APA 6th edition.

Page 4: From this point on, the page delineations are estimates. Each individual paper will vary according t the topic and the writer’s style. Keep in mind this variation as we discuss these pages as estimations. This page is focused on the significance of the issue/problem. Why should the nursing profession be concerned about this problem? Use citations literally. This is not a place for “you” to be the expert or for “you” to share why “you” think it is significant. It is appropriate to cite the “experts” and let them tell us why it is important. Citations are expected and required here. The Process of the Literature Search follows the Significance. This is usually 2 or so good size paragraphs. Cite the process of your search. Put the “keywords” you used in “quotation marks”. Share the number of results from the search engines and how you limited the results. Give specific numbers. Most importantly be sure to share how you narrowed the results from 725 to the 3 that you chose. Never, never, never list the publication name or title of the article in the text of the paper. That is what the reference list is for.

Pages 4-8: After the Process of the Literature Search, the paper moves into the Critical Appraisal and the Synthesis of the Evidence. This is actually your review of the 3 chosen research studies. Use Critical Appraisal of the Evidence to review each study. Use sub-headers (Level 2) to differentiate each study. You should use Smith and Jones (2009) – use sub headers with each study to increase clarity for the reader. Do not use non-specific headers like, “Study #1”, etc. I will repeat, Never, never, never list the title of the publication, or the journal in the text of the paper (keep it in the references). Cite according to APA format! As you move through all 3 studies, obviously you can see that you need to keep to the highlights! You will have about 3/4 to 1 page for each study (that’s all) if you plan to keep within your 5 page limit. Choose your words wisely. If you can say it in 5 words instead of 10 – do it! It will be difficult to stay within 10 pages, so be precise and say what you mean, mean what you say. APA note: use seriation. This means creating lists with: a), b), c), etc. See APA index seriation for more! (This helps to reduce word count). After the appraisal comes the synthesis. Use Synthesis of Evidence as your header; insert a transition sentence to ease transition from Critical Appraisal. The Synthesis section should pull together what is known and what evidence answers your PICO question. It is generally 2-3 strong paragraphs.

Pages 9-12: You will follow the Synthesis with your recommendations for practice changes. These recommendations come right from the literature, so they should be cited appropriately. Remember, the point of the EBP paper is to determine what the EVIDENCE says is the best answer to the question – so the recommendations come from the evidence!! However, it’s important to keep in mind these are recommendations that are made based on the evidence. You should clearly make THREE recommendations. Be sure to use language that clearly identifies the recommendations. After you have shared the recommendations for change, then it is necessary to share how you think these practice changes can be implemented. Describe an Implementation Plan. This should not be the same paragraphs as your recommendations – note the difference.

Page 12: Finish your paper with a Conclusion. Use Conclusion as a header. Your conclusion is a short paragraph that closes your paper. It should mirror your abstract in the sense that in the abstract you told the read what to expect in the paper – now you remind the reader what they just read. Few sentences about the topic significance, you reviewed the lit, then retrieves studies, appraised 3 studies, synthesized the evidence, made 3 recommendations for practice change, and then shared an implementation plan. Voila! Done….almost… (Note that the body of your paper is not more than 10 pages. The additional pages here account for the title page and abstract).

Page 13: This is your Reference list. Use References as your centered header. Follow APA exactly. Pay attention to every comma, &, space between initials, etc. use the book as your guide and “make it look like the book”. It isn’t really rocket science – just make it match! Attention to detail is critical. Remember there is only one way to do APA format – that is the way the APA manual tells you. So whatever the book says goes! This is what I will use when grading – no amendments or detours – so if you stick with the manual, you will be golden!

Page 14-??: Evidence Summary Table! This is where the Appendices go (after the references). Your Evidence Table is the Appendix (you will only have one Appendix, so you don’t need A, B, C, etc. Just use Appendix and give it a title. This is a table that summarizes the evidence – the 3 research studies. Stay within the appropriate APA margins. There is no limit to the length of the table – it will probably run a few pages. This does not count into your page limit (nor does the Reference list). Pay attention to format: APA, spelling, etc. Keep to highlights. Don’t use full sentences, it is meant to be a quick summary where all the evidence can be compared quickly. This is the same evidence table that you completed in the Evidence Summary assignment and the same that is presented on your poster!

Be sure to use scholarly language throughout the paper. It should read like a research paper, not the Reader’s Digest. The voice is meant to be scholarly and geared towards a nursing population (not the lay public). So use our language, i.e. don’t use “hits” when talking about the results of the lit search. Use “results”. Also, when referring to research, always write in the past tense. Published literature is not present or future, it is in print and is past. In addition, remember that it is the “researchers” who found results – not the “study”.

Additionally, it will be to your benefit to utilize the resources of the Writing Center, SmartThinking, and the Nursing Tutor when available to review your paper. Every set of eyes will find a new typo or see a better way to figure a sentence. Use all your resources! Don’t rely on your computer’s spell check solely. Use it, then also use brainpower to confirm! Some typos are actual words and won’t be picked up by spell check. be sure your Reference List is reconciled with the text. All the years should be accurate and the same, i. e. Smith (2009) in the reference list, and Smith (2011) in the text. Or “Rosendahl” in the reference list, and “Rosendalh” in the text. It happens all the time and these are precious points you do NOT want to lose!

** A note about spacing: Word automatically defaults to adding a space after each paragraph. APA does not allow for this. You need to go in manually and check “do not add a space after each paragraph” in order to avoid deductions for extra spaces in your paper.

*** A final note about paper length and pages. The BODY of the paper is not to exceed 10 pages. If the body of the paper is 9 or < 9 pages - you likely did not include as much depth as is required. To achieve a fully developed paper, you really need to hit the 10 page page (for the body). Title page, reference, appendix will increased pages to >13, however this does not count as the BODY. Hit the mark with a paper that includes a body of 10 pages and it is more likely that you will have more fully developed the topic as per the requirements.

Submission of your paper: All papers are due on the date/time as posted in the pacing schedule by the professor.

Upload the paper to the assignment drop box into the LMS dropbox. This copy must be posted prior to the paper due date/time. In addition to the paper, please upload each research study into the dropbox as well.