Nurse Burnout

Copy the Title Here from Your Title Page

Please look at your instructor feedback from your previous paper and incorporate changes throughout. Note that in APA there is no heading that says Introduction. The paragraph or two that follows the title on the first page of your text is assumed to be your introduction. Your introduction follows the title of your paper. You should start your introduction with a powerful statement or two to stimulate interest. You should identify the purpose of your paper and provide a preview of what the paper will include. Remember that formal papers are in general in third person so no I, me, we; however, you can use first person in the search section since you are describing what you did. Delete all highlighted information in this sample template prior to submission.

Significance of the Practice Problem

Start this section with identification of the practice problem. The problem must be significant to the student’s identified practice area and have significant impact on the student’s discipline and patient outcomes. This section should also answer the question “why is this important?” You should address the significance to the patient/client (e.g., pain, suffering, quality of life, impact on income potential, etc.), the family, healthcare system (e.g., impact on cost or delivery systems), and society (e.g., cost of care, need for healthcare policy). Discuss the incidence and/or prevalence and include the financial impact if at all possible. You might discuss the impact on length of stay, readmission, home health care requirements, disability and/or mortality. Also, you should address any quality, safety, legal, and ethical implications. This discussion MUST be substantiated by citations from professional literature.

PICO-Format Clinical Question

This section should include your PICO question but also should provide thorough descriptions of your population, intervention, comparison intervention, outcome, and timing. This section contains, in essence, your operational definitions of the variables in the question. You should include a brief introduction to what PICO format is and why it is used when addressing a practice problem. If you use definitions from the literature, be sure to cite them.

Population

This is a clear description of the population of interest, which includes at least two characteristics (e.g., age, setting, condition), and includes elaboration of why these characteristics are pertinent to the clinical question. Describe the population by age, gender, diagnosis, personal habit, procedure, etc. Be thorough. Remember that this is the population that most closely matches the population where you would conduct your EBP change but not so specifically like that population that you cannot find that population in the scientific literature related to your problem and intervention.

Intervention

Describe the intervention being investigated as a possible means to achieve the outcome. Be thorough and include citations which support this intervention for your selected practice problem. This is not a literature review but you need to demonstrate how you came around to selecting this intervention as a potential solution for your practice problem. This section should absolutely include citations as evidence supporting your intervention.

Comparison

Describe the comparison. If the comparison is usual treatment, describe what that usual treatment is and include citations to support that it is usual treatment. The comparison is what is currently being done for this patient population.

Outcome

Describe the outcome you are measuring- typically this is your practice problem since you are trying to affect that. It should be measurable since you will need to describe how you are going to measure it in your evaluation plan for the week 8 project. If you know of a tool or instrument to measure the outcome, briefly describe it here. You can find this in the literature you are reading, and other researchers should have used it in their studies on your topic. Again, citations are necessary.

Search Strategy and Results

This section should include a description of keywords (including MeSH headings used), inclusion and exclusion criteria, which databases were searched (such as CINAHL, PubMed, etc.) and the results of the search. Your reader should be able to recreate your search based on your narrative. Your final number of primary research studies and/or systematic reviews after exclusion criteria is applied should be between five and ten. If you have more than that, then you need to narrow your search, perhaps by publication date range. You need to identify why you eliminate any primary research studies or systematic reviews that meet your inclusion criteria and do not meet your exclusion criteria. One acceptable reason would be poor quality of study. These studies should ideally be studies from the United States unless international studies are significant to answer the question because healthcare systems are very different around the world. (NOTE: If you did not find at least 5-10 primary research studies and/or systematic reviews to answer your clinical question, it is a research question rather than an EBP question and you need to change your question.)

Synthesis of the Literature

Synthesize your final primary research studies and/or systematic reviews and/or meta-analyses. This section is all about the scientific evidence rather than someone else’s opinion of the evidence. Do not use secondary sources; you need to get the article, read it, and make your own decision about quality and applicability to your question even if you did find out about the study in a review of the literature. The studies that you cite in this section must relate directly to your PICOT question. This is a synthesis rather than a study-by-study review. Address the similarities, differences, and controversies in the body of evidence. This section should include at least five studies/evidence summaries.

Practice Recommendations

This is where you propose the answer to your clinical question. You should summarize the strength of the body of evidence (quality, quantity, and consistency- use the Johns Hopkins evaluation tool from your week 5 discussion board), make a summary statement, and, based on your conclusions drawn from your review of the body of evidence related to your clinical question, give a recommendation for practice change. This would logically be the intervention of your PICO question. It is also possible that perhaps you found substantiation for usual practice, and you recommend reinforcement and education regarding this best practice. Use the Johns Hopkins EBP rating for level and quality when making your recommendations. Typically, practice recommendations are based only on high-level evidence (level 1 and 2)- if you do otherwise, make sure to thoroughly explain your rationale.

Conclusion

The conclusion should start with a statement regarding the intention of the paper and your achievement toward that intention. Also, it should briefly say what was included in the paper. Remember that the introduction is a preview and this section should contain a summary. No new information should be introduced in a conclusion.

References

Achterberg, J. (1985). Imagery in healing. Shambhala Publications.