QUESTION
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Week 6: Evidence Synthesis
Critique the below evidence synthesis exemplar to address the following.
Patient falls with injury and fall prevention remain complex phenomena in the acute care setting as well as a major challenge for healthcare professionals (Gygax Spicer, 2017). Patient falls are considered one of the leading adverse events occurring in acute care settings such as hospitals and nursing homes, with the detrimental impact to the patient ranging from mild to severe bruising, fractures, trauma, and even death (de Medeiros Araújo et al., 2017). Falls are common phenomena in older adults, with roughly one out of three people age 65 years and older who suffers from at least one fall per year due to multiple factors including environmental, social, and physiological factors either alone or in conjunction (Gygax Spicer, 2017). The etiology is that patients are attempting to get out of bed without assistance from nursing staff. Several of the causative factors include illness, impulsiveness, urgency, medications, or being in an unfamiliar environment. Lastly, there has been an increase in the amount of turnover in staffing, thus reducing the amount of available nursing staff in the practice setting.
Does the author clearly identify the scope of the evidence synthesis? Explain your rationale.
Are strong paraphrased sentences included that are supported by contemporary sources of research evidence? Explain your rationale.
Are the facts related to the practice problem presented in an objective manner? Explain your rationale.
Does the author use sources to support ideas and claims, and not the other way around? Explain your rationale.
Based on your appraisal, is this exemplar a true synthesis of the evidence? Or is it a summary of the evidence? Explain your rationale.
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| Subject | Nursing | Pages | 3 | Style | APA |
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Answer
Evidence Synthesis
The Scope of the Evidence Synthesis
The evidence synthesis exemplar features a clear identification of the scope of evidence synthesis. This is because it clearly identifies the setting as an acute care like in hospitals and nursing homes. Also, it has been identified that the synthesis will focus on patient falls, as well as the related detrimental impacts. Hence, the factors that are being synthesised have been well presented.
The use of Contemporary Sources
Throughout the synthesis, there are a number of strong paraphrased sentences that have been supported by contemporary sources of evidence. These sentences are strong because they feature statements of facts and statistics rather than mere assumptions or ideas of the authors. For instance, there is the presentation of examples of the detrimental impacts which have been presented as bruising, fractures, and even death. The sentence has been properly referenced to show that the information was obtained from that research resource. An example of the use of statistics is when the author states that falls are common in the elderly with one out of three people experiencing a fall per year. This has also been referenced to show where the information was obtained from.
The use of contemporary resources means that the dates need to be recent to ensure that the findings can be related to the current population. In this synthesis, all resources are dated within five years, hence making them effective for use. The findings and conclusions can be used to support the ideas of other scholars, thereby leading to a strong evidence based change recommendation.
The Presentation of Facts
The facts of this synthesis have been presented in an objective manner since there is no use of personal ideas and assumptions. They have been backed up by previous recent research studies, showing that it can be related to the general population. In addition, there is no biasness is the author’s conclusions since these have been based entirely on the synthesis. Any beliefs and values that the author may have had are not reflected in the study.
Using Sources to Support Ideas and Claims
Sources have been used effectively to support the ideas and claims that are represented in the synthesis. That is because the author presents the ideas before introducing the facts from the resources. Therefore, the facts from the resources are used to support the ideas and claims that the author may have had regarding the fall of elderly patients in acute care settings.
A Synthesis of Evidence versus Summary of Evidence
From the analysis conducted above on the exemplar study, it is clear that it is a synthesis of evidence and not a summary. This is because a synthesis is differentiated from a summary by two factors. One, the use of more than one text to support relevant arguments shows that it is a synthesis since a summary would focus on a single text only. By using ideas from different sources, it is possible to recommend a new intervention that takes them into account. Second, the use of facts rather than assumptions of the author also show that the text is a synthesis. The facts introduced are based on research processes that were carried out before yielding these results. Hence, the research is not based on personal ideas, but on actual facts.
References