Applying Research Skills
Applying Research Skills
Applying Research Skills. Application of Research Skills
Create a 3-5-page annotated bibliography and summary based on your research related to best
practices addressing one of the health care problems or issues in the Assessment Topic Areas
media piece faced by a health care organization that is of interest to you.
Instructions: Applying Research Skills
Create a 3-5-page annotated bibliography and summary based on your research related to best practices addressing
one of the health care problems or issues in the Assessment Topic Areas media piece faced by a health care
organization that is of interest to you.
Introduction
In your professional life, you will need to find credible evidence to support your decisions and your plans of action.
You will want to keep abreast of best practices to help your organization adapt to the ever-changing health care
environment. Being adept at research will help you find the information you need. For this assessment, you will
review the Assessment Topic Areas media piece and select one of the health care problems or issues to research a
current health care problem or issue faced by a health care organization that is of interest to you.
Demonstration of Proficiency
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the course competencies
through the following assessment scoring guide criteria:
Competency 1: Apply information literacy and library research skills to obtain scholarly information in the field
of health care.
Identify academic peer-reviewed journal articles relevant to a health care problem or issue and describe
the criteria used for the literature search.
Competency 2: Apply scholarly information through critical thinking to solve problems in the field of health
care.
Assess the credibility and relevance of information sources.
Summarize what was learned from developing an annotated bibliography.
Analyze academic peer-reviewed journal articles using the annotated bibliography organizational
format.
Competency 4: Write for a specific audience, in appropriate tone and style, in accordance with Capella’s
writing standards.
Summarize a health care problem or issue and describe a personal interest in it and experience with it.
Write clearly and logically, with correct use of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics.
Write following APA style for in-text citations, quotes, and references.
Instructions
Note: The requirements outlined below correspond to the grading criteria in the scoring guide. At a minimum, be
sure to address each point. In addition, you are encouraged to review the performance-level descriptions for each
criterion to see how your work will be assessed.
For this assessment, research best practices related to a current health care problem. Your selected problem or issue
will be utilized again in Assessment 3. To explore your chosen topic, you should use the first two steps of the
Socratic Problem-Solving Approach to aid your critical thinking.
1. View the Assessment Topic Areas media piece and select one of the health care problems or issues in the
media piece to research. Write a brief overview of the selected topic. In your overview:
Summarize the health care problem or issue.
Describe your interest in the topic.
Describe any professional experience you have with this topic.
2. Identify peer-reviewed articles relevant to health care issue or problem.
Conduct a search for scholarly or academic peer-reviewed literature related to the topic and describe
the criteria you used to search for articles, including the names of the databases you used. You will
select four current scholarly or academic peer-reviewed journal articles published during the past 3–5
years that relate to your topic.
You will want to access the applicable Undergraduate Library Research Guide related to your
degree (found at the NHS Learner Success Lab) for tips to help you in your search.
Use keywords related to the health care problem or issue you are researching to select relevant articles.
3. Assess the credibility and explain relevance of the information sources you find.
Determine if the source is from an academic peer-reviewed journal.
Determine if the publication is current.
Determine if information in the academic peer-reviewed journal article is still relevant.
4. Analyze academic peer-reviewed journal articles using the annotated bibliography organizational format.
Provide rationale for inclusion of each selected article. The purpose of an annotated bibliography is to
document a list of references along with key information about each one. The detail about the reference is the
annotation. Developing this annotated bibliography will create a foundation of knowledge about the selected
topic. In your annotated bibliography:
Identify the purpose of the article.
Summarize the information.
Provide rationale for inclusion of each article.
Include the conclusions and findings of the article.
Write your annotated bibliography in a paragraph form. The annotated bibliography should be
approximately 150 words (1–3 paragraphs) in length.
List the full reference for the source in APA format (author, date, title, publisher, et cetera) and use APA
format for the annotated bibliography.
Make sure the references are listed in alphabetical order, are double-spaced, and use hanging indents.
5. Summarize what you have learned from developing an annotated bibliography.
Summarize what you learned from your research in a separate paragraph or two at the end of the
paper.
List the main points you learned from your research.
Summarize the main contributions of the sources you chose and how they enhanced your knowledge
about the topic.
Example Assessment: You may use the following to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the
scoring guide would look like:
Assessment 2 Example [PDF]
Additional Requirements
Your assessment should also meet the following requirements:
Length: 3–5 typed, double-spaced pages, not including the title page and reference page.
Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.
APA template: Use the APA Style Paper Template [DOCX] as the paper format and the APA Style Paper
Tutorial [DOCX] for guidance.
Written communication: Write clearly and logically, with correct use of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and
mechanics.
Content: Provide a title page and reference page following APA style.
References: Use at least four scholarly or academic peer-reviewed journal articles.
APA format: Follow current APA guidelines for in-text citation of outside sources in the body of your paper
and also on the reference page.
If you would like assistance in organizing your assessment, or if you simply have a question about your assessment,
please do not hesitate to ask faculty or the teaching assistants in the NHS Learner Success Lab for guidance and
suggestions.
Note: Faculty may use the Writing Feedback Tool when grading this assessment. The Writing Feedback Tool is
designed to provide you with guidance and resources to develop your writing based on five core skills. You will find
writing feedback in the Scoring Guide for the assessment, once your work has been evaluated.
Assessment Topic Areas
Selecting a topic for your written assessments can be challenging, but it’s
important to make a thoughtful choice.
Choose a topic area of interest to you from the topic suggestions in this
media piece. You will use this topic to complete Assessments 2 and 3. Be
sure to select a topic that will be manageable for a written assessment.
To explore the chosen topic, you should use the Socratic Problem-Solving
Approach, focusing on the sections specifically called out in the
assessment guidelines.
Topic 1: Limited Access to Healthcare
Short Description:
Consumers face barriers to healthcare access for assorted reasons. For
example: due to geographic location, provider availability, transportation
issues and mobility.
Potential Intervention Approaches:
Healthcare information online
Telemedicine
In–home healthcare services
Keywords for Articles:
online health information seeking, health care access, health information
systems, consumer health information, chronic disease, health
information search, health seeking behavior, rural nursing
References:
Bhandari, N. (2014). Seeking health information online: does limited healthcare
access matter? Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association: JAMIA
(1067-5027), 21 (6), p. 1113. https://www-ncbi-nlm-nihgov.library.capella.edu/pmc/articles/PMC4215038/
Lee, K., Hoti, K., Hughes, J. D., & Emmerton, L. (2014). Dr Google and the
Consumer: A Qualitative Study Exploring the Navigational Needs and Online Health
Information-Seeking Behaviors of Consumers with Chronic Health Conditions.
Journal of Medical Internet Research, 16(12), e262.
http://doi.org.library.capella.edu/10.2196/jmir.3706
Ware, P., Bartlett, S. J., Paré, G., Symeonidis, I., Tannenbaum, C., Bartlett, G., …
Ahmed, S. (2017). Using eHealth Technologies: Interests, Preferences, and Concerns
of Older Adults. Interactive Journal of Medical Research, 6(1), e3.
http://doi.org.library.capella.edu/10.2196/ijmr.4447
Pratt, D. (2015). Telehealth and telemedicine. Albany Law Journal of Science &
Technology. (1059-4280), 25 (3), p. 495.
http://www.lexisnexis.com.library.capella.edu/hottopics/lnacademic/?
shr=t&csi=148364&sr=TITLE(%22Telehealth+telemedicine+in+2015%22)+and+date
+is+2015
Topic 2: Healthcare Disparities
Short Description:
In 2010, the Federal Department of Human and Health Service (DHHS)
launched the Healthy People 2020 goals to include a goal to eliminate
health inequality/disparity. Healthy People 2020 defines a health disparity
as “a particular type of health difference that is closely linked with social,
economic, and/or environmental disadvantage. Health disparities
adversely affect groups of people who have systematically experienced
greater obstacles to health based on their racial or ethnic group; religion;
socioeconomic status; gender; age; mental health; cognitive, sensory, or
physical disability; sexual orientation or gender identity; geographic
location; or other characteristics historically linked to discrimination or
exclusion” (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2017,
p.1).
Potential Intervention Approaches:
Federal goals
Community health improvement plans
Patient advocacy efforts
“Triple Aim” for populations
Keywords for Articles:
health disparities, community health assessment, community health
improvement plan, strategic planning, local health departments, health
inequities
References:
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2017). Disparities. Retrieved
from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/about/foundation-healthmeasures/disparities
Shah G.H., & Sheahan J.P. (2016). Local health departments’ activities to address
health disparities and inequities: Are we moving in the right direction? International
Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2016; 13(1):44.
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/13/1/44
Institute for Healthcare Improvement. (2017). Triple Aim for Populations.
http://www.ihi.org/Topics/TripleAim/Pages/Overview.aspx
Topic 3: Medication Errors
Short Description:
A medication error is a preventable adverse effect of a patient taking the
wrong medication or dosage, whether or not it is evident or harmful to
the patient. Medication errors can be a source of serious patient harm,
including death.
Potential Intervention Approaches:
Medical staff education
Packaging improvements
Patient medication safety training
Keywords for Articles:
medication administration, medication errors, medication safety
References:
Cohen, M. (2016). Medication errors (miscellaneous). Nursing. 46(2):72, February
2016. DOI: 10.1097/01.NURSE.0000476239.09094.06
Institute for Healthcare Improvement. (2017). Improve Core Processes for
Administering Medications.
http://www.ihi.org/resources/Pages/Changes/ImproveCoreProcessesforAdministerin
gMedications.aspx
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2012). Table 6: Categories of
Medication Error Classification. http://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/quality-patientsafety/patient-safety-resources/resources/match/matchtab6.html
Schmidt, K., Taylor, A., & Pearson, A. (2017). Reduction of medication errors: A
unique approach. Journal of Nursing Care Quality. 32(2), April/June 2017, 150–156.
Topic 4: Healthcare System Errors
Short Description:
The health care system in the United States has been the subject of much
debate as experts try to determine the best way to deliver high-quality
care. In Crossing the Quality Chasm, the Institute of Medicine (2001)
called for the redesign of health care delivery systems and their external
environments to promote care that is safe, effective, patient-centered,
timely, efficient, and equitable.
Potential Intervention Approaches:
Systemwide transformation
Process redesign
Electronic health records
Keywords for Articles:
multi-stakeholder collaboration, healthcare system redesign
References:
Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Quality of Health Care in America. (2001).
Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century. Washington
(DC): National Academies Press (US).Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
(2017). Hospitals and Health Systems.
http://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/systems/index.html
Roberts, B. (2017). Relationship-based care: The institute of medicine’s core
competencies in action. Creative Nursing, 05/2016, 22(2).
