You should identify one specific area of practice that you think could be improved upon, and put forward a proposal which outlines how you would use EBP to improve upon current practice. Previous examples of proposals have included the introduction of guidelines to manage lower back pain in a general practice setting, the introduction of a pain assessment tool in a surgical unit, the development of a nurse-led clinic for post-radiotherapy skin checks and a proposal to standardise oral hygiene practices in an aged care facility.
Your proposal needs to be comprehensive, including (but not limited to):
• Brief profile of your workplace, your patients/clients, your daily work, the staffing arrangements and resources available to you as a background to the following points;
• Why there is a requirement for current practice to be more evidence-based (e.g. what problems exist that you foresee EBP will address);
• The rationale for choosing a selected quality improvement method/model within your practice, explaining why this particular method might be relevant and can address the practical barriers within your workplace;
• The consultation process, eg. consider who you are going to consult to make this happen and practical issues such as how and when you will do this;
• The planning process, ie. how you will make this happen in your workplace, step by step;
• Change management, ie. how you will deal with the usual barriers to change;
• Professional, team and leadership development, ie. how are you going to get the momentum happening and continuing?
Please note that the focus of this assignment is how you will apply what you learn from the literature to YOUR practice. You should both critique relevant literature and apply it to your quality improvement initiative.
The assignment should be 3500 – 4000 words (excluding references).