General Formatting Throughout Paper
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There’s a 1-inch margin on all four sides of each page of the paper
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There is a .5-inch margin on the header
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The font is the correct size (12 pt) and style (Times New Roman)
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Double-spaced throughout
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Words not hyphenated (broken) at end of a line
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Numbers are expressed correctly (spelled out if at beginning of sentences!)
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Page header and number are typed at the top of each page
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APA Technical Writing Style
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Spelling is correct. Spell-check used
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Personal pronouns (I, me, us, we) are not used
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No slangs
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Sentences are complete. Each sentence can stands alone and still make sense
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Is concise and avoids the use of excessive jargon/verbiage.
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All sentences in each paragraph pertain to the same subject.
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APA style in-text citations and references where appropriate
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Title Page See APA 7th ed.
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- Page header is first two or three words of the title
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- Running head on first page of paper
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- Page number begin on the first page until the last page
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- Paper title is centered, bold
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- Authors are included and centered on the page
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I. Introduction
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- An introduction/background information on the chosen objective (and/or the topic).
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- Assessment – Define the issue. Why is this a clinical problem? What are the risk factors? Statistics? Current prevalence rate in the US?
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- Why or how the topic/objective interests you?
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- Diagnosis – What are the consequences if issue is not acknowledged? How will consequences affect the identified clinical? PICO
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II. Literature Review
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- Research on the current policy/interventions/knowledge on how to achieve the objective
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- Personal reflection: what do you think about the current policy/interventions?
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- Any other interventions you believe pertinent?
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- Any policy you believe should be changed or removed?
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111. Methodology
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- Design — Select a change theorist and theory to guide your change project. –“Lewin’s Theory”..
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- Planning – What is the role of the RN regarding the issue? How can RNs help the participants regarding the issue?
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- Target population. Sample size
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- What tool(s) were used to assess the problem? Develop a 15-point questionnaire to help assess the problem.
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- Implementation – What are your nursing interventions? – Teachings? /Brochure, New policies etc. Develop a tool (teaching/brochure/new policies etc) about the topic.
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- Barriers and enablers. Did you identify any barriers to the change? What were they?Did you use any enablers (develop a checklist) to help you to stay on track with your project? Elaborate on how the change intervention was implemented.
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- Evaluation – How will you evaluate the effectiveness of your interventions. Develop 5-question checklist to evaluate effectiveness of your interventions. .
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- Analysis –of the data that were initially collected.
Explain the result of each of the questions on the questionnaire
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IV. Ethic – Who approved project activity?(Instructor & clinical preceptor). Why ethical consideration?–should be no more than 2 lines
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V. Results
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- How many needs were identified? What were they? Was there a main problem?
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- What were the demeanor/reaction of the clinical preceptor /and/or participants about the need(s) and the change? Was a clear need for change identified?
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- What did the literature say about the effect of the problem on the participants?
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VI. Discussion
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- Finding(s) –What did you find after analyzing the data? Explain
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- Limitations to the study- ex. Sample size, studies, age, race, gender, etc.
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- Any new ideas about how would conduct a similar future study?
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- Nursing Implications Example: the nurse administered Lasix. The nursing implication is that the patient will need to urinate more often, the nurse will need to monitor the patient often: a) to empty the Foley, b) to prevent fall/injury as the patient hurry to the bathroom, monitor the lab for possible electrolyte imbalance, provide adequate hydration or monitor for possible urinary infection
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Conclusion
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- Did the project findings and results match the PICOT statement? Was an evidence-based approach used. List them. Etc.
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VII. References.
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- Minimum 5 evidenced based references. Resources cannot be older than 5yrs.
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VIII. Appendix:
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- Tables, Checklist, Blank questionnaire, Teaching pamphlet, policy, short video, etc.
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IX. APA Style See APA 7th ed.
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- In-text citations and references where appropriate.
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Additionally:
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- Paper should be between 1500– 2000 words. Does not include references or Appendix items
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- Poor grammar, spelling or punctuation
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