When you have a great project, take credit for your ideas by submitting an abstract to a conference!

Right Writing
"You will not learn to write well by talking – to me, or to anyone else – about writing; you will learn to write well by writing. Talking about writing is like talking about carpentry, or about playing the piano, or about riding a bicycle – interesting, perhaps, but of little help in actually learning how to do any of these things. To learn how to do them, you have to do them, over and over and over. It’s called “practicing.” It’s the same with writing; actually practicing the skill…. I’m not suggesting that I’m not happy to talk to you about your project. But talking to me is much less valuable than you (and most students) think it is.” – D.G.Post (August 2010)

Steps of Writing
 Pre-Writing = Just getting all your ideas down on paper. Order doesn’t matter. (See http://www.studygs.net/writing/prewriting.htm for strategies to start.)
 Writing = Organizing your ideas into paragraphs that communicate
 Re-writing = Editing accuracy of facts, content, grammar, spelling, etc. Make it “sing” (Plan to write your title & introduction during this phase.

Rules of Writing Well
#1 Writing is Re-writing
#2 Writing is Re-writing
#3 Writing is Re-writing

1. Research = Creating new evidence, such as developing a new drug that is needed.

2. Evidence-based practice = using research evidence, such as the RN administering a drug.

From PubMed database. Full text available through that site.
O'Horo JC, Silva GLM, Silvia Munoz-Price L, Safdar N. The efficacy of daily bathing with chlorhexidine for reducing healthcare-associated bloodstream infections: a meta-analysis. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology 2012; 33(3): 257-267.

Abstract
DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies to assess the efficacy of daily bathing with chlorhexidine (CHG) for prevention of healthcare-associated bloodstream infections (BSIs).

SETTING: Medical, surgical, trauma, and combined medical-surgical intensive care units (ICUs) and long-term acute care hospitals.

PARTICIPANTS: Inpatients.

METHODS: Data on patient population, diagnostic criteria for BSIs, form and concentration of topical CHG, incidence of BSIs, and study design were extracted.

RESULTS: One randomized controlled trial and 11 nonrandomized controlled trials reporting a total of 137,392 patient-days met the inclusion criteria; 291 patients in the CHG arm developed a BSI over 67,775 patient-days, compared with 557 patients in the control arm over 69,617 catheter-days. CHG bathing resulted in a reduced incidence of BSIs: the pooled odds ratio using a random-effects model was 0.44 (95% confidence interval, 0.33-0.59; [Formula: see text]). Statistical heterogeneity was moderate, with an I(2) of 58%. For the subgroup of studies that examined central line-associated BSIs, the odds ratio was 0.40 (95% confidence interval, 0.27-0.59).

CONCLUSIONS: Daily bathing with CHG reduced the incidence of BSIs, including central line-associated BSIs, among patients in the medical ICU. Further studies are recommended to determine the optimal frequency, method of application, and concentration of CHG as well as the comparative effectiveness of this strategy relative to other preventive measures available for reducing BSIs. Future studies should also examine the efficacy of daily CHG bathing in non-ICU populations at risk for BSI.

Dignity Health Northridge Hospital Staff & Cal State Univ Northridge BSN students create a history of sharing their evidence-based practice projects in an Annual Collaborative EBP Day.

“Hospitals’ relative standing [in HCAHPS scores] with respect to doctor communication, nurse communication, and pain control outcomes vary the most across patient subgroups (e.g.,1.8-2.8 hospital-level standard deviations for excellent vs. poor health; 1.5-2.2 for American Indians/Alaska Natives vs. non-Hispanic White; 0.7-0.9 for third language vs. English, and for Asian vs. non-Hispanic White).”

 

Do Hospitals Rank Differently on HCAHPS for Different Patient  Subgroups?
Med Care Res Rev 2010 67: 56 originally published online 15 July 2009
Marc N. Elliott, William G. Lehrman, Elizabeth Goldstein, Katrin Hambarsoomian,
Megan K. Beckett and Laura A. Giordano

Keep up the good work, Californians!   Keep that body weight in control.  Eat those veggies & fruits.

Mississippians Most Obese, Montanans Least Obese

Chronic diseases are more prevalent in the most obese states.   

http://www.gallup.com/poll/167642/mississippians-obese-montanans-least-obese.aspx

What is evidence-based practice?

It is not merely finding the research.  It is combining the research with your clinical expertise in light of patient & family preferences & values.

Check out this quick overview:
http://guides.mclibrary.duke.edu/content.php?pid=431451&sid=3529499