STEP 1 – Introduction and Overview of the Problem; STEP 2 – Project Purpose Statement, Background & Significance and PICOt Formatted Clinical Project Question; and STEP 3 – Literature Review and Critical Appraisal of the Literature.

The purpose of assignments Part 1 – Part 3 is to gradually guide the student in developing the signature assignment. The idea is for the student to take a stepwise approach to completing the signature assignment. The signature assignment will be broken up into three steps: STEP 1 – Introduction and Overview of the Problem; STEP 2 – Project Purpose Statement, Background & Significance and PICOt Formatted Clinical Project Question; and STEP 3 – Literature Review and Critical Appraisal of the Literature. The three steps, when completed, will be combined in the final Signature Assignment formal paper in Week 8.

This week’s assignment is STEP 1 – Introduction and Problem Statement.

First, the student will select a clinical question from the Approved List of PICOt/Clinical Questions or seek approval for a question from the course professor only for Nurse Educator and Health Care Leadership MSN majors who wish to tailor their research question to their specialized major. The student will select an approved topic from the list (or with faculty approval as previously stated) and will customize the question to meet his or her interest.

Next, the student will use the outline below and submit via a Word doc to the assignment link.

Provide a title that conveys or describes the assignment.
Introduction – Provide an introduction to your topic or project. The introduction gives the reader an accurate, concrete understanding what the project will cover and what can be gained from implementation of this project.
Overview of the Problem – Provide a synopsis of the problem and some indication of why the problem is worth exploring or what contribution the proposed project is apt to make to practice.
References – Cite references using APA 6th ed. Manual.

STEP 2 – Project Purpose Statement, Background & Significance and PICOt Formatted Clinical Project Question.
The student will answer the items below in a Word doc and submit to the assignment link.
Provide a title that conveys or describes the assignment.
Project Purpose Statement – Provide a declarative sentence or two which summarizes the specific topic and goals of the project.
Background and Significance – State the importance of the problem and emphasize what is innovative about your proposed project. Discuss the potential impact of your project on your anticipated results to the betterment of health and/or health outcomes.
PICOt formatted Clinical Project Questions – Provide the Population, Intervention, Comparison, Expected Outcomes and timeframe for the proposed project.
References – Cite references using APA 6th ed format.

STEP 3 – Literature Review and Critical Appraisal.
The student will complete the following items and submit a Word doc to the assignment link.
Provide a title that conveys or describes the assignment.
Literature Review – Provide the key terms used to guide the search for the evidence and provide at least five (5) summaries of research studies to support the evidence.
Critical Appraisal of Literature – Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence, what is known from the evidence and any gaps in knowledge from the research evidence.
References – Cite a minimum of five scholarly references in APA 6th ed format.