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Critique the below evidence synthesis exemplar to address the following.

Patient falls with injury and fall prevention remain complex phenomena in the acute care setting as well as a major challenge for healthcare professionals (Gygax Spicer, 2017). Patient falls are considered one of the leading adverse events occurring in acute care settings such as hospitals and nursing homes, with the detrimental impact to the patient ranging from mild to severe bruising, fractures, trauma, and even death (de Medeiros Araújo et al., 2017). Falls are common phenomena in older adults, with roughly one out of three people age 65 years and older who suffers from at least one fall per year due to multiple factors including environmental, social, and physiological factors either alone or in conjunction (Gygax Spicer, 2017). The etiology is that patients are attempting to get out of bed without assistance from nursing staff. Several of the causative factors include illness, impulsiveness, urgency, medications, or being in an unfamiliar environment. Lastly, there has been an increase in the amount of turnover in staffing, thus reducing the amount of available nursing staff in the practice setting.

Does the author clearly identify the scope of the evidence synthesis? Explain your rationale.

A more structured methodology is needed for the reader or researcher to synthesize and implement the findings into a practice change (Iwarsson, 2016). It was evident the authors’ focus was on patient falls; however, it was difficult to identify the scope of the evidence synthesis because of the generalized paraphrasing of each article. Also, it would have been more meaningful and impact the reader if the author had provided evidence about the increasing costs associated with patient falls.

Are strong paraphrased sentences included that are supported by contemporary sources of research evidence? Explain your rationale.

The author did not write strong paraphrased sentences to support the cited sources but made generalized statements from each article. If the author had been more congruent and related the articles and evidence in harmony with each other (CCN, 2021), the reader would then understand the brevity of the information and make an informed decision whether to include these findings in their practice change/or not.

Are the facts related to the practice problem presented objectively? Explain your rationale.

Others need to trust the results noted in the studies being presented (Cook, et al., 2020), and this author was objective and factual with the evidence highlighted and cited each article appropriately.

Does the author use sources to support ideas and claims, and not the other way around? Explain your rationale.

The author clearly cited the sources to support ideas and claims about the issues associated with patient falls and did not assert their own opinions. Each article denoted important and useful findings of the multifactorial problems with patient falls, including staffing shortages and other causative factors.

Based on your appraisal, is this exemplar a true synthesis of the evidence? Or is it a summary of the evidence? Explain your rationale.

This exemplar’s appraisal was not a true synthesis of the evidence but a short summation about patient falls. For the evidence to be synthesized, the author should have linked each research study’s findings together to better support their claims (CCN, 2017), rather than just paraphrasing the evidence being presented.

Resources

• Chamberlain College of Nursing (2019). NR-714 Week 6: The role of evidence synthesis in translation science [Online lesson]. Downers Grove, IL: Adtalem.
• Cook, B.G., et al. (2020). Evidence-based reviews: How evidence-based practices are systematically identified. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, (35)1, 6-13. DOI: 10.1111/ldrp.12213
• Iwarsson, S. (2016). Synthesizing enable-age research findings to suggest evidence-based home and health interventions. Journal of Housing for the Elderly, (30)3, 330-343. https://doi.org/10.1080/02763893.2016.1198742
• Please i need a comment for this discussion board, use at least 3 sources no later than 5 years.