NURS 6431 Week 8 Tools for Evaluation Essay Assignment

Nine out of 10 dentists recommend XYZ toothpaste! Four out of 5 children prefer ABC cereal over all other cereals! Eighty-three percent of all adults surveyed would recommend our services to their friends!

Whether on television, on radio, in print, or on the Internet, statistics are constantly used to promote products, actions, and decisions. Often, these statistics are obtained through the use of surveys; however, just because a survey asks questions, does that make the results valid or reliable? Can the structure and wording of questions skew survey results? Can the developer’s biases unconsciously influence the neutrality of the survey?

These issues are just as applicable to surveys conducted in health care as to surveys of consumer satisfaction. Regardless of the context, designing a quality survey instrument takes time, effort, and a heightened attention to how a surveyed population may be influenced by the survey itself. This week, you examine the use of survey instruments as a part of an evaluation. In your examination, you explore the criteria that determine valid and reliable survey instruments. You also explore the AHRQ Evaluation Survey Compendium, where a number of previously designed and tested instruments are available for use.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

Evaluate the appropriateness of a survey tool
Evaluate the appropriateness of an evaluation tool
Develop a plan for utilizing an evaluation tool in an evaluation process
Utilize appropriate search tools for identifying relevant information
Develop a synthesis of literature
Create a an evaluation methodology plan for a PICO question

Discussion: Valid and Reliable Tools

The goal of an evaluation is to determine the success of an intervention, a new process, the launch of a new technology, patient satisfaction, or any number of things. Surveys are a popular tool for gathering this type of information. For the results of the evaluation to be meaningful, however, the survey used must be both reliable and valid. What does that entail? A reliable instrument is one that would yield similar results when given to different groups under identical circumstances. For example, if a survey was given to nurses on the use of a certain piece of technology, all respondents would understand the phrasing of the questions the same way. Validity refers to how well the instrument actually measures what it is intended to measure. Determining the reliability and validity of a survey instrument can be complicated and involves the use of statistics. For this reason, many researchers opt to use instruments that are already developed and tested.

For this Discussion, you consider survey instruments that would be appropriate to use in specific situations.

The following scenarios will be used for this week’s Discussion:

Scenario 1: A large hospital intends to implement a computerized provider order entry (CPOE) system. In order to get a good idea of its effects, the hospital’s leadership has asked for an evaluation of the CPOE system’s impact 90 days after its initial implementation.

Scenario 2: Years ago, the primary hospital for a large, rural county distributed personal data assistants (PDAs) to all of its physicians in an attempt to modernize. After looking at many other more up-to-date mobile systems, physicians and hospital leaders are curious about how their current PDA-based system performs.

Scenario 3: The informatics department of one of North America’s largest hospitals is conducting an internal review of its health information technology systems. This review will evaluate the need for any changes to its systems and may serve as justification for different budgetary allocations. Because of its sheer size and the number of personnel it affects, the hospital’s electronic health record system will be a pivotal point of the review.

To prepare:

Review this week’s Learning Resources on reliability and validity.
Review the AHRQ Evaluation Survey Compendium.
Review the scenarios presented above.
Using the “Locate a Survey for your Project” tool available on the AHRQ website, identify a survey tool that would be appropriate for use for each scenario.
Reflect on the specific characteristics of a valid, reliable survey tool.

By Day 3

Post the unique survey tool you identified for each scenario and a justification for your selections.

By Day 6

Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days, using one or more of the following approaches:

Share an insight from having read your colleagues’ postings, synthesizing the information to provide new perspectives.
Expand on your colleagues’ postings by providing additional insights or contrasting perspectives based on readings and evidence.

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