Unit 4: Fundamentals of Evidence-based Practice

Submission Front Sheet

Fundamentals of evidence-based Practice- (Unit 4)

Key Dates

Formative assessment Dropbox opens in week 6                                                        

Particulars	Key Dates
Semester starts	13/01/2025
Semester ends	04/04/2025
Formative assessment Dropbox opens	17/02/2025
Formative assessment Dropbox closes	09/03/2025
Final SUBMISSION box opens on	10/03/2025
Final SUBMISSION box closes on	06/04/2025 Sunday @ 23.59 pm
Summative Feedback will be given on	25/04/2025
Referral Dropbox will open from	07/04/2025
Referral Dropbox closes on	24/05/2025
Referral result declared	Ongoing within 2 weeks of submission

 

Introduction

This unit is a Pearson-set unit. The project brief will be set by the centre, based on a theme provided by Pearson (this will change annually). The theme and chosen project within the theme will enable students to explore and examine a relevant and current topical aspect of business in the context of the business environment.

Purpose

Evidence-based practice in health and social care involves taking a systematic approach to examining a range of evidence in order to answer key questions of relevance to the sector. The basis of evidence-based practice is research.

In health and social care, research is conducted for a number of reasons for example, to find prevalence or incidence of disease, to assess quality of life or patient satisfaction. Research has global relevance and plays a significant role in influencing the development of high-quality provision, supporting a high-functioning integrated workforce and promoting the health and wellbeing of those who use health, care services.

Working in health and social care provides unique opportunities for practitioners to make a difference, developing the skills and knowledge to conduct research is fundamental in order to support quality practice, influence positive change and promote a highly-skilled workforce.

Aim

The aim of this unit is to develop students’ knowledge and skills to understand the purpose and process of research in health and social care particularly in relation to promoting integrated approaches to care. Students will carry out a literature review on a topic drawn from the Practice Themes aimed at quality improvement within wider health, care or support service practice.

Students will learn how to source current literature and assess the reliability and validity of sources to be able to construct an argument that leads to a proposal for a potential research study.

Throughout this process, students will learn how they can dynamically influence changes and improvements within the health and social care sector. The unit will develop students’ skills in understanding the steps they need to take to complete a literature review, academic conventions for presenting literature and how it forms the rationale for a personal research project.

On completion of this unit, students will have developed the pre-requisite skills needed to design a proposal that either extends from their literature review or highlights a further potential area of research. Possessing the necessary skills for conducting quality personal research that leads to evidence-based practice, will enhance students’ academic skills, professionalism and employment opportunities within the health and social care sector.

Learning Outcomes (LOs)

By the end of this unit, you will be able to:

1. Explain the role of research for evidence-based practice in health and social care
2. Conduct a review of key literature relating to a research topic towards improvements in care practice
3. Develop a project proposal using evidence-based practice
4. Examine the value of the literature review process in influencing positive change in health, care or support service provision.

Pearson set Module theme and topic

Theme: The Pearson-set theme for use with Unit 4: Fundamentals of Evidence-based Practice is Building professional confidence through evidence based practice Are you a confident healthcare professional? Do you use published evidence to improve your practice? How does one concept impact the other? The aim of this year’s theme and topics is to enable learners to investigate, discuss and debate how professional confidence can be built through evidence based practice. Learners will explore what professional confidence is, and how using the evidence base can increase their own professional confidence while in their workplace or placement. Ultimately, they will explore how confident professionals can enhance their service they provide to service users, patients and clients. Background A definition of “confidence” can be looked up in any dictionary. The term professional confidence is discussed by Holland, Middleton and Uys (2012) and it links an individual’s belief in their own abilities, knowledge and skills to being a healthcare professional or acting in a way that is elevated beyond the baseline care requirements to meet the expectations of service users, peers and the individual themselves – professional self-confidence. Evidence-based practice in healthcare involves providing holistic, personalised care, based on the most up-to-date research and knowledge gained during the research process. The evidence base is the foundation of every healthcare practitioners’ daily practice. Without the use of evidence healthcare provision would be guess work, conjecture and based on opinion. Care and treatment would depend on where the service user received it, and the individual delivering the care. There would be no consistency of care. Evaluation of care would be impossible and thus improvement of care would be non-existent. Healthcare professionals must be confident enough to speak up when they witness poor care or safeguarding issues. They’ll recognise poor care because it will not be grounded in evidence. Without confidence and evidence together, poor care proliferates and service users can be at risk. TOPIC: Developing evidence based culture in the workplace This topic is the only valid for this unit and must be used to write the report. Practice in healthcare should always be based on evidence. Historical perspectives or ‘it’s always been done that way’ or ‘my team lead does it that way’ have no place in a modern healthcare environment. Leaders, those leading elements of practice, and all those working in healthcare have a responsibility to engage in evidence based practice and to work with others to develop an evidence based culture in the work place. For those who are leading practice, managing and recruiting others, the factsheet, Evidence-based practice for effective decision-making by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (2024) will be of interest. It provides strong rationale for an evidence based approach to all practice, not just healthcare practice. The factsheet explores an evidence-based approach as a key way for practitioners to ensure that the work that they do is more likely to create positive outcomes and does not intentionally harm or exclude groups from quality outcomes. The section on information overload and biases will be particularly useful. Development of evidence-based culture does not take place in a vacuum. The needs and interests of service users and other stakeholders need to be taken into account. Creating a positive evidence based practice culture is crucial for service user safety and the the success of the workplace (Melnyk et al., 2021). How can healthcare practitioners improve the service they are delivering by fostering an evidence based work culture? This will be a key part of learners’ work. To succeed in this unit, you are required to ensure your work is based on the topic, Developing evidence based culture in the workplace, AT ALL TIME.

Assignment Title: Fundamentals of evidence-based Practice- Pearson set Project

Submission Format

This submission will be in the form of an individual report submitted using a WORD processed document. PDF and other types of files are not accepted. The recommended length of this submission is 5000 words, although you will not be penalised for exceeding the word count Where appropriate, learning theory and additional research must be used, and referenced according to the Harvard Referencing system. The work must include a bibliography for all referenced work using the Harvard referencing system including referencing of all charts, images and graphs in your work

 

Unit Learning Outcomes

LO1 Explain the role of research for evidence-based practice in health and social care LO2 Conduct a review of key literature relating to a research topic towards improvements in care practice LO3 Develop a project proposal using evidence-based practice LO4 Examine the value of the literature review process in influencing positive change in health, care or support service provision.

 

Assignment Brief and Guidance

Scenario and Activities: You have been appointed as an assistant to a Project Manager to lead on an evidence-based research project at your place of work. The aim of this project is to develop your knowledge and skills as well as your understanding of the purpose of researching health and social care with great emphasis on promoting the core principles of care in your workplace. As the assistant to the Project Manager and health care practitioner, you will need to carry out a detailed literature review on the following topic: Developing evidence based culture in the workplace. Activity 1- Research In order to complete this task, you will need to evaluate the skills and qualities required to conduct ethical research and for a literature review to positively influence practice and provision in health, care and support services while analysing your own current skills and knowledge in being able to conduct a literature review in health and social care towards evidence- based practice. To enhance the quality of your discussion and arguments describe the purpose and process of conducting research in enabling evidence-based practice in health and social care. Activity 2- Literature review and research proposal You need to critically assess the reliability and viability of own project proposal together with the literature review conducted using a range of sources relating to the research topic and explain the results of literature search that summarises current knowledge about research topic. At the same time, you need to justify the rationale for the proposed research study including the benefits of evidence-based practice as a method in carrying out research. Activity 3 - Value of research To conclude, you need to evaluate own journey towards (reflection) contributing to innovation and improvement in evidence-based health, care or support practice and service delivery and analyse how the personal research process has an impact on own learning and practice in the workplace. You should describe the different ways in which the literature review influences evidence- based health and social care practice. Guidance for students You should read this information before starting on your project. You should refer to these instructions as you complete work for this unit. Read the brief and think about what the literature review brief is asking. Apply a range of secondary research sources to plan/scope and support the literature review and its findings. Secondary research sources may include textbooks, journal articles, newspapers and magazine articles (not factual accounts). Apply a range of primary research sources to plan/scope and support the literature review and its findings. Primary research sources should include first-hand accounts from service users, practitioners and other experts in the area of practice. They can also include legal and historical documents, results of experiments and other market research data collection. Apply both qualitative and quantitative research methods to evaluate data collected from primary research. Develop your plan for your literature review based on the deliverables of the brief, the constraints of the context and the assumptions made. Conduct your research for your literature review, and the review itself according to your stated plan and meet with your tutor to receive a sign-off at each stage of the process. Keep notes of your progress throughout the project. It is important to keep a record of your work, which must be used to record the development of your ideas and your progress through the project. A logbook could be used and include: A record of what you did, when and what you were thinking. A record of where things went wrong and what you did to overcome any unexpected results. See appendix I. An example of a literature review brief is set out in the appendix II. A Gantt cart in included in appendix III, to help you plan the timing of your work. Please include the Appendixes in the final submission if you used them. Make sure to complete the literature review in order to complete your work for this unit.

 

Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria
Pass	Merit		Distinction
LO1 Explain the role of research for evidence-based practice in health and social care
P1 Describe the purpose and process of conducting research in enabling evidence-based practice in health and social care P2 Explain the skills and qualities needed to conduct a literature review in health and social care	M1 Analyse own current skills and knowledge in being able to conduct a literature review in health and social care towards evidence-basedpractice		D1 Evaluate the skills required to conduct ethical research to positively influence practice and provision in health, care and support services
LO2 Conduct a review of key literature relating to a research topic towards improvements in care practice			LO2 and LO3 D2 Critically assess the viability of own project proposal in relation to the literature review conducted
P3 Conduct a literature review using a range of sources relating to the research topic P4 Explain results of literature search that summarises current knowledge about research topic		M2 Evaluate the reliability and validity of own literature review
LO3 Develop a project proposal using evidence-based Practice
P5 Explain the benefits of evidence-based practice as a method in carrying out research P6 Produce a project proposal for a proposed study based on research topic		M3 Justify rationale for proposed research study based on research topic
LO4 Examine the value of the literature review process in influencing positive change in health and social care practice			D3 Evaluate own journey towards contributing to innovation and improvement in evidence-based health, care or support practice and service delivery
P7 Describe different ways in which the literature review influences evidence-based health and social care practice. P8 Explain how recent research has had a positive impact on current practice to improve service delivery		M4 Analyse how the personal research process has an impact on own learning and practice in the workplace

Achievement of a Pass grade

A student must have satisfied all the Pass criteria for the learning outcomes, showing coverage of the unit content and therefore attainment at Level 4 or 5 of the national framework.

Achievement of a Merit grade

A student must have satisfied all the Merit criteria (as well as the Pass criteria) through high performance in each learning outcome.

Achievement of a Distinction grade

A student must have satisfied all the Distinction criteria (as well as the Pass and Merit criteria), and these define outstanding performance across the unit as a whole.

ALL GRADES ARE PROVISIONAL UNTIL INTERNALLY VERIFIED AND UNTIL EXTERNALLY CERTIFIED BY EDEXCEL.

THIS MEANS THAT A GRADE CAN BE CHANGED AT ANY POINT UNTIL EDEXCEL CERTIFIES IT

As per Pearson policy, you are only allowed two submissions per module. One for final submission and another one for referral. Failure to achieve a grade pass after a second submission will result in you having to repeat the module in the next term.

Any re-submission or late submission (unless authorised due to mitigating circumstances) will be capped at a PASS grade only.

• Present your work in one business report style which should include a cover page, table of contents, introduction, conclusion, reference list, foot or end notes and appendices if any
• Include the reference code of this assignment on your assignment submission front page.
• Sign the Learner’s Statement of authenticity in the cover page. Failure to do so will result in the submission being declined.
• Ensure the following information is in the footer on every page:
• Your name
• The production date of your submission
• The code number of your assignment brief
• The page number (Each page must be numbered at the bottom right-hand side)
• Spell-check the document and make sure there are no grammatical errors as it may result in the submission being declined.
• Complete all the tasks in a Holistic manner as set in the brief and without separating the assessment criteria to avoid a potential referral.
• Create your own titles and sub-headings to structure the work without copying the assessment criteria verbatim.
• Produce clear specific reasoning and arguments in support of your answers.
• Submit your work in a single WORD processed document of not more than 5000 words for all learning Outcomes. This word limit is only for guidelines and is not applied to grading. PDF and other types of files are not accepted.
• You must include a bibliography at the end to show where your information was sourced. Failure to do so may result in the submission being declined
• Your sources must be identified using the Harvard referencing system. The words used in your bibliography will not be included in your word count.
• You must use Arial, size 12, 1.5 line spacing and black to format the text.

To access any feedback (formative/summative) you will have to access Moodle and open your assignment. You will have to click on the blue comment box in the righthand side and the feedback will appear within the text. You might have to click on the blue bubbles to see the feedback.

Extension and Late Submission

If an extension is necessary for a valid reason, requests must be made in writing using a course work extension request form to the head of department. Please note that the lecturers do not have the authority to extend the coursework deadlines and therefore do not ask them to award a coursework extension.

The completed form must be accompanied by evidence such as a medical certificate in the event of you being sick.

Plagiarism and Collusion

Any act of plagiarism and collusion will be seriously dealt with according to the regulations and MRC Malpractice policy

‘Plagiarism occurs when a student misrepresents any work submitted as his/her own work, the work of any other person or of any institution. Examples of forms of plagiarism include:

• the verbatim (word for word) copying of another’s work without appropriate and correctly presented acknowledgement.
• the close paraphrasing of another’s work by simply changing a few words or altering the order of presentation, without appropriate and correctly presented acknowledgement.
• unacknowledged quotation of phrases from another’s work;
• The deliberate and detailed presentation of another’s concept as one’s own.’

All types of work submitted by students are covered by this definition, including, written work, diagrams, designs, engineering drawings and pictures.

‘Collusion occurs when, unless with official approval (e.g., in the case of group projects), two or more students consciously collaborate in the preparation and production of work which is ultimately submitted by each in an identical, or substantially similar, form and/or is represented by each to be the product of his or her individual efforts.

All submissions for assessment must be submitted on Moodle to generate a Turnitin Report on similarity to detect potential plagiarism and collusion.

The maximum Turnitin score admissible is 15% but a submission can be classified as plagiarism and/or collusion with a lower score depending on the size of the submission and size of the text highlighted.

Assignments with plagiarism/ad or collusion will be automatically referred for reworking and resubmission. Please check the MRC Assessment policy as well as MRC Malpractice policy for details of the potential penalties as a procedure.

Including pictures of text (apart from the cover page or table of content) or pictures of any other type of information (diagram for example) without a citation and a Harvard Reference could be deemed to be an attempt of malpractice and could trigger an automatic referral as well as a malpractice procedure.

Any student might be called to seat through a viva with the lecturer to confirm any parts of the submission through an interview which will then form part of the summative assessment.

Using Artificial Intelligence

AI tools have proliferated and become more common and as a result, their usage for research has increased which prompted change of government policies in this matter.

Overall, it remains too easy for students to misunderstand how they can use Generative Artificial Intelligence tools and unintentionally breach academic integrity guidelines.

Research of information and the writing of academic work must always be performed by the student, and while it is acceptable to use an AI tool to start a research process, it is not allowed to use it to write a submission in your place.

The important part is to understand that the best way to produce a work is to research it through traditional methods (books articles, websites, journals).

Yet, AI tools could be used to help with the research but only as a starting point. Having found information, thanks to an AI tool, about a topic you are writing about, you should then research it using these traditional methods and include the references and citations based on these resources in your work.

Once you have the correct information, you need to write the assignment yourself, using an AI tool to do this for you is never allowed. The usage of paraphrasing tools might be appropriate to find alternative to some words and short sentences, but not or a whole paragraph/page/ work.

The same way Mont Rose College is using a similarity detection system, an AI detection tool is embedded in our systems and every submission you make will go through both of them.

Submissions for assessment that consist of large substantially unmodified output from Artificial Intelligence software may be considered as a very poor academic practice as it does not represent the student’s own work.

To this effect, the limit on AI detection has been set at 50%. If a submission is over that allowance, the submission could be rejected and awarded a Referral and/or the student called to seat through a viva with the lecturer to confirm any parts of the submission through an interview which will then form part of the summative assessment.

In cases where an individual persistently exhibits poor academic practice through inappropriate use of Artificial Intelligence tools, such as a lack of evidencing their use of the tools, they may be referred to the academic misconduct procedures and the range of the potential penalties.

Recommended Resources

Textbooks

BELL, J. (2014) Doing your Research Project: A Guide for First-Time Researchers (6th Ed.) Oxford: Open University Press.

CROOKES, P.A. and DAVIES, S. (2014) Research into Practice, 2e: Essential Skills for Reading and Applying Research in Nursing and Healthcare. London: Bailliere Tindall

DAVIES, J. (2012) Evidence-based Practice (Nursing and Health Survival Guides). Oxford: Routledge.

ELLIS, P. (2016) Understanding Research for Nursing Students (Transforming Nursing Practice Series). London: Sage Publications Ltd.

NEWELL, R. (2010) Research Evidence-Based Practice in Healthcare: Second Edition (Vital Notes for Nurses). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

THOMAS, G. (2013) How to do your Research Project (2nd Revised Edition). London: Sage Publications Ltd.

Appendix I

Logbook Template

Name:

Literature Review title:

Date:

Update on weekly research/tasks achieved Points to consider: What have you completed? Did you fulfil task requirements? Are you on track and within deadlines set? Did you need to make any changes to your management plan?

Any risks and/or issues identified? Points to consider: Did you identify risks/issues with a lack of skills required for undertaking research/tasks? Did you identify any additional risks/issues that have an impact on the management plan?

Problems encountered Points to consider: What barriers did you face? How did you overcome them?

New ideas and change of literature review direction

What have you learned about yourself this week? Points to consider: How did you feel when you had to deal with tasks/problems? Did you find it useful to complete the tasks? How well have you performed? What did you contribute? What can you improve on next week? How might this learning apply in the future?

Tasks planned for next week Points to consider: Which tasks are a priority? Have you set aside sufficient time for completion?

Literature Review Management Plan status to date (on, ahead, behind)

Tutor’s comments

Appendix II

Literature review brief

Your tutor will provide you with the scenario and type of literature review to be completed based on a topic related to the theme.

• Establish your aims and objectives for the literature review, and the project proposal. Outline objectives and timeframes based on the scenario set by your tutor.
• Produce an appropriate project management plan that includes relevant actions to meet objectives and timeframes.
• Conduct research to generate knowledge which will form the basis for assessment of the viability of the project proposed in your plan in relation to the brief.
• Critically assess your findings and draw conclusions to form the basis for recommendations for the project you have proposed based on the literature review conducted.
• Present and produce your project proposal and literature review in an appropriate manner for the intended audience.
• Communicate your recommendations in an appropriate manner for the intended audience.
• Complete a performance review that addresses the following:
• The success of the literature review and its effectiveness in addressing the issues identified in the Pearson-set theme and topic.
• Your own performance, with a focus on how the work you have done will prepare you to contribute towards innovation and improvement in evidence-based health, care or support practice and service delivery.

Appendix III

Gantt Chart

Gantt Chart on Research on Unit 4:
Tasks and Activities	w/c	w/c	w/c	w/c	w/c	w/c	w/c	w/c	w/c	w/c	w/c

Note w/c: week commencing