Practices of Maternal and Newborn Care

Step 2: Synopsis (1a, b, c, 2, 3) Try to include these sections in one upload) 1. What was the purpose of the study (Please do not write this actual question into the paper. This question is part of your thinking process as you answer in the paper.) There are sample papers by other students in BB that may inform you on answering questions without placing the actual question in the paper. Write about a, b, c below (again, do not insert the actual questions of b & c into the paper. a. Purpose b. Was there a stated Research question (s) or was a question inferred? c. Was there a stated Hypothesis? If not, was a hypothesis inferred? 2. Critique (your opinion) on the authors’ description of how the sample was obtained. Was the description clear and could it be replicated by another researcher in a different setting by just following that description? 3. Describe the sample (Who from the sample actually participated or contributed data) a. Demographic b. Clinical profile c. Drop-out rate d. What was the sample size? e. How did they describe the sample size? Synopsis 4, 5, 6, & 7 4. Reading the inclusion or exclusion criteria, were criteria reasonable? If there was a variable you might exclude or include, and what would it be? 5. What methods were used to collect data? a. Questionnaire b. Measures c. Other types of data 6. Was an intervention tested or was this a descriptive study? a. If an intervention study, was the sample randomly assigned to treatment groups? 7. What were the main findings? Credibility 1. Is the study published in a source that required a peer review? 2. Was the study design used in this research appropriate to the research question? 3. Did the data obtained and the analysis conducted answer the research question or tell the story from an inferred research question? 4. Were there measurement instruments? If so, describe the instrument (s). Were the measuring instruments reliable and valid? 5. Define extraneous variables. Were important extraneous variables controlled? Define bias. How did the researchers control for bias? 6. The study a. If an intervention study, what was the intervention tested? i. Were the participants randomly assigned to groups and were the two groups similar at the start (before the intervention?) ii. Were the interventions well defined and consistently delivered? iii. Were the groups treated equally other than the difference in interventions? iv. If no difference was found, was the sample size large enough to detect a difference if one existed? v. If a difference was found, are you confident it was due to the intervention? b. If a descriptive study, what main aim(s) was investigated? i. Do you agree with the aim or would you have identified a different aim? Answer the ‘why’ for your decision. ii. Were the details clear or confusing? If you were to retell a detail, how could you make the message a bit clearer? 7. Are the findings consistent with findings from other studies? 8. In your opinion. Are the findings credible? Clinical Significance 1. First, discuss any statistical significance between the groups. In general, authors report a value identified as statistically significant (e.g. p > .05). Statistical tests vary depending upon the study and may be reported as means, r2s, or measures of clinical effects such as risk ratios or odds ratios. 2. Are findings clinically relevant? Said another way, Is the frequency, association, or treatment effect impressive enough for you to be confident that the finding would make a clinical difference if used as the basis of care? 3. Will the findings of the study change your clinical care? Summary Conclude your critique with one or two clinical pearls. Said another way, write one or two succinct key messages you learned from conducting the critique. Succinct conclusion is needed here because you may place this paper in a folder and bring to job interviews. A person on the panel may reach for the paper, read the last paragraph, and learn a good deal about your thought process in a quick snapshot. References Repeat the original article as a reference in APA format as the final page of the paper. You can reference other materials used to conduct your critique such as your medical/surgical materials, research textbook, or governing body website such as the CDC. Do not list references from the reference list within the article (references that are contained within your critique article).