This will be your first attempt at writing up a discrepancy, building the argument for the problem, providing your hypothesis, and finally a research question.
Choose a simple discrepancy that you have noticed at work. Things should be like this, but they are like that. Below is an example – please find your own problem from your work.
Big problem: Post-Operative Pneumonia in persons over 65 years of age cause disability and can cause death.
Current Discrepancy: All patients, especially those over 65 at risk for post-op pneumonia should be able to get pre-op teaching that includes proper use of an Incentive Spirometer (IS), but many patients, especially those over 65, do not get proper instructions during pre-operative education on the use of the incentive spirometer.
Find four facts that help to build the current argument about the problem:
1) Incentive spirometers (IS) when used properly, increase lung expansion postoperatively (Eltorai et al. 2018).
2) IS and patient lung expansion reduces the incidence of postoperative pneumonia (Eltorai et al. 2018).
3) Patients over 65 who are undergoing surgery with general anesthesia are at higher risk for post-operative pneumonia (Marshall et al. 2021).
4) Routine pre-operative education includes information on the use of IS for post-operative use,
However, not all nurses provide the same pre-operative education with instructions for incentive spirometer use. (Current problem)
Research Question: Are all patients who receive pre-operative education taught how to use an incentive spirometer?
OR Are patients who receive pre-operative education on incentive spirometer use less likely to have post-op pneumonia?
(Proper framing of a research question will be addressed later in the course)