1—– Implementing an evidence-based practice or program (EBP) increases the likelihood that students’ performance will improve. An EBP is one that is supported by rigorous research demonstrating its effectiveness and changes, even the most effective EBPs do not work for all or students. Further, the more practice or program implemented with fidelity as intended by the researchers or developers a higher likelihood that it will produce positive student outcomes. To judge my project made a difference in practice.
1. Systematically monitor one’s learning outcomes: The purpose of monitoring progress is to determine whether individuals are improving. One of the best ways to measure improvement is progress monitoring, a type of formative assessment in which learning evaluated regularly. Example, each week, comments and grades received from my professor.
2. Systematically monitor the reliability of implementation: The purpose of monitoring fidelity is to ensure that the EBP is being implemented as intended, which will increase the likelihood of improved younger student outcomes.
3. Examine the relation between learner outcomes and fidelity of implementation: The purpose of comparing the two sets of data is to determine whether the EBP is useful for students with whom you are working (vanderbilt.edu).
If commitment is high, increases in performance can be attributed to the evidence-based practice or project. Likewise, if fidelity is high and there is no change in performance, it can be inferred that the plan was not effective for those students. However, if loyalty is low, the relation between the practices of student outcome data would be unclear.

2—-One major thing to review is to see if the nurse navigation staff are actually doing the task to make the difference. Making the mini diabetic assessment a mandatory fill in area in the EMR would help with this compliance. Having a meeting after several weeks of implementation with the navigation staff would look at areas of difficulty and concerns with the new assessment. Getting nursing feedback would determine barriers and open the door to questions and concerns.

One way to evaluate whether the project made a difference is to look at the patient satisfaction ratings. We send each patient a survey after they’ve been discharged to describe their experience. If patients feel as though their needs have been met then one would see an increase in the satisfaction rating. One ratings system we review is the Press Ganey scores. They are reviewed every three months.

Additionally, we can look at the readmission rates. At lot of our patients get readmitted for wound complications. This could be contributed to a low immune system and lack of nutritional intake due to their cancer diagnosis and if they are in active treatment with chemo and/or radiation. Having uncontrolled or poorly managed diabetes can further complicate this issue.

3– “Outcome standards and measures refer to whether the services provided by the organization make any difference: Were they effective?” (Pelletier, 2014, p. 297). In order to see an effective change in practice using the SBIRT (screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment) model, the change agent can look at patient and staff satisfaction. Many patients have never used behavioral health services before, so performing a survey on patient experiences (when providing SBIRT services) can provide information on how well the clinic is providing care. Positive survey responses would show that patients are more likely to use behavioral health services after the practice changes were made. “Collaborations are needed with patients and families to better understand their preferences and ways to engage them in making healthcare decisions and improving health behaviors”, according to Cullen, Hanrahan, and Kleiber (2018, p. 7). If responses are negative, then changes should be made in the new practice to include patient preferences. In addition, it is important to see how staff view the results of the project by asking for feedback in a meeting or through a staff survey. Removing barriers for SBIRT can decrease staff frustration, thus, improving staff satisfaction. A survey can provide information on barriers.

The most important part of evaluating the project is making sure that those patients who have positive screenings, get a brief intervention or keep an appointment for a referral to treatment. Because the medical department has access to behavioral health’s schedules, the referral team can see if patients kept appointments in behavioral health. It is important to track the number of screenings, the number of brief interventions, and the number of referrals to treatment. If the number of brief interventions increase for positive screenings, it means that patients may be getting education on substance abuse that could potentially help them abstain from using drugs or alcohol. If the number of kept appointments for referrals to treatment have increased, it means that patients may be more comfortable scheduling appointments in behavioral health and may be more likely to get treatment for alcohol and drug abuse. These changes would show that the SBIRT project is making a difference at Indian Health, since these issues have been barriers for providing SBIRT services in the past.

peer response should be minimum of 60 words with proper citation and references.