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Instrument & Metrics Assignment

[Student Name]

College of Nursing, University of South Alabama

NU 615: Quality Improvement & Outcomes Assessment

[Instructor’s Full Name Preceded by Dr., Ms., or Mr.]

[Month Day, Four-Digit Year of Due Date]

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Instrument & Metrics Assignment

1. What type of outcome measure will be implemented (satisfaction, clinical, efficiency and/or
financial)? Why did you choose this type of evaluation?

2. Select one (1) SMART objective from the Gap Analysis assignment and state it in the box
below. (You may need to update your objective based on feedback provided in the previous
assignment.) Describe how you will measure or evaluate the SMART objective in light of the
QI project (pre- & post-tests, review of medical records, documentation, attendance at training
sessions, etc.).

3. Select a psychosocial tool (ex. survey, questionnaire) that can be used for measurement of an
outcome in your QI project. (NOTE: While the instrument should be related to your QI
project, it does not need to be directly related to the SMART objective above.)
a. What is the name of the instrument you selected? What concept or phenomenon does the
instrument measure? Does the tool measure the concept of interest over a specific period
of time?

b. How is the instrument related to the QI project? How can the instrument be incorporated
into the QI project?

c. How many items are on your instrument? Describe the answer choices for the items on the
instrument (Likert scale, numerical, dichotomous, etc.). If answer choices are numerical,
are they associated with descriptive responses and what are they (ex: 1= always)?

d. How is the instrument administered (paper, electronic, interview, etc.)? How often it is
administered? Is it completed by self-report or does a clinician or professional need to
administer to tool? (NOTE: This is how the tool should be administered; it is not how you
plan to administer the tool for your QI project.)
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e. How is the instrument scored? Are items summed to find a total score? What is the range
for scores? What do scores indicate (do higher score indicate higher symptomatology)?

4. Find an article or resource that describes reliability and validity of the psychosocial instrument
you selected. A minimum of one (1) article/resource is required, but you may need more than
one (1) article/resource to answer the following questions about reliability and validity of the
tool. Articles may be older than five (5) years.
a. Include the reference(s) of the article(s) or resource(s) (using APA 7th edition guidelines)
and a direct url or doi to the article or resource. Include the hyperlink if possible.

b. Describe the sample used in the article/resource to test validity and reliability (including
demographics). Is the sample similar to the sample in your QI organization? Why is it is
important for the samples to be similar?

c. Describe the validity of the instrument in your own words. What type of validity is
evaluated in the article/resource (content, predictive, discriminant, etc.)? Include specific
test values (specificity, sensitivity, correlations, etc.) if they are reported in the
article/resource. Is the instrument considered valid? Why or why not?

d. Describe the reliability of the instrument in your own words. What type of reliability is
evaluated in the article/resource? Include specific test values (test-retest correlations,
cronbach’s alpha, etc.) if they are reported in the article/resource. Is the instrument
considered reliable? Why or why not?

5. Considering the tool, outcome measure, and SMART objective you selected above, describe
how data will be collected and analyzed in your QI project.
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a. Data collection: What types of data will be collected (be specific)? How will data be
collected? Who will collect data or be responsible for ensuring data is collected? How
often will you collect data? Where will data collection occur?

b. Data management plan: How will you manage the data collected? Where will collected
data be stored? Who will be responsible for maintaining confidentiality and integrity of
data? How will you ensure data accuracy & quality?

c. Data analysis: What are the goals for data analysis? Who will be responsible for analyzing
data? How often will data be analyzed? What statistical analyses will be performed?

d. Data dissemination: What will you do with findings from your data analysis and QI
project? How will you disseminate findings from your QI project?

6. Attach the tool that you chose to the end of this template.
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Tool