Introduction
Being an important tool to inform decisions in healthcare policy and practice, evidence synthesis describes the processes of searching, identifying, analyzing, and evaluating existing information with the further transformation of findings into a coherent work. This method aims to provide a comprehensive, transparent, and reliable picture of a chosen topic to answer a focused research question. If conducted appropriately, such synthesis of evidence can help find gaps in knowledge and establish the evidence base for the practice change.
Main text
Identification of the scope of the evidence synthesis should precede the following discussion of all the relevant information that has been found by a researcher. However, the given exemplar does not have an identified scope, which ought to be regarded as a serious drawback. Even though it can be understood from the first sentence that the topic of the passage is the problem of patient falls with injury and their prevention, the author does not specify the research question, nor does he or she identify appropriate parameters of a review. It is important that the evidence synthesis has to includes an objective, information about data sources that have been appraised, and the inclusion and exclusion criteria for their selection (Oh, 2016). If these components had been addressed by the author, it would have been easier to understand what this person wanted to achieve by performing a systematic review and which particular areas he or she intended to cover.
It can be said that the passage contains strong paraphrased sentences that are supported by contemporary sources of research evidence. However, the exemplar relies only on two current studies that were published in 2017, which is why one could mention that it lacks evidence. Nevertheless, ideas from the utilized sources were effectively paraphrased, which makes this short review appear to be informative. Still, this exemplar does not look like the evidence synthesis and is rather a literature review. This particular claim will be discussed further in the essay.
Facts related to the practice problem of patient falls with injury are presented objectively. The author does not intend to make any subjective conclusions or include any unnecessary information that could distract a reader. Conversely, there are unbiased statements that allow for learning about the severity of the practice problem, its etiology, and distribution in acute care settings among older adults, as well as factors that promote the occurrence of traumatic falls.
The researcher does not use sources to support ideas and claims, and it seems that he or she mentions sources just to present any claims or opinions. In other words, the author does not make any points, and they all are being derived from already existing research evidence. Ideally, a person needs to share the results of his or her analysis first and then support them with appropriate and credible sources (Flemming, Booth, Garside, Tunçalp, & Noyes, 2019). This, however, is not the case for the discussed evidence synthesis as the reviewer does not give his or her considerations about the topic.
It is generally assumed that when performing the evidence synthesis, one needs to thoroughly analyze information and present it in such a manner that unique conclusions can be made and some knowledge gaps may be closed. Nonetheless, since there are no original ideas presented in the text, it looks more like a literature review rather than evidence synthesis. The point is that the given exemplar only discusses the materials related to the practice problem of falls with injury in the elderly. Even though data sources are relevant, it can be seen that none of them has been critically evaluated.
Being an important issue in healthcare settings, evidence-based practice needs to rely on comprehensive and high-quality evidence synthesis that provides a reasonable and detailed analysis of proper data sources. Based on all the above-said, it is possible to state that this exemplar is not a true synthesis of the evidence. Even though the passage is rather short, one could mention that it does not correspond to the style and structure of the evidence synthesis. Instead, the exemplar may be considered to be a summary of the evidence as it provides only an overview of the topic.
Conclusion
The scope of the evidence synthesis has not been identified, and a single answerable question has not been raised. The exemplar provides a background of the practice problem, yet it does not include a plan of the literature selection and synthesis procedure. Having no clear objectives, the author simply provides a summary of the articles without presenting his or her ideas and claims. Even though the information was taken from credible sources, it has been neither analyzed nor evaluated. Findings from data sources have not been compared and contrasted, and no conclusions have been made by the reviewer himself or herself. Therefore, the given exemplar appears to be a summary of the evidence which cannot be used to support a practice change.
References
- Flemming, K., Booth, A., Garside, R., Tunçalp, Ö., & Noyes, J. (2019). Qualitative evidence synthesis for complex interventions and guideline development: Clarification of the purpose, designs and relevant methods. BMJ Global Health, 4(1), e000882.
- Oh, E. G. (2016). Synthesizing quantitative evidence for evidence-based nursing: Systematic review. Asian Nursing Research, 10(2), 89-93.