Title of Project Presenter Name University name Introduction and Problem Variables Descriptive Data Results Results (cont.) Clinical Questions/PICOT Discussion Project Limitations Conclusion and Recommendations Purpose of the Project Data Analysis References . . . . TEMPLATE DESIGN © 2008 www.PosterPresentations.com 1 Running head: CRITIQUING A RESEARCH ARTICLE 1 CRITIQUING A RESEARCH ARTICLE 2 Risks of Smoking Janeisy Serrano Florida National University Risks of Smoking Introduction The Article Grassi, M.C., Baraldo, M., Chiamulera, C., Culasso, F., Raupach, T., Ferketich, A.K., Patrono, C., & Nencini, P. (2014). Knowledge about health effects of cigarette smoking and quitting among Italian university students: The importance of teaching nicotine dependence and treatment in the medical curriculum. BioMed Research International, 2014(321657), 1-9. Research Problem Cigarette smoking causes more avoidable mortalities in the developed world than any other risky behavior. It is also blamed for about 22% of deaths attributed to cancer annually, worldwide. In Italy, there are around 11 million current smokers, all of whom are adults and form 20.7% of the country’s gross adult population. 695,000 people die in Europe annually as a result of diseases linked to smoking. The authors had previously carried out a study whose findings showed that 4th year Italian undergraduate medical students are not adequately knowledgeable about the role of doctors in facilitating smoking cessation, tobacco dependence, and pathologies linked to smoking. Analysis of these results can be strengthened further by juxtaposing them with survey results in which respondents are nonmedical undergraduates. Medical students are naturally expected to be more informed about tobacco use and smoking cessation compared to their nonmedical counterparts, especially since health advocacy is one of their primary roles. Currently, however, there is a knowledge gap because surveys assessing nonmedical undergraduates’ understanding of tobacco are scarce at best. Research Question and Research Objectives The paper has no research question. The research objectives are, however, three-pronged. First, the authors intend to ascertain the consistency of their earlier findings. Second, the current study is aimed at determining if similarly-aged nonmedical undergraduates have varying interpretations and attitudes concerning smoking as opposed to medical undergraduates. The third objective is to scrutinize the smoking status of medical undergraduates as well as their knowledge retention one and two years after a brief educational intervention. Initial Results and Methods Respondents were required to fill a questionnaire containing 60 items. Each of the items revolved around participants’ awareness of the epide ...

1. Title of Project
Presenter Name
University name
Introduction and Problem
Variables
Descriptive Data
Results
Results (cont.)
Clinical Questions/PICOT
Discussion
Project Limitations
Conclusion and Recommendations
Purpose of the Project
Data Analysis
References
.
.
.
.

2. TEMPLATE DESIGN © 2008
www.PosterPresentations.com
1
Running head: CRITIQUING A RESEARCH ARTICLE
1
CRITIQUING A RESEARCH ARTICLE
2
Risks of Smoking
Janeisy Serrano
Florida National University
Risks of Smoking
Introduction

3. The Article
Grassi, M.C., Baraldo, M., Chiamulera, C., Culasso, F.,
Raupach, T., Ferketich, A.K., Patrono, C., & Nencini, P. (2014).
Knowledge about health effects of cigarette smoking and
quitting among Italian university students: The importance of
teaching nicotine dependence and treatment in the medical
curriculum. BioMed Research International, 2014(321657), 1-9.
Research Problem
Cigarette smoking causes more avoidable mortalities in the
developed world than any other risky behavior. It is also blamed
for about 22% of deaths attributed to cancer annually,
worldwide. In Italy, there are around 11 million current
smokers, all of whom are adults and form 20.7% of the
country’s gross adult population. 695,000 people die in Europe
annually as a result of diseases linked to smoking. The authors
had previously carried out a study whose findings showed that
4th year Italian undergraduate medical students are not
adequately knowledgeable about the role of doctors in
facilitating smoking cessation, tobacco dependence, and
pathologies linked to smoking. Analysis of these results can be
strengthened further by juxtaposing them with survey results in
which respondents are nonmedical undergraduates. Medical
students are naturally expected to be more informed about
tobacco use and smoking cessation compared to their
nonmedical counterparts, especially since health advocacy is
one of their primary roles. Currently, however, there is a
knowledge gap because surveys assessing nonmedical
undergraduates’ understanding of tobacco are scarce at best.
Research Question and Research Objectives
The paper has no research question. The research
objectives are, however, three-pronged. First, the authors intend
to ascertain the consistency of their earlier findings. Second,
the current study is aimed at determining if similarly-aged
nonmedical undergraduates have varying interpretations and
attitudes concerning smoking as opposed to medical
undergraduates. The third objective is to scrutinize the smoking

4. status of medical undergraduates as well as their knowledge
retention one and two years after a brief educational
intervention.
Initial Results and Methods
Respondents were required to fill a questionnaire
containing 60 items. Each of the items revolved around
participants’ awareness of the epidemiology and health
ramifications of smoking, which was labeled as Score 1, and the
potency of cessation therapies, which was identified as Score 2.
Once they had completed their questionnaires 4th year medical
undergraduates were sensitized about tobacco dependence. One
and two years after the initial study, the respondents were called
upon to participate in the same exercise. Findings showed that
5th year medical undergraduates who had undergone
sensitization in year 4 posted higher scores compared to their
colleagues who had not been briefed. Huge variations were
observed one year following the educational interposition. The
authors surmised that medical undergraduates are more
knowledgeable about tobacco-related conditions and smoking
cessation techniques compared to nonmedical undergraduates;
however, the difference is minor. A brief educational mediation
was linked to greater awareness after one year; nevertheless, the
impact was fleeting and marginal.
Evaluation
The study does not have a literature review. In terms of the
actual research, the article is broken down into abstract,
introduction, methods, results, discussion, conclusions, ethics
approval, acknowledgments, references, and copyright sections.
The most the authors do in terms of reviewing literature is to
refer to their previous study, whose findings they use as a
precursor to and justification for the present research.
The research article is current as it was published in April 2014,
which makes it less than 6-years-old. The article also
appreciates prevailing health issues. Cigarette smoking is one of
the most ubiquitous health concerns in the 21st century as it is a
major risk factor for a wide range of diseases, including cancer

5. and heart disease. Smoking also comes with a huge financial
and economic burden that is normally imposed on governments
and the immediate families of people that are ailing because of
a history of tobacco use; this cost runs into billions of dollars
per year. To date, various stakeholders such as research
institutions, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), health
practitioners, and interest groups are aggressively exploring
strategies with which they can increase smoking cessation,
curtail potential new smokers, and confront the different
diseases linked to the practice.
The research type is non-experimental and qualitative in nature.
The authors conducted a survey using a questionnaire
comprising 60 items. The questionnaire had four parts:
awareness of smoking-oriented epidemiologic realities,
demographics and individual smoking background, attitudes
towards the effect of smoking on individuals’ life expectancy,
and awareness of clinical frameworks on smoking cessation
therapies and ability to counsel people who want to give up
smoking.
The sample size consisted of 1191 undergraduates. The
participants were drawn from three main groups. The first group
contained medical students, the second group comprised
architecture students, and the third cluster was made up of law
students. Medical students contributed the largest portion of
participants, at 962, followed by architecture and law students
at 122 and 107 students, respectively. In terms of gender,
female students made up 61%, 57%, and 72% of medical,
architecture, and law students. The mean age and range was
23.9 (20-55), 23.2 (20-41), and 21.7 (20-38) for medical,
architecture, and law students, respectively. All participants
filled the questionnaire, with a 100% response rate. The sample
was large and diverse enough for the research. However, the
sampling method – such as stratified sampling or simple random
sampling – employed by the authors is not expressly identified;
this is a serious shortcoming because it casts doubts on the
reliability and validity of the sample in terms of scholarly

6. standards.
The study and its findings are adequately practical. The authors
hypothesize that the results establish the basis for investigations
comparing the impacts of a single educational mediation with
other interventions informed by a more elaborate orientation in
the health implications of smoking. The authors add that recent
studies have shown that the educational approach preferred is
significantly less influential for student learning vis-à-vis
summative evaluations. Using their findings as a premise, the
researchers infer that medical students should participate in
comprehensive summative reviews of their understanding of
tobacco dependence.
The study could have been improved and there are multiple
areas of weakness that could have been addressed by the
authors. As an example, the researchers sourced participants
from just four Italian universities. Considering that Italy has 89
universities, almost all of which have medical schools, four
institutions are neither holistic nor accurate with respect to
representation of the total number of medical students in the
country. Another aspect that the authors should have addressed
or worked to minimize pertains to selection bias. As it has
already been mentioned, follow-up tests were conducted after
the first one. Due to attrition, the number of students who
participated in the first and second follow-up assessments
declined by about 25%; as a result, selection bias crept in and
promoted the involvement of students who are more curious
about smoking-related aspects and also more motivated. This
could have distorted the results. The third area in which
improvement could have been made relates to the balance
between the three clusters of samples. Medical students
considerably outnumbered their law and architecture colleagues,
and this reduces the representativeness of the research finding
in the two smaller constituencies. Apart from this, the authors
relied primarily on a self-report to appraise the smoking status
of respondents; for this reason, they could have misjudged
smoking prevalence. Finally, the researchers should have

7. monitored individual respondents and fluctuations in their
responses by incorporating identifying details, which were not
captured during the study.
The article is written in a logical, legible, and explicit manner.
It is also organized properly, with different sections and
subsections. The main headings are emboldened, thus making it
easy for readers to navigate through the article, while the
subheadings are numbered numerically. The article has a nice
flow to it, moving from one section to another in systematic
fashion. Further research can be conducted on the subject
because more efforts need to be made to enlighten a new breed
of health practitioners, especially physicians, who will come up
against the effects of the present smoking epidemic.
Conclusion
Smoking cessation enhances quality of life and lowers health
risks. For instance, the overall risk of mortality due to lung and
cardiovascular diseases as well as cancer can be significantly
lowered when smokers quit, including in old age. Medical
school syllabuses typically pay little attention to nicotine
addiction and tobacco-related matters, which is disappointing
given that health advice enables cessation. General practitioners
(GPs) do not comply with recommendations for counseling; this
is secondarily caused by insufficient training at undergraduate
level despite the availability of sound scholarly solutions to
leverage the skills, perceptions, and knowledge of
undergraduate medical students with respect to strategies of
smoking cessation. It is also worth noting that the actualization
of academic interventions is constrained by their exorbitant cost
in relation to instructor time and resources. This calls for a
clear and relatively straightforward yet potent tobacco syllabus
that incorporates teaching about smoking-related issues, such as
therapy and toxicology. It is necessary to conduct more
effective research in this field.

8. Reference
Grassi, M.C., Baraldo, M., Chiamulera, C., Culasso, F.,
Raupach, T., Ferketich, A.K., Patrono, C., & Nencini, P. (2014).
Knowledge about health effects of cigarette smoking and
quitting among Italian university students: The importance of
teaching nicotine dependence and treatment in the medical
curriculum. BioMed Research International, 2014(321657), 1-9.
Title of Project
Presenter Name
University name
Introduction and Problem
Variables
Descriptive Data
Results
Results (cont.)
Clinical Questions/PICOT
Discussion
Project Limitations
Conclusion and Recommendations
Purpose of the Project
The data analysis was in line with the needs of the project:

9. statistical tests, including t-test and Wilcoxon signed ranks,
were employed to determine if there were statistically
significant differences between pre- and post-test
measurements. This way, the relationships between the
independent and dependent variables were reliably inferred
(Polit & Beck, 2017)
Data types:
Survey: quantitative, ordinal (Likert scale).
Reports: quantitative, ratio (number of mistakes).
Data analysis approaches:
Software: SPSS.
Survey: Wilcoxon signed ranks test.
Reports: paired t-test.
Data Analysis
The project employed four Advanced Practice Registered
Nurses, three Medical Doctors, and one Physician Assistant who
exhibited significant resistance to the use of EHR.
References
.
.
Several studies have shown the benefits of the use of electronic
health records (EHR) for patients’ safety, as well as their ability
to improve efficiency in primary care settings (Porterfield,
Engelbert, & Coustasse, 2014). Regardless of the positive
effects of the implementation of EHR, health care providers

10. have moved slowly to adopt this technology (King, Patel,
Jamoom, & Furukawa, 2014). Practitioners who do not want to
adopt EHR, especially electronic prescription, can endanger
patient safety.
Medication errors, in turn, are a serious issue that causes
numerous safety incidents in primary care. Studies have shown
that the use of EHR significantly reduces the number of
prescription errors that can harm patients (Liao et al., 2017).
Palabindala, Pamarthy, and Jonnalagadda (2016) showed that
the use of EHR could reduce medication error while also
resulting in improved communications between patients and
healthcare teams
The purpose of this quantitative quasi-experimental project was
to determine if there was a relationship between the application
of an educational program and the improvement of
practitioners’ perception of EHR usability, as well as the
reduction of the number of prescription medication errors, at a
medical group practice in the Southeastern of the United States
(US).
The PICOT question created for the project was as follows: (P)
Among healthcare practitioners, (I) how does the
implementation of an educational program in a primary care
medical center in the Southeast of the US (C) compared to the
pre-intervention measurements in the prior four weeks (O)
influences primary care practitioners’ perceptions of the
usability of EHR and the incidence of prescription medication
errors (T) within four weeks of participating in the program?
The following clinical questions guide this quantitative project:
Q1: How does the implementation of an educational program
influence the perceptions of primary care practitioners
regarding EHR usability?
Q2: How does the implementation of an educational program
influence prescription medication error incidence?

11. Variable 1: Quality improvement educational program
(independent)
Variable 2: Primary care practitioners’ perception of EHR
usability (dependent)
Variable3: Number of prescription medication errors
(dependent).
The educational program can enhance the participants’
perceptions regarding EHR, but the described project cannot
reject the null hypothesis that the intervention had no effects on
the medication error rates. However, since the project was
constricted by significant limitations, this finding is not
conclusive.
Some of the research recommendations include the proposal to
increase the sample size, have a greater timeframe for future
projects, and consider randomizing the sample into two groups.
The project can also be used to recommend educational EHR
efforts for the reduction of EHR resistance and the specific
program that has been tested for the same purpose.
The sample was small (8 participants) and could not be
expanded because the facility was small.
The data collection process was limited by the short time
allocated to observing the results (4 weeks)
The project employed a quasi-experimental design. Since its
sample was so small, trying to split it further was not feasible.
King, J., Patel, V., Jamoom, E. W., & Furukawa, M. F. (2014).
Clinical benefits of electronic health record use: National
findings. Health Services Research, 49(1pt2), 392–404. doi:
10.1111/1475-6773.12135
Liao, T. V., Rabinovich, M., Abraham, P., Perez, S., DiPlotti,
C., Han, J., ... Honig, E. (2017). Evaluation of medication
errors with implementation of electronic health record
technology in the medical intensive care unit. Open Access

12. Journal of Clinical Trials, 9, 31-40. doi:
10.2147/OAJCT.S131211
Porterfield, A., Engelbert, K., & Coustasse, A. (2014).
Electronic prescribing: Improving the efficiency and accuracy
of prescribing in the ambulatory care setting. Perspectives in
Health Information Management, 2014, 1-13
Palabindala, V., Pamarthy, A., & Jonnalagadda, N. R. (2016).
Adoption of electronic health records and barriers. Journal of
Community Hospital Internal Medicine Perspectives, 6(5), 1-3.
doi: 10.3402/jchimp.v6.32643
Polit, D.F., & Beck, C.T. (2017). Nursing research: Generating
and assessing evidence for nursing practice (10th ed.).
Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.
The survey contained 11 individual items and used a Likert
scale in which 1 stood for an extremely negative assessment of
an aspect of usability or usefulness and 5 referred to an
extremely positive one. The summary of the mean and standard
deviation for each of the items before and after the intervention
is presented in Table 1.
. The raw data indicate that the most common errors for the
clinic include incorrect dosage, incorrect drug, and drug-drug
interaction, as well as incorrect frequency and drug omission.
Table 4 presents the results of the paired t-test analysis of the
errors that occurred and those that were reported. No
statistically significant differences were found for either pair
(p>0.05). Thus, the findings do not suggest that the program had
an impact on medication error rates; a relationship between the
independent variable and medication errors was not found.
Example changes in pre- and post-test scores can be found in
Figure 4. Table 2 summarizes the results of analyzing the
survey items with the Wilcoxon signed ranks test. Items 1, 3, 4,
5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 demonstrate statistically significant results

13. (p<=0.05).
Therefore, the intervention improved the perceptions of the
participants regarding the effect of EHR on one’s performance
and job effectiveness, the usefulness of EHR, the clarity of
interacting with the system, the ease of EHR use, and the use of
EHR for clinical care and research. The relationship between
the independent variable (program) and perceptions (one of the
dependent variables) was found.
Figure 1. The occupations of the participants.
Figure 2. Age of the participants.
Figure 3. Gender of the participants.
Figure 4. Example changes in survey results before and after the
intervention.
As had been planned, the data were collected before and after
the intervention using an already established survey tool and the
clinic’s pharmacy call reports regarding medication errors.
TEMPLATE DESIGN © 2008
www.PosterPresentations.com
1
Table 2

14. Survey Analysis Results Summary
Item Significance (1-tailed)
Q1 0.04
Q2 0.07
Q3 0.04
Q4 0.04
Q5 0.05
Q6 0.03
Q7 0.04
Q8 0.04
Q9 0.03
Q10 0.04
Q11 0.244
Table 1
Survey Summary
Item Pre-Test Post-Test
Mean St. Deviation Mean St. Deviation
Q1 2.25 0.707 4.75 0.463
Q2 2.13 0.991 4.38 0.744
Q3 1.75 0.707 4.38 0.744
Q4 2.25 0.707 4.75 0.463
Q5 2.13 0.991 5 0
Q6 1.63 0.744 4.75 0.463
Q7 2.38 0.744 4.38 0.518
Q8 2 0.756 4.13 0.641
Q9 2.25 0.886 5 0
Q10 1.63 0.518 5 0
Q11 4 0.756 4.38 0.518
Table 3
Error Data Summary
Error Type Number
Occurred

15. Number
Occurred
Number
Reported
Number
Reported
Incorrect Drug 3 4 3 4
Incorrect Dose 5 3 6 4
Incorrect Generic Selection 0 1 0 1
Outdated Product 0 0 0 0
Drug Unavailable/Omission 3 2 2 3
Incorrect Dosage Form 1 2 0 3
Incorrect Patient 3 3 2 4
Allergic Drug Reaction 1 0 1 0
Drug-drug Interaction 4 2 4 2
Incorrect time 1 2 1 2
Incorrect Route 1 2 1 2
Incorrect Frequency 3 3 4 3
Illegible or Ambiguous Prescription 3 0 4 0
Other 3 4 3 4
Total 31 28 31 32
Table 4
Total Errors Analysis Results: Paired Samples Test
Sig. (2-tailed)
Pair 1 .587
Pair 2 .846
Poster Presentation
Students this project will allow you to formulate and
hypothetically develop your own research project. The purpose
of this project is for the student to follow all of the different
steps in a research project on an already published article and

16. presented as a poster presentation. A poster session or poster
presentation is the presentation of research information by an
individual or representatives of research teams at a congress or
conference with an academic or professional focus. The work is
usually peer reviewed. Poster sessions are particularly
prominent at scientific conferences such as medical congresses.
Students will select a nursing research already published and
following the article information you will create a poster
presentation that include the below information:
The outline of the poster should include the following tabs
(minimum requirements)
Abstract Outline:
-Title of Project
-Problem Statement: what is the problem that needs fixing?
-Purpose of the Project
-Research Question(s)
-Hypothesis
-Methodology (Qualitative vs. Quantitative)
-Steps in implementing your project
-Limitations
Results (Pretend results)
-Conclusion
-References
I have attached an example of a poster presentation for
guidance. The due date for the poster presentation is WEEK 13.
Please feel free to be artistic and provide graphs and data. You
are welcome to use any poster template. Please submit it via
turn it in.
Criterion
Outstanding 4
Very Good 3
Good 2
Unacceptable 1
Score

17. Completeness
Complete in all respects; reflects all requirements
Complete in most respects; reflects most requirements
Incomplete many respects; reflects few requirements
Incomplete in most respects; does not reflect requirements
Understanding
Demonstrates excellent understanding of the topic(s) and
issue(s)
Demonstrates an accomplished understanding of the topic(s) and
issue(s)
Demonstrates an acceptable understanding of the topic(s) and
issue(s)
Demonstrates an inadequate understanding of the topic(s) and
issue(s)
Analysis
Presents an insightful and through analysis of the issue (s)
identified
Presents a thorough analysis of most of the issue(s) identified
Presents a superficial analysis of some of the issue(s) identified
Presents an incomplete analysis of the issue(s) identified.
Evaluation
Makes appropriate and powerful connections between the
issue(s) identified and the concept(s) studied
Makes appropriate connections between the issue(s) identified
and the concept(s) studied
Makes appropriate but somewhat vague connections between the
issue(s) identified and the concept(s) studied
Makes little or no connection between the issue(s) identified
and the concept(s) studied.
Opinion
Supports opinion with strong arguments and evidence; presents

18. a balanced and critical view; interpretation is both reasonable
and objective
Supports opinion with reasons and evidence; presents a fairly
balanced view; interpretation is both reasonable and objective
Supports opinion with limited reasons and evidence; presents a
somewhat one-sided argument
Supports opinion with few reasons and little evidence; argument
is one-sided and not objective.
Recommendations
Presents detailed, realistic, and appropriate recommendations
clearly supported by the information presented and concepts
studied
Presents specific, realistic and appropriate recommendation
supported by the information presented and the concepts studied
Presents realistic or appropriate recommendation supported by
the information presented and the concepts studied
Presents realistic or appropriate recommendation with little, if
any, support from the information and the concepts studied.
Grammar and Spelling
Minimal spelling and grammar errors
Some spelling and grammar errors
Noticeable spelling and grammar errors
Unacceptable number of spelling and grammar errors
APA guidelines
Uses APA guidelines accurately and consistently to cite sources
Uses APA guidelines with minor violations to cite sources
Reflects incomplete knowledge of APA guidelines
Does not use APA guidelines

19. Total