Constructing the Written Evidence-Based Proposal (Research Proposal Sample)

PROPOSAL
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Part I: Abstract
Alcoholism is a major problem around the world. In the United States, alcoholism has a significant impact on healthcare. Most people who are admitted to a hospital with any complications relating to alcohol abuse are also likely to have alcohol withdraw complications. Failing to address alcohol withdrawal complications when treating such a patient for other alcohol-related, reduces the quality of healthcare for the patient (Stanley, et al 2003). Such patients are likely to stay longer in the hospital and this has two fundamental impacts on healthcare. First, it means that the patient is not getting the best healthcare he or she can get. Secondly, it means that the hospital is not utilizing its resources in the most efficient way possible. This is be because the unnecessarily longer time that such patients spend in the hospital means that the hospital resources are being used inefficiently. There is a way to remedy this situation. This proposal looks at how hospitals can avoid this situation and deliver better, efficient, and high quality healthcare to such patients. The idea is to make sure that all patients are screened and monitored for any signs of alcohol withdrawal symptoms so that early interventions can be applied for them. The proposal looks at the holistic process of dealing with the issue. First, a community study to gauge the level of alcohol dependency will be necessary. Secondly, a system of identifying patients with alcohol dependency will be useful. The implementation will start with a study to determine the level of alcohol dependency in the surrounding society and then come up with proper ways to screen patients for alcohol dependency and possible alcohol withdrawal. Those who will have alcohol withdrawal risk will be treated for the same along with any other alcohol related illnesses that may have led to them coming to the hospital.
Part II: Problem Description
Alcohol withdrawal complications can be a big detriment to a patient who is receiving treatment for other illnesses (Saitz, 1998). For instance, if a patient has been brought to the hospital with an alcohol related illness such as liver cirrhosis, they are likely to also be suffering from alcohol withdrawal complications. This, as Phillips, Haycock and Boyle (2006) say, is because the patient will not be able to continue his or her regular intake of alcohol. The alcohol withdrawal complication is a serious health problem and can even lead to death if it reaches a serious level (Patch, Phelps, & Cowan, 1997). Even if it does not lead to death, it still has significant negative impact on the patient’s health and increases the length of stay for hospitalized patients. As Myrick and Anton (1998) argue, when not treated, it also increases the risk of the patient relapsing to drinking and then undoing any progress that the customer had gained through treatment. For instance, if a patient is treated for an alcohol-related illness such as liver cirrhosis but he has not been treated for alcohol withdraw complication to help out of alcohol dependency, it will mean that the patient is likely to go back to drinking once he is out of the hospital (Hartsell et al, 2007). This will most likely lead to him undoing any progress he had gained with regard to his liver cirrhosis problem (O’Brien, 2008). To avoid this, it is necessary to make sure that the patient has been fully treated with regard to not only liver cirrhosis but also for alcohol withdrawal syndromes. Failing to have a good plan to overcome this challenge in delivering quality healthcare will lead to unfavorable outcomes. Not only will it lead to low quality of healthcare, but it also leads to poor and inefficient utilization of hospital resources.
Part III: Solution Description
The solution will be to make sure that any patient who is receiving treatment for alcohol-related disease will receive screening for alcohol dependency. Any patient who after screening will prove to be alcohol dependent and show signs of alcohol withdrawal complications will receive alcohol withdrawal treatment alongside treatment for the other illnesses that he is receiving. This will help in making sure that the patient’s recovery is fast and that the alcohol withdrawal complication will not drag down his recovery process (Crumpler & Ross, 2005). This will also avoid a situation where the patient relapses back to his original problem. The fast recovery will also mean that the patient can be released from hospital sooner and thus free the hospital resources that can then be available for use with other patients. Mostly, it will lead to a better healthcare expense for such a patient. It is a standard medical ethics to make sure that as much as possible; the treatment of one illness does not lead to the patient having other health problems. Yet, if a patient with one alcohol related complicated ends up having alcohol withdrawal complication, this undoes the health benefits that the patient gains from the other treatment. This means that the patient’s healthcare experience will be low and this reduces the overall healthcare quality for the patient as an individual and for the hospital as a whole. This solution is geared towards eliminating this kind of scenario.
Part IV: Implementation Plan
To be able to implement this in a successful way, it will be necessary to make sure that all the materials necessary for the implementation of the solution are ready. To begin with, the hospital will need to carry out a comprehensive study to determine the level of alcohol dependency among the population. It is proper to expect that most of the people who are alcohol dependent are likely to have alcohol withdrawal complications. The more alcohol-dependent the person is, the more serious the complications from alcohol withdrawal can be. The second step in implementing this will be to implement a system of screening any patient who is admitted in the hospital with any illness that is related to alcoholism. This will make sure that any of such patients who is at risk of having alcohol withdrawal complications. To begin with, there will be a procedure for admitting these patients so that the nurses and any other medical professionals who are involved in such matters can screen the patient as early as possible within their admission into the hospital. For this procedure to work there will be a documentation of the process. This means that the admission system will have to be updated to meet this requirement. The screening of such patients will have the following processes;
Checking medical history of the patient
This will be useful in identifying whether the patient has any history of receiving treatment for alcohol-related diseases and especially alcohol withdrawal complications. If such a history exists, the nurse will flag the patient as a possible candidate for alcohol withdrawal complications. However, this will not be the final check. The patient will go through further checks and screening.
Questionnaires
The patient or his next of kin will have to fill some questionnaires. The questionnaires are designed in such a way that they will help the nurses to get any hint about the patients use of abuse of alcohol and be able to determine the risk factor of an individual patient for alcohol dependency or alcohol withdrawal complications.
Classifying the patients
Those who will be found to be at risk of alcohol withdrawal complications will be placed under watch in order to arrest the situation as it emerges. It is not proper to start treating the patient for alcohol withdraw unless the symptoms have manifested themselves, so such patients will not start receiving the medication for alcohol withdrawal until the signs are clear. However, this will help to make sure that if these symptoms do come up, the patient will receive the treatment he or she needs as soon as it is possible (McKay, Koranda & Axen, 2004). Once the symptoms come up, the patient will start receiving the treatment as soon as possible, and where necessary, also receive cancelling from a qualified psychiatrist.
Part V: Evaluation Plan
The success of such a process and solution is directly dependent on a good evaluation plan. The evaluation will happen at tow levels. First, before the system goes into action, it will be tested through a solution to see how to world and to identify any loopholes. For instance, it will be necessary to eva...