You are asked to find a published economic evaluation and critically appraise the work using two popular checklists. Further details follow.

Step 1: Find your economic evaluation
Choose a published evaluation of cost-effectiveness or cost-utility of a health intervention that interests you.

Tip: In making your selection, bear in mind the definition of economic evaluation as a comparison of two or more options in terms of their costs and their benefits.

Tip: A google search will be more than adequate. I suggest you choose an article published in a public health or medical journal rather than an economics journal. And please obtain a pdf copy of your article that you can send to me.

Step 2: Critically appraise the evaluation
Use Drummond’s ten-step checklist to structure your critical appraisal of the article. A copy of the checklist is attached to this document, or it can be found here: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/nichsr/edu/healthecon/drummond_list.html.
Please use only this ten-question version. There are longer ‘tick-box’ versions of the checklist available (see the reference to Drummond and Jefferson for example), which should not be used. I’ve included the Drummond and Jefferson paper because it provides useful information about what to consider in your review.
Feel free to use the 10 main questions as section headings to structure your review. The sub-questions should just be used as prompts to guide what to consider under each section heading.

Tip: See the example by Chris Doran for what I have in mind, but note there will be no marks for anyone choosing the same article to critique as the one that Chris reviews! Note also that I am not endorsing his review. He may be wrong in what he says!

When you have finished your critique assign a score from 0-100 to reflect your subjective assessment of the study’s quality … give it a mark! Please do this before you consider step 3.

Step 3: Score the article formally using the QHES
The Quality of Health Economic Studies instrument is closely related to Drummond’s ten-step checklist but it also allows you to score the quality of the study more formally. There are sixteen questions that you answer yes/ no according to whether you think the article meets the criteria.

Each question then has a weight (see Table 1 in the article by Offman). Each yes answer scores 1 and you compute a total quality score for the article by multiplying each yes answer by the weight assigned to that question and summing the result.

Step 4: Compare the results of your two assessments
This step is optional – it is not part of the assignment, but may be an interesting exercise. Compare your assessment of the article’s merits in step 2 with the score that you arrive at in step 3. If there is a big difference, perhaps share your reflections on what might be causing it.

References:
Chiou CF et al. Development and validation of a grading system for the quality of cost-effectiveness studies. Medical Care 2003; 41: 32-44.

Doran C. Critique of an economic evaluation using the Drummond checklist. Applied Health Economics and Health Policy 2010; 8: 357-359.

Drummond M et al. Methods for the Economic Evaluation of Health Care Programmes. 2nd ed. Oxford. Oxford University Press. 1997.

Drummond MF, Jefferson TO. Guidelines for authors and peer reviewers of economic submissions to the BMJ. The Economic Evaluation Working Party. British Medical Journal 1996; 313: 275-283.

Offman JJ et al. Examining the value and quality of health economic analyses: implications of utilizing the QHES. Journal of Managed Care Pharmacy 2003; 9: 53-61.

Checklist for the Economic Evaluation of Health Care Programmes1

1. Was a well-defined question posed in answerable form?
1.1. Did the study examine both costs and effects of the service(s) or programme(s)?
1.2. Did the study involve a comparison of alternatives?
1.3. Was a viewpoint for the analysis stated and was the study placed in any particular decision-making context?

2. Was a comprehensive description of the competing alternatives given (i.e. can you tell who did what to whom, where, and how often)?
2.1. Were there any important alternatives omitted?
2.2. Was (should) a do-nothing alternative be considered?

3. Was the effectiveness of the programme or services established?
3.1. Was this done through a randomised, controlled clinical trial? If so, did the trial protocol reflect what would happen in regular practice?
3.2. Was effectiveness established through an overview of clinical studies?
3.3. Were observational data or assumptions used to establish effectiveness? If so, what are the potential biases in results?

4. Were all the important and relevant costs and consequences for each alternative identified?
4.1. Was the range wide enough for the research question at hand?
4.2. Did it cover all relevant viewpoints? (Possible viewpoints include the community or social viewpoint, and those of patients and third-party payers. Other viewpoints may also be relevant depending upon the particular analysis.)
4.3. Were the capital costs, as well as operating costs, included?

5. Were costs and consequences measured accurately in appropriate physical units (e.g. hours of nursing time, number of physician visits, lost work-days, gained life years)?
5.1. Were any of the identified items omitted from measurement? If so, does this mean that they carried no weight in the subsequent analysis?
5.2. Were there any special circumstances (e.g., joint use of resources) that made measurement difficult? Were these circumstances handled appropriately?

6. Were the cost and consequences valued credibly?
6.1. Were the sources of all values clearly identified? (Possible sources include market values, patient or client preferences and views, policy-makers’ views and health professionals’ judgements)
6.2. Were market values employed for changes involving resources gained or depleted?
6.3. Where market values were absent (e.g. volunteer labour), or market values did not reflect actual values (such as clinic space donated at a reduced rate), were adjustments made to approximate market values?
6.4. Was the valuation of consequences appropriate for the question posed (i.e. has the appropriate type or types of analysis – cost-effectiveness, cost-benefit, cost-utility – been selected)?
7. Were costs and consequences adjusted for differential timing?
7.1. Were costs and consequences that occur in the future ‘discounted’ to their present values?
7.2. Was there any justification given for the discount rate used?

8. Was an incremental analysis of costs and consequences of alternatives performed?
8.1. Were the additional (incremental) costs generated by one alternative over another compared to the additional effects, benefits, or utilities generated?

9. Was allowance made for uncertainty in the estimates of costs and consequences?
9.1. If data on costs and consequences were stochastic (randomly determined sequence of observations), were appropriate statistical analyses performed?
9.2. If a sensitivity analysis was employed, was justification provided for the range of values (or for key study parameters)?
9.3. Were the study results sensitive to changes in the values (within the assumed range for sensitivity analysis, or within the confidence interval around the ratio of costs to consequences)?

10. Did the presentation and discussion of study results include all issues of concern to users?
10.1. Were the conclusions of the analysis based on some overall index or ratio of costs to consequences (e.g. cost-effectiveness ratio)? If so, was the index interpreted intelligently or in a mechanistic fashion?
10.2. Were the results compared with those of others who have investigated the same question? If so, were allowances made for potential differences in study methodology?
10.3. Did the study discuss the generalisability of the results to other settings and patient/client groups? 10.4. Did the study allude to, or take account of, other important factors in the choice or decision under consideration (e.g. distribution of costs and consequences, or relevant ethical issues)?
10.5. Did the study discuss issues of implementation, such as the feasibility of adopting the ‘preferred’ programme given existing financial or other constraints, and whether any freed resources could be redeployed to other worthwhile programmes?

Learning Outcomes
1. Discuss cultural competence in professional nursing practice.
2. Evaluate how collaboration and teamwork assist in care delivery.
3. Assess the use of technology in professional nursing practice.
4. Compare and contrast the past and future of professional nursing.
5. Discuss QSEN.
6. Apply the IOM’s core competency of quality improvement.

Introduction
Professional nurses must be culturally competent in order to succeed in a diverse healthcare environment. Future professional nurse leaders understand the need for collaboration, cultural sensitivity/diversity, technology, and quality. The field of nursing has changed significantly over the last few decades, but the goal has always been and will always be to provide quality care that is patient-centered—to obtain quality outcomes driven by practical application of best practices. The means of reaching the goal is currently based on evidence and nursing research. This week you will learn about quality and safety education for nurses (QSEN), cultural competence, and service quality in professional nursing. You will also engage in discussions about collaboration and technology in ensuring quality. Finally, you will demonstrate an understanding of the future of professional nursing based on research.

Cultural Competence & Service Quality.

Cultural competence enables the professional nurse to provide quality care to all patients, irrespective of socio-cultural differences. Cultural competence and service quality can only be unified if the professional nurse first acknowledges his/her personal biases. Nurses practice in various health settings that require unique skills to provide adequate care to the diverse patient population that they serve.
For this discussion, identify a time in practice when you encountered or experienced a laxity in cultural competence. Avoid using names of person(s) or organization(s). Provide an insight into the lessons learned. Use scholarly resources to support your discussion.

Collaboration, Technology Use, & Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) in Professional Nursing.

Nursing care requires promptness, precision, and quality to ensure optimal care outcomes. Collaboration and teamwork provides comprehensive and efficient care for the patient. Technology enables prompt and accurate healthcare delivery. Collaboration coupled with technology enables healthcare providers to deliver care that is expeditious and efficacious.
For this discussion, select (a) the impact of technology, (b) collaboration, or (c) CQI in professional nursing care. Then, make an argument in favor of its application in your practice. Be as detailed as possible, so that your classmates can clearly agree or differ in their professional opinions. Use scholarly resources to support your discussion.

ORIGINAL ONLY. Must pass SafeAssign. 3 papers 3 page each minimum each.

Assignment 1: Retrospective Analysis of Personality

In this assignment, you will take a retrospective look at your life history.  First, choose an area of the brain and explain what it does, as well as how it would impact an activity from your daily life. Then, analyze the roles of nature and nurture in shaping the person you are today.  Next, describe the influences of culture, environment, and biology on your gender-role behavior. Subsequently, discuss possible sources of inaccuracy and bias in any retrospective analysis. Finally, discuss the reasons why systematic scientific studies are considered more valuable than individual accounts
Write a three to four (3-4) page paper in which you:
Section 1 (1-2 paragraphs):

Choose one of the following areas of your brain and explain what it does:

Thalamus
Reticular formation
Brain stem (pons and medulla)
Cerebellum
Limbic system
One of the four lobes of the cerebral cortex

Explain how the area you described contributes to a specific activity from your everyday life.  (Example: During horseback riding, the cerebellum integrates information from the motor systems and balance system.)

Section 2 (1-2 paragraphs):
All of us have been shaped by both nature (biology) and nurture (environment), making us the persons we are today.  In most cases, it is difficult to completely disentangle the separate effects of nature vs. nurture with much certainty.  However, we can make some educated guesses based on our knowledge of familial tendencies that we may have inherited, as well as knowledge of our environment and experiences.  In this section, we ask for you to make some educated guesses about the roles of nature and nurture in your life.

Describe the role of nature (biology) in shaping what kind of person you are today. Provide a specific example of the role of nature.
Describe the role of nurture (environment) in shaping what kind of person you are today.  Provide a specific example of the role of nurture.

Section 3 (1-2 paragraphs):

Describe the influences of culture, your environment, and biology on your gender role behavior.
Use specific examples from your own life to explain your answers.

Section 4 (1-2 paragraphs):

Discuss the fallibility of memory in terms of bias and inaccuracy when you reflect on your past.
Identify specific memory biases that could affect how you remember your past.  Include factors related to cognition.
Use specific examples from your own life.

Section 5 (1 paragraph):

Describe why the science of psychology places more emphasis on results based on scientific studies than it does on personal experiences and anecdotes.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; references must follow APA or school-specific format.  Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
To keep this essay short and manageable, your only sources for your paper should be your own experience and the Webtext. For this reason, APA citations and references are not required for this assignment.
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date.  The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

Relate psychological concepts to real-world situations.
Describe the major theories of personality development, learning, memory, cognition, consciousness, development and social psychology.
Use technology and information resources to research issues in psychology.
Write clearly and concisely about psychology using proper writing mechanics.

Assignment 2: The Effects of War and Peace on Foreign Aid

Use the Internet to research one (1) developing nation of your choice. Your research should include an examination of the effects that war and peace have on the distribution of foreign aid, as well as the material covered by the Webtext and lectures in Weeks 1 through 3.
Write a three to four (3-4) page research paper in which you:

Assess the positive and negative effects that peace and war, respectively, have on the distribution of foreign aid in the developing country that you have selected. Support your response with concrete examples of each of the results that you have cited.
Analyze the specific actions that the leadership of the selected country has taken, through the use of its foreign aid from donor nations and international lending institutions, to relieve the severe problems caused by warfare.
Discuss whether or not the extension of foreign aid has successfully reduced poverty and the incidence of warfare in the selected country. Support your response with examples.
Use at least five (5) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia, blogs, and other nonacademic websites do not qualify as academic resources. Approval of resources is at the instructor’s discretion. Resources must also be within the last seven (7) years.

When referencing the selected resources, please use the following format:

Webtext Format:

Name of the author. Name of title. Retrieved from website url.

Example:

Understanding development (4th ed.). (2016). Asheville, NC: Soomo Learning. Available from: http://www.webtexts.com.

Lecture Format:

Name of the Author. Name of the lecture [lecture type]. Retrieved from lecture url.

Example:

Strayer University. (2013). Understanding Development [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from /bbcswebdav/institution/SOC/300/1136/Week1/lecture/story.html.

Internet Resources:

Author’s Name. (Date of publication). Title of the resource. Retrieved from website url.

Example:

Wuestewald, Eric. (2014). Portraits of people living on a dollar a day. Retrieved from http://www.motherjones.com/mixed-media/2014/04/living-on-a-dollar-a-day-photos-renee-byer-thomas-nazario.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

Analyze how funding in the form of aid, investment, and loans moves from industrialized nations to the developing world to alleviate the problems caused by warfare.
Use technology and information resources to research issues in sociology of developing countries.
Write clearly and concisely about sociology of developing countries using proper writing mechanics.

Assignment 3: Lending Institutions, Health Care, and Human Capital

Use the Internet to research one (1) developing nation of your choice. Your research should include an examination of lending institutions, health care, and human capital, as well as the material covered by the Webtext and lectures in Weeks 6 through 9.
Write a three to four (3-4) page research paper in which you:

Explore whether or not funding from international lending institutions like the World Bank and the IMF are helping or hindering the social, economic, or political development of the country that you have selected. Support your response with examples.
Discuss, with examples, at least four (4) substantive ways in which a healthy population strengthens the economy of the country that you have selected.
Ascertain the degree to which the leadership of your chosen country has used foreign aid to improve its health care system. Support your response with concrete examples.
Use at least five (5) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia, blogs, and other nonacademic websites do not qualify as academic resources. Approval of resources is at the instructor’s discretion. Resources must also be within the last seven (7) years.

When referencing the selected resources, please use the following format:

Webtext Format:

Name of the author. Name of title. Retrieved from website url.

Example:

Soomo. Understanding Development [Webtext]. Retrieved from http://www.webtexts.com/courses/9218-cathey.

Lecture Format:

Name of the Author. Name of the lecture [lecture type]. Retrieved from lecture url.

Example:

Strayer University. (2013). Understanding Development [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from /bbcswebdav/institution/SOC/300/1136/Week1/lecture/story.html.

Internet Resources:

Author’s Name. (Date of publication). Title of the resource. Retrieved from website url.

Example:

Wuestewald, Eric. (2014). Portraits of people living on a dollar a day. Retrieved from http://www.motherjones.com/mixed-media/2014/04/living-on-a-dollar-a-day-photos-renee-byer-thomas-nazario.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

Determine how human capital is used and what effect gender disparity has on these decisions.
Determine what role health plays in developing economies.
Examine the role that the International Monetary Fund and World Bank play in transfers and the conditions they set to effect this funding.
Use technology and information resources to research issues in sociology of developing countries.
Write clearly and concisely about sociology of developing countries using proper writing mechanics

demonstrating knowledge of the major family issues and approaches in working with the following families: those affected by Substance Related disorders, Domestic violence, and Child Abuse.
Order Description
The student will submit a Discussion Paper 3 demonstrating knowledge of the major family issues and approaches in working with the following families: those affected by Substance Related disorders, Domestic violence, and Child Abuse.
refer to Glading, S. T. (2011). Family therapy: History, theory, and practice (5th ed.). Prentice Hall. Feel free to use any material in the book but please FOCUS ON CHAP. 16. NO OTHER ONLINE SOURCES ARE ACCEPTABLE. Access the book at http://www.coursesmart.com. Login: mrsdsuttles@hotmail.com, Password: pretkw3302.