| Course | NUR 553 Dynamics of Professional Nursing II |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 4 |
| Paper type | Mini quantitative research proposal |
| Length | About 752 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Arizona State University |
| Program | MS in Nursing |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NUR 553 Module 4
Forty-Five Protected Minutes: A Mini Proposal to Test Dedicated Nurse Teaching Before Heart Failure Discharge on a Community Telemetry Unit
Student Name
Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Arizona State University
NUR 553: Dynamics of Professional Nursing II
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Forty-Five Protected Minutes: A Mini Proposal to Test Dedicated Nurse Teaching Before Heart Failure Discharge on a Community Telemetry Unit
1. Formulating the Problem
Problem statement: Adults with heart failure discharged from our community hospital's telemetry unit are readmitted within 30 days at a rate that has not improved in two years, and discharge teaching on the unit is usually delivered in brief pieces between other tasks rather than in a dedicated session.
Purpose: To examine whether a protected 45-minute, one-on-one teaching session with a staff nurse before discharge, compared with usual teaching, reduces 30-day readmissions and improves self-care among adults with heart failure.
Research questions:
1. Do adults with heart failure who receive a protected 45-minute nurse teaching session before discharge have a lower 30-day all-cause readmission rate than those who receive usual discharge teaching?
2. Do adults who receive the protected session report higher self-care maintenance scores 30 days after discharge than those who receive usual teaching?
Support: Heart failure remains a leading cause of hospitalization, and current guidelines recommend self-care education as part of discharge (Heidenreich et al., 2022). A randomized trial found that a one-hour session with a nurse educator reduced days hospitalized or dead (Koelling et al., 2005), but that study used a dedicated educator at an academic center; this proposal tests whether a similar session delivered by staff nurses works in a community setting.
2. Selecting a Research Design
Design: Quasi-experimental, with a historical comparison group (patients discharged in the six months before implementation) and an intervention group (patients discharged in the six months after). Randomizing individual patients on one unit would be difficult because nurses who learn the session would likely change their usual teaching, contaminating the control group. A pre-post design with a comparison group is feasible, though it is weaker than randomization because other changes over time could affect readmissions (Polit & Beck, 2021).
3. Identifying the Population
Target population: adults 18 and older hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of heart failure.
Accessible population: adults with heart failure discharged home from a 32-bed telemetry unit at a composite Arizona community hospital.
Exclusions: patients discharged to skilled nursing or hospice, those unable to give consent without a legally authorized representative and patients who speak neither English nor Spanish, since the session and the self-care instrument exist only in those languages.
4. Designing the Sampling Plan
Technique: Consecutive sampling, enrolling every eligible patient during each six-month period, which reduces selection bias compared with choosing patients.
Sample size: Assuming a baseline readmission rate of 22% and hoping to detect a reduction to 12%, a power analysis for comparing two proportions at alpha .05 and power .80 suggests about 220 patients per group. Our unit discharges roughly 250 eligible patients every six months, so the target is feasible. If enrollment falls short, the study would be reported as a pilot.
5. Specifying Methods to Measure Variables
Independent variable: type of discharge teaching (protected session versus usual teaching).
Dependent variables: 30-day all-cause readmission, taken from the hospital's records and the regional health information exchange; and self-care maintenance as scored by the Self-Care of Heart Failure Index, collected by telephone at 30 days for the intervention group and, for the comparison group, by a phone survey of the previous cohort.
Rationale: Readmission is an objective, routinely collected outcome. The Self-Care of Heart Failure Index is widely used and has published evidence of validity and reliability (Riegel et al., 2009).
6. Safeguarding Human Rights
The proposal would be submitted to the hospital's institutional review board. For the historical group, the IRB may grant a waiver of consent for record review, since the risk is minimal. For the intervention group, nurses would obtain written informed consent for the phone survey and record review, explaining that the teaching session is offered regardless of participation. Data would be stored on a secure hospital server, identifiers removed for analysis and results reported only in aggregate.
7. Communicating the Findings
Findings would be shared first with unit staff at a staff meeting, then with the hospital's nursing research council, on a poster for a regional nursing meeting and, if results are meaningful, as a manuscript submitted to a nursing journal.
Optional: Analyzing the Data
Readmission rates would be compared using a chi-square test of two proportions, with logistic regression to adjust for age, ejection fraction and number of prior admissions. Mean self-care scores in the two groups would be tested with a two-sample t-test, or the Mann-Whitney U test if scores are not normally distributed.
References
Heidenreich, P. A., Bozkurt, B., Aguilar, D., Allen, L. A., Byun, J. J., Colvin, M. M., Deswal, A., Drazner, M. H., Dunlay, S. M., Evers, L. R., Fang, J. C., Fedson, S. E., Fonarow, G. C., Hayek, S. S., Hernandez, A. F., Khazanie, P., Kittleson, M. M., Lee, C. S., Link, M. S., ... Yancy, C. W. (2022). 2022 AHA/ACC/HFSA guideline for the management of heart failure: A report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Joint Committee on Clinical Practice Guidelines. Circulation, 145(18), e895-e1032. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIR.0000000000001063
Koelling, T. M., Johnson, M. L., Cody, R. J., & Aaronson, K. D. (2005). Discharge education improves clinical outcomes in patients with chronic heart failure. Circulation, 111(2), 179-185. https://doi.org/10.1161/01.CIR.0000151811.53450.B8
Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2021). Nursing research: Generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice (11th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.
Riegel, B., Lee, C. S., Dickson, V. V., & Carlson, B. (2009). An update on the Self-Care of Heart Failure Index. Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 24(6), 485-497. https://doi.org/10.1097/JCN.0b013e3181b4baa0
Reading the NUR 553 Module 4 assignment instructions
The Week 4 assignment, Planning a Quantitative Research Study, asks for a mini research proposal that demonstrates the steps in the nursing research process. The syllabus lists seven required parts: formulating the problem, with a problem statement, purpose, two research questions and at least one current resource from the last five years; selecting and justifying a research design; identifying the population; designing the sampling plan, with technique, sample size and selection; specifying data collection methods and variables; safeguarding human rights and informed consent; and communicating findings. An optional analysis step earns a bonus point if you name specific statistical tests. It is worth 15 points, and the syllabus encourages a creative title.
How the NUR 553 Module 4 example is put together
Seven numbered sections follow the syllabus's steps in order, plus the optional analysis. The problem section gives a problem statement, a purpose, two research questions and support from a 2022 guideline and the trial appraised in Week 3. The design section chooses a quasi-experimental design and explains why randomization would be contaminated on one unit. Population and sampling sections define the target and accessible populations, exclusions, consecutive sampling and a sample size estimate. Measurement names the variables and a validated self-care instrument. Human rights covers IRB review, consent and data protection. Dissemination lists four audiences, and the analysis section names the tests. Four sources support the proposal.
Where the marks sit in the NUR 553 Module 4 rubric
The proposal's 15 points will likely be awarded across the seven required steps, so each needs a clear, supported answer: a problem statement, purpose and two research questions; a justified design; a defined population; a sampling plan with sample size; specified variables and measures; protections for participants; and a plan to share findings. Proposals earn most when choices are justified, for example why a quasi-experimental design fits, rather than simply named. A current source within five years is required. Measures with published validity and reliability strengthen the plan, and naming where each data point will come from makes it believable. The optional analysis step rewards naming specific tests matched to the variables.
NUR 553 Module 4 help with common mistakes
A frequent problem is a research question that cannot be answered with the proposed design or measures. Check that each question has a variable you will measure. Another is a sample size pulled from nowhere; explain how you estimated it, even roughly. Human rights sections often say only "IRB approval"; add consent, privacy and risk. If you send the desk your topic and setting, a proposal can be outlined with you step by step. Make sure at least one source is from the last five years, as the syllabus requires. Keep the study small enough to be realistic on one unit, use the course text's terms for design and sampling and name who on the unit would collect the data.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
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NUR 553 Module 4 questions, answered
Where can I find a free NUR 553 Module 4 sample paper?
This page holds the full NUR 553 mini research proposal sample, testing a protected nurse teaching session for heart failure discharge, with all seven steps.
What does the NUR 553 mini research proposal include?
Problem, purpose and two questions; design; population; sampling and size; variables and measures; human rights protections; and dissemination.
Is the data analysis step required in the NUR 553 proposal?
No. The syllabus lists it as optional, worth one bonus point, if you name specific statistical tests.
What is a quasi-experimental design?
A design that tests an intervention without random assignment, often comparing groups before and after a change.
How do I estimate sample size for a student proposal?
State the expected effect, alpha and power, cite a power analysis approach and check that your setting can supply that many participants.