Critical Appraisal of Practice Guidelines
The purpose of this assignment is to apply findings from evidence-based practice and research to enhance practice guidelines and health care outcomes.
While there are several tools available for evaluating practice guidelines, the most comprehensively validated appraisal tool is the AGREE II Instrument. This tool can be used both by individual practitioners to critically appraise health guidelines and by decision makers to inform policy decisions. The purpose of the AGREE II Instrument is to provide a framework for assessing the quality of guidelines, present a methodological strategy for developing guidelines, and inform what/how information should be reported in the guidelines.
The AGREE II Instrument examines the following six domains relevant to the practice guideline being assessed:
Domain 1: Scope and Purpose
1. Domain 2: Stakeholder Involvement
2. Domain 3: Rigor of Development
3. Domain 4: Clarity of Presentation
4. Domain 5: Applicability
5. Domain 6: Editorial Independence
In addition to each of the six domains, the tool also includes a space for rating the overall quality of the practice guideline to determine whether it should be recommended for use in practice.
Criteria are rated on a 7-point scale from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 7 (Strongly Agree). A rating of 1 is given when there is no information relevant to an item, the item is poorly reported, or it is explicitly stated that the criteria is not met. A rating between 2 and 6 is given when the item as reported does not fully meet the criteria. A rating of 7 is given when the quality of reporting is excellent, and the full criteria have been met. Further rating explanations can be found in the User's Manual section of the AGREE II Instrument resource.
For this assignment, choose an evidence-based practice guideline relevant to your DPI project or chosen area of study. Refer to the "Evidence-Based Guidelines" study material for websites where a specific guideline can be identified for the purposes of this assignment or select a guideline of your own choosing.
General Requirements:
Use the following information to ensure successful completion of this assignment.
· Doctoral learners are required to use APA style for their writing assignments. The APA Style Guide is located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.
· This assignment uses a rubric. Please Review the rubric prior to the beginning to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.