Critical Evaluation Of Infection Prevention And Control Practice Assessment 3 Answer

Assessment 3: Essay                      

Topic:

Word limit: 3000 words +/- 10%

Description: 

A critical evaluation of an infection prevention and control practice, procedure, or policy

Critically examine an infection control practice , procedure or policy in your work area.

 Synthesising your infection control knowledge, safety and cost effectiveness & where appropriate, the need to respect cultural values -  

Make recommendations to improve practice. 

Describe how you will implement and evaluate these changes and take appropriate action

Please note if you are currently not employed, answer this question in relation to your usual place of work/interest or your specialisation. The purpose of this is to develop your ability from novice to advanced in the management of infection prevention and control specific to your professional practice.

Now watch this webinar explains the essay in some more detail

Essay Structure

As you will have seen in the previous webinar, using the following structure , is a requirement and will enable you to address the requirements of the essay, and ensure you attend to each aspect of a critical evaluation which is what the essay requires.

INTRODUCTION

Provides a clear overview of why the improvement project was needed that conveys to the reader the direction the assignment will take.

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

The aim/rationale of project are clearly described. This section mounts a convincing argument for the intervention. Initial audit/observation against a known standard, guidance or the literature Includes detail of the staffing and resources, project team, history of current practices and workplace readiness for this improvement is discussed.

 STRATEGY

The improvement strategy (intervention) is explained.  Discussion and analysis of stakeholders, engagement, implementation strategy for the intervention, analysis of barriers and obstacles and communication strategies are outlined and justified

 EVALUATION

Demonstrates understanding of how the intervention is/was evaluated or measured, includes discussion of evaluation method, clearly identifying what the intervention is being measured against. Evaluation method reflects the aims and objectives of the project.

 CONCLUSION

Summarises and draws together the findings and outcomes of the project

There are another 20% of the marks taking the total to 100 for the quality of your evidence and expression.  See the marking grid on the previous page to understand how these sections are assessed.

Some pointers on essay writing

This course is designed to teach you infection prevention and control principles. It is also designed so that you can potentially apply for credit in a Graduate Certificate or Graduate Diploma, and it contributes to becoming a credentialled IPC practitioner through ACIPC.

As such there is a standard expected of learners in terms of writing and referencing. This course and the education officer will not be teaching you how to write or reference correctly. The exception is, that you may receive feedback on your assessments, and on your final essay draft if you wish.

We do understand though that for some of you, it may have been some time since you wrote an essay or the courses/training you have done to date did not require you to write essays or reference material. The following are some helpful links and guides to assist you with completing your two essay assessments. 

A step-by-step guide to answering and writing an essay question:

1. Read the essay question several times and identify the key words and concepts, chose a topic that allows you most scope in demonstrating the learning outcomes for the Course in your writing. This means that the topics of each module will have some relevance to a good topic. 
   
2. Read all instructions and guides. After identifying key words read all the instructions and review the marking guide. The marking guide and instructions will give you information about how to format the essay and will provide you with information regarding the structure of the essay.
3. Start early. Essay writing takes time. Realistically you cannot expect to write an essay in a couple of days and get high marks. Ideas take time to develop. Even the best authors and all of those scholarly journal articles are the process of large amounts of time and multiple drafts.  
4. Write a plan. All essays have a beginning (introduction), a middle (body of the essay) and an ending (conclusion). Plan what you are going to write in the middle section. What you write in the middle section will be guided by the instructions and marking guide. For example, plan to write 1-2 paragraphs on the microorganism, 3-4 paragraphs on management of that organism. Begin writing your ideas down in week one or two. As you work through the modules you with come across information that will go into your essay. So begin by writing down ideas, notes from your modules, weblinks, or journals that could help your essay. In doing so your will see your essay plan grow from a few ideas to suddenly having descriptions, examples and evidence (resources).
5. Write the first draft. A good essay needs several attempts, so write your first draft. It will need an introduction, the body and a conclusion. After you have wrote your first draft, don't look at it for a day or so. WHY? If you look at a draft immediately after writing it, you wont pick up on errors or things that don't make sense, as your brain is still focused on the writing, and thought patterns that led to writing.
   
6. Read your draft aloud and begin revising it. When you read aloud you will naturally pick up on things that don't make sense or grammatical errors. For instance, if when reading a sentence you run out of breath, it suggests that a sentence is too long. A breath is like a full stop . or a comma , You might find you change the order of paragraphs or sentences. Re-write individual sentences to make the meaning clearer. 
7. Have a colleague, relative or friend read your work. As scary as this sounds, if they don't understand what you are trying to say, it may be that your marker will not either!
   
8. Edit and revise again ...and again.. and again. Remember quality takes time. Essay writing is not entirely natural and takes lots of practice. Marks can easily be lost because meaning is unclear, or  due to poor spelling and grammar.
9. Referencing and citations. Take time to ensure all of the authors, websites and sources are correctly included in your essay and reference lists.
   
10. Prepare your essay for submission. Ensure you have inserted the Assignment Coversheet as the first page of your document. Then on the second page  write the title and first heading (Introduction) and so forth through the essay.  Now submit your assessment using the instructions in the Assessment 3 Submission section which will be available about 3 weeks before the deadline.  Please keep a copy of your assignment safe (eg email it to yourself) .