BUSI 418 Week 1 Discussion Board Forum 1 Example

Reviewed by Laura Hargrove, MPH · Liberty University · Updated

This BUSI 418 Week 1 sample thread argues that evidence-based practice belongs to administrators as much as to clinicians, using a decision a hospital quality director faced: whether to spend $180,000 on bed alarms a vendor promised would cut falls. It walks through the steps the course introduces, asking a focused question, finding and appraising evidence, applying it with staff and patient preferences in mind and evaluating the result, and shows how national falls data and a review of nurse managers' barriers to using evidence shaped the decision. A proverb warning against eagerness without knowledge frames the process. Replies answer a classmate who sees evidence-based practice as purely clinical and one who says managers have no time for it. Liberty University BUSI 418 opens its healthcare administration research sequence here, with the first of two forums due in the opening week.

CourseBUSI 418 Research and Evidence Based Practice in Healthcare (BUSI418)
Module/Week1
AssignmentDiscussion Board Forum 1
Paper typeDiscussion thread with two replies
Lengthabout 719 words (thread and replies). Course guide: a thread of 300 to 500 words with replies to 2 classmates of 150 to 350 words each; the thread and each reply include 2 peer-reviewed sources, the textbook and 1 biblical integration
FormatAPA 7 citations and reference list
Points50
SchoolLiberty University Online
ProgramBS in Healthcare Administration
Where it sitsModule/Week 1 in Liberty's published BUSI 418 course guide; current sections can differ
UpdatedOctober 2026

Free sample paper for BUSI 418 Week 1

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Discussion Board Forum 1: Evidence-Based Practice for Health Care Administrators

BUSI 418 Research and Evidence Based Practice in Healthcare, Discussion Board Forum 1

Thread by [Student Name]

The hospital, its fall data and the classmates are composites; the textbook, Scripture and the peer-reviewed articles cited are real.

Why this part earns its pointsThe thread starts with a vendor's promise, because many administrative decisions begin that way and skip the evidence.
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Last spring, a vendor offered our hospital bed and chair alarms for every medical-surgical room at a cost of about $180,000, with a brochure promising a 40% drop in falls. As the quality director's assistant, I was asked whether we should buy them. Hall and Roussel (2017) describe evidence-based practice as combining the strongest available research with professional expertise and what patients value, and they apply it to administration as well as clinical care. That framework turned a sales decision into a question we could answer: for hospitalized adults at risk of falling, do bed alarms, compared with a multicomponent prevention program, reduce falls with injury?

Falls are worth the effort. Lake et al. (2024) found that falls, measured as a nurse-sensitive indicator across thousands of hospital units, climbed in the pandemic years and remained above earlier levels in 2022. Our own rate followed the same pattern, and two falls last year caused hip fractures, so the board wanted action quickly. Quick action is exactly when the steps of evidence-based practice are most likely to be skipped.

Why this part earns its pointsThe barrier research explains why managers often skip these steps, which the thread then works around.
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The harder question was why our managers rarely used evidence for decisions like this. Sebire et al. (2025) reviewed 24 studies of nurse managers in acute care and found that positive attitudes and evidence competencies drove evidence use, while limited knowledge, time and resources stood in the way, and that supportive leadership made a difference. We addressed the time problem by asking our medical librarian to search for us. The research she found suggested that alarms alone produced inconsistent results, while bundles combining risk assessment, hourly rounding and patient education did better, and that alarms worked best as one part of a bundle rather than as a stand-alone fix. Staff on the units also told us that frequent false alarms were already causing fatigue, which is the kind of professional expertise the model asks us to weigh alongside research.

We chose a bundle, bought alarms only for the highest-risk rooms and will compare falls with injury for six months. Proverbs cautions that zeal without knowledge is not good and that hurrying feet miss the way (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2016, Proverbs 19:2). A vendor's brochure is a claim; evidence-based practice is how a manager tests it.

Reply to Hannah

Hannah, you wrote that evidence-based practice is for nurses and physicians, not administrators. Hall and Roussel (2017) take the opposite view, describing an integrative approach that spans research, administration and practice. Administrative decisions shape care as much as clinical ones: a staffing model, a purchasing choice or a scheduling policy can affect thousands of patients, while a single clinical decision affects one. McDonnell et al. (2026) reviewed structured change management in health care and found that strong leadership and communication were key enablers, which means the evidence about how to manage change is itself something administrators should use. Tseng et al. (2018) measured the cost of billing and insurance work in an academic system, the kind of operational evidence that should guide administrative decisions. Daniel asked for a ten-day trial and let the results settle the question (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2016, Daniel 1:12-15), which is evidence-based thinking in miniature. Which administrative decision at your workplace would benefit most from a formal look at the evidence, and who would you ask to help with the search?

Reply to Malik

Malik, you said managers simply lack time for evidence-based practice, and with the meetings and staffing calls on a manager's day, I believe you. Sebire et al. (2025) found time and resources among the main barriers, so your concern is well founded, but they also found that supportive leadership and infrastructure helped. Research also points to tools that save managers time. Kamel et al. (2025) showed one practical support: a data dashboard helped a Veterans Affairs hospital implement a nurse-driven protocol and reduce catheter infections. Hall and Roussel (2017) suggest building evidence use into regular processes, such as committee reviews and budget requests, rather than treating it as an extra task done on top of everything else. Jethro warned Moses that carrying every judgment alone would wear him out and urged him to share the load (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2016, Exodus 18:18). Could your manager partner with a librarian or quality analyst to share the work, starting with one decision per quarter so the habit grows without overwhelming anyone?

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References

English Standard Version Bible. (2016). Crossway. (Original work published 2001)

Hall, H. R., & Roussel, L. A. (2017). Evidence-based practice: An integrative approach to research, administration, and practice (2nd ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Kamel, M., Harris, N., Berry, A., Warsavage, T., Bessesen, M. T., & Kon, S. E. (2025). Implementation of a nurse-driven protocol for indwelling urinary catheter removal and novel utilization dashboard: A pre/postintervention observational study. Therapeutic Advances in Infectious Disease, 12, 20499361251317900. https://doi.org/10.1177/20499361251317900

Lake, E. T., Pascale, A., Warshawsky, N. E., Smith, J. G., Staiger, D., & Rogowski, J. A. (2024). COVID-19 pandemic increases in nursing-sensitive quality indicators. Nursing Research, 73(6), 490-495. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNR.0000000000000771

McDonnell, R., Chauhan, A., Adams, C., Cardenas, A., Moscova, M., Walsan, R., Sina, M., Munro, A., Manias, E., Mitchell, R., Gust, A., Sabesan, S., & Harrison, R. (2026). Applying change models and methods during a period of vast digital transformation: A systematic review of practice in healthcare. International Journal of Health Planning and Management, 41(5), 1032-1053. https://doi.org/10.1002/hpm.70092

Sebire, S. Y., Brown, J., Malewezi, E., & Tume, L. N. (2025). Understanding, using, and facilitating evidence-based practice: A scoping review of influencing factors among nurse managers in acute care. Journal of Nursing Management, 2025, 2155376. https://doi.org/10.1155/jonm/2155376

Tseng, P., Kaplan, R. S., Richman, B. D., Shah, M. A., & Schulman, K. A. (2018). Administrative costs associated with physician billing and insurance-related activities at an academic health care system. JAMA, 319(7), 691-697. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2017.19148

What the BUSI 418 Week 1 instructions ask

BUSI 418 starts with a busy opening week: chapters 1 and 2 of Hall and Roussel's Evidence-Based Practice, a presentation, a website, the course requirements checklist, class introductions and two discussion forums. This page samples Forum 1. A thread here should land somewhere from 300 to 500 words and show that you have read the chapters, and you then answer two classmates in 150 to 350 words apiece. Every one of those three posts carries two peer-reviewed articles, the textbook and a biblical integration, cited in current APA style. Forum 2 has its own prompt and its own grade, so budget time for both before the week closes on Monday night.

How this BUSI 418 Week 1 example is built

The thread opens with the vendor's offer and the quality director's question about whether bed alarms reduce falls. It uses the textbook's description of evidence-based practice as the integration of research evidence, professional expertise and patient preferences, then follows the steps from question to evaluation. National data on nurse-sensitive indicators show why falls deserve attention, and a review of nurse managers' barriers to evidence use explains why administrators often skip the process. The decision that results favors a bundle with staff input over a single product. A proverb about haste names the danger of buying first and asking later. The replies address the scope of evidence-based practice and time constraints. Both replies close with a question. The thread names its focused question.

BUSI 418 Week 1 grading rubric: where the points go

Faculty reading Forum 1 want to see the method in motion. A strong thread takes a real decision and walks it from a focused question through finding, appraising and applying evidence to a plan for checking the result, with research, professional judgment and patient or staff preferences each given weight. Posts that stop at a definition of evidence-based practice tend to score lower than posts that put a vendor's claim or a policy to the test. Replies gain credit when they stretch a classmate's idea of who uses evidence or offer a realistic way for a busy manager to fit it in. The usual source requirements and APA format still apply.

BUSI 418 Week 1 help: mistakes that cost points

Pick a purchase, policy or staffing choice your workplace has faced, and turn it into a question you could actually search, using the PICO pattern if it helps. Then explain how the textbook's steps would carry you from that question to an answer and a way of measuring it afterward. Two recent peer-reviewed studies, one about the decision itself and one about how managers use evidence, give the thread its support. A verse about wisdom, testing or patience fits naturally. Keep an eye on both limits, 500 words for the thread and 350 for each reply, and disguise the organization so no one can identify it.

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BUSI 418 Week 1 questions, answered

What is BUSI 418 Discussion Board Forum 1?

The first of eight 50-point forums in Liberty's research and evidence-based practice course for healthcare administration, due in Module/Week 1 along with Forum 2.

Where can I find a free BUSI 418 Week 1 sample paper?

The full BUSI 418 Week 1 thread is on this page, built around a bed alarm purchase and fall prevention, along with both replies and an APA reference list you can study.

What is evidence-based practice?

It is a way of deciding that combines the strongest available research with professional expertise and what patients or staff value, then checks whether the decision actually worked.

Do health care administrators use evidence-based practice?

They should; decisions about products, staffing and policy affect outcomes, and the same steps of asking, finding, appraising, applying and evaluating evidence apply to management decisions.

What must each BUSI 418 forum post include?

Each thread of 300 to 500 words and each reply of 150 to 350 words cites two peer-reviewed studies and the Hall and Roussel textbook and includes one biblical integration.

Use it as a model, or ask for your own

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