Check Whether a Study Measured the Outcome Your Plan Names
A source can be relevant to an intervention while measuring a different outcome from the one your care plan names. Check that connection before writing “evidence shows this will achieve the goal.”
The worked examples are teaching aids. Check them against your own source material and the requirements of your specific task.
Start with the task
Cochrane's outcome guidance discusses the limitations of surrogate outcomes.
Put the two outcomes side by side
In an invented assignment, the plan names sustained understanding after discharge. A study measures recall immediately after an information session. Immediate recall may be related to the goal, but it is not the same outcome at the same time.
Write the plan's outcome, the study's measured outcome, the measurement method, and the follow-up. The mismatch becomes visible before it is hidden inside a citation.
A surrogate is used as a substitute or proxy for another outcome. Not every intermediate measure is an adequate substitute for the outcome that matters to the rationale.
Inspect the claimed bridge
Does the source establish a relationship between the proxy and the intended outcome, or does the discussion merely assume one? Even a plausible mechanism does not guarantee that changing the proxy changes the later outcome.
Do not upgrade “measured improvement in recall” to “proved improved long-term outcomes.” Keep the result in its actual terms.
Decide what the source can support
The study may support a narrower component of the rationale, identify a possible mechanism, or suggest a question for further evidence. You may need another source for the stated goal.
If the assignment permits a revised goal, any revision must still follow the supplied case and requirements; do not change the goal solely to fit an available paper.
Use the evidence-chain guide in Nursevi to preserve the difference between what the intervention aims to achieve and what the cited research actually measured.