| Course | NR 707A DNP Project & Practicum III |
|---|---|
| Week | 5 |
| Paper type | Missing data memo |
| Length | About 1,100 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Chamberlain University |
| Program | Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NR 707A Week 5
Missing Data Memo: What Should Exist Against What Does for the Same-Day Behavioral Health Introduction, Where the Gaps Cluster and How They Will Be Treated
Student Name
College of Nursing, Chamberlain University
NR 707A: DNP Project & Practicum III
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Missing Data Memo: What Should Exist Against What Does for the Same-Day Behavioral Health Introduction, Where the Gaps Cluster and How They Will Be Treated
Expected Against Returned
The first table compares what the design says should be recorded with what actually was. | Item | Expected | Present | Missing |
| Patient's answer to the same-day question, recorded in the visit note | 104 eligible visits in behavioral health hours | 92 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Decline reason, for patients who declined | 14 declines | 9 | 5 |
| Call time in the referral log, for patients called next day | 67 patients needing a call | 56 | 11 |
| Visit checkout time, for visit length | 128 eligible visits | 121 | 7 |
| Behavioral health encounter status, for completed contact | All encounters within 30 days | All but 3 | 3 |
Coverage: 1 March to 9 April 2027.
Where the Gaps Cluster
Gaps that cluster have causes that can be fixed; gaps spread evenly usually do not. Patient's answer: 10 of the 12 gaps fell before 22 March, the day the smart phrase arrived; until then the answer went into free text, when it was written at all. After 22 March, 2 gaps in 52 visits.
Decline reason: all 5 gaps fell before 22 March, for the same reason.
Call times: 9 of the 11 gaps fell on four Fridays, 5 and 12 March and 2 and 9 April, when a float assistant covered the calls and did not record times. The other 2 were on a Monday after a holiday.
Checkout times: 6 of 7 fell in the Saturday session, when the front desk closes early and patients leave without checkout.
Encounter status: 3 encounters without status, all from the consultant's two leave days in March, when cover used a different visit type.
Explanations That Can Be Evidenced
Only causes that leave a trace in some record are offered. The smart phrase date, the float assistant's schedule, the Saturday desk hours and the psychologist's visit type are each shown in records: the clinical informatics ticket closure on 22 March, the staffing schedule, the posted Saturday hours and the encounter type field. No explanation offered here depends on anyone's recollection alone, and each can be checked by the committee if it wishes.
Illegible Is Not Missing
A record that exists but cannot be read clearly is a different problem from a record that does not exist. Four free-text answers before 22 March were present but unclear: "pt ok w/ maybe later." These are not missing; they are present and ambiguous. They are counted as present, coded as "no same-day contact wanted," and listed separately so that the decision can be reviewed.
Decisions, Made Now and in Writing
The rules for handling each kind of gap are set down before the remaining outcomes arrive. Missing call times: counted as not made by noon the next business day. This is conservative; if some were made on time, the true rate is higher. A sensitivity figure treating them as made on time will be reported beside the main figure: 78% conservative, up to 94% if all 11 were on time.
Missing checkout times: excluded from visit length, with the count reported. Saturday visits will be reported separately for visit length.
Missing patient answers and decline reasons: reported as unknown, not imputed.
Encounters without status: checked against the psychologist's notes; all 3 had notes and are counted as completed, as the measure definition allows.
These decisions were agreed with the site mentor on 14 April, before the 30-day outcomes for later weeks are known, so that they cannot be shaped by the results.
Effect on the Process Figures
With the conservative treatment, calls by noon the next business day stand at 52 of 67, 78%. If every missing time were on time, the figure would be 63 of 67, 94%. The truth lies between, and probably nearer the higher figure, since the float assistant reported making the calls the morning after. The midpoint summary reports the conservative figure because it cannot be challenged as flattering. A reviewer who prefers the generous figure has it beside the conservative one and can see the difference is about sixteen points.
The missing patient answers affect the decline count. If all 12 unknown answers were declines, declines would rise from 14 to 26 of 104. That is unlikely, since most of those visits led to same-day contacts, but the range is reported.
Who Agreed the Decisions
Decisions about missing data are only protective if they are fixed by people other than the analyst before the results are seen. The decisions were proposed by the student, reviewed by the quality analyst for feasibility and agreed by the director of behavioral health as site mentor on 14 April. Recording who agreed protects the decisions from being revisited when results arrive. If a later reader disagrees with a decision, the sensitivity figures show what difference it makes, so the disagreement can be settled by looking rather than arguing.
Effect on the Outcome Measure
Completed contact within 30 days comes from encounter status, where only 3 records lacked status and all 3 were resolved from notes. The outcome measure is therefore almost unaffected by missing data, which is fortunate, since it is the measure the aim depends on. The run chart can be built without adjustment (Perla et al., 2011).
What Has Been Fixed
Where a gap had a fixable cause, it has been fixed, and the date of each fix is recorded. The float assistant now logs call times on Fridays, from 16 April, using the same column as the regular assistant so that the figures can be pulled together. The front desk now asks Saturday patients to check out before leaving. The smart phrase has closed most of the early gaps. Each fix is dated so that later weeks can be compared, and the missing data counts will be run again once the test ends, to show whether the fixes held.
Why It Matters
Implementation research treats the completeness of process data as part of judging fidelity (Proctor et al., 2011). A process measure that is missing on Fridays could make the change look weaker or stronger than it was, depending on how the gaps are treated. Integrated behavioral health depends on reliable follow-up contacts (Archer et al., 2012), which is why the call measure's completeness matters most.
References
Archer, J., Bower, P., Gilbody, S., Lovell, K., Richards, D., Gask, L., Dickens, C., & Coventry, P. (2012). Collaborative care for depression and anxiety problems. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2012(10), CD006525. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD006525.pub2
Perla, R. J., Provost, L. P., & Murray, S. K. (2011). The run chart: A simple analytical tool for learning from variation in healthcare processes. BMJ Quality & Safety, 20(1), 46-51. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs.2009.037895
Proctor, E., Silmere, H., Raghavan, R., Hovmand, P., Aarons, G., Bunger, A., Griffey, R., & Hensley, M. (2011). Outcomes for implementation research: Conceptual distinctions, measurement challenges, and research agenda. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 38(2), 65-76. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-010-0319-7
Reading the NR 707A Week 5 instructions
Build the memo on two tables. The first counts what should exist against what does: forms expected and returned, fields completed within them. The second breaks those same gaps down by shift, week or unit so a reader can see whether they cluster. Keep the prose between them sparse and specific, offering only explanations you can evidence from a record. Treat illegible or ambiguous entries separately from missing ones. Decide now, in writing, how each kind of gap will be handled, before the results are known, and say who agreed. Show the range a figure could take under different treatments, and record what has been fixed and when. Keep each table small enough to read at a glance, with totals on the bottom row and the period it covers in the heading.
How the NR 707A Week 5 example is put together
The sample's first table shows 92 of 104 patient answers, 9 of 14 decline reasons, 56 of 67 call times, 121 of 128 checkout times and all but 3 encounter statuses. Gaps cluster before 22 March, on four Fridays when a float assistant made calls without times and in the Saturday session. Each cause is evidenced by a ticket, schedule, posted hours or field. Four unclear free-text answers are counted as present. Missing call times count as late, giving 78% with 94% as the upper bound; missing checkouts are excluded; unknown answers stay unknown. The site mentor agreed the rules on 14 April, and fixes are dated. The memo closes by listing which gaps should shrink in May if the fixes hold.
Reading the NR 707A Week 5 grading rubric
Missing data memos lose most when they report a single overall percentage missing, which hides whether gaps cluster around a fixable cause. Next is an explanation based on someone's memory rather than a record. Many memos treat unclear entries as missing, losing information. Rules for handling gaps are often made after the results are seen, which invites choices that favor the change. Writers rarely show the range a figure could take under different treatments, so readers cannot judge how much the gaps matter. Memos that never say what has been fixed leave the same gaps to recur in later weeks. Fixes announced without a date cannot be checked against the weeks that follow.
NR 707A Week 5 help: mistakes that cost points
Counting what is missing, and deciding what to do about it before the results arrive, is one of the least glamorous and most protective steps in a project. With your expected and actual counts, we can build both tables and find where the gaps cluster. We can also help you write handling rules, show sensitivity ranges and record fixes. Having your mentor agree the rules in writing before the outcomes are known is the step most worth taking. The data and the rules are yours. We can also help you phrase sensitivity ranges so a committee sees at once how much the gaps could move each figure.
Get a NR 707A Week 5 example written to your instructions
Tell us how your records are collected and pass on the rubric with any template your section uses, and a custom NR 707A Week 5 missing data memo is returned inside 24-48h, free the first time. The tables come structured and empty, since the counts inside them can only be taken from your own project file.
More NR 707A papers and DNP samples
- NR 707A Week 1: First Week Post
- NR 707A Week 2: Rollout Narrative
- NR 707A Week 3: Protocol Deviation Memo
- NR 707A Week 4: Midpoint Data Summary
- NR 707A Week 6: Staff Feedback Write-up
- NR 707A Week 7: Practicum Log Narrative
- NR 707A Week 8: Committee Progress Presentation
- NR 705A Week 5: Measure Definitions
- NR 702A Week 5: Aim Statement Draft
NR 707A Week 5 questions, answered
At what point does incompleteness stop a project?
That is not settled on this page, and a memo claiming to settle it overreaches. Programs and committees hold that judgment, and sections differ on what they expect a writer to recommend. What the memo owes is an honest count, an honest picture of where the gaps sit, and a clear statement of which measures are affected badly enough that the committee should look at them.
Can missing records be filled in from memory?
No, and it is the one move here that turns a marking problem into an integrity problem. A record reconstructed weeks later is not data, whatever it is labeled, and a reader who spots handwriting or timestamps that do not fit stops trusting the whole file. Absent records are reported as absent, counted, and left absent, which is the answer faculty are looking for.
Does this repeat what the midpoint summary already said?
It should not. The midpoint summary mentions completeness in a line or two and moves on, because its job is the figures. This memo takes the same gaps and does the work the summary had no room for: the breakdown, the causes, the recovery attempt and the handling decision. Where the two disagree on a count, the disagreement itself costs marks.
Where can I find a free NR 707A Week 5 sample paper?
Both gap tables and the handling rules agreed with the site mentor appear in the full memo on this page.
How does the NR 707A Week 5 memo treat missing call times?
As calls not made by noon, giving a conservative 78%, with 94% reported as the figure if every missing call had been on time.