How to Build Every Slide
Seven required slides, a mandatory visual gap table, three peer-reviewed sources, and a summary that ties it all together. This guide walks through what each slide needs to do, what the rubric is actually testing, and where presentations fall apart.
This assignment is a continuation of your Module 3 work. You already picked a workflow problem and a technology that could fix it. Now you’re presenting that analysis formally — as a structured argument that moves from “here’s the broken process” to “here’s the technology that closes the gap.” Each slide in this deck has a specific job. Get those jobs clear before you open PowerPoint.
What This Guide Covers
Before You Build Anything
The assignment says to use the same topic from Module 3. That’s not optional — the whole presentation depends on that foundation. If you picked medication reconciliation errors and proposed a clinical decision support system, every slide in this deck references that specific workflow and that specific technology. Don’t switch topics, and don’t pick something vague now to make the presentation easier. The more specific your workflow problem, the cleaner your gap table will be.
Can You Answer These Three Questions from Your Module 3 Work?
What specific workflow step is broken or inefficient? What specific technology did you propose to address it? What does “better” look like — meaning, what would the workflow do differently after the technology is in place? If you can answer all three clearly, you have everything you need to build this presentation. If any answer is fuzzy, tighten it before you touch a slide.
Example of a tight framing: “Nurses manually document patient fall risk assessments on paper, leading to inconsistent scoring and missed high-risk patients. The proposed technology is an EHR-integrated automated fall risk screening tool (like Morse Fall Scale embedded in Epic). After integration, every admission automatically triggers a standardized risk score visible to the care team in real time.” That’s a current state, a technology, and a desired state — all in three sentences.Slide-by-Slide Breakdown
The assignment lists seven required components. Not suggestions — required. Build your slides around these in order. You can add extra slides between them if you need more space, but you can’t remove any of these seven pieces.
Building the Gap Analysis Table
This is the slide most presentations get wrong. The assignment is explicit: it must be a visual. Not bullets. A table, flowchart, or diagram. And it must contain all four required columns. Here’s how to think about each one.
What Goes in Each Column — and Why
Current State describes what actually happens right now, in specific observable terms. Desired State describes what should happen after the technology is implemented — the ideal process, not a vague improvement. Identified Gap is the difference between those two: what’s missing, broken, or absent that prevents the current state from becoming the desired state. Actions or Strategies to Close the Gap describes the concrete steps — including the technology — that bridge that difference.
The gap column is the hardest one to write well. Students often write something vague like “lack of technology.” That’s not a gap — that’s a cause. The gap itself is the observable consequence: “nurses have no standardized alert system to flag high-risk patients, so high-risk patients are identified inconsistently and interventions are delayed.” That’s specific enough to address with an action.| Current State | Desired State | Identified Gap | Actions to Close the Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual paper-based fall risk scoring at admission only | Automated Morse Fall Scale embedded in EHR, scored at every shift | No standardized reassessment trigger; high-risk patients identified only once per admission | Integrate automated scoring tool in Epic; configure alerts for scores above threshold; train nursing staff |
| Risk scores not visible outside the admitting nurse’s paper form | Real-time score visible to all care team members in patient chart | Fragmented visibility — team cannot act on risk data they can’t see | Enable EHR dashboard widget showing current fall risk score; include in daily huddle workflow |
| No alert generated when risk level increases | Automated alert to charge nurse when score crosses high-risk threshold | Delayed response to changing patient condition; prevention interventions initiated too late | Configure CDS alert rules; define escalation protocol; pilot on one unit before facility-wide rollout |
That’s a sample structure for a fall prevention gap analysis. Your table should follow the same logic — one row per specific dimension of your workflow problem, with each column directly corresponding to the others in that row. The actions column should reference your technology specifically, not just say “implement technology.”
This is a direct instruction, not a stylistic suggestion. If you present your gap analysis as four separate bullet lists instead of a table or diagram, you haven’t met the requirement. A PowerPoint table works fine. A SmartArt flowchart works. A swimlane diagram works. A side-by-side comparison graphic works. Four bullet lists do not. Build the table in PowerPoint using Insert → Table, not text boxes with bullets.
The Technology Remedy Slide: Making the Connection Explicit
This slide is where a lot of presentations become generic. Students describe the technology — what it does, who makes it, what its features are — without ever connecting it back to the specific gaps they identified. That’s a problem. The grader isn’t asking “what is this technology?” They’re asking “why does this technology fix your specific workflow problem?”
What Not to Do
Don’t write a product overview. “Epic’s Clinical Decision Support module allows providers to set custom alerts, build order sets, and integrate evidence-based guidelines into the ordering workflow” — that’s a sales pitch, not an analysis.
- Avoid describing features in the abstract
- Don’t use vendor marketing language
- Don’t separate the technology from the gaps you identified
- Avoid claiming effectiveness without citation
What to Do Instead
Map the technology directly to each gap from your table. “Gap 1 was inconsistent fall risk reassessment. The automated Morse Fall Scale tool addresses this by triggering reassessment at every shift change, making reassessment structural rather than nurse-initiated.”
- Reference each gap by name or number
- Explain the mechanism — how the technology closes each gap
- Cite a study showing the technology works in a similar setting
- Acknowledge implementation challenges if space allows
The Summary Slide: Visual Synthesis, Not a Text Recap
The assignment asks you to “present the entire gap analysis visually on one slide using a template.” That phrase — using a template — is a hint. The resources provided include gap analysis templates from Forbes, ClearPoint Strategy, TemplateLab, and UCLA Health. Look at those before building this slide.
Before/After Comparison Visual
Two columns side by side: Current State on the left, Desired State on the right, with a gap indicator (arrow or divider) in the middle. Simple, readable, shows the transformation at a glance. Works well if your gap is primarily about a single workflow.
Four-Box Gap Analysis Framework
Quadrant layout: Current State (top left), Desired State (top right), Gap (bottom left), Solution (bottom right). This mirrors standard gap analysis templates and is immediately recognizable to the grader. The UCLA Health template linked in the assignment uses a version of this format.
Process Flow Diagram
Swimlane or horizontal flow showing the current process with problem callouts, then the improved process with technology intervention points marked. Best for workflows with multiple steps. More complex to build but very clear for communicating how the process changes.
It’s a synthesis. The goal is to show the whole picture — current state, gap, technology, desired state — on one visual without requiring the viewer to flip back through the deck. Think of it as the “one slide you’d show a hospital administrator who only has 60 seconds.” If your other slides have the details, this slide has the story arc.
Finding and Formatting Your Three Sources
Three peer-reviewed articles, within the last five years (2021 or later as of 2026), in APA 7th edition. That’s the floor. Here’s how to think about where to use them.
One Per Core Argument — Current State, Technology, and Framework
Source 1 supports your Current State slide — a published article documenting the scope, frequency, or consequences of the workflow problem you identified. Source 2 supports your Technology slide — a study evaluating your proposed technology’s effectiveness in a healthcare setting similar to yours. Source 3 supports either your gap analysis framework or your desired state — evidence that the improvement you’re proposing is achievable and has been demonstrated elsewhere.
Where to search: CINAHL, PubMed, and the Cochrane Library are the standard databases for nursing informatics. Search using your workflow problem and technology terms together (e.g., “clinical decision support fall prevention EHR”). Filter by publication date (2021–2026) and peer-reviewed. The CINAHL database, available through most university library portals, is particularly strong for nursing workflow research.Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Journal Name, Volume(Issue), Page–Page. https://doi.org/xxxxx
Key APA 7 changes from APA 6 that trip people up: up to 20 authors listed before using an ellipsis; no publisher location for journals; DOI formatted as a URL (https://doi.org/…) not as “doi:…”; journal name and volume in italics, issue number not italicized; article title in sentence case (only first word and proper nouns capitalized).
Use a DOI whenever one exists. If no DOI, use the URL of the journal’s website. If the article is from a database, don’t use the database URL — use the journal URL or DOI instead. “Retrieved from CINAHL” is not APA 7 format for journal articles.Where Presentations Lose Points
Generic Gap Table with No Specificity
“Current State: Manual process. Desired State: Automated process. Gap: Lack of technology.” That’s a gap analysis template with nothing filled in. Every cell needs your specific workflow, your specific setting, your specific technology.
Specific, Observable Language in Every Cell
Name the actual workflow step, the actual role performing it, the actual consequence of the gap. “Charge nurse manually pulls paper fall risk forms from 18 patient charts each shift” is specific. “Manual process” is not.
Summary Slide = Title Slide with More Bullets
Restating your objectives in bullet form on the last content slide is not a visual summary. The assignment specifically says to use a template and present the analysis visually. Bullets don’t count as a visual.
Build a Real Diagram for the Summary Slide
Use PowerPoint’s SmartArt, a table with visual formatting, or a custom diagram. Reference the provided templates. The summary slide should be the most visually engaging slide in the deck — it carries the whole argument.
Technology Slide Reads Like a Product Brochure
Describing features without connecting them to your gaps means the slide has no analytical weight. It could describe any technology for any problem. The grader needs to see that you understand why this technology addresses this specific problem.
Anchor Every Technology Feature to a Specific Gap
Structure the slide around your gap table rows. “Gap 1 was X — the technology addresses this by doing Y” is the pattern for each point. That explicit mapping is what turns description into analysis.
Sources More Than 5 Years Old or Not Peer-Reviewed
A textbook, a white paper, a vendor website, or a 2018 journal article does not satisfy the requirement. Three peer-reviewed articles from 2021 or later, full stop.
Verify Publication Date and Peer-Review Status Before Citing
In CINAHL, use the “Peer Reviewed” and “Publication Date” limiters when searching. In PubMed, filter by “Journal Article” and set the publication date range to 5 years. Check before you cite — database metadata is sometimes wrong.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Nursing Assignment Help Get StartedThe Argument This Presentation Has to Make
Strip everything back and this presentation is making one argument: there is a specific, documentable gap between how a healthcare workflow operates right now and how it should operate — and a specific technology can close that gap. Every slide serves that argument. The current state provides the evidence for “here’s the problem.” The desired state defines the target. The gap table makes the problem structure explicit and actionable. The remedy slide connects the solution to the problem. The summary makes the full argument visible at a glance.
If a slide doesn’t serve that argument, it’s either unnecessary or it’s in the wrong section. Build the deck with that logic in mind and the rubric largely takes care of itself.