Table 2

Proposed self-assessment tool for plan–do–study–act (PDSA) applications

✓Inauthentic execution of PDSA	✓Authentic execution of PDSA
□ A single hypothesis was formed about the effect of the change idea	□ Multiple consecutive predictions made throughout development and implementation of the change idea
□ The initial change idea led to improvement	□ The initial change idea needed to be abandoned or refined to achieve improvement
□ Data collection focused only on changes in the main outcome measure	□ A variety of different measures used to assess adequacy of change idea and degree of implementation
□ Implementation proceed uneventfully	□ Barriers to implementation were identified and addressed
□ The final intervention looks similar to the initial change idea	□ Final intervention substantially modified from the initial change idea
Ticking above boxes raises questions about the degree to which PDSA methodology was fully executed	Ticking above boxes increases confidence in the authentic application of PDSA methodology