1.    Scope and purpose of the clinical practice guideline – What are the scope and purpose of this document? What are the objectives, questions, and target population (patients, consumers, students, and so forth)? In other words, who are the recipients of the services outlined in the document?

2.    Stakeholder involvement – What professions are represented in the committee that developed the guideline? Have members of the target population been consulted in the development of the document? What conflicts of interest are possible?

3.    Rigor of Development. What is the credibility of the articles represented in the clinical practice guidelines? Does the clinical practice guideline rely mostly on randomized controlled trials? Are qualitative studies included? Are the methods, criteria, and selection of articles for the document clear and justified? Have benefits and risks for the target population been considered?

4.    Recommendations. If you were writing a plan based on the document, what are the major recommendations for practice? What would be the nursing role in carrying out the recommendations and what resources would be needed?

5.    Implementation. What are potential barriers to implementing the recommendations in this clinical practice guideline? What are potential costs of following the recommendations? How would you measure whether outcomes would be improved if the recommendations were carried out?