| Course | HS499 Bachelor's Capstone in Health Science |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 3 |
| Paper type | Problem statement |
| Length | About 770 words, 5 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Health Science |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HS499 Unit 3
Lift Residents Moved by Hand After Dark: A Unit 3 Capstone Problem Statement Putting a Scale on One Nursing Home's Practice
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
HS499: Bachelor's Capstone in Health Science
Unit 3 Problem Statement
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Brookmere Care Center, its residents, staff and every count are composite; the sources cited are real.
The Problem
At Brookmere Care Center, residents whose care plans call for a full-body mechanical lift are transferred by hand on most evening and night shifts, and nursing assistants working those shifts account for most of the facility's resident-handling injuries.
Scale
Figures come from Brookmere's injury and illness log for the last twelve months, care plan transfer fields reviewed on one date, and a two-week tally kept by charge nurses.
1. Residents whose plans specify mechanical full-body transfer: 41 of 118.
2. Resident-handling injuries among nursing assistants in twelve months: 23.
3. Of those, injuries on evening or night shifts: 17.
4. Of those, injuries during bed, chair or toilet transfers: 14.
5. Lost-time injuries among the 23: 9, totaling 211 lost workdays.
6. Share of full-body transfers done with a lift during the two-week tally: day shift 86 percent; evening 41 percent; night 22 percent.
The tally depends on charge nurses' observation and may undercount manual transfers, since some happen out of sight; the true night figure is likely lower than 22 percent.
On night shift, roughly four of every five transfers of residents who are supposed to be lifted mechanically happen by hand.
Who Bears the Harm
Nursing assistants bear the most direct harm: back and shoulder injuries, lost wages during recovery and, for some, the end of their careers in caregiving. A manual full-body transfer of a dependent adult exceeds the load considered safe for manual lifting under almost any technique (Waters, 2007). Residents bear harm too. Manual transfers increase the risk of skin tears, bruising and falls during the transfer, and residents report fear and discomfort when moved by hand. The facility bears cost through workers' compensation, overtime to cover lost shifts and turnover. Federal guidelines for nursing homes describe these combined costs as the reason to minimize manual lifting (Occupational Safety and Health Administration [OSHA], 2009).
Why It Happens
The causes are not yet established; that is the work of the needs assessment in Unit 6. Early accounts from night staff point to access: lifts are kept in a locked room after 9:00 p.m., the key is held by a charge nurse covering several halls, and the right sling is often in the laundry. These accounts are recorded here as hypotheses to test, not conclusions.
Who Could Change It
The director of nursing decides where lifts are stored and how keys are held. The administrator controls equipment and sling purchasing. The environmental services manager sets laundry schedules. The facility's quality assurance and performance improvement committee, which federal rules require nursing homes to maintain (42 C.F.R. § 483.75, 2024), brings these roles together monthly and can charter a change that crosses departments.
What Is Not Yet Known
The statement is careful about what the numbers cannot show. The injury log records injuries that were reported, and nursing assistants sometimes work through strains without reporting them, so the true count may be higher. The two-week tally covered one period and may not reflect seasonal changes in resident needs or staffing. And the log does not record which transfer method was used at the time of each injury, so the link between manual transfers and injuries rests on timing and staff accounts rather than on direct records. The needs assessment will gather more precise evidence, but the scale given here is enough to show that the problem is real, concentrated at night and worth a capstone.
Why It Matters Now
The facility's workers' compensation premium rose last year, and two experienced night assistants left after injuries. Recruiting replacements on nights has taken over three months each time. If nothing changes, the pattern of injury, turnover and short-staffed nights that encourages manual transfers will continue.
What the Capstone Will Do
The capstone will measure current practice against the evidence on safe resident handling, identify the gaps that most explain manual transfers at night, and recommend a change the quality committee could pilot. It will not purchase equipment or change staffing itself; it will produce evidence and a recommendation.
How This Differs From the Scoping Paper
The scoping paper explained how the question was narrowed. This statement fixes the problem with numbers, names the people affected and those with authority, and commits the capstone to what it will deliver.
References
42 C.F.R. § 483.75 (2024). https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/chapter-IV/subchapter-G/part-483/subpart-B/section-483.75
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (2009). Guidelines for nursing homes: Ergonomics for the prevention of musculoskeletal disorders (OSHA 3182-3R). U.S. Department of Labor.
Waters, T. R. (2007). When is it safe to manually lift a patient? American Journal of Nursing, 107(8), 53-58. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NAJ.0000282296.18688.b1
Reading the HS 499 Unit 3 instructions
The third unit commonly asks for a problem statement for your capstone: a precise description of the problem, its scale, who is affected, why it matters and what your project will do. Two pages with a small table is typical. Write the problem in one sentence only after you have fixed its scale, so it claims nothing your numbers cannot support. Give counts with their source and time period rather than percentages alone. Name who bears the harm and who has authority to change the situation. Separate what is known from what your later units will investigate. State what the capstone will and will not deliver. Explain briefly how the statement differs from your scoping paper.
How the HS 499 Unit 3 example is put together
A one-sentence problem statement opens the memo. A scale section lists six counts from the injury log, care plans and a charge nurse tally, with a caution that the night figure likely overstates lift use, and the highlighted sentence translates the night figure. Sections name the harm to nursing assistants, residents and the facility, citing the lifting limit and federal guidance. A section records early hypotheses about access without treating them as conclusions. The people with authority are named by role, linked to the federal quality committee rule. Sections on what is not yet known, why the problem matters now, what the capstone will do and how the statement differs from the scoping paper close it.
Reading the HS499 Unit 3 grading rubric
Problem statements are usually graded on precision, evidence of scale, identification of stakeholders and clarity about the project's contribution. Precision and evidence often weigh most: graders look for a single, specific problem sentence and counts with sources and periods. Stakeholder identification earns credit when both those harmed and those able to act are named. Separating known facts from hypotheses is valued. A clear statement of what the capstone will deliver prevents later overreach. Concise writing and accurate citations complete the grade. Statements that describe a general problem without local numbers, or that jump to a solution, tend to lose points. Admitting what the counts cannot show, such as unreported strains, usually strengthens the grade rather than weakening it.
HS499 Unit 3 help: mistakes that cost points
The most common weakness in problem statements is a problem sentence that promises more than the data show. Another is giving percentages without counts or sources. Some students name the solution inside the problem statement, which narrows the inquiry too early. Stakeholders with authority are often missing. Unknowns are rarely acknowledged, though doing so strengthens credibility. If the injury or incident data at your site are not available, describe what records you can reach, and we will build the scale section from those sources with their limits stated. Keep the statement short; two pages is enough when every number earns its place.
Get an HS499 Unit 3 example written to your instructions
Problem statements usually carry the scale figures a setting can supply, and prompts vary on length and required parts. Share the scoped topic, whatever data the setting allows and the rubric; the problem, its size and the people it touches will be stated, with brackets holding any figure not yet gathered. Free for a first request, back in 24-48h. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
More HS499 papers and BS in Health Science samples
- HS499 Unit 1: Capstone Scoping Paper
- HS499 Unit 2: Annotated Bibliography
- HS499 Unit 4: Literature Synthesis
- HS499 Unit 5: Discussion Board Post
- HS499 Unit 6: Needs Assessment
- HS499 Unit 7: Professional Portfolio Piece
- HS499 Unit 8: Seminar Reflection
- HS499 Unit 9: Capstone Project Draft
- HS499 Unit 10: Capstone Presentation
- HS460 Unit 3: Scope Statement
- HS450 Unit 3: SWOT Analysis
HS499 Unit 3 questions, answered
What if the setting will not share injury data?
Then the statement can rely on published figures for comparable settings and say so plainly, labeling the scale as national or regional rather than local. Bracketed placeholders also work while access is being arranged. A composite facility's log supplies the sample's scale, and each figure carries that label so no reader mistakes it for a real building's record.
Should the problem statement mention the likely solution?
Generally not. Naming a solution now commits the project before the evidence and the needs assessment have had their say, and it invites a reader to judge the fix instead of the problem. The sample states the gap, why lifts go unused after the day shift, and leaves the answer to later units.
How is a problem statement different from the scoping paper?
The scoping paper shows how the problem was chosen and narrowed; the problem statement asserts it, with scale and affected groups, for a reader who never saw the narrowing. In the sample, the scoping paper's funnel and dropped candidates are absent. What remains is the final problem stated as fact, with its sources and a purpose.
Where can I find a free HS499 Unit 3 sample paper?
You can read the whole Unit 3 problem statement here, with one problem sentence, a sourced scale table and the people who could change the practice.
Should a capstone problem statement propose the solution?
Usually not. It should define the problem and its scale; naming a solution too early can narrow the investigation before the evidence is gathered.