A review of literature provides the practicing nurse with the latest knowledge regarding any aspect of practice. For this assignment, you will conduct a literature review for a topic of your choice. I recommend that you choose a topic of interest to you and one that is relevant to your current practice.
Assignment Guidelines
1. Choose a topic of interest to you and write a research question to guide your literature review.
2. Locate at least five full-text research articles that are relevant to your research question.
3. Read each article and note the author, date of publication, type of study (quantitative or qualitative) and research design, target population, sample selection method, number of subjects and demographics of sample, tools used to collect data, methods of data analysis used and study findings.
4. Write an 8-10 page paper using the following outline:
A. Introduction that includes the reason you chose the topic and a purpose statement (“The purpose of this paper is…”).
B. A description of each study, including the author, date of publication, type of study (quantitative or qualitative) and research design, target population, sample selection method, number of subjects and demographics of sample, tools used to collect data, and methods of data analysis used.
C. Discussion of the findings of the five studies, pointing out differences and similarities of findings, possible reasons for conflicting findings, and the limitations of the studies.
D. Conclusion that restates the purpose of the paper, a brief summary of your overall findings from the review of literature, and whether or not the data is strong enough to support a change in practice.
E. Reference List
Grading Criteria (20% of final grade)
1. Appropriateness of research question (10 points)
2. Description of each research study (20 points)
3. Discussion regarding strength of evidence and support for changing practice (35 points)
5. APA formatting (20 points)
6. Writing style: grammar, punctuation, etc. (15 points)
Note:
1. Use past tense when writing about events that happened in the past. (Most, if not all, of your paper should be written in past tense.)
2. Do not give the title of the articles or journals in the body of your paper. It makes the paper cumbersome and this information can be found in the reference list. Introduce a study as:
“Author (year) conducted a examining…”
