Choose a peer reviewed article from any leading nursing journal and write a Critical Analysis of a peer reviewed article paper based on one of the assigned / chosen case study / care plan.

a. Each student will choose a peer reviewed article from any leading nursing journal. Each student is required to write a Critical Analysis of a peer reviewed article paper based on one of the assigned / chosen case study / care plan. Students may use the article(s) utilized for the PICO project as noted in NSG 4051.This assignment is designed to encourage critical evaluation of research, as well as to provide an opportunity to work on written communication skills.

b. When writing the critical analysis of a peer reviewed paper, keep in mind that Faculty are looking for two critical elements:

a) Evidence that the student understands the article and issues presented.

b) Develop and offer your own insightful thoughts.
c) In order to demonstrate an understanding of the article, it is imperative that student’s use their own words/language rather than regurgitating that of others. Simply put, if your paper includes a great deal of direct quoting or simple paraphrasing of sentences from the article (as opposed to summarizing ideas/information in your own words), this does not convey understanding of the content. Therefore, direct quotes and paraphrasing of specific sentences or portions of text from the article should be used only when necessary (e.g., in situations where the intended meaning of the text might be altered or lost if paraphrased or where paraphrasing is not possible).

c. The paper will be a maximum of 3 typed, double-spaced pages in length excluding the cover and reference page; APA 6th Ed format. Papers cannot be hand-written. You must use a minimum of 12-point font either on Arial or Times New Roman format.

•What is the overall purpose of the research?

•How does the research fit into the context of its field? Is it, for example, attempting to settle a controversy? Show the validity of a new technique? Open up a new field of inquiry?

•Do you agree with the author’s rationale for

studying the question in this way?

Methods

15 points

•Were the measurements appropriate for the questions the researcher was approaching?

•Often, researchers need to use “indicators” because they cannot measure something directly–for example, using babies’ birth weight to indicate nutritional status. Were the measures in this research clearly related to the variables in which the researchers (or you) were interested?

•If human subjects were studied, do they fairly represent the populations under study?

Results

15 points

•What is the one major finding?

•Were enough of the data presented so that you feel you can judge for yourself how the experiment turned out?

•Did you see patterns or trends in the data that the author did not mention? Were there problems that were not addressed?

Discussion

15 points

•Do you agree with the conclusions drawn from the data?

•Are these conclusions over-generalized or appropriately careful?

•Are there other factors that could have influenced, or accounted for, the results?

•What further experiments would you think of, to continue the research or to answer remaining questions?

Student Reflection

15 points

•Discuss what you have learned during this clinical experience and how evidence-based nursing practice, based on your written assignments helped you in your learning experience and how this knowledge will impact your future nursing practice.

•Include your strategies for capitalizing on your strengths and overcoming your weaknesses (if any) in order to become a successful nurse.

Over-all quality of student’s critical analysis of a research article

25 points

•Use of correct grammar, APA format

•Synthesis of research paper (check this link: http://www.users.drew.edu/sjamieso/synthesis.htm )

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