What adjustments or changes to nursing practice should be undertaken as informed by the research you have critically assessed? Are there any cautions to applying the knowledge to the various age-groups — does it apply to all or only to specific groups? Are there any caveats to applying the knowledge because of the quality of the evidence?

A critical assessment of the quality of research study into…

Once you have outlined the intentions of your essay and introduced the reader to the topic area and the research study you should start to critically examine the research study you have selected, using the tool you have chosen.

• Use your appraisal tool checklist to help you evaluate the quality of the study: For example, if the study uses a quantitative method, how was the sample of participants selected? Did this impact on the representativeness of the participants? How were participants blinded and allocated to the experimental and control groups? Etc.

• Apply the checklist to the whole research study and discuss the quality of the study/research in relation to this.

• Make sure you also present the results of the study and what this means for how nursing care should be delivered to the relevant client groups across the life-span.

• The essay is 2500 words, your analysis must be concise. • Use supporting evidence to defend your critique — this will add weight to your argument. CONCLUSION All essays, should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Your conclusion should provide the reader with a brief summary and key points to consider. No ‘new’ information should be introduced during this section

. • What have you learned from the study and how does it apply to your nursing practice in the light of the quality of the research?

• Questions to consider may include:

• what adjustments or changes to nursing practice should be undertaken as informed by the research you have critically assessed?

• Are there any cautions to applying the knowledge to the various age-groups — does it apply to all or only to specific groups?

• Are there any caveats to applying the knowledge because of the quality of the evidence?

APPENDICES (optional)

An appendix isn’t compulsory, but it can assist the reader by providing supplementary information which supports your work. This needs to be made explicit in the text (‘see appendix 1’ etc). The appendices do NOT contribute to your word count, but you can make reference to the content of your appendices in the main body of your work. The appendices must be relevant and meaningful. Examples of things which can be included in the appendix are: • The completed CASP template or that of any other tool you choose to use • A summary of the results of studies (particularly if quantitative) using tables/diagrams. If tables are used they must be clearly and appropriately labelled, and cross-referenced accurately in the text