Task Requirement

The written assessment of 8000 words for this module takes the form of an Extended Literature Review (ELR). The review is ‘extended’ to include a critical account of the methods adopted in carrying out the review of the literature.

Title/Research Question:

What are the Impacts of health literacy on the quality of lives of male patients between the ages of 40 - 65 diagnosed with heart failure?

Acknowledgements

Contents page (including tables/figures)

Abstract – A summary of the key issues and findings in the project should be presented here. Use the following subheadings: aim, background, methods, findings, and conclusion. (200)

Introduction – Overview of assignment outlining your overall aims, the topic area you are focusing on and rationale for choice. Include a justification for choosing the topic area. Relevant definitions and brief critical discussion regarding the importance of research in nursing. Acknowledge the 6-10 selected articles. (250)

Background – Discuss in more depth the chosen topic area, so that you are setting the scene to its relevance to current nursing practice. Include government statistics and policies, as well as NICE guidelines where relevant. Indicate the topic’s relevant to current nursing practice including any relevant background information (750)

Methodology (1750 - 2000 words)

This section needs to clearly demonstrate the audit trail to your literature search and should include:

• Evidence of how your question/topic area was structured using either PICO or PEO.
• How keywords were developed and selected.
• Which databases were selected and a justification for each.
• A selection of 6 – 10 primary research articles from the last 10 years.
• How the relevance of the material was determined, inclusion and exclusion criteria, including justification.
• How the papers were analysed using Caldwell’s framework.
• An overview of how many papers were found and how many are left in the literature review after the inclusion and exclusion criteria have been applied. Use tables/figures as illustrations and place these in the main body of your work.
• A summary of the articles selected. Include a table and place as an appendix.

Methodology

• Introduction
• Search strategy (i.e. PEO/PICO, key words, Boolean Operators)
• Sourcing the literature (using Library Search and why/how)
• Search Outcome (number of hits/articles)
• Inclusion and Exclusion criteria (table)

Findings (2500 words)

You should clearly present the findings, as themes, from your thematic analysis. State how The analysis was undertaken. Indicate what constituted a theme. Findings from the papers selected should be presented only.

You need to provide an in-depth critique of the literature – what did you find? You should compare and contrast studies and comment on the body of the literature on the topic. Some form of structuring, within this section, is a good idea. You could split this Findings section into sub-sections (themes) with headings around the aspects of care or treatment within the topic being reviewed. This section should not just list one article after another. You need to draw out from your reading, the articles’ overarching messages. Make sure that you structure this section in such a way that you clearly address your research question/title.

You will need to consider what methods were used to study the area and how rigorously they were applied. For example, look for bias (was the person doing the research known to the participants?); or conflict of interest (was the research carried out on behalf of a drugs company?). To do this you will need to use the information obtained from applying the critical appraisal tool to your chosen articles.

Discussion/Implications for practice (1500 words)

You should provide a critical discussion of the findings from your review. What do the findings mean? Evaluate the significance of the similarities and differences found in your comparison and contrast of the articles and make an in-depth interpretation on the themes’ issues. You can draw on the wider body of literature about your topic area. This is the place to include all the interesting articles that you found, which make important points but that did not directly answer your chosen research question.

Include implications and recommendations for practice, education, and management. Could the finding of this literature review be applied to your patients or your practice? If it cannot be applied, why is this? Can you be specific about how your findings can influence the quality of care? For example, an education package for nurses, an assessment tool for practice or a set of policy guidelines. You will also need to comment on whether further research should be undertaken, and if so, how should it be designed? You may want to split this section into Sub-sections.

Strengths and limitations (350-500 words)

Within this section you should discuss how successfully you have addressed your review question and thereby the practice significance of your findings. You should consider both strengths and limitations of your review.

Conclusion – Summarise key points from your assignment. Make recommendations to how your research or ideas for quality improvement could be taken forward (350-500)

References (minimum of 80 references)

Appendices

Use appendices to demonstrate the processes you went through to be able to

make your arguments, for example the table summarising the articles selected for your review.

Screenshots of where searches were completed are not acceptable.

The appendices are not included in the word count and are given no marks.