NS0629 - Nursing Dissertation

Lectures, seminars and workshops will provide you with opportunities to develop an appreciation of the importance of integrating practice and formal theory. Lectures will provide you with the background theoretical knowledge, whilst seminars will focus on individual and group activities to help you facilitate reflection on previous experiences drawing on a broad ‘community of practice.’ You will work independently on structured activities drawing on
electronic resources, to enable you to fully engage with and participate in subsequent face to face learning and supervision sessions at MCAST or online in the virtual classroom. You will be able to apply your learning and experiences from other modules within the BSc (Hons) Nursing Studies course to help you engage with this module which culminates in an evidence-based practice dissertation. You will be encouraged to make full use of established social and professional networking in addition to the online resources provided by the university to enhance your learning and support your academic and professional development, a central aspect of this will be the use of the electronic learning platform.

Initially you will receive support from the module team as you begin to formulate your ideas, there will then ensue a transitional period whereby you formalise these concepts into a viable topic for exploration with your named supervisor. Your supervisor will support you with remote individual tutorials up until submission of the dissertation. Your peers on this degree are an important part of your support network and many of the activities within seminars are aimed at engaging fellow students to talk and learn with one another. A crucial feature of the academic support available to you is the service provided by the Northumbria University and MCAST Library services. The 24/7 Ask for Help service at Northumbria caters for a diverse range of learning needs and they have extensive access to electronic texts and tutorials that will directly support the development of academic skills aimed at improving critical thinking and analytical writing.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. Online reading lists (provided after enrolment) give you access to your reading material for your modules. The Library works in partnership with your module tutors to ensure you have access to the material that you need.

Knowledge & Understanding:
1. Demonstrate a well-developed critical appreciation of how research and other published evidence informs graduate nursing practice.
2. Articulate, through high quality academic writing, your in-depth knowledge relating to an area of nursing practice including the need for continuous improvement of professional nursing practice

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
3. Systematically, search for, retrieve, critically appraise, evaluate and synthesise a range of research and other evidence, drawing conclusions about its relevance for current and future professional nursing practice

Personal Values Attributes
4. Demonstrate awareness of the importance of critical reflection in nursing is a mechanism for professional lifelong learning
5. Articulate recognition of the need for cultural diversity within an holistic, person centred

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT:

Your formative assessment for this module will include participation in a dissertation progress workshop where you will present your dissertation proposal to your peers; reflecting on the relevance of your subject idea in relation to your future nursing practice (MLO 1- 5)

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT

Your summative assessment for this capstone module will be the production of a 6000 word dissertation. Through supervision you will be guided toward your choice of topic which should be relevant to your future profession. Your dissertation should critically analyse and synthesise the evidence underpinning an area of general nursing practice, including the implications of your work for the continuous improvement of nursing practice in Malta and your own graduate employment (MLO 1-5)

Formative feedback from your progress workshop presentation and from your academic supervisor will inform the development of your dissertation. You will receive written summative feedback on your summative assessment.

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The purpose of this module is for you to critically explore ways in which research evidence can be used to develop nursing practice. Using your knowledge and understanding you will be able to critically consider how current initiatives, by for example government, impact upon contemporary nursing practice with people of all ages including: children; older people; pregnant and post-natal women; people with mental health needs and people with needs associated with their learning disabilities. You will learn how to undertake a dissertation analysing the best available evidence and applying to your nursing topic of interest. The dissertation, as a “capstone” project will consolidate your academic and professional learning giving you an opportunity to showcase your ability to use graduate level nursing academic ability. You will engage in stimulating dissertation progression workshops with your peers as an opportunity to share your ideas and get feedback towards your summative assessment. You will be supported by your peers and through supervision, to produce a 6000 word academic dissertation on a topic of your choice underpinning an area of general nursing practice This will showcase your learning on this module, as a key overall outcome of your graduate programme.