Summative Assessment: Systematic Literature Review (100%)- Systematic review of the literature in the form of a 10,500 word account structured on a typical systematic review as seen in sites such as Cochrane Library and Joanna Briggs Institute. You are strongly encouraged to look at an effects question for quantitative dissertations and an experiential question for qualitative dissertations. The papers that you select for your dissertation must be peer-review original research, you cannot include other systematic reviews in your results.
Aims
The dissertation provides you with the opportunity to undertake a substantial piece of original,
independent work, building on and focused on the core aspects of the nursing programme. The
dissertation will draw upon your research knowledge and critical appraisal skills that you have
developed throughout the programme. Your dissertation provides you with the skills and opportunity
to explore challenging questions about how to provide the best care.
To achieve this you will need to be able to identify an area of nursing practice or policy where there is
uncertainty; develop an answerable research question in response to this uncertainty; search for the
best evidence and select the most relevant research; appraise the quality of the research; identify
and summarise the relevant results; and come to a conclusion about the similarities and differences
in the research. This will culminate in a series of recommendations, based upon the evidence, for
clinical practice, education, policy and research.
The format of the dissertation is a systematic review, a way of summarising all of the available
evidence on a subject in a consistent and repeatable manner.