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What Is a Literature Review in Academic Writing?
A literature review is not simply a summary of what is known against particular nursing literature review topics. It is a critical evaluation of what is published to identify what is already known, who the key authors are and what are the current theories. It also looks at what questions researchers are asking and what methodologies are being used.A nursing dissertation topics literature review that seeks to look at ideas presented around a very specific topic that you will research is usually known as a critical literature review. This will seek to look at how others have approached your topic and if your own thesis will agree with or differ from what they are suggesting.
Another form of literature review is a systematic literature review. This seeks to answer a question or thesis not by conducting more original research but by looking at multiple sources of information that will meet very specific criteria. The aim being to minimize any possible bias and to provide information that is more reliable than any one previous study.
How Should You Choose Nursing Literature Review Topics?
Whether you want to select popular biology research topics or require nursing literature review ideas the following are the steps that you should follow to find the right ideas for you:- Look at past class work and assigned reading or textbooks to see if there are any issues or topics that particularly interest you.
- Brainstorm ideas alone or with other students to develop ideas. Build off of what others suggest to find many more ideas than you would alone.
- Are their particular conditions that you have an interest in that you might like to find out more about?
- Look at why you entered the field of nursing, is there a specific health related issue that drew you into your studies?
- Is there anything in the current news which grabs your interest that may be worth more in depth investigation?
- Read through the contents list of relevant journals and other publications to identify specific areas that get your attention.
How to Narrow Down Your Literature Review Topic Ideas Nursing
Good topics for a literature review should be something that you can find information on but not so much information that you will find it hard to focus on a specific issue. An issue that is too broad such as “how to improve triage in the emergency room” will turn up masses of works, but you will be hard pressed to keep your research focused in a specific direction. While methods for diagnosing ringworm in 2 year old girls from disadvantaged backgrounds may be just too focused to find many relevant pieces of work.
The following table can help you to understand this:
Examples of narrowing topics that are too broad to focus your review:
30 Potential Nursing Research Topic Ideas
Finding a good medical literature review topic is not always a simple task. Looking at our list of literature review topics may trigger an idea that will be perfect for you:
- Safe ways of doing minor surgery in nursing homes
- Effects of stress and fatigue in nursing
- Minimizing risks of exposure to noxious substances in ER
- Bullying on the ward: causes and solutions
- Promoting cultural awareness on the ward
- Future of nursing qualifications and regulations
- How to overcome shortages in nurses
- Is health diagnosis and treatment over skype safe?
- Should nurses be involved with complementary therapies?
- ER emergency disaster planning improvements
- How should nurses be trained to assess risks?
- Should there be armed guards in all wards?
- How is the challenge to nurses going to change as the population ages
- Everyday changes that can be made to tackle obesity
- Promoting a health environment on the ward
- How is technology affecting nursing today?
- Steps for avoiding transmission of infectious diseases in ER
- How does the community nurses role need to evolve?
- Pain assessment in unresponsive patients
- Improving quality of life for cancer sufferers
- Dealing with addicted teens on the ward
- Collaboration between different hospital departments to enhance patient care
- Reducing stress for nurses
- Reducing patient violence on the ward
- The effect of social media on pain relief
- Reducing risks for caregivers
- Reducing costs on the ward
- Identifying and reporting domestic violence
- Improving patient communication on the ward
- Alternative systems of pain relief through music
What Is the Format of Your Literature Review?
Once you have selected your topic ideas you will still need to do your research and write up your literature review. It is important to understand how a typical literature review will be formatted and laid out.
The following structure is how your review will usually be formatted:
- Introduction: a brief overview of the topic that you are researching that will provide a basic understanding of the background to your review.
- Methods: describe how you have conducted your literature review and the specific criteria that you have used when selecting your sources.
- Synthesis of the literature: this is the main body of your review and where you will summarize and discuss what you have found. Usually organized by specific ideas and theories.
- Conclusions: this should summarize what you have discovered and propose questions for your future research in this area.
Steps for Writing Your Literature Review
The following are the steps that you will go through when writing your review of literature in nursing:- Select the topic area that you will research
- Ensure that you fully understand the specific expectations for your review
- Seek out relevant articles and literature for your research
- Read, take notes, and evaluate the work that you have found
- Create a synthesis of the literature for your writing
- Discuss and summarize the literature within your review
- Highlight any gaps, weaknesses, or areas of disagreement in the research
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