critical appraisal advanced obstetrics for paramedic

ASSIGNMENT QUESTION:
Oxytocic use has been shown to halve the risk of postpartum haemorrhage yet only some ambulance services are equipped with oxytocin. Critically appraise and discuss

the use and feasibility of oxytocic for the management of postpartum haemorrhage in the pre-hospital setting. Critically appraise a minimum of 4 recent journal

articles in your discussion.

Assignment structure:
Introduction €“ introduce topic and state the direction of the paper.
Body €“ perform a literature search on the chosen topic and use a minimum of 4 articles to support your discussion.
Recommendations €“ based on your findings
Conclusion
Reference List as per APA guidelines

In order to do well in your assignments:
€¢    Ensure that you answer the question which is asked;
€¢    Ensure that you read the relevant literature and demonstrate how it applies to the question; that is, use appropriate examples, particularly when asked;
€¢    Consider the concepts and apply these to the question in a clear and logical manner; that is, provide and discuss the evidence;
€¢    Must be submitted electronically in a type-written format after they have been proof-read and spell checked.
€¢    It is crucial that in-text and end-text work is referenced appropriately

Assignment Presentation
Please adhere to the following when preparing your assignment:
€¢    Font: Arial and Times New Roman size 11 or 12, colour black only
€¢    Margin: an appropriate margin of 2cm
€¢    Page Numbers: Bottom right hand corner
€¢    Footer: to include your name and ID
€¢    Assignment to be double spaced, reference page however is single spaced
€¢    Must be submitted via Turnitin by the due date and time, mutliple submisison allowed until the due date and time
€¢    Late submission will incur a 5% per day penalty for 5 working days, then a zero will be awarded
€¢    If an extension is required due to extenuating circumstances please email Michelle with a valid reason and she will decide
€¢    Extensions will not be granted under any circumstances one week or less prior to the due date
€¢    Turnitin Originality score of NO MORE than 40%
€¢    Word count 2500, +/- 10%, penalties will apply if this is not adhered to, direct quotes and references do not count towards to the word count
€¢    Referencing: As per APA Guidelines, these can be found on the Portal. Intext referncing is a MUST and end text referencing is a MUST. All references cited

should be found intext and end text.
€¢    For this assignment journal articles are to be used only, they must be no more than 7 years old, and come from a peer reviewed, credible journal

How do you critically appraise an article?
The process of critical appraisal can be very time consuming. It requires you to carefully read the whole article, especially the research methodology and statistical

analysis €“ not just the easy bits like the introduction, results and conclusion sections!
When reading an article you need to consider the following:
€¢    Who has written the article? Are they a recognised author. Are they affiliated to a recognised institution?
€¢    Why? What are the aims and objectives?
€¢    How? Has the right research methodology been used?
€¢    When? Is it recent or seminal research?
€¢    Where? Has it been published in a recognised journal? Is it a peer reviewed journal?
€¢    Do the results seem valid?
€¢    Does the statistical evidence seem valid?
€¢    Is there any obvious bias or conflict of interests?
€¢    Do the conclusions stack up?