Fitchburg State University

Department of Nursing

Writing Assignment Guidelines & Rubric

Fall 2019

NURS 3200

Thinking critically and writing clearly are essential requirements of the role of the professional nurse. This assignment builds upon the skills mastered in the first semester junior writing assignments, including critical thinking, writing skills, and computer literacy in the discipline of nursing. Completion of this paper partially fulfills both the junior-senior writing requirement and the computer literacy requirement of the Liberal Arts and Sciences curriculum.

The objective of this assignment is for the student to be able to explore a topic which relates to a specific area of clinical nursing. The student will select a topic from a list which addresses topics related to the clinical specialty of the course in which the student is enrolled. The student will explore the nursing literature in relation to the topic, and will discuss the current state of nursing care related to this topic.

The paper grade will comprise 5% of the course grade.

Paper Guidelines:

Search the nursing literature and find two professional nursing articles that relate to your selected topic. One of the articles must be a nursing research article. The literature search should be from a current American nursing journal (published within the last 5 years) and may be done from databases such as CINHAL, Medline or Proquest.

Submit the articles to your reader for approval by the deadline

Monday September 30, 2019 at 8am.

The paper should be three to four pages in length.

The paper should be typed and referenced using the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.) (2010). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.

The paper must be submitted in BOTH written and electronic forms. Electronic submissions are to be made by email. A copy of the nursing articles MUST be submitted with the typed copy of the paper.

The paper is due Monday November 18, 2019 by 8:00 am.

Failure to meet either of the above due dates (including having the articles approved) will result in the loss of full credit for the assignment. This includes submitting the final assignment in both forms and submitting the nursing articles with the written paper.

Content of the Paper:

Introduction: Two paragraphs which provide an overview of the topic and its importance to nursing and health care.

Body of the Paper:

Summarize in your own words the key points of the journal articles. When referencing the articles, APA format should be used. When summarizing the research article, include the following:

Statement of purpose researcher/s overall goal of the study

Hypothesis anticipated findings

Sample number of participants and their characteristics

Methods how the data was gathered (interview, written survey/questionnaire)

Results what the study showed

Discuss the implications for nursing practice. This discussion needs to synthesize information obtained from both journal articles and should be longer than one paragraph.

Summary and conclusion: A summary of the main points of the paper, and a conclusion which reflects the meaning of what you have learned related to nursing practice.

Fitchburg State University

Department of Nursing

LPN to BS Writing Assignment

Fall 2018

Grading Rubric Possible points Achieved Points

Introduction: Two paragraphs which provide an overview of the topic and its importance to nursing and health care.

10 points Body of the Paper:

Summarize in your own words the key points of the journal articles. When referencing the articles, APA format should be used. When summarizing the research article, include the following:

Statement of purpose researcher/s overall goal of the study

Hypothesis anticipated findings

Sample number of participants and their characteristics

Methods how the data was gathered (interview, written survey/questionnaire)

Results what the study showed

30 points Discuss the implications for nursing practice based upon the journal articles.

30 points Summary/Conclusion 10 points Grammar, Sentence Structure, Appropriate Language

10 points Adherence to APA format 10 points

Total

100 points