Critical Thinking & Information Literacy Across the Curriculum

Terri Perkins - Term Paper Guidelines

INTRODUCTION:

Registered Nurses (RN) practice in a professional environment. The RN must have good written and verbal communication skills. The RN must be able to find current and pertinent information and apply this information to care of clients in a variety of health care settings. Good writing skills and capabilities of locating relevant, current medical/nursing information are needed for client documentation, developing client education materials, developing nursing policies and procedures, all of which the RN may be asked to participate in as a member of the health care team.

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this paper is to:

1. Develop expertise in the nursing care of a client who has developed a postoperative complication or nursing care of a client who has undergone a surgical procedure.
2. Demonstrate competency in writing a college level paper using APA format.
3. Utilize information gathering, assessing and validating techniques learned in N101 in order to compile sufficient relevant information to write a college level term paper. Sources include but are not limited to: current nursing and medical journals, current text and reference books, periodical indexes such as CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) and MedLine, and information gathered from the World Wide Web (WWW) or search engines.

FORMAT:

• APA style and format must be used in the writing of this term paper.
  • This paper must present information logically and concisely
  • This paper must be written at the college level
  • Grammar, punctuation and spelling must be correct; you must READ your paper prior to submission as spell-checkers do not always catch spelling errors.
• Double spaced typewritten or word-processed with 1 inch margins on all 4 sides
• References used must be cited within the body of the paper as noted on the "Writing Guide to APA Documentation Style" found in your module packet at the end of these guidelines
• All references and resources used must be listed in your bibliography, including WWW addresses. The instructor should be able to take your bibliography and locate your references and resources. You must cite references correctly within the body of your paper. Refer to the APA style sheet for directions.
• Limited to 10 pages minimum to 15 pages maximum, exclusive of title page and bibliography
• APA format for the bibliography
  • References are to be single spaced; journal titles may be underlined if typewritten or italicized if word-processed
  • References are to be double spaced between each other
  • Refer to the "Writing Guide to APA Documentation Style"
  • Assistance from Writing Lab Tutors is available!

TASKS:

When writing this paper you must include the following in the paper:

• Title page
  • Title of paper
  • Your name
  • Date of paper
• Introduction: Must include the following:
  • Introductory statement which identifies the goal of the paper
  • Description of the postoperative complication or surgical procedure about which you are writing
  • Description of the related pathophysiology
  • Why you selected this topic
  • Optional items you might include
    • health care cost of the problem
    • additional hospital length of stay to treat the problem
    • description of the population at risk to develop this complication or undergo the procedure
    • risk factors associated with the complication
• Body of Paper
  • Discussion of pertinent assessment data related to the care of your client (organized according to Functional Health Patterns)
  • Description of relevant NANDA approved nursing diagnoses
  • Description of measurable expected outcomes that describe what you want to achieve in caring for your client
  • Description of specific interventions related to the expected outcomes
    • independent nursing interventions which do not require a physician's order
    • dependent interventions which require a physician's order
  • Discussion of rationales for your interventions
  • Discussion of what evidence you would need in order to confirm that the expected outcomes were met
• Summary Statement
  • Discussion of your conclusions concerning the goal of your paper
  • Discussion of how this new knowledge will effect your practice of nursing
• Bibliography
  • Written in APA format
  • Includes at least 10 to 15 current references (Current is defined as no older than from 1992)
  • At least half of the references must be from nursing journals
  • If there is a question concerning a reference, please see your clinical instructor
  • See format section for bibliography style

Points will be deducted for tardiness as follows:

2 points will be subtracted if the term paper is 1 day late

1.5 additional points will be subtracted if the term paper is 2 days late

1 additional point per day will be subtracted if the term paper is late starting on day 3

GRADING:

The clinical instructors will use the following guidelines to grade each paper. A passing score is 19.5 out of 25 points (or 78%).

NOTE: You must return this grading sheet with your term paper.

NAME: __________________________

DATE/TIME: _____________________

GRADING CRITERIA	POINTS POSSIBLE	POINTS EARNED	COMMENTS
FORMAT POINTS	10 points
APA style is used through out the paper	1.0
Grammar, punctuation and spelling is correct	6.0
Body of paper is 10 pages minimum, 15 pages maximum	1.0
Paper contains the 5 required elements	2.0
CONTENT POINTS	13 points
Title page contains required elements	0.5
Introductory paragraph contains required elements	2.5
Body of paper contains required content elements: assessment nursing diagnoses (NANDA approved) expected outcomes interventions evaluation	8.0
Summary of findings present	2.0
BIBLIOGRAPHY	2 points
Used 10-15 current references	1.0
50% of references are from Nursing Journals	1.0
Points off if tardy
Total Points Earned (minimal passing score is 19.5 out 25)
General Comments:
NOTE: If you do not achieve a passing grade on the paper, the paper could be redone as directed by your clinical instructor. The maximum score you could earn on a redo is 19.5 points.

I. This type of documentation is for use in psychology, sociology, and related fields where the timeliness of sources is of primary importance. Therefore, the publication date of each source is required when making citations. The following are examples of APA format when referencing a journal article or text in the body of a paper.

A. Insert the surname of the author, and the year of publication in the text at the appropriate point.

Martin (1996) compared wound healing times…

In a recent study of wound healing times (Martin, 1996)…

B. When a work has two authors, always cite both names every time the reference occurs in text.

Smith and Jones (1997) describe the method…

The most recent method described (Smith and Jones, 1997)…

C. When a work has three, four, or five authors, cite all authors the first time you use the reference. If the reference is used again, only include the surname of the first author followed by "et al."

Walters, Johnson, Grimm, and Miller (1997) reported findings…

Walters et al. (1997) substantiated the findings…

II. On a separate sheet of paper, include an alphabetical list of all references cited in the text. The entries should be double-spaced with no extra space between each source. Indent the first line of each reference seven spaces. The title "References" should be centered at the top of the page (no quotation marks). The following are examples of how to reference journals, magazines, and texts.

A. Journal article, one author

Newman, C. N. (1995). In search of the perfect statistical test. Journal of Research, 19, 234-245.

B. Journal article, two authors, journal paginated by issue

Smith, D. & White, B. (1993). The role of the white rat in research. Nurse Research Specialist, 45, (2), 24-32.

C. Magazine article

Potter, M.A. (1994, November 17). Tips on studying effectively. Student Nurse, 19, 35-42.

D. Chapter in a book

Patton, D. (1997). How to reference an article. In J.P. Moss, I.C. Pick, & R.L. Stir (Eds.), Understanding nursing research (pp. 63-78). Redmond, WA: Student Nurse Press.

The following is an explanation of the above example:

Author of chapter: Patton, D.

Date of publication: (1992)

Chapter title: How to reference an article.

Book editors: In J.P. Moss, I.C. Pick, & R.L. Stir (Eds.)

Book title and chapter pages: Understanding Nursing Research (pp. 63-78)

Publication information: Redmond, WA: Student Nurse Press.

E. Book - entire book by one author

Cone, J.D. & Foster, S.L. (1993). Dissertations and theses from start to finish: Psychology and related fields. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

F. Book - no author or editor

Merrian-Webster's a collegiate dictionary (10^th edition). Springfield, MA: Merrian-Webster.

Directions: When citing information obtained from an electronic source, it is important to give credit to the original author first. Other critical information that should be included:

1. Type of medium - cd rom, online, database, discussion list, e-mail.
2. Accurate 'address' - where this information was retrieved from or is available from, in other words, the www notation or the http notation. You want the reader to be able to type in the address and retrieve the citation you have used.
3. The date you 'accessed' this source. Sites change all the time and this will help with retrieval of same information if the site does move.

Two good electronic sources for APA style are:

1. http://www.uvm.edu/~ncrane/estyles/apa.html

1. http://healthlinks.washington.edu/

With this one, you are connected to the UW. Go to "writer" and then scroll

down to APA stuff.

Type of Entry	Reference List
Individual work	Author/editor. (Year). Title (edition), [Type of medium]. Producer (optional). Available: Supplier/database identifier or number [Access date]. Example: Pritzker, T. J. (No date). An Early fragment from central Nepal [Online], Available: http://www.ingress.com/~astanart/pritzker.html [1995, June 8].
Parts of Works	Author/editor. (Year). Title. In Source (edition), [Type of medium]. Producer (optional). Available protocol (if applicable): Site/Path/File [Access date]. Example: Daniel, R. T. (1995). The history of Western music. In Britannica online: Macropaedia [Online]. Available: http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin:DocF=macro/5004/45/0.html [1995, June 14].
Journal Articles	Author. (Year). Title. Journal Title [Type of medium], volume(issue), paging or indicator of length. Available: Supplier/Database name (Database identifier or number, if available)/Item or accession number [Access date]. Example: Carriveau, K.L., Jr. (1995). [Review of the book Environmental hazards: Marine pollution]. Electronic Green Journal [Online], 2(1), 3 paragraphs. Available: gopher://gopher.uidaho.edu/11/UI_gopher/library/egj03/carriv01.html [1995, June 21].
Newspaper articles	Author. (Year, month day). Title. Newspaper Title [Type of medium], paging or indicator of length. Available: Supplier/Database name (Database identifier or number, if available)/Item or accession number [Access date]. Example: Howell, V. & Carlton, B. (1993, August 28). Growing up tough: New generation fights for its life: Inner-city youths live by rule of vengeance. Birmingham News [CD-ROM], p. 1A(10 pp.). Available: 1994 SIRS/SIRS 1993 Youth/Volume 4/Article 56A [1995, July 16].

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Updated August 25, 2003