module specification

The aims of this module are aligned with the qualification descriptors within the Quality Assurance Agency’s Framework for Higher Education Qualifications. Specifically, the module aims to introduce, and enable the student to acquire, skills and capabilities appropriate to conducting nursing research, practice development and innovation projects.

Students will develop a critical appreciation of the process of research and practice development an emphasis on care improvement. Students will explore bias, confounding factors, validity, reproducibility and precision. They will integrate knowledge, skills and values acquired in practice and other modules in choosing a dissertation topic. The module draws upon learning from year two to support students to search, access and retrieve background information using appropriate databases such as CINAHL, Web of Knowledge and MEDLINE. Synthesis and implementation of research findings will be explored from a research and practice perspective.

This module will provide students with the qualities and transferable skills necessary for employment: requiring the exercise of personal responsibility; undertaking decision making in complex and unpredictable contexts; synthesise results from research of a varied and variable nature and demonstrate the learning ability needed to undertake appropriate further training to maintain professional fitness to practise.

The final year Nursing Project is the culmination of the taught programme, allowing students to integrate the knowledge and skills gained at advanced level and demonstrate competence as independent learners.

This is an individual project that allows you to carry out a systematic investigation of a topic. The area of investigation is chosen by you and should arise from a personal and academic / and or professional interest in an area of nursing practice or nursing education. The content of the project may be an extension of work already undertaken on the BSc (Hons) Nursing (Adult or Mental Health) course, or may arise out of an aspect of your academic and / or professional concerns, drawing together issues of theory and / or relating to practice, or may be drawn from other topics within the field of nursing studies (LO1).

You will be introduced to qualitative and quantitative research designs of both primary and secondary research (LO3).

The skills of compiling a literature review to address their research question will be underpinned by supporting students to search for and critique published academic and peer reviewed research on their chosen topic of their research project (LO2).

You will be introduced to a range of approaches and methods of data collection used in research (LO3).

The course will also focus upon ethical considerations in nursing research, and will devote time to looking at research that incorporates patient, service user and carer perspectives and addressing diversity and anti-bias practices within research. The module will support you to analyse and evaluate your research findings using theory to examine data relevant to their chosen research design and help you to develop plausible arguments critically supported by appropriate references to sources such as academic peer reviewed articles and academic literature (LO5).

The importance of reflexivity and taking an anti-bias perspective as part of the research process will be highlighted throughout (LO4). You will have individual supervisors who will provide formative non-assessed feedback throughout the module. You will agree a timetable for submitting draft chapters with their supervisor, who will provide written feedback.

Tutorials (15 hours) will introduce the module, including delivery of the literature search component and guide students in their project choice following on from their project proposal report.

One-to-one tutorials with the allocated supervisor (5 hours) will assist in the planning and execution of the project with guidance for directed activities (50 hours). Self-managed time and private study to plan, execute, analyse and write up the project (230 hours).

Students will also have access to the Academic Librarian for Nursing and Health Sciences (by appointment) for advice in searching and appraising the literature.

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

1. Develop further academically and / or professionally by pursuing a line of study which arises out of an interest that you have in relation to your nursing practice.
2. Extend your academic / or professional competence by developing a critical understanding of the relationship between theory and issues relating to nursing practice.
3. Gain experience of the processes, methodological and ethical issues involved in conducting and completing a piece of research, practice development project or critical literature review.
4. Design, execute and evaluate either a small-scale research project, practice development project or extended critical literature review, under the supervision of an assignmed supervisor.
5. Develop some of the skills required for post graduate study and practice development.

Available at: NR6P00 Research, Innovation and Improvement (Dissertation) | London Metropolitan University