Implementing Evidence in Nursing Practice Part 2: Individual Narrative Literature Review Guidelines (60%) 2026

This nursing assessment asks for an individual narrative literature review on a facilitator-approved general nursing topic, for example a PEO question such as the effects of resistance training on mobility in adults with Parkinson’s disease. You must set out a transparent search strategy, organise the evidence into themes, critically synthesise it and answer your research question with clear implications for practice.

Part 2: Guidelines for the Individual Literature Review (60%)

Each student is required to complete a narrative literature review on a topic relevant to general nursing practice. The chosen topic and research question must be discussed with and approved by the Internal Facilitator before work begins.

The purpose of this assessment is to demonstrate your ability to identify, evaluate, synthesise and critically discuss evidence relevant to contemporary nursing practice and to consider the implications of this evidence for patient care. The review should demonstrate critical thinking, engagement with the evidence base and the ability to draw meaningful conclusions from the literature.

Word count: maximum 3,500 words (excluding the reference list and appendices).

Support and supervision: students are expected to engage regularly with their Internal Facilitator; responsibility for attending tutorials, arranging meetings, seeking guidance and progressing the review remains with the student.

Nature of the assignment: a narrative literature review. A systematic or scoping review is not required, but a transparent and structured approach to searching, selecting, analysing and synthesising the literature is expected.

Structural Outline

1. Introduction

• Introduce the topic and explain its relevance to nursing practice, with relevant background.
• Explain the rationale for undertaking the review.
• Clearly state the aim and research question, and briefly indicate what the review will address.

2. Search Strategy

• Databases searched, search terms and keywords, and Boolean operators where relevant.
• Inclusion and exclusion criteria and publication date limits, where appropriate.
• Rationale for the selection of sources.
• A summary of the search process in the main body, with the full search strategy presented in the appendices.

3. Critical Review and Synthesis of the Literature (main body)

Organise the evidence into clear themes that emerge from the literature (Theme 1, Theme 2, Theme 3 where appropriate). For each theme, introduce it and explain its relevance to the research question, bring together evidence from multiple sources, compare and contrast findings rather than describing one study at a time, critically consider the quality, strengths and limitations of the evidence, and explain what it means for the research question and nursing practice. There is no prescribed number of themes, but each must be explored in sufficient depth within the word count.

Throughout the main body you should:

• Compare and contrast evidence across sources and synthesise rather than review studies individually.
• Critically evaluate the strengths, limitations, quality and relevance of the evidence.
• Identify patterns, inconsistencies, areas of agreement or disagreement and gaps.
• Maintain a clear link to the research question and explain the implications for contemporary nursing practice.
• Develop a balanced, coherent and evidence-based discussion.

4. Conclusion

• Summarise the main findings from the themes and answer the research question.
• Discuss the implications for nursing practice and identify gaps or limitations in the evidence.
• Suggest recommendations for future research where appropriate.

Literature Expectations and Appendices

• Engage with a sufficient breadth and depth of contemporary literature, adding seminal publications where appropriate.
• Appendix 1: full search strategy/search history (databases, search terms and combinations, Boolean operators and limits).
• A literature summary matrix is recommended but not required.

Presentation Requirements

• Arial or Calibri, size 12 for the main body; size 14 bold for main headings; consistent subheadings.
• 1.5 to 2 line spacing, numbered pages, each appendix on a separate labelled page.
• Harvard referencing throughout.