The spring semester NUR 200/201 writing assignment can be grounded in your fall semester literature review. Let’s say, for example, that your literature review was about the prevention of childhood obesity. Several themes probably emerged from the articles you read on that topic—perhaps the articles you read each discussed the reasons for childhood obesity, potential health risks of childhood obesity, and some methods of preventing childhood obesity. You can focus on one of those themes in your spring semester paper. For example, you could argue in favor of one specific method of preventing childhood obesity, citing the ways the literature supports said method. If you were to focus on the method of educating young parents about the risks associated with childhood obesity, your thesis might sound something like this: “Research has shown that educating young parents about childhood obesity will significantly decrease their child’s risk of becoming obese. This paper will discuss the evidence in support of educating young parents…specifically regarding education pertaining to exercise and nutrition for children…” As you might have noticed, you will be taking a position in your thesis this semester and supporting that position with evidence-based research. So…
In the body of your paper, you’ll want to cite evidence-based research studies in order to support your thesis. You may or may not be able to retrieve this evidence/research from the articles you used for your literature review. Avoid discussing each article separately in your paper—this will keep the tone of your paper from becoming too mechanical. Instead, you might begin by briefly describing the tool or intervention or method for which you’re advocating. Then, you might delve into the ways that the tool/intervention/method has shown to be effective. Let’s return to the aforementioned example regarding the education of young parents…perhaps one section of that paper might discuss how different research studies have proven the importance of educating young parents specifically about why children should exercise at least 30 minutes each day. Another section might discuss how research studies have proven that educating young parents about appropriate portion sizes for children is particularly effective in preventing childhood obesity.
Please feel free to see me for help in the Writing Center as you progress through this assignment—just be sure to book an appointment (or two, or three!) online, long in advance of the due date! Also plan to attend one or more of the APA workshops I’ll be presenting in the week before the paper is due! (See the Writing Center’s website for details…) As you know, I won’t address APA in Writing Center appointments.
