Apply reflective practice, critical thinking and analysis in health Assignment - Mind Map and a Critical Review

Questions/Tasks

This assignment requires the candidate to create a Mind Map and then find 3 articles from the ideas highlighted from the mind map and review these using the guidelines learnt about evidence based practice in the PPT.

Part One -

Construct a mind map about nursing care associated with diabetes using the process of creating mind maps to encourage the process of brainstorming.

This mind map must contain the following -

• Main idea either word or diagram
• Branches coming of this which each represent a single word that relates to the main topic.
• Sub-branches that stem from the main branches to further expand on ideas and concepts. These sub-branches will also contain words that elaborate on the topic of the branch it stems from.

Part Two -

Using the links identified during the PowerPoint on how to find relevant information find 3 articles that will support your ideas from the mind map and critically review them.

Read the articles carefully and record your impressions and note sections suitable for quoting.  The critical review should consider the following

• Who is the intended audience?
• What is the author's purpose? To survey and summarize research on a topic? To present an argument that builds on past research? To refute another writer's argument?
• Does the author define important terms?
• Is the information in the article fact or opinion? (Facts can be verified, while opinions arise from interpretations of facts.) Does the information seem well-researched or is it unsupported?
• What are the author's central arguments or conclusions? Are they clearly stated? Are they supported by evidence and analysis?
• If the article reports on an experiment or study, does the author clearly outline methodology and the expected result?
• Is the article lacking information or argumentation that you expected to find?
• Is the article organized logically and easy to follow?
• Does the writer's style suit the intended audience? Is the style stilted or unnecessarily complicated?
• Is the author's language objective or charged with emotion and bias?
• If illustrations or charts are used, are they effective in presenting information?

The critical review should follow the following structure -

The first paragraph may contain:

• a statement of your thesis
• the author's purpose in writing the article
• comments on how the article relates to other work on the same subject
• information about the author's reputation or authority in the field

The body of the review should:

• state your arguments in support of your thesis
• follow the logical development of ideas that you mapped out in your outline
• include quotations from the article which illustrate your main ideas

The concluding paragraph may:

• summarize your review
• restate your thesis

Reference -

University of Toronto Mississauga Library - Hazel McCallion Academic Learning Centre 2009, Queens University, accessed 16th January 2014, http://library.queensu.ca/inforef/criticalreview.