This assessment requires you to write:
An analytical essay:
This assessment help page assumes you have read the unit outline, assessment description and marking rubric provided in Moodle.
Start planning your search by:
You may need to use some of the specific concepts in the Standards as search terms, and alter your search terms if you don't find what you need.
You may need to do several small searches to find what you need.
The following search concepts are examples only. You will need to identify appropriate concepts and terms for the assessment yourself.
| Key concepts | Alternative terms |
| registered nurse | nurse, qualified nurse |
| leadership | management, mentor |
Now use Boolean operators to connect your search terms.
Use OR to combine all the terms for the same concept: mental health OR wellbeing
Use AND to combine terms from different concepts: mental health AND support
Use quotation marks to search for a phrase: "mental health"
Use brackets to group all terms from the same concept together
Watch the following video to learn more about Boolean operators
When you put it together:
("registered nurse") AND (leadership OR mentor)
Please note, this example is intended only to demonstrate a search strategy. It does not include all possible search terms.
You will probably need to alter your search terms as you go.
Suggested databases for this assignment are:
The following are direct links to relevant nursing codes and standards.
When was the article published? This assessment requires articles no more than 7 years old. Generally for nursing, more recent articles are preferred because new and updated information may have come out.
How old are the references? Has the article referred to other fairly recent articles?
How old is the data used? Check to see if the data was collected a long time before the study was published. If it has been, do the authors explain why this was?
Is this information relevant to your assignment? Is there likely to be better information? This will depend on what you are trying to find out. Often you will need to read the abstract to find out.
Is this aimed at the correct audience? Articles for this assessment should be peer reviewed. If you are not sure, you can copy and paste the title into Quicksearch to see if the purple peer review icon shows in the result:
Alternatively, you can check the journal title in Ulrichs. If it has a small black icon that looks like a book next to the title, it is peer reviewed (called refereed in Ulrichs).
Who wrote it? What are their qualifications? Are the qualifications relevant to the topic? Most peer reviewed articles will have information about the authors, often at the end or hyperlinked, with their qualifications listed.
Where do they work? Who do they work for? Generally, authors should be working for a university or a research centre of some kind.
Are they likely to have a good understanding of this field?
What is the study population size and characteristics? Keep in mind this is dependent on the study type, for example qualitative studies usually have smaller study populations than quantitative. The population does need to be fairly similar however, to enable accurate results and to make sure any effects reported are due to the treatment. For example, a treatment for back pain may look more effective if the group receiving the treatment is much younger than the group that doesn't.
Is there a control group? This is a group that does not receive the treatment, and allows the researchers to compare them to the group getting the treatment to see if it works.
Is there blinding? This is where the control and treatment groups do not know whether they are getting the intervention or not. Remember though that this might not be possible for some interventions, for example researchers testing a new vaccine can give the control group a saline solution instead of the vaccine, but if they are testing a new massage technique it is almost impossible for the participants to be unaware if they received a massage or not!
Do the statistics make sense and match the authors' claims?
For more information on evaluating specific study types, please see the Appraise tab on the Evidence Based Practice page of this guide.
Who funded the study? Is it a company, university or research organisation? If it is a company, do they manufacture a product being tested? If you are not sure, can always search for them on the internet. If the URL ends in .com, it is a company.
Is there any obvious bias where the authors or their employers are likely to benefit from the study recommendations? For example, if the authors work for a particular company and recommend the use of one of their products, this could indicate a risk of bias.
Does it state what the authors' were trying to find out? The research aims or questions should be clearly stated in the beginning of the article, and the conclusions should describe what they found out.
The following PDFs are helpful for creating your assignment.
FedCite is the one stop shop for all your referencing needs. In nursing, you need to use APA 7. Look at the Using APA7 section to find out general information on how to cite and reference, and the source types for specific examples.
In this assignment, you need to reference scopes of practice, ethical and legal standards, and peer reviewed journal articles. The table below summarises how to reference journal articles from FedCite.
| Citation | Reference | |
| Institute of Health and Wellbeing Bachelor of Nursing / Bachelor of Midwifery clinical placement guidelines |
(Federation University, 2023) |
Federation University. (2023). Institute of Health and Wellbeing Bachelor of Nursing / Bachelor of Midwifery clinical placement guidelines. https://federation.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/545248/BN-Clinical-Guidelines-Final-2024.pdf |
| Scope of practice and capabilities of nurses and midwives |
1st in-text citation: (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia [NMBA], 2022) Subsequent in-text citations: (NMBA, 2022) |
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. (2022, September). Scope of practice and capabilities of nurses and midwives [Fact sheet]. https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines-Statements/FAQ/Fact-sheet-scope-of-practice-and-capabilities-of-nurses-and-midwives.aspx |
| National safety and quality health standards |
1st in-text citation: (Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care [ACSQHC], 2017, Standard 4.7) Subsequent in-text citations: (ACSQHC, 2012, Standard 4.7) |
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. (2017). National safety and quality health service standards (2nd ed.). https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/sites/default/files/migrated/National-Safety-and-Quality-Health-Service-Standards-second-edition.pdf N.B. this reference is an example only. The section of the standard may be different from the one you actually use, and you may need to replace Standard 4.7 with another standard as appropriate. |
| Code of conduct for nurses |
1st in-text citation: (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia [NMBA], 2018, Principle 4.1) Subsequent in-text citations: (NMBA, 2018, Principle 3.3) |
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. (2018, March 1). Code of conduct for nurses. https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/documents/default.aspx?record=WD17%2f23849&dbid=AP&chksum=ki92NMPa9thp9f9ZhTQNJg%3d%3d N.B. this reference is an example only. The principle may be different from the one you actually use, and you may need to replace Principle 4.1 with another principle as appropriate. |
| International code of ethics for nurses |
1st in-text citation: (International Council of Nurses [ICN], 2021) Subsequent in-text citations: (ICN, 2021) |
International Council of Nurses. (2021). The ICN code of ethics for nurses. https://www.icn.ch/system/files/2021-10/ICN_Code-of-Ethics_EN_Web_0.pdf |
| Registered nurse practice standards |
1st in-text citation: (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia [NMBA], 2016, Standard 3.2) Subsequent in-text citations: (NMBA, 2016, Standard 1.2) |
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. (2016, June 1). Registered nurses standards for practice. https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines-Statements/Professional-standards/registered-nurse-standards-for-practice.aspx N.B. this reference is an example only. The standard may be different from the one you actually use, and you may need to replace Standard 3.2 with another standard as appropriate. |
| National safety and quality health safety standards: Medication safety standard. |
First in-text citation: Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC], 2022, s 4.05). Subsequent in-text citations: (ACSQHC, 2022, s 4.05). |
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. (2022). National safety and quality health safety standards: Medication safety standard. https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/standards/nsqhs-standards/medication-safety-standard N.B. this reference is an example only. The section may be different from the one you actually use, and you may need to replace s 4.05 with another section as appropriate. |
| Australian charter of healthcare rights |
1st in-text citation: (Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care [ACSQHC], 2020) Subsequent in-text citations: (ACSQHC, 2020) |
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. (2020). My healthcare rights: Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights (2nd ed.) [A4 accessible version]. https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-07/charter_healthcare_rights_poster_a4_landscape_-_cmyk_print_-_may_2020.pdf |
| Legislation | Safe Patient Care Act 2015 (Vic) s 14 |
Safe Patient Care (Nurse to Patient and Midwife to Patient Ratios) Act 2015 (Vic) s 14. https://austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/vic/consol_act/spctpamtpra2015597/s20.html?context=1;query=nurse;mask_path=au/legis/vic/consol_act N.B. this reference is an example only. The section may be different from the one you actually use, and you may need to replace s 14 with another section as appropriate. |
| Health Practitioner Regulation National Law 2009 (Cth) s 140(a) |
Health Practitioner Regulation National Law 2009 (Cth) s14(a). https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/pdf/inforce/current/act-2009-045 N.B. this reference is an example only. The section may be different from the one you actually use, and you may need to replace s 140(a) with another section as appropriate. |
|
| Drugs, Poisons, and Controlled Substances Regulation 2017 (Vic) s 1(a) |
Drugs, Poisons, and Controlled Substances Regulation 2017 (Vic) s 1(a). https://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/in-force/statutory-rules/drugs-poisons-and-controlled-substances-regulations-2017/014 N.B. this reference is an example only. The section may be different from the one you actually use, and you may need to replace s 1(a) with another section as appropriate. |
|
| Textbook | (Berglund, 2019) | Berglund, C. A. (2019). Integrating law, ethics and regulation: A guide for nursing and health care students. Oxford University Press. |
| Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia |
1st in-text citation: (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia [NMBA], 2018) Subsequent in-text citations: (NMBA, 2018) Citations with same author and date: (NMBA, 2022a) (NMBA, 2022b) |
Note: For a website, you need to reference the exact page you get information from. If you use information from multiple pages, you will need to create a reference for each. Therefore the title and URL and possible the date will be different for each reference from the same website. If you cannot find the publication date, you can use the page reviewed date down the bottom. If you have multiple webpages referenced that have the same author and date, use a letter immediately after the date to distinguish between them. This will need to be included in the citations as well. Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. (2022a). Registration renewal. https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Registration-and-Endorsement/Registration-Renewal.aspx Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. (2022b). Re-entry to practice. https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Registration-and-Endorsement/reentry-to-practice.aspx If you access a document from the webpage, use the information from the document itself, not the page you accessed it from. If the author is different to the website name, include the website name after the document title. Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency. (2015). Registration standard: Criminal history: For registered health practitioners. https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/documents/default.aspx?record=WD15%2f16877&dbid=AP&chksum=cBJbOH%2fCXWr2MTOpKmVQEw%3d%3d |
| Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency |
1st in-text citation: (Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency [AHPRA], 2018) Subsequent in-text citations: (AHPRA, 2018) |
For more information about referencing specific pages or documents from a website, please see the row above. Page Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency. (2022). Accreditation standards. https://www.ahpra.gov.au/Accreditation/Accreditation-standards.aspx Document Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency. (2020). A unique and substantial achievement: Ten years of national health practitioner regulation in Australia. https://www.ahpra.gov.au/documents/default.aspx?record=WD20%2f29566&dbid=AP&chksum=aUY1%2fC9wy%2fpZfwZMnolBdA%3d%3d |
| Inherent Requirements for Bachelor of Nursing |
Page (Federation University, 2022) |
Page Federation University. (2022, February 23). School of Health: Inherent requirements. https://federation.edu.au/institutes-and-schools/ihw/student-resources/nursing/inherent-requirements |