The aim of this assignment is for students to critically appraise a selected published
randomised controlled trial (RCT) and to apply that to a provided scenario.
NURS90070: ASSESSMENT 1
MARKING GRID: CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF A RCT (30 MARKS)
Assessment 1 Critical Appraisal of an RCT
Word Count: Maximum 2500 words
Weighting: Contributes 30% to overall subject grade
Due Date: Sunday 2
nd September 2018
Scenario 1
You are the nursing representative on a working group that is providing advice to women with
gestational diabetes and the baby’s risk of hypoglycaemia post-partum. You volunteer to
search the literature and find the following article and you wonder if the article is any good
and whether the research findings would be useful and suitable for women with gestational
diabetes and the prevention of hypoglycaemia in the newborn baby.
Forster, D., Moorhead, A.M., Jacobs, S.E., Davis, S.P., Walker, S.P., McEgan, K.M., Opie, G.F.,
Donath, S.M., Gold, L., McNamara, C., Aylward, A., East, C., Ford, R., & Amir, L.H. (2017).
Advising women with diabetes in pregnancy (Diabetes and Antenatal Milk Expressing
[DAME]): a multicentre, unblinded, randomised controlled trial. Lancet, 389, 2204-
2213.
Scenario 2 (for mental health nursing students)
You have been asked to present an education session and strategies to reduce conflict and
containment at your mental health facility. To prepare for this session you undertake a search
of the literature and find the following article and wonder if the findings from the study will
be useful for clinical practice.
Bowers, L., James, K., Quirk, A., Simpson, A., SUGAR., Stewart, D., & Hodsoll, J. (2015).
Reducing conflict and containment rates on acute psychiatric wards: The Safewards
cluster randomized controlled trial. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 52, 1412-
1422. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2015.05.001
Introduction
There is an increasing volume of published research now accessible to health professionals.
Health professionals, such as nurses, require critical appraisal skills to assess the quality of
evidence in order to safely influence clinical decision making.
Aim
Students are required to:
Present a concise summary of the RCT
Using a framework undertake a critical appraisal of the validity of the study with reference
to appropriate literature where necessary
NURS90070: ASSESSMENT 1
MARKING GRID: CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF A RCT (30 MARKS)
Present and discuss the results
Based on the validity of the study and strength of the results discuss the possible
application of the evidence to the scenario provided.
Criteria
Marks
Introduction
Briefly outlines the purpose of essay including identification of the critical
appraisal tool/s utilised to critique the study
The study is concisely and accurately summarised (PICOT framework may
guide key content)
3
Critical appraisal of study
Critiques the validity of the study according to a relevant tool/s. Provides clear
explanations and utilises appropriate literature to support claims when addressing
the following:
Randomisation
Allocation concealment
Similarity of groups at start of trial
Blinding of participants, health professionals and study personnel
All participants accounted for
Intention-to-treat analysis
Adequacy of sample size
A clear overall summary judgement of validity based on your appraisal is provided
9
Provides clear explanations of the primary results and demonstrates understanding
of:
Size or magnitude of the intervention effect
The precision of the intervention effect (considers size of the confidence
interval and examines the upper or lower limit to consider the smallest
clinically worthwhile effect)
Able to interpret the statistical significance by relating to the point of no
effect
Summarises bottom-line result of the trial in one sentence
8
Applicability of results
Based on the validity of the study and strength of the results discusses the possible
application of the evidence to the scenario provided.
You consider important aspects of application including whether:
The participants in trial are similar to scenario situation
Local setting similar to trial
Benefits outweigh harm, costs or inconveniences
Other factors – for example, education and training, resources, skills
7
Academic rigour
Well-organised and professionally presented
Academic and professional writing and syntax requirements adhered to
APA 6
th style format requirements adhered to
Appropriate grammar, spelling, punctuation
3
NURS90070: ASSESSMENT 1
MARKING GRID: CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF A RCT (30 MARKS)
Language, expression, style and structure communicates ideas succinctly
and without ambiguity
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