What is the major similarity between traditional theories and conceptual models? They both use concepts as their building blocks.

In nursing, a number of grand theories were developed in the 1970s and 1980s in an attempt to describe nursing’s unique disciplinary body of knowledge. Examples of grand theories of nursing include the theory of health as expanding consciousness and the self-care deficit theory.

-Parse’s Humanbecoming Paradigm is an example of a nonnursing model used by nurse researchers. Rationale: Parse’s Humanbecoming Paradigm is an example of a grand theory developed by nurses.

What are Grand Theories? Macrotheories; An attempt to describe large segments of the human experience.

Which is a prominent theoretical underpinning of grounded theory? -Quantitative researchers test theories that are grounded in actual observations of the phenomena of interest. -Many quantitative researchers who cite a theory as their framework do directly test the theory or hypotheses deduced from the theory.

David Whetten (1989) suggests that there are four building blocks of a theory: constructs, propositions, logic, and boundary conditions/assumptions.

An example of borrowed theory from physiology is Hans Selye’s stress theory. A theory that focuses on the person as a developmental being with needs that could be met by health care professionals, including nurses and physicians.

Conducting a literature review is an art and a science. A high-quality review should be unbiased, thorough, and up-to-date. Also, a high-quality review is systematic. Decision rules for including or excluding a study should be explicit because a good review should be reproducible.

In this article, we are going to look at 5 essential qualities of good literature.

• Literature should have a theme.
• It should explain the relevance of the theme.
• Literature should have a compelling idea.
• Literature should have good style and grammar.
• Literature should sound genuine.

A good review does not just summarize the literature, but discusses it critically, identifies methodological problems, and points out research gaps [19]. After having read a review of the literature, a reader should have a rough idea of: the major achievements in the reviewed field, the outstanding research questions.

Just like most academic papers, literature reviews also must contain at least three basic elements: an introduction or background information section; the body of the review containing the discussion of sources; and, finally, a conclusion and/or recommendations section to end the paper.

How NOT to do a literature review

• Not reading any review papers. I love starting my literature searches with a review paper.
• Summarise and include every single article you come across. You’ll need to talk about the methods and results from a few relevant papers, and discuss their findings and how they tie in with your work.
• Get lost in the literature.

The purpose of a literature review is to gain an understanding of the existing research and debates relevant to a particular topic or area of study, and to present that knowledge in the form of a written report. Conducting a literature review helps you build your knowledge in your field.

A literature review establishes familiarity with and understanding of current research in a particular field before carrying out a new investigation. Conducting a literature review should enable you to find out what research has already been done and identify what is unknown within your topic.

Systematic reviews will always be the gold standard for reliable synthesis of evidence. However, traditional literature reviews remain popular and will continue to be valuable where systematic reviews are not feasible.

There are several main criteria for determining whether a source is reliable or not.

1. 1) Accuracy. Verify the information you already know against the information found in the source.
2. 2) Authority. Make sure the source is written by a trustworthy author and/or institution.
3. 3) Currency.
4. 4) Coverage.

Ask yourself questions like these:

• What is the specific thesis, problem, or research question that my literature review helps to define?
• What type of literature review am I conducting?
• What is the scope of my literature review?
• How good was my information seeking?
• Have I critically analysed the literature I use?

Enclosed you will find an evaluation sheet designed to help you with your review. It is divided into two major parts. The first part should consist of your recommendation and comments to the editor alone, while the second part should contain your comments to the authors and the editor.

2-6 months