Succeeding in Essays, Exams and OSCEs for Nursing Students

Making the link between critical appraisal, thinking and analysis

“…Cottrell (2008) goes on to suggest that students' work is weakened when their thoughts are not clear before they start to finalise their work. A narrative or a synthesis of the literature is normally written in the third person or objective tense, in a continuous prose without the use of sub-headings (Hutchfield and Standing, 2012). Price and Harrington (2010) discuss three important components to successful academic writing: firstly, thorough preparation or planning; secondly, structuring the work coherently; and finally, enabling the student to develop their academic voice.…”

“…Thinking before they write enables the student to allocate the word count better, address their focus of inquiry, structure the discussion and provide a succinct conclusion (Price and Harrington, 2010). Developing a timeline for completion of academic work can enable the student to keep on track and not over focus on one area (Hutchfield and Standing, 2012). Students will also need to be prepared to review and edit their work on several occasions (Davis et al, 2011).…”

“…Duffy et al (2009) suggests different words or phrases that can be used to compare and contrast the literature to develop an argument or discussion (Box 5). Similarly, Hutchfield and Standing (2012) highlight other phrases that develop critical writing. These include 'this view can be challenged because...' or 'when implementing this policy, practice challenges emerge such as...' It is also strongly advised that students should read widely and review a variety of texts through which they have the opportunity to understand the writing style of published authors so they too can develop their own writing style further.…”