NUR 106: Concepts of Nursing and NUR 050: Transition into Associate Degree Nursing

Your assignment

Your assignment requires that you locate and closely examine a professional nursing journal, one that is sponsored by a professional nursing association. You will also select a research article from your selected journal to read closely and review. Your assignment asks that you answer questions about your chosen journal and the feature article from the journal that you selected.

The Library subscribes to many nursing journals

Some are scholarly journals that feature research articles. Other nursing publications are intended to keep nurses up to date with current topics and trends in nursing. Some journals are sponsored and/or published on behalf of professional nursing organizations and associations. Many of these professionally sponsored nursing journals feature research articles.

How can you tell when a journal is sponsored by a professional nursing association?

Sometimes the front cover of the journal will indicate the name of the sponsoring nursing association.

Or, you may need to find the statement of publication section inside the first few pages of the journal. If the journal is sponsored by a professional nursing organization it will also be included here.

Locating a Journal in the library

You will need to come to The Brendlinger Library to locate and examine a professional nursing journal in print. All nursing journals at The Brendlinger Library published within the past year are shelved alphabetically on these shelves on the third floor. You can also find older issues, shelved alphabetically by title in the main journal collection. The West Campus Library also subscribes to nursing journal titles that meet the requirements of this assignment.

Remember, not all of the journals to which we subscribe are sponsored by a professional/published by a professional nursing organization/association, so be careful when you select your journal. Please ask a librarian if you have any questions.

Find Journal Information*

Your assignment requires that you answer a set of questions about the professional nursing journal you have selected. Examine your journal carefully, and note the name of the professional organization that publishes this journal

Look at the Table of Contents and the essay written by the Editor-in-chief of the journal as well as the various features, columns and sections, etc, within the journal:

*Note that if you are access the journal remotely, the interface may not demonstrate the table of contents (TOC) in the manner seen above. It may appear as a sequential list of hyperlinked articles, with the page number range listed within each citation.

Next, look at the articles and the credentials of the authors. Think about the intended audience for the journal. Who would read this journal? Is there a specific group of nurses would be interested?

Also, take a look at the list of references attached to the articles:

After examining your chosen nursing journal, select an article that interests you. The article should be a feature article that is a research study with references.

As you answer questions and/or summarize the article (as instructed by your professor), think about what question the research article asks and what the researchers discovered or concluded. As well, think about how the research/study was conducted. Is it a quantitative research study that uses data to conduct statistical analysis? Or is it a qualitative research study that analyzes information thematically?

To talk to a librarian:

• stop by the reference desk
• call 215-641-6594
• send us an email at refdesk@mc3.edu
• or make an appointment with a librarian on the library website.