What English Articles Say about Nursing Postgraduate Thesis Writing: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Advancement in nursing has been of considerable importance, especially after the pandemic, which necessitates a parallel upgrade in postgraduate nursing programs. Similarly, there is a need for studies related to the nature of the postgraduate nursing thesis/dissertation as it is the landmark of their academic achievement. This paper aims to fill this gap by presenting a literature review on graduate nursing students' writing experience. A thorough systematic review of the literature yielded 22 studies related to nursing thesis writing. This paper presents critical themes from reviewing these studies and draws out significant implications for nursing education. The findings are grouped under five categories: challenges, feedback, support, needed skills, and thesis writing. Based on these findings, gaps are identified, and recommendations for further development of nursing students' graduate education are suggested. This literature review is expected to contribute to the development of students and supervisors as well as course content in graduate nursing programs.