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Discuss About the Theories, Tools and Questionnaire for Writing

a Nursing Dissertation Research Proposal

Dr. Nancy Agens, Head,

Technical Operations, Pubrica

sales@pubrica.com

In Brief

A dissertation research proposal explains

what an individual wants to study, how

the topic will be studied, why the topic

needs to be studied and what the intention

of doing this kind of work is.

I. INTRODUCTION

Certain strategies are required to be

followed to write a nursing dissertation

research proposal:

- In order to understand the subject or

topic deeply, extensive literature

search has to be performed. This can

be done by reading textbooks, journals,

summary articles, position statements

and standard practices of professional

organizations in the nursing field.

- The matter and materials found during

the literature research must be

organized carefully while performing

the literature search

- A logical argument for the study has to

be laid down

- The details needed to support the

argument must be prepared and

presented

- Revision of the written document is a

must

A dissertation research proposal has a

defined structure:

1. Introduction

2. Aim/Objectives

3. Methodology

4. Literature review

5. Discussion and research constraints

The dissertation so written must

demonstrate a thorough understanding of

the subject through systematic enquiries,

presentation of the written work in an

orderly format, how the knowledge of the

subject can be put into practical use, a

clearly stated purpose with a sophisticated

argument, methodical work though

focussing and planning on the work from

beforehand and a critical thinking ability.

There are some basic theories or rules that

need to be followed while writing a

nursing dissertation. These are discussed

here:

i. The nursing student must spend

time with the supervisor to refine

on a chosen topic

ii. Questions are to be picked up,

which likely will arouse interest

within the reading community and

motivate them to seek for answers.

iii. A number of resources must be

considered

iv. The matter may be written in the

first person if it seems appropriate

v. Every step of the write up must be

carefully checked

vi. The resources so chosen to write

the dissertation proposal must be

justified and explained, rather than

just stating about those reseources

vii. A discussion panel should be set up

for an informed discussion on the

topic or subject

viii. The style format required for

publishing the proposal must be

followed thoroughly.

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II. TOOL FOR WRITING A

DISSERTATION PROPOSAL

The major tool for writing a dissertation

proposal is literature review. By doing an

extensive literature search a student can

find answers to many questions related to

the topic of interest in nursing. Nurses can

choose to do research from a wide array of

topics such as:

a. Critical care nursing

b. Geriatrics

c. Health diversity

d. Mental health and psychiatric

nursing

e. Nurse career and education

f. Nurse practitioners

g. Obstetrics/gyaenecology and

women’s health nursing

h. Pain management

i. Palliative care

j. Patient safety

k. Paediatrics/neonatal care nursing

l. Preoperative nursing

The literature review, also called literature

search, is extremely important here. The

literature being read must be current and

should have relevance to the chosen topic

of research. It has to be checked that while

reading up several literature reviews, the

authors’ works are contradicting with each

other or not. In case they are contradictory,

more reading has to be done to find out the

meaning of what the authors are trying to

say.

After reading different reviews, all the

information must be brought together to

demonstrate how all these information

have contributed to the chosen topic of

research. In case a nursing student is

picking information from journals, it has to

be ensured that these journals are peer-

reviewed. A decent number of published

articles must be chosen for writing the

disseratation proposal.

III. QUESTIONNAIRE FOR NURSING

DISSERTATION

There can be a number of questions in a

questionnaire prepared for nursing

dissertation research proposal. Some of the

examples are cited below:

1. Does the administration of pain

medication at time of surgical incision

reduce the need for pain medication

twenty-four hours after surgery?

2. Maternal factors associated with

obesity in toddlers?

3. Elements of a peer support intervention

preventing suicide in high school

females?

4. The most accurate and comprehensive

way to determine men’s experience of

physical assault?

5. Yoga as an effective treatment as

compared to traditional physical

therapy?

6. In the third stage of labour, what is the

effect of cord cutting within the first

three minutes on placenta separation?

7. Do teenagers with Type 1 diabetes who

receive phone tweet reminders

maintain lower blood sugars than those

who do not?

8. Do the elderly diagnosed with

dementia experience pain?

9. Siblings’ risk of depression predicttion

after the death of a child?

10. Prevention of cachexia in cancer

patients receiving aggressive protocols

involving radiation and chemotherapy?

11. Does the organization of renal

transplant nurse coordinators’

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responsibilities influence live donor

rates?

12. Activities of nurse managers associated

with nurse turnover?

13. What effect does the Nurse Faculty

Loan program have on the nurse

researcher workforce? What effect

would a 20% decrease in funds have?

14. Design of psychiatric hospital unit

influencing the incidence of patients’

aggression?

15. Native patient preferences regarding

the timing, location and costs for

weight management counselling and

the ways it will meet such preferences

that influence participation?

16. What predicts registered nurse

retention in the Army?

17. The timing and location of suicide

prevention appointments linked to

veterans’ suicide rates?

18. Sustainability of quality improvement

programs in operating rooms?

19. Do integrated computerized nursing

records across points of care improve

patient outcomes?

20. The number of nurse practitioners the

country needs in next year?

IV. CONCLUSION

Nursing involves a collaborative caring of

people of all ages, whether they are sick or

well, and in all kinds of settings. Nursing

focuses on health promotion, illness

prevention and caring of ill, disabled and

dying individuals. Nursing abilities are

crucial because the well-being of a patient

depends upon how a nurse helps the

patient in recovering from illness.

A nurse can write a dissertation on

different topics and subjects. The image

below represents the topics on nursing

dissertation.

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