Nursing Dissertation

 

The dissertation must consist of the following table or contents or chapters in order for it to get a good grade. Hastily written chapters or minimal chapters will not get you the required grade and will get you in repeated scuffles with your supervisor. The last thing you want is to get in the bad books with your supervisor or worse… your supervisor may get the idea that you are not interested in your course work or you are getting someone else to write for you. So following are the required chapters for your Nursing Dissertation, for an example I have taken breast feeding benefits as an example. I am writing this post with the idea to give you a concise picture,, trust me there are a lot of details out there but those will really get you bogged down hence I am removing those details so that you stay focused.

List of Tables see below

List of Figures

Abstract

Chapter One:

Introduction

Study Aims and Research Questions

Definitions

Chapter Two:

Review of Relevant Literature

Health Benefits of Breastfeeding

Current Breastfeeding Practices

Breast Feeding Practices in Mexico

Breast Feeding Practices of Mexican Women in the US.

Hispanic Ethnicity and  Acculturation

Hispanic Health

Breastfeeding and Acculturation

Self-Efficacy

Breastfeeding Self-

Parental Self-Efficacy

Chapter Three:

Methods

Study Design

Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria

Study Setting

Procedures and Recruitment

Measures

Index of Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding Duration

Bidimensional Acculturation

Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans

ARSMA) II General Self-Efficacy

Parent Expectation

Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support

Demographic

Data Collection and

Data Analysis Plan

Analysis by Research

Chapter Four:

Results

Sample

Preliminary Analysis

Sample

Results of Analysis

Supplemental Analysis

Chapter Summary

Chapter Five:

Discussion

Recommendations for Breastfeeding Interventions

Assumptions and Limitations

Implications for Public Health

References

Appendix A: IRB Approval Letter

Appendix B: Study Protocol

Appendix C: Study Flyer

Appendix D: Screening Tool and Survey

Appendix E: Follow-Up Phone Call

Abstract:

This comes in before the chapters and what you have to do is to write an abstract! What is an abstract. Abstract is sometimes specifically requested by the supervisor in written instructions and if it is not then it is understood that you have to write it. If you leave it then those who have written it will get the advantage over you. So getting back to the original question, what is an abstract? An abstract will give you at a glance what this nursing dissertation is all about.

1.      http://www.sfu.ca/~jcnesbit/HowToWriteAbstract.htm

2.      http://dissertation.laerd.com/useful-phrases-when-writing-a-dissertation-abstract.php

3.      https://www.uq.edu.au/student-services/phdwriting/phlink08.html

4.      https://english.as.uky.edu/dissertation-abstracts

5.      http://www.ncl.ac.uk/students/wdc/learning/theses/structure/abstract.htm

Introduction (Chapter 1)

Introduction should be such that it gives the overall picture of you started out with the dissertation topic and what was the research objective and most importantly what was the research question and how you went about taking care of all this. It would also be a good idea to write down the important terminology and give its definition. Guys I cannot stress enough the importance of following the instructions to the letter. If definitions are called for than please give them.

1.      http://www.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/studyskills/assessment_evaluation/dissertations/introductions.html

2.      http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ld/resources/writing/writing-resources/writing-dissertation

Chapter 2 (Literature Review)

Chapter 2 is critical because it includes literature review. What is literature review and what is its significance? Literature review is about the sources you are going to use in writing this nursing dissertation. In this chapter you are going to short detail the topics that you will cover, perhaps a paragraph and in these paragraphs you will give the sources and sometimes quote from the sources. What makes this process critical is the nature and quality of your sources. You have to quote scholarly work, research studies, Books and journals. Make sure that you quote recent published work that work which has been published in last five years or so. Do not use sources that are 10 years or older or your supervisor might waste your whole effort in writing the dissertation or at least the literature review chapter. What you also cannot are sources of literature review are pedias, websites or unknown websites, or blogs or articles from newspapers or magazines or ezines and other user contributed sources. The literature review has to be really authentic hence that will make your dissertation really a quality nursing paper. Just remember that this going to be your final grade maker. A good nursing grade goes a long way to show your dedication right from your young days of learning. What ever the research question is based upon make sure that you cover all the topics, in fact make a list of all the topics that become evolved in time. Now in order to write comprehensively on this topics make sure you use authentic literature as explained above. Here are some interesting links on how to write a literature review

1 http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/literature-reviews/

2. http://library.bcu.ac.uk/learner/writingguides/1.04.htm

3. http://www.duluth.umn.edu/~hrallis/guides/researching/litreview.html

4. http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/specific-types-of-writing/literature-review

Chapter 3  Methods or Methodology or Phenomenology

Methods means how you are going to go about in wring your dissertation or your nursing paper. There are several methods that can be employed. First of all consult your instructions to see what exactly has been asked by your supervisor. If there are no specifications and it has been left on you to choose any method then you must decide which is easier and which you feel comfortable in doing. One methodology I find hard to do is the one where you about constructing your research question and then justify it by making questionnaires and interviewing subjects and then basing your finding in light of data you have collected, yes it sounds rather easy but there are a lot of hitches. First and the major one where your supervisor may throw all you data and sources out the window based on the sample size or target subjects being irrelevant to not justifying the scope of study. The other method is rather simple where you go about driving inferences from studies and research that has already been conducted. If your Nursing thesis statement is based on such a topic then your work is more simplified. Just make sure that the topic is not very common, if a lot of nursing students are doing it then you will have to find a real good niche, a sub topic with in the topic that will make you stand out from among the rest of the students. Consult the following links in understanding how to write a nursing paper thesis methodology

1 http://www.nursingtimes.net/clinical-archive/leadership/phenomenology-in-nursing-research-methodology-interviewing-and-transcribing/5005138.fullarticle

2. http://writepass.com/journal/2012/06/how-to-write-a-dissertation-methodology/

3. http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR6-2/zucker.html

4.https://www.researchgate.net/publication/13082373_The_use_of_focus_group_methodology_-_with_selected_examples_from_sexual_health_research_Journal_of_Advanced_Nursing_294_905-913

5.http://www.queensu.ca/samp/sampresources/migrationdocuments/documents/oosthuizen/04chapter3.pdf

see video
 

Chapter 4 Results

Results are to be mentioned in this chapter. Again you have to exercise caution as to how to present the results. There may be certain unnecessary elements in your study which were the by products and not the actual part of your research objectives so make sure that you do not include those in the results. Also once again go back to your original instructions and see if there is a format or pattern that you need to follow to present your findings! If not then do one thing do not haphazardly or freely open style mention your results Why? Because that will discount and undermine their importance and significance. Do a quick research on the web to find out what similar nursing dissertation papers have written this chapter. Trust me you will find a lot of free nursing dissertation samples on the internet. Make sure that you do not use these dissertations verbatim in your paper or your paper will be flagged as plagiarized content. Here are some links which will help you in writing your results or findings chapters fro your nursing paper.

1.      http://www.sfedit.net/results.pdf

2.      http://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/results

3.      http://dissertationedd.usc.edu/presenting-findings-qualitative.html

4.      http://dissta.com/dissertation-results-discussion/

5.      http://www.nus.edu.sg/celc/research/books/cwtuc/chapter04.pdf

Chapter 5  Discussion

Coming to your final chapter or maybe there is one more and that may be the conclusion chapter.

Discussion the meat of your nursing dissertation or nursing essay paper. In this chapter you will be analyzing what you have presented so far in your paper. The best way to go around in doing this to get a print out of the paper so far written and then mark all the points and the argue all the points one by one do not take too long and write on point that may not require that much attention summarize your argument where necessary but where you whole dissertation counts argue that point and the back it up as well. Use quotations, references from the literature review chosen sources. If your against the motion then show a historical support with the help of the sources, of course and if you are for the motion then too show the historical motion. Do not just suffice by just saying that your study found factors and elements in favor of your thesis statement or offer little support of your claims. Most students nursing students lose a good part of their grade in the discussion chapter where they waste all their honest efforts they spent in their research part of writing their dissertation. Do not just assume that your supervisor will understand as a given from your preceding chapters that your dissertation is validated. You will have to earn that vehemently arguing your points in the discussion chapter. The more convincing your discussion chapter is the more chances that you will get a higher grade and acceptability in your dissertation or nursing thesis. Here are some useful links in writing your discussion chapter. Once again let me remind you that its not just wring a discussion but an effective discussion that must impress your supervisor. An effective discussion can mean the difference between failing your nursing diploma and be held back into writing another nursing dissertation.

1.      http://www.sfedit.net/discussion.pdf

2.      https://thesiswhisperer.com/2012/01/23/how-do-i-start-my-discussion-chapter/

3.      http://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2006/01/findings.aspx

4.      http://users.clas.ufl.edu/msscha/thesiscss/thesis_disc.html

5.      http://site.ufvjm.edu.br/ppgodonto/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Artigo_6-1.pdf

Now we have discussed all the chapters. What is needed now understand some of the other factors involved which are crucial. As you are writing the dissertation paper for the first time you may not know some fine points lets identify these fine points

1.      Writing Format

2.      Quotations

3.      References or Bibliography

4.      Plagiarism

5.      Proof reading

6.      Editing

7.      Formatting

8.      Relationship with your supervisor

Writing Format

Writing format refers to standardized formats of presentation; these are usually APA MLA, Chicago, Harvard and so on. For a Nursing paper you will usually be asked to use the APA format which is standard for all scientific and science related research papers. APA is the most easy and comfortable style to work with.

Quotations in the pages of the paper

Here you will have to careful, make sure that you do not fill your paper with quotes from other. Although this does not count as plagiarism but it is not recommended, it may seem as a filler. However on the other hand missing quotations may violate the APA style minimum requirements. It would be best to consult your supervisor to make sure that you satisfy his or her requirements on direct quotes inside the paper, my advice use to use them sparingly.

References or Bibliography

Another important point is the references section or the Bibliography. You may be surprised to find out that even PHD papers are rejected with the label of “Requiring Minor Corrections” if the Bibliography is not properly presented or even if it is missing than your thesis or dissertation paper may be rejected. Therefore it is advisable to pay special attention. There are certain supervisors who will actually open up the exact page from your references section to see whether or not you have used the literature source or you just made it up.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the quickest way of getting a major corrections required stamp on your dissertation. You will have to check your university policy on plagiarism. Some have a zero tolerance policy.

Proof reading

Proof read all your manuscript for all sorts of errors

Editing

Edit your paper before submitting it in . Editing even means writing with clarity.

Formatting

As mentioned earlier, Use the correct format APA for your paper

Relationship with Supervisor

Your relationship with your supervisor is especially important. Make sure you understand every word your supervisor says