Dissertation and Essay Writing Help for NHS Nursing Students

Nursing education will require nurses in training to successfully complete essays, presentations, literature reviews, physical assessments and a dissertation in order to become a qualified nurse. Here at Study Coach, we hope that all students undertaking a nursing degree will enjoy their learning journey, we are here online to support nursing students and other students with their education. For example: social work, housing, criminology, youth justice, social care and students studying teaching can all seek academic support from Study Coach. 

Dissertation

The Dissertation is a major piece of work and many students are likely to find the assignment challenging. The idea of doing research, whether it is a literature review (critiquing secondary sources) or carrying out a primary research can create stress for students. What is research, the usefulness of research and what is evidence based practice (EBP) are concepts that nursing students will need to understand? Placement is an important part of the nursing degree and this will entail students carrying out physical assessments, a physical assessment can also be stressful; to assist students Study Coach presents information and guidelines on doing research and conducting physical assessments in this blog. Firstly, we will consider the concept of research, in view of planning for a research project, proposal or dissertation.

Doing Research 

Research is a careful search, it is an investigation and it should be conducted in a systematic way, it should be a systematic investigation that sets out to increase knowledge. The term ‘research’ can be used to mean many things, first year nursing students will quickly need to understand that doing marketing research to find out shopping preferences or to find out whether TikTok is more popular than using Twitter is not the same as doing academic research/scientific research.  

Academic/Scientific Research 

Scientific research also referred to as academic research will need to be verifiable, research should be rigorous and findings should be generalisable. 

The findings of a scientific research carried out on one group of patients in Manchester suffering with diabetes, should therefore be applicable to a similar group of patients other than the patients in the original study – hence generalisable.  

Academic research should be empirically verifiable, so that other researchers can repeat the study. The research should therefore explain the research process (how it was done) where and when it was done, so we could check that it actually took place and if we repeat the process we should get the same results. 

In giving an account of the research process, readers will know how the research was conducted and why the research was conducted in the stated manner. 

Nursing students preparing to plan a research proposal or to conduct research, should give consideration to how the planned research will build on the work of others and how the research might generate new ideas for investigation and testing.  

Academic/Scientific research should therefore follow a scientific method:  

  • Start with an idea or theory
  • Devise an investigation to test the theory
  • Carry out the investigation 

Essay Writing – Physical Assessment

Nursing students will need to undertake a number of different placements during their training, and this will result in carrying out physical assessments and writing the essay. In order to bring as much value as possible to students Study Coach will present a case study to aid students overall education, learning and understanding. The case study is of a patient newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

Essay Example – Case Study 

When carrying out an assessment, nursing students should make use of a framework, for example: Roper and Tierney (2000) model to explain the nurse’s decision making process. When drafting a physical assessment it is important for nursing students to remember to consider the patient’s privacy and confidentiality, the use of a pseudonym (false name) is recommended in accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Council Code of Professional Conduct guidance. In this Study Coach example, we can call our patient Mrs Bee. The disease  that we are concerned with is diabetes, a definition of diabetes should therefore be offered.

Diabetes

According to Diabetes UK, Diabetes is a condition where the amount of glucose in the blood is too high because the body cannot use it properly. This is because the pancreas doesn’t produce any insulin, or not enough insulin to help glucose enter the body’s cell or the insulin that is produced does not work properly this is known as insulin resistance.  

Nursing Student taking Medical History 

The nurse in training will need to familiarise him/herself with the patient’s medical history, our patient Mrs Bee is a 68 year old Asian lady, newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. She lives alone in a house and has two daughters, neither lives locally but one visits her regularly. Following her retirement Mrs Bee worked voluntary at a local school, supporting young children during playtime. She is an active member of a religious group, she has a friend who she socialise with and takes regular walk in the park as part of her daily exercise. 

Mrs Bee’s diet is high in carbohydrates. Her past medical history includes hypertension and high cholesterol, there is no known surgical history, and no known allergies. She is a non-smoker, no alcoholic intake. She is self-caring with her hygiene needs, no rashes on the upper and lower extremities of her body, no hearing impairment, and visual impairment, she uses glasses for reading. There is no breathing or respiratory problem, no swallowing difficulties, and no known heart disease. Mrs Bee’s appetite is good; bowels open daily, no history of depression.  

Mrs Bee, was referred to the nursing team by the hospital for assessment for diabetes care, there is a family history of diabetes from which her mother died. History taking is the first part of the assessment and should be carried out before the physical assessment. History taking should be carried out in a structured manner, the aim is to collect specific health data and to obtain a detailed health record of the service user/patient. History taking aims:    

  • To elicit information about all the variables that may affect the person’s health status. 
  • To obtain data that helps the nurse understand and appreciate the patient’s life experiences.
  • To initiate a non-judgemental, trusting interpersonal relationship with the patient. 

Physical Assessment Essay

A physical assessment should be carried out with consent to establish the care Mrs. Bee would require. Physical assessment is an evaluation of the body and its functions using:

Inspection

Palpation, (feeling with hands) percussion (tapping with the fingers) 

Auscultation (listening) 

Personal factors about Mrs. Bee in respect of average weight, age, height and whether she is alert, orientated and able to communicate her needs, should all be taken into consideration. The nurse in training should assess whether the patient is warm to touch and if she is able to lie flat without discomfort, mobilised independently. Psychological factors should be considered, for example whether the patient might be feeling anxious being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Observation of vital signs should be carried out: her blood glucose, blood pressure, pulse, respiration, temperature, oxygen saturation level on air, body max index. 

Nursing and Treatment Plan

It is possible that Mrs Bee might be anxious and feel not quite competent to self-administer her insulin. To address Mrs. Brown anxiety. The nurse is expected to support Mrs Bee to help her to understand her medical condition, and the reason why compliance is required. The explanation  should be communicated using ordinary, non-technical language, explaining the advantage and disadvantage of non-compliance and how fatal it can be to the patient’s health.  The assessment should aim to prevent Mrs. Bee from getting into a state of hypoglycaemic and hyperglycaemia.  

The twelve activities of daily living, according to Roper et, al, should be considered and relevant activities in view of Mrs Bee’s particular care needs highlighted, these could be communication, eating, drinking, sleeping and elimination, working and playing. The aim is to promote continuous independence ongoing support with coping mechanism to improve Mrs. Bee’s health and any other challenges she may encounter. The nurse in training should observe Mrs Bee self-administering her insulin in the correct manner, this is likely initially to be a challenge to Mrs Bee but with professional support there is no reason why Mrs Bee won’t be able to display self-management skills.

NHS and Nursing Diabetes

The nurse in training should familiarise her/himself with the diabetes framework as given by the National Health Service (NHS). National standards for Diabetes Framework for diabetes:

1. The NHS will develop, implement and monitor strategies to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the population as a whole and to reduce the inequalities in the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.  

2. The NHS will develop, implement and monitor strategies to identify people who do not know they have diabetes.

3. All people with diabetes will receive a service, which encourages partnership in decision-making. Supporting them in managing the diabetes and helps them to adopt and maintain a healthy lifestyle. This will be reflected in an agreed and shared care plan in an appropriate format and language. Where appropriate, parents and carers should be fully engaged in this process.      

4. All adults with diabetes will receive high-quality care throughout their lifetime, including support to optimise the control of their blood glucose, blood pressure and other risk factors for all adults with diabetes will receive high-quality care throughout their lifetime, including support to optimise the control of their blood glucose, blood pressure and other risk factors for developing the complications of diabetes.

5. All children and young people with diabetes will receive consistently high-quality care and they with their families and others involved in their day-day care, will be supported to optimise the control of their glucose and their physical, psychological, intellectual, educational and social development.       

6. All young people with diabetes will experience a smooth transition of care from paediatric diabetes service to adult diabetes service, whether hospital or community based, either directly or via a young people’s clinic. The transition will be organised in partnership with each individual and at an age appropriate to and agreed with them.

7. The NHS will develop, implement and monitor agreed protocols for rapid and effective treatment of diabetic emergencies by appropriately trained health professionals. Protocols will include the management of acute complications and procedures to minimise the risk of recurrence.

8. All children, young people and adults with diabetes admitted to hospital, for whatever reason, will receive effective care for their diabetes. Wherever possible, they will continue to be involved in decisions concerning the management of their diabetes.

9. The NHS will develop, implement and monitor policies that seek to empower and support women with pre-existing diabetes and those who develop diabetes during pregnancy to optimise the outcomes of their pregnancy.

10. All young people and adults with diabetes will receive regular surveillance for the long-term complications of diabetes.

11. The NHS will develop, implement and monitor agreed protocols and systems of care to ensure that all people who develop long-term complications of diabetes receive timely, appropriate and effective investigation and treatment to reduce the risk of disability and premature death.

12. All people with diabetes requiring multi-agency support will receive integrated health and social care.

Study Coach UK – Educational Consultant     

Writing an Essay, Writing a Dissertation, Writing-up a Physical Assessment should be an enjoyable experience, if you find yourself struggling to understand conceptual ideas, to generate ideas, unsure about the structure of your assignment, learning outcomes, assessment criteria, then simply get in contact with Study Coach. We are qualified to teach and would love to help you with your education and learning journey. Study Coach is here online to help you, get in touch with Morel on: 07944 849271   www.studycoach.uk.com 



Words are definitely not enough to thank you for your selfless and dedicated work towards my achievements. Almighty God richly bless you. Thanks.
Stephen

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