Science and Values in Health Care Provision

RESPONSE TO STUDENT #1:

There is indeed a significant shortage of nurses in the country and we are prompted to actually hire foreign-trained nurses in order to compensate for the lack of these healthcare professionals (Trice et al., 2007).  The major obstacle that restricts our local nurses from practicing is the success in passing the nursing licensure exam.  A comprehensive evaluation and reformulation of the current nursing curriculum as well as the provision of online nursing education programs may facilitate the preparation of nursing students into competent and efficiency nursing professionals.  In addition, the employment of surveys that would serve as tools in assessing the current standards of the nursing programs may help in the identification of problems and issues that hinder the progress of the nursing profession in the country.

RESPONSE TO STUDENT #2:

Obesity is generally considered as a multidimensional health problem because several factors may roles in the etiology of this eating disorder, including genes, environment, psychology and culture (Lobstein and Jackson-Leach, 2007).  It would be more informative if only one characteristic were comprehensively investigated in association to obesity, than studying eight characteristics and not having enough or even substandard information on elucidating the relationship between the characteristic and obesity.  In addition, each characteristic may still present will more specific subcategories, hence it would be more enlightening to focus on a specific characteristic and exhaust all the information on this particular feature in relation to obesity.

RESPONSE TO STUDENT #3:

It would be helpful if you could specifically identify your dissertation problem as early as you can.  The research field of obesity is very broad, hence you have to be more specific than that.  The goals of your dissertation should be precise, which may consist of identifying, determining or investigating individual features (Segal et al., 2007).  Unless this is fulfilled, the dissertation will not be centered well.  More importantly, the data and interpretation of data may not commence unless the specific problem and goals have been clearly defined.

RESPONSE TO STUDENT #4:

One should be aware of the current knowledge with regards to the topic of obesity.  There are currently different theories on how obesity is triggered (Telford, 2007), hence your dissertation should reflect that you are aware of such current research situation.  It would also be helpful to the progress and success of your dissertation if you clearly identify your dissertation problem, as well as provide specific goals to answer through the research you will conduct.  Only then will you be able to proceed to the next portions of your dissertation, which is the design of data collection methods as well as the methods of analysis for the data you will gather.

RESPONSE TO STUDENT #5:

The problems you have identified have actually been answered in researches conducted earlier (Piper et al., 2007).  It is now established that smoking cessation programs are effective ways of treatment for patients who want to stop smoking.  Also, smoking has already been long established as an addiction because nicotine is the key component of cigarettes.  There are also numerous scientific articles that have already proven that smoking is dangerous to human health.  You should identify a new problem that has not been investigated to date.

RESPONSE TO STUDENT #6:

It would be interesting to know the current capabilities and knowledge of practicing nurses so that the curriculum can be redesigned to cater to the needs of the current status of medicine (Thrall, 2007).  The influence of technology in the nursing field should also be considered, because the methods of information collection are now computer-based.  The use of electronic patient records also affects the status of the nursing profession.

RESPONSE TO STUDENT #7:

It would be interesting for you to determine specific connections and correlations between faith and health (Draper, 2007).  Conducting surveys on specific faiths and the health conditions of individuals would be an appealing topic for a dissertation.  However, your research problem and goals should be well-structured and designed to answer specific issues on the topic.  The cultural beliefs of certain ethnic groups in relation to health outcomes may also be a fascinating topic to investigate.

References

Draper P (2007):  Medicine of the Person: Faith, Science and Values in Health Care Provision.  J. Interprof. Care. 21(4):471-472.

Lobstein T and Jackson-Leach R (2007):  Child overweight and obesity in the USA: Prevalence rates according to IOTF definitions.  Int. J. Pediatr. Obes. 2(1):62-4.

Piper ME, Federman EB, McCarthy DE, Bolt DM, Smith SS, Fiore MC and Baker TB (2007):  Efficacy of bupropion alone and in combination with nicotine gum.  Nicotine Tob. Res. 9(9):947-54.

Segal ME, Polansky M and Sankar P (2007):  Adults’ values and attitudes about genetic testing for obesity risk in children.  Int. J. Pediatr. Obes.  2(1):11-21.

Telford RD (2007):  Low physical activity and obesity: causes of chronic disease or simply predictors?  Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 39(8):1233-40

Thrall TH (2007):  Shock absorbers. Hospital residency programs smooth the bumps for new nurses.  Hosp. Health Netw. 81(6):60, 62, 64.

Trice LB, Brandvold C and Bruno E (2007):  Practice and education: partnering to address the perioperative nursing shortage.  AORN J. 86(2):259-64.