Help finding some critical issues in nursing...

[TigerFan8503]

help! i am a pre-nursing student at uab, and my english teacher has given us all the assignment of finding a critical issue question in our field of study and writing a definitional argument about it... i am having a hard time coming up with anything to write about. i know stem cell research and euthanasia are both high on the list, but they seem so overdone that i really want to try to find something else. i plan to specialize in neonatal intensive care, so anything relating to that would be wonderful. most of all, it just has to be debatable... any help would be greatly appreciated.

[ZASHAGALKA, RN]

Beauty pageants (X) are not sexist events (Y). Then you must define your set of criteria. What is a sexist event....

High nurse to patient ratios (x) are not cost effective (y).

and debate:

they lead to nursing burnout which dramatically increases the cost of recruitment and retention.

the JAMA study: they lead to higher errors, resulting in more liability and less patient satisfaction and decrease in hospital reputation.

etc. etc.

~faith,

Timothy.

[TigerFan8503]

I wrote a paper on it from a Florida perspective. Here's my resources.

Aiken, A., Clarke, S., Sloane, D., Sochalski, J., Silber, J. (2002, October). Hospital nurse staffing and patient mortality, nurse burnout, and job dissatisfaction. Journal of the American Medical Association, 288(16), 1987-1993.

Florida Nurses Association. (2005). FNA legislative priorities for 2005. Retrieved January 20, 2005, from http://congress.nw.dc.us/fln/issues/alert/?alertid=6778481.

Gallagher, R., Kany, K., Rowell, P., & Peterson, M. (1999, April). ANA's nurse staffing principles. Retrieved January 20, 2005, from http://nursingworld.org/ajn/1999/april/iss049ca.htm.

Massachusetts Nurses Association. (2004). New England Journal of Medicine Highlights publishes study demonstrating RN staffing levels directly impact patient health and survival. Retrieved January 20, 2005, from http://www.massnurses.org/News/2002/002005/nejm.html.

Thank you so much for the sources...I believe I will use this topic, and I know the sources will he helpful. :)

[TigerFan8503]

All the topics I listed above have also been talked about here on the board too, im sure if you go with one of those that you can find a lot of threads concerning the same ideas.

Good Luck and PM me if you have any questions.

I don't...I'm not in the nursing program yet, which is why this is kind of a hard thing...to write about things I am not yet exposed to. I don't know how to send you a private message, but I can give you my e-mail address... [email protected] I would love to talk more about it!

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Thank you so much for the sources...I believe I will use this topic, and I know the sources will he helpful. :)

You're more than welcome. To private message click the person's name (i.e. click the Tweety and it will give you the option to pm them.)

Good luck on your paper and in all your work to come. :)

[TigerFan8503]

High nurse to patient ratios (x) are not cost effective (y).

and debate:

they lead to nursing burnout which dramatically increases the cost of recruitment and retention.

the JAMA study: they lead to higher errors, resulting in more liability and less patient satisfaction and decrease in hospital reputation.

etc. etc.

~faith,

Timothy.

Hmm, then I also have to make it definitional...but I definitely think I am going to use this topic.

[sirI, MSN, APRN, NP]

What state do you reside? It might be a good thing to write on the age of viability of the fetus and what constitutes murder (death of fetus...accidential or intentional) in your state. Ethical issues galore. Moral, too. Nursing, medical, and non-healthcare provider interest with this topic.

[TigerFan8503]

What state do you reside? It might be a good thing to write on the age of viability of the fetus and what constitutes murder (death of fetus...accidential or intentional) in your state. Ethical issues galore. Moral, too. Nursing, medical, and non-healthcare provider interest with this topic.

That is true...but turn it away from abortion and toward actual NICU related stuff? Where would I find that information? I'm in Alabama.

[sirI, MSN, APRN, NP]

So you have to stick to NICU related issues? Very narrow field then. I would go with the staffing issues then and make it appropriate to NICU staffing. Looks like good resources. And, probably a good, east topic to research and write about. Good luck. Find out from prosecutor office regarding age of viability in your state and when it is classified as murder of the fetus (for future reference). When you have a question on med mal and/or anything to do with any other medical-legal issues, contact me. Also, any OB-GYN related issues ( I am an OB-GYN-neonatal nurse practitioner and legal nurse consultant).

[TigerFan8503]

So you have to stick to NICU related issues? Very narrow field then. I would go with the staffing issues then and make it appropriate to NICU staffing. Looks like good resources. And, probably a good, east topic to research and write about. Good luck. Find out from prosecutor office regarding age of viability in your state and when it is classified as murder of the fetus (for future reference). When you have a question on med mal and/or anything to do with any other medical-legal issues, contact me. Also, any OB-GYN related issues ( I am an OB-GYN-neonatal nurse practitioner and legal nurse consultant).

I really don't have to stick to neonatal issues, I just enjoy reading and writing about them more, I guess. My goal is to be Neonatal Nurse Practitioner. This paper is just for a core English class, and the more simple the topic, the better, for the sake of the class. I haven't started really, because I'm home spending time with my family over the weekend, but I'm going back to my apartment and school tomorrow, so I am going to try to at least have the research done by then.