Aims and theoretical frameworks in nursing students' Bachelor's theses in Sweden: A descriptive study.

BACKGROUND: Nursing students' independent projects in Sweden not only provide an opportunity to receive a professional qualification as a nurse but also gain a Bachelor's degree in nursing. The aim of these projects is to demonstrate knowledge and understanding within the major field of the education. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to describe and analyze the topics as well as theoretical frameworks and concepts in nursing students' independent projects, which lead to a Bachelor's degree, in a Swedish context. DESIGN: A total of 491 independent projects, written by nursing students in Sweden, were included in the study. METHODS: Topics together with theoretical frameworks and concepts in the projects were identified. Similar topics and theoretical frameworks and concepts, respectively, were grouped into subcategories, and similar subcategories were then merged into a main category. The number of entries in each category was counted for descriptive statistics in order to allow for the demonstration of magnitude. RESULTS: The most common topics concerned experiences and managing when having an illness, experiences of care and of being a caregiver, and healthcare staff's care and knowledge. The nursing theories/models that were most often used were Eriksson's Theory of Caritative Caring, Travelbee's Human-to-Human Relationship Model, and Orem's Self-care Theory. Among the non-nursing theories/models, perspectives and concepts lifeworld, ethical values and principles, existential concepts and quality of life/health-related quality of life, were most often used by these students. CONCLUSION: There may be some difficulty in finding a topic for the project that is relevant for both a professional qualification as a nurse, as well as for achieving the requirements of a Bachelor's degree in nursing. The study indicates that there is a need to widen the student's understanding of different nursing theories/perspectives/models/concepts during nursing education so that students are familiar with a broad range of these when conducting their independent project.

Perfil das dissertações e teses brasileiras acerca do trauma: uma pesquisa documental / Profile of brazilian dissertations and theses on trauma: a documentary research

OBJETIVO: Caracterizar as dissertações e teses disponíveis no Banco de Teses da Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) que versam sobre a traumatologia. MÉTODOS: Trata-se de uma pesquisa documental sobre a caracterização das dissertações e teses brasileiras que versam sobre a traumatologia, disponíveis no Banco de Teses da CAPES. A coleta de dados foi realizada no mês de março do ano de 2012, por mestrandos e doutores segundo protocolo de pesquisa. RESULTADOS: Foram analisadas 411 dissertações e teses acerca do trauma. Elucidaram-se considerações acerca dos seguintes aspectos dos estudos selecionados: nível acadêmico, local de desenvolvimento, formação do autor, desenho metodológico, temática e tipo de trauma. CONCLUSÃO: O quantitativo significante de estudos analisados revela a importância do trauma no cenário atual, a expansão dos programas de pós-graduação e a sintonia dos pesquisadores com a temática que aflige de maneira preocupante a epidemiologia nacional e internacional.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the dissertations and theses available in the Bank of Theses of the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) that deal with trauma. METHODS: This is a documentary research on the characterization of Brazilian theses and dissertations that deal with trauma, available at the CAPES Theses Database. Data collection was carried out in March 2012, by master's degree students and PhDs, following a research protocol. RESULTS: A total of 411 dissertations and theses about trauma were analyzed. We elucidated considerations on the following aspects of the selected studies: academic level, location of conduction of the work, author's training, methodological design, theme and type of trauma. CONCLUSION: The significant amount of studies analyzed reveals the importance of trauma in the current scenario, the expansion of graduate programs and researchers being in line with the theme that alarmingly affects the national and international epidemiology.