Nursing research

A nurse at Chiang Mai University's Nursing Policy and Outcome Centre has won a prestigious award.

In the photo above, student nurses practice dressing wounds.

For the full version of today's article see here.

Click button to listen to Nursing Research to download

A heart for service, Veteran nurse and researcher Wipada Kunaviktikul talks about the pursuit of excellence in Thai nursing by Yvonne Bohwongprasert

Wipada Kunaviktikul - this year's recipient of the prestigious STTI International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame award - is hopeful that this top accolade will help erase misconceptions about the nursing profession, while highlighting the enormous young talent that awaits good mentoring.

A veteran nurse and researcher, Wipada has seen the Thai nursing profession grow from strength to strength since entering the medical field over two decades ago. Local nurses have fought tooth and nail to reach the standard of excellence that patients enjoy today said the outgoing Chiang Mai native, who was presented with the award earlier this month at the World Congress Nursing Conference in Mexico. 

"This means so much to me... it is an honour for me to receive this prestigious award that has helped me to make my country proud," said Wipada, a professor at Chiang Mai University's Faculty of Nursing.

"For any nurse, it is such a privilege to get an award that draws its origins from the famous International Nursing Honor Society, which focuses on academic achievements and leadership, and boasts more than 130,000 members from 86 countries around the world," she said.

This year there were a total of 15 awardees. Out of an overwhelming American majority, I was one of two Asians that were picked. I think this is not just an honour for me but also for the nursing profession in Thailand. I am also thrilled that our painstaking research at our university's Nursing Policy and Outcome Centre was recognised by the team of reviewers who selected us as one of the recipients for this award.

...Nurse researchers play a pivotal role in upgrading nursing knowledge which is then passed on to professionals around in the country. Through the last couple of years, Wipada and her team have worked relentlessly, conducting over 40 research papers covering such issues as obstetric nursing, nursing administration, quality of nursing, health promotion and nursing workforce and policy.

Working closely with the Nursing Policy and Outcome Centre (NPOC), Wipada said that its objectives cover a broad spectrum of areas. A few worth mentioning include analysing local, national and international policy issues that impact nursing; conducting research on policy issues facing nursing and suggesting new policies and/or revisions to existing policies based on this research; and promoting and conducting the outcome of this research for quality medical care. The NPOC also offers opportunities for nurse students to complete a doctoral degree. (Visit www.nurse.cmu.ac.th/npoc for more information).

For the past half century, Chiang Mai University's Faculty of Nursing has worked towards developing quality nursing professionals. It was in 1982 that the master's degree programme was introduced. Currently, the student body can pick from 10 speciality areas to major in, including a doctoral degree in both national and international programmes in nursing...

...Professor Wichit, who is a retired medical nurse by profession, noted that nursing education and practice has made inroads over the decades since she graduated from nursing school at Siriraj Hospital. The fact that nursing has been taught at university level has put the profession on an equal footing with medical doctors, enjoying the same privileges in terms of scholarships and career opportunities. The role of nurses is under-utilised, they are not functioning to their full capacity.

Contrary to popular belief, career nurses are not always at the beck and call of the doctor. They can work independently as medical care givers, often manning a sub-district health station, addressing minor medical concerns such as common colds and follow-up treatments prescribed by a medical doctor.

With a sharp increase in the number of urban hospitals and clinics through the years, nurses nowadays can find a job without difficulty. Private hospitals can offer twice the rate of pay, so if a nurse resigns or is laid off she can find a job tomorrow...

(Source: Bangkok Post, A heart for service, Veteran nurse and researcher Wipada Kunaviktikul talks about the pursuit of excellence in Thai nursing, 18/07/2011, Yvonne Bohwongprasert, link) 

Nursing and Medical Vocabulary

nurse - a person whose special job is to look after and care for sick and injured people (See Wikipedia)

Faculty of Nursing - the part of a university that teaches nursing
Nursing Policy and Outcome Centre  - a nursing research center at Chiang Mai university (See Facebook)

medical field - medicine as an area of skilled

profession - a type of job requiring advanced training and education
nursing profession - the skilled job of nursing together with all the things that help pass on those skills and improve them: continuing education, ethical codes, research, etc

upgrading - improving and making more modern and new
upgrading nursing knowledge - improving nursing knowledge (adding new information, the latest information)

obstetric nursing - nurses who help women give birth to their baby
health promotion - activities to teach people about good health (so they will make the right healthcare choices for their family)
workforce - the people working in a whole economy แรงงาน
nursing workforce - all the nurses in the whole country (along with the problems of recruiting and retaining skilled professionals)

impact - an effect or influence ผลกระทบ
issues that impact nursing
conducting research on policy issues
revisions - changes การเปลี่ยนแปลง
revisions to existing policies - changes  to improve the policies used now
outcome - a result ผล
promoting the outcome of research for quality medical care - using research to provide better medical treatment 

made inroads - advanced, progressed (moved forwards towards solving a big problem or achieving a big goal)
put the profession on an equal footing with medical doctors - put the nurses in a position of being more than an assistant to doctors
enjoying the same privileges in terms of scholarships and career opportunities - given the same chances and opportunities as doctors to get high quality education and advance in their job and career
under-utilised - under used, could be used more

capacity - the greatest amount of work that can be done (or traffic that can be handled) ความสามารถ (ความจุ) ในการจัดการ
functioning at full capacity - having all their skills used (doing as much as they could with their knowledge and skills)
not functioning to their full capacity - not using all the knowledge and skills that they have

contrary to popular belief, ...Y - Y is true, but most people don't know about it (or believe it ot be the case)
at the beck and call of the doctor - doing everything the doctor tells you (is the whole job, no independence of action or thinking for yourself)
work independently as medical care givers - work by themselves to treat patients
manning a sub-district health station - being the medical professional who runs and a small local medical clinic (usually in a remote place)
minor - not important; small; having little influence or effect เล็กน้อย
concerns - worries ความกังวล
minor medical concerns - small medical problems (like small wounds and injuries, broken bones, etc)
prescribed - when a doctor writes out medicine for you to take, on an official piece of paper, when presented a pharmacy supplies you with the medicine สั่งยา
follow-up treatments prescribed by a medical doctor - carries out and supervises treatment for patients over time

pursuit - when you try to achieve a plan, activity or situation, usually over a long period of time การพยายามให้ถึงความต้องการ
excellence - the quality of being extremely good ความเป็นเลิศ
pursuit of excellence - continually trying to improve your performance in an activity (to reach higher levels of excellence)
standard of excellence - a high level of quality of achievement (well-defined and verifiable)

recipient of an award - a person who receives an award
recipients - people who receive something ผู้รับ
award recipients - people who receive an award ผู้ได้รับรางวัล
recipient of a prestigious award - a person who receives an award that is much respected by people
prestigious - admired and respected by people ที่มีชื่อเสียง ที่ได้รับความนับถือ
award - a prize or a sum of money that is given to someone following an official decision รางวัล

Hall of Fame - a group of people honoured for their lifetime achievements (usually in sports such as baseball or football)

accolade - praised for some achievement or performance

conception - idea
misconception - wrong idea
erase misconceptions - put an end to wrong ideas

talent (adjective) - a natural ability to be good at something, especially without being taught ความสามารถพิเศษ
talent (noun) - people who have talent (have natural ability to be good at some activity)
mentor - a teacher (who teaches on the job practical skills, not classroom learning from textbooks)
mentor (verb) - the process of a person experienced in some practical task teaching another person (a long-term relationship)

highlighting - showing something with emphasis

veteran - having a lot of experience doing something อาวุโส

decades - periods of ten years เป็นสิบๆปี

fought tooth and nail - work or fight very hard to achieve some goal

native - someone who was born in a particular place ชาวพื้นเมือ
Chiang Mai native - a person who was born in Chiang Mai

this means so much to me - this is really important for me
an honour - something like an award or praise that adds to a person's name and reputation

privilege - a special benefit that only a limited number of people get เอกสิทธิ์
origins - the beginning or cause of something แหล่งกำเนิด

academic - someone who teaches at a college, or who studies as part of their job นักวิชาการ
academic achievements - goals that teachers in universities achieve that add to their name and reputation (doing research, publishing papers, winning awards, etc)
boasts more than 130,000 members - can say it has 130,000 (which is a large amount)

majority - more than half of the people in a group ส่วนมาก เสียงส่วนมาก
overwhelming majority - most people in the group, around 80% and even 90%
thrilled - very happy and excited about something

painstaking research - very detailed and precise research (requiring a lot of effort)

recognised by - singled out for mention and praise, or an award
reviewers - people who are evaluating and assessing work (to give work or an award, or admission to a school, to publish a book or article, etc)

X plays a pivotal role in Y - be the central or most important thing or person in situation Y

couple - two people who are married or are involved in a romantic relationship คุ่รัก
worked relentlessly - worked to achive goals (without stopping or giving up)
issues - subjects that need to be considered ประเด็น

objectives - goals; aims; things that you plan to achieve จุดมุ่งหมาย
broad - wide กว้างๆ
spectrum - a wide variety, many different types
local -  in or related to the area that you live, or to the particular area that you are talking about ท้องถิ่น
national - for the whole country
international - including all countries ระหว่างประเทศ

opportunities - situations in which it is possible to do what you want or need to do
century - a period of one hundred years ศตวรรษ

retired - no longer working because you have reached the age where you are officially too old to work เกษียณอายุ

sharp - strong ที่รุนแรง
urban - of or in a city or town ในเมือง
clinics - places where people go to receive medical treatment
urban hospitals and clinics