UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL

DE LA MATANZA

ESCUELA DE FORMACIÓN
CONTINUA

LICENCIATURA en ENFERMERÍA

INGLÉS II

Prof: Ana Claudia Saraceni

MODULE I What is an abstract?

SECTION 1 – Definition and main components of an abstract

 What do you know about abstracts?

1. Think of a Spanish equivalent of the word ‘abstract’
2. Write in one sentence in Spanish a possible definition of ‘abstracts’
3. Circle the letter in the corresponding columns True or False.
4. Then write the corresponding letter in the boxes below.

Abstract Features True False

1. An abstract summarizes, usually in 300 words or less, the major aspects A B

of the entire paper.

2. It always includes the same ‘moves’. A B

3. Its structure should reflect the structure of the entire paper. S E

4. It helps readers decide whether they want to read the rest of the paper or T C
not.

5. Enough key information must be included to make the abstract useful to R N

someone who may want to examine your work.

6. The abstract should contain citations. O A

7. There is only one type of abstract. R C

8. It is the last section readers will read. M T

9. Online databases typically contain only abstracts. S D

  Reading
1. Read this text to confirm and or correct the previous answers
2. Some ideas are not mentioned in it. Which ones?

What is an abstract?

An abstract is a concise summary of a research paper or entire thesis which is placed

at the beginning of the paper. It is an original work, not an excerpted passage of any
other academic work. An abstract must be fully self-contained and make sense by
itself, without further reference to outside sources or to the actual paper.
The usual sections or ‘moves’ defined in a structured abstract are the Background,
Aim, Methods, Results, and Conclusions; other headings with similar meanings
may be used (e.g., Introduction in place of Background or Findings in place of
Results).

Background or Introduction
This is the first part of the abstract, and should be brief and attractive to the reader at
the same time. After reading a well written background, the reader would be eager to
read more. This part answers this question: What is the research about?
Aim
This usually answers the question: Why did you do this research?
Methodology
This usually answers the questions: What did you do? How did you do it?
Results or Findings
This answers the question: What did you find out after doing the research? Or what
are the advantages of your method based on the results?
Conclusion
This usually answers the question: What do your findings mean? What have you
contributed?

 Practice

1. Look at the different sections or moves present in the following abstract called:

2. Answer these questions in Spanish with information you can interpret from the text

a. What is the research about?

b. Why did the researcher do this research?
c. What did the researcher do? How did he/she do it?
 d. What did the researcher discover or find out after doing the research?
e. What are the contributions of this research work

Responses of Premature Infants to Routine Nursing

Interventions and Noise in the NICU
L K Zahr 1, S Balian
UCLA School of Nursing, USA.

Abstract

Preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) are constantly exposed to
ambient noise that often exceeds recommended levels. There is a growing concern that
such noise puts preterm infants at high risk for adverse health
effects. BACKGROUND.This study documents the effects of routine nursing procedures
and loud noise events on the behavioral and physiological responses of premature
infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). AIM The subjects were 55 premature
infants ranging in weight from 480 to 1930 g and in age from 23 to 37 weeks gestation.
Nineteen nursing activities common in the NICU as well as loud noises such as alarms,
telephones, loud speech, or infant crying were recorded every 5 minutes. The infants'
physiological and behavioral responses were recorded at 5-minute intervals for 2 hours
in the morning and 2 hours in the evening. METHOD Nursing interventions and noise
resulted in significant changes in both the behavioral and physiological responses of
infants. The presence of noise alone and nursing interventions alone resulted in similar
physiological responses; however, the combination of these events was not cumulative.
Infants changed their behavioral states an average of six times each hour during the 12
observation periods, and the number of enduring states (10 minutes or longer) averaged
10 times in the 48 observation periods of 4 hours. RESULTS. These numbers indicate
that there is an urgent need to reduce the level of ambient noise produced by routine
nursing procedures in NICU. CONCLUSIONS

(C) Lippincott-Raven Publishers.

 On your own
1. Underline the different moves in this abstract:
2. Highlight the word/s that help you to recognize them
How male nursing students learn to care
Barbara L Paterson RN PhD, Marta Crawford MN, Marian Saydak MN, Pen Venkatesh MN,
Sharon Tschikota MN, Ten Aronowitz MScN

Abstract
The current definitions of caring in nursing education denote a mutual relationship between
teachers and students in which they interact to provide an environment which supports the
students’ personal and professional development The learning of caring in an interactional context
is typical of the female experience It is unknown if this is representative of the male experience The
lived experience of 20 male students as they learned to care as nurses was the focus of this
phenomenological research study. The interactional strategies of storytelling, modelling, being
cared for, the ‘aha’ encounter, and observing and giving care, were used by the participants in
learning to care as nurses. The participants concurred that, although caring as a nurse could be
learned if one was ‘open to learning, teachers could only facilitate this learning, they could not
directly teach it. The implications of these findings for nursing education and research are
presented in this paper.
SECTION 2 – Description and classification of abstracts

 How are abstracts classified?

1. Look at the words in bold in the following text and think of their Spanish equivalent
2. Read the initial extract and explain in in Spanish the difference between both types
of ‘abstracts’

Classification of abstracts

There are two main types of abstracts: descriptive and informative. A descriptive abstract briefly
describes the longer work, while an informative abstract presents all the main arguments and important
results.

 Descriptive abstracts are short, simple and objective. They describe the theme of
the article or publication.
 Informative abstracts are longer and more detailed. ...

 Reading
1. Read the description provided before each abstract and confirm that the information
included in the abstract corresponds to the indicated type.

A descriptive abstract indicates the type of information found in the work. It makes no judgments
about the work, and it does not provide results or conclusions of the research. It incorporates key
words found in the text and may include the purpose, methods, and scope of the research.

Complementary therapies and nursing research: issues and

practicalities
Steven J. Erssera, Fellow, National Institute for Nursing and Senior Lecturer
a
School of Health Care Studies, Oxford Brookes University, c/o Radcliffe Infirmary Trust,
Woodstock Rd, Oxford OX2 6HE, UK

Available online 6 June 2006.

This paper explores the issues which nurses face in attempting to use research-based literature and
when conducting research in the field of complementary therapies. Despite the significant interest
amongst nurses in using such therapies, there can be difficulties in gaining access to such literature
and using it to inform practice. Rising standards of accountability create expectations for nurses to
draw on sources of information which inform safe and effective practice. The issue is examined and
illustrated by essential the example of nurses use of essential oils. Strategies are explored to help
nurses to practice in an informed way and to engage in research activity in this area.
This article is based on a paper given at the Research Council for Complementary Medicine
Conference ‘Research from Concept to Publication’, at the Royal Society of Medicine, London
1993.

An informative abstract describes the major points of the project to the reader. It includes the
background, purpose and focus of the paper or article, but never the methods, results of findings,
and conclusions, if it is a research paper. Is most likely used for humanities and social science
papers or psychology essays.

Physical Restraint of the Hospitalized Elderly: Perceptions Of Patients and Nurses

Abstract

Twenty elderly restrained patients and their primary nurses (N = 18) were studied to determine (a)
the subjective impact of physical restraints on the patient and (b) the nurses' beliefs about use of
restraints. Despite reported cognitive impairments, patients vividly described anger, discomfort,
resistance, and fear in response to the experience of physical restraint. The decision to restrain
posed a conflict between protection of the patient and beliefs about professional behavior for the
nursing staff. Lack of interdisciplinary collaboration in decisions to use a physical restraint was also
apparent. The findings suggest that the use of physical restraint is not a benign practice and support
the need for developing alternatives more consistent with professional practice and quality care.

(C) Lippincott-Raven Publishers.

 Practice
1. Read both texts again and answer these questions in Spanish with information you
can interpret from the text
f. What is the research about?
g. Why did the researcher do this research?
h. What did the researcher do? How did he/she do it?
i. What did the researcher discover or find out after doing the research?
j. What are the contributions of this research work
2. Could you answer all the questions? If not, can you explain why, in Spanish?

 On your own
1. Go back to the two abstracts included in section 1. Are they descriptive or
informative?
2. Highlight the information that helped you to recognize each type