Nursing dissertation acknowledgements recognise the people and organisations that genuinely supported your work. This short section should be specific, sincere and accurate. It is usually easier to write once you know what help you received throughout the project.
You might be unsure whether to thank your supervisor, placement team, participants, family or an adviser. You may also wonder where the section belongs and whether personal language is acceptable. This guide addresses those questions with original examples. Your programme handbook remains the authority for required wording, placement and length.
What does an acknowledgements section do?
An acknowledgements section records support that deserves recognition. Academic guidance, practical assistance, financial support and personal encouragement can all have a place. However, the section should reflect your actual experience rather than a standard list of people every student is expected to thank.
A clear acknowledgement connects a person or group with a contribution. For example, a supervisor may have helped refine your question, a librarian may have advised on database searching, and your family may have supported you during a demanding period of study. These contributions are different, so the wording should distinguish them.
Acknowledgements also contribute to transparency. The University of Bath’s guidance on research outputs explains the importance of fair recognition and distinguishes acknowledgement from authorship (University of Bath, 2025). Its publication guidance does not replace your dissertation rules, but it offers a useful principle: describe assistance honestly and avoid implying that someone completed research they did not undertake.
This section is different from an abstract, dedication or declaration. An abstract summarises the study. A dedication offers a personal tribute. A declaration records formal statements about authorship or compliance. To understand the whole document, see our nursing dissertation structure guide.
Who should you thank?
Start with the contributions that made a meaningful difference. You do not need to include everyone you met during your degree. Equally, do not overlook practical support because it seems less important than academic advice.
| Contributor | Possible contribution | Check before including |
|---|---|---|
| Supervisor or tutor | Guidance, feedback and research planning | Correct name, title and actual role |
| Librarian or methods adviser | Search guidance, training or methodological advice | Describe the assistance accurately |
| Research participants | Voluntary time and shared experiences | Use collective wording that protects identity |
| Organisation or team | Approved access, facilities or practical assistance | Permission and agreed confidentiality arrangements |
| Funder | Grant, scholarship or project resources | Required acknowledgement and grant details |
| Family and friends | Encouragement and practical support | Comfort with public naming |
Include only rows that apply. For instance, a literature-based dissertation may have no research participants. Thanking participants in that situation would misrepresent the project. Reading published accounts is not the same as recruiting people into your own study.
A sensible order for nursing dissertation acknowledgements
A practical order is academic support, professional or technical help, funding, participants where relevant, and personal support. This sequence helps the reader follow the contributions without jumping between unrelated groups. It is a writing suggestion rather than a universal rule.
Begin with the supervisor if their guidance was central. Then acknowledge other academic or practical assistance. You can thank participants collectively before moving to family and friends. A funding body may require a particular position or exact statement, so check any award conditions.
Keep similar contributions together. For example, one sentence can thank a library team for search support and access to resources. You do not need separate paragraphs for every librarian. However, a specialist who provided substantial training may deserve a more specific sentence.
The order should not become a ranking of personal importance. Its purpose is clarity. You can be warm when thanking your family while remaining precise about academic assistance. Avoid exaggerated statements suggesting that a supervisor guaranteed a grade or approved every claim.
Where should the section appear?
Acknowledgements commonly appear among the preliminary pages, but placement varies. The University of Bristol’s research-degree regulations list an optional dedication and acknowledgements page after the abstract and before later declarations and contents (University of Bristol, n.d.). That is an institutional example, not a template for all nursing programmes.
Check your own handbook for whether the section is required, whether it starts on a separate page, whether it appears in the contents and how preliminary pages are numbered. Use the prescribed heading and formatting. Do not introduce a new font simply because the writing is more personal.
Also check word-count rules. There is no single length that applies across undergraduate, master’s and doctoral dissertations. A brief undergraduate project may need only one concise paragraph. A funded doctoral study may need more detail. If your brief sets a limit, prioritise the main contributions within it.
Do not confuse this section with the abstract. If you need guidance on that separate task, use our nursing dissertation abstract guide.
Original acknowledgements examples
The following examples are fictional demonstrations. Replace the circumstances with your own experience and include only genuine contributions. They illustrate tone and structure rather than wording to submit unchanged.
Example for a literature-based dissertation
I would like to thank my dissertation supervisor for constructive feedback and guidance in refining the review question. I also thank the university library team for advice on database searching and access to relevant literature. Finally, I am grateful to my family for their encouragement and practical support throughout this project.
This example fits a project based on published evidence. It does not invent participants, clinical access or research funding. It also identifies the type of academic support without implying that the supervisor wrote the review.
Example for a qualitative nursing study
I thank my supervisor for guidance on the study design and feedback during analysis and writing. I am grateful to the nurses who volunteered their time and shared their experiences. I also acknowledge the approved organisational contact for assistance with recruitment arrangements. My thanks go to my family and friends for their patience and encouragement.
The participants are acknowledged as a group. The example does not identify a ward, named interviewee or sensitive experience. Organisational assistance should be described only if it actually occurred and can be mentioned under the approved arrangements.
Example for a quantitative project
I am grateful to my supervisor for feedback on the research question and interpretation of the findings. I thank the research-methods adviser for training in the agreed statistical procedures. I also thank the participants for completing the questionnaire and my family for their support during the project.
Change the methods-adviser sentence if the assistance was different. Training in software, checking syntax and conducting analysis are distinct contributions. The acknowledgement should accurately state which support was provided.
Protect confidentiality when thanking people
Nursing dissertations may involve patients, staff, clinical services or sensitive organisational information. An acknowledgement should not undo the confidentiality protections used elsewhere in the dissertation. Avoid naming individuals or combining details that could make someone identifiable.
Consider indirect identification as well. A rare role, a small specialist unit and a distinctive recruitment period may reveal a participant even without their name. Collective wording is often more appropriate, such as thanking the nurses who contributed their time.
Check permission before publicly naming contributors or organisations. Bath’s guidance for research outputs requires contributors’ approval for acknowledgement (University of Bath, 2025). Your programme and research arrangements may impose additional conditions. When uncertain, ask your supervisor or approved organisational contact.
Do not thank an ethics committee in a way that implies endorsement of your findings. Approval of a protocol is different from endorsement of the completed dissertation. Record formal approval details in the designated methodology or declaration section according to the brief.
Funding, editing and other assistance
Funding acknowledgements should use the sponsor’s required wording where applicable. Check the organisation’s name, award reference and whether support was for tuition, travel, data collection or the research itself. A scholarship should not be described as a project grant unless that was its purpose.
Editing and statistical assistance should also be described precisely. An adviser who checked presentation did not necessarily design the study. A proofreader who corrected language did not necessarily analyse the findings. Avoid both hiding substantial assistance and overstating minor help.
University requirements for external support and AI use differ. A personal thank-you does not replace a mandatory declaration. Bristol’s research-degree regulations, for example, provide separate requirements concerning assistance and appropriate AI use (University of Bristol, n.d.). Follow the applicable policy rather than assuming an acknowledgement alone is sufficient.
If a contribution raises questions about permitted support or authorship, clarify it before submission. Our nursing dissertation editing support can help check clarity and consistency within the agreed scope, while institutional rules remain decisive.
How to draft and revise the section
First, make a private list of contributors and write one phrase describing each contribution. Remove names that do not belong and combine groups where suitable. Next, arrange the list into a clear order and turn it into short sentences.
Use specific verbs such as guided, advised, reviewed, supported or assisted. Vague praise is less useful than an accurate description. For example, thanking someone for feedback on the proposal is clearer than saying they were amazing throughout everything.
Read the draft aloud. It should sound sincere and natural rather than ceremonial. Reduce repeated openings such as “I would like to thank” by varying the structure. You might begin one sentence with “I am grateful to” and another with “My thanks also go to”.
Finally, check factual accuracy, permissions and formatting. A short section can still contain consequential errors, such as the wrong title, a misspelled name or a false claim about funding. Make the final review after the dissertation is complete, when all contributions are known.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Copying a sample that includes assistance you never received.
- Naming participants or revealing a confidential clinical setting.
- Using a long personal story that hides the main contributions.
- Claiming a supervisor guaranteed the quality or grade of the work.
- Describing editing as research supervision or training as completed analysis.
- Assuming the section is excluded from the word count without checking.
- Using acknowledgements instead of a required declaration.
A concise, accurate acknowledgement is stronger than an elaborate list. It should leave the reader with a clear understanding of the support behind your work.
Editing nursing dissertation acknowledgements for accuracy
Before polishing the language, separate what each contributor actually did. A supervisor might have suggested a narrower question, reviewed chapter drafts and challenged your interpretation. Those are meaningful contributions, but they do not mean the supervisor conducted the study. State the support in a way that preserves that distinction.
Check whether one sentence accidentally groups unlike roles together. For example, thanking a statistician and a friend “for analysing my data” would imply both undertook analysis. Instead, write separate sentences for methodological help and personal encouragement. Small wording changes can prevent a misleading account of responsibility.
Then look at the strength of the praise. You can thank someone warmly without describing the dissertation as perfect or claiming their advice ensured success. Acknowledgements are written before an examiner’s decision in many cases. Avoid statements about a final result you do not yet know.
Also consider whether the document will become publicly accessible. A dissertation kept within a programme and a thesis deposited in an open repository may have different audiences. Check the planned access arrangements before including personal details about family circumstances, workplace relationships or individual contributors.
Nursing dissertation acknowledgements: a contribution audit
A contribution audit is a private planning exercise, not an additional dissertation appendix. Draw three columns headed contributor, assistance and wording. In the assistance column, record the actual help in plain language. In the wording column, draft a sentence that gives proportionate credit without making wider claims.
For instance, your notes might record that a librarian explained how to use subject headings. The final sentence can thank the library team for search guidance. There is no need to describe every meeting or the entire search process in this personal section.
Review the list against emails, meeting notes or your own project record if your memory is uncertain. Do not include a grant simply because another student’s sample lists one. Likewise, do not use an organisation’s name because the dissertation concerns its service; working on a topic does not necessarily mean the organisation supported you.
Once the factual list is complete, check names carefully. People may use a professional title different from the one you remember. If naming is appropriate, confirm the preferred spelling and form of address. Where collective wording is suitable, it can recognise assistance while avoiding unnecessary personal detail.
Choosing a natural tone without losing precision
A short thank-you can sound personal and professional at the same time. Write as yourself. If you normally use direct language, a sentence explaining that your family gave encouragement will be more convincing than several lines of elaborate praise.
Keep humour cautious because the document may be read outside your immediate circle. A joke about missed shifts or clinical errors could imply events that did not occur or distract from the research. You do not need humour to make the section distinctive.
Personal faith or a tribute may be relevant to your experience, subject to institutional requirements. Decide whether it belongs in a dedication or within acknowledgements. Avoid allowing a personal tribute to obscure required recognition of funding or significant assistance.
After revision, read the section without looking at the sample examples. If the wording still reflects your own contributors and circumstances, it is doing its job. A useful acknowledgement recognises real support, protects privacy and leaves formal declarations in their proper place.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use “I” in acknowledgements?
Personal wording often fits a thank-you section, but follow any programme instructions. You do not need to copy the impersonal style of the methodology chapter.
Should I thank patients by name?
Do not publish identifying details unless naming is explicitly permitted within the approved arrangements and applicable rules. Collective wording usually protects confidentiality better.
Is a dedication the same as acknowledgements?
No. A dedication offers a personal tribute; acknowledgements describe support and contributions. Your handbook determines whether they are separate or combined.
Do acknowledgements need references?
The thank-you section normally concerns real contributions rather than an academic argument. Avoid quotations that create unnecessary citation questions. This educational guide includes references because it discusses institutional guidance.
Conclusion and final checklist
Check that every contribution is genuine, every name and title is correct, confidentiality is protected and the page follows your handbook. Confirm funding wording and declarations separately. Then remove repetition and keep the thanks proportionate to the project.
If you need a review of your preliminary pages and dissertation presentation, send your brief and current draft. We can discuss editing or formatting support appropriate to your requirements.
For personalised feedback on your acknowledgements, explore our focused nursing dissertation section review and request a quote for the sections you need checked.
About our nursing dissertation support
Explore Nursing Dissertation Service for focused academic guidance. Read our approach and standards, see how support works and review student feedback before choosing assistance. If your scope is clear, submit your project details for review. Support should follow your university’s rules and help you understand and improve your own work.
References
University of Bath (2025) Authorship and acknowledgement in research outputs. Available at: University of Bath guidance (Accessed: 5 October 2026).
University of Bristol (n.d.) Dissertation content and format. Available at: University of Bristol regulations (Accessed: 5 October 2026).
