science

Nursing research

Nursing research is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Nursing research rather than just read about it. In short: Nursing research is research that provides evidence used to support nursing practices. Nursing, as an evidence-based area of practice, has been developing since the time of Florence Nightingale to the present day, where many nurses now work as researchers based in universities as well as in the health care setting.

Key takeaways

Nursing research belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Nursing research to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Nursing research from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Nursing research is research that provides evidence used to support nursing practices. Nursing, as an evidence-based area of practice, has been developing since the time of Florence Nightingale to the present day, where many nurses now work as researchers based in universities as well as in the health care setting. Nurse education places focus upon the use of evidence from research in order to rationalise nursing interventions. In England and Wales, courts may determine if a nurse acted reasonably based upon whether their intervention was supported by research.

Areas of research As an academic discipline, nursing encompasses a wide diversity of epistemological positions and methodological approaches. Some influential nursing scholars, such as Jacqueline Fawcett, have historically advocated for disciplinary integration and unicity. However, this stance has been the subject of sustained debate, particularly regarding both its desirability and the form it should take. Contemporary nursing research reflects a broad range of epistemological orientations, spanning strong constructivism to post-positivism. In recent years, the field has also been increasingly shaped by the growing influence of Indigenous ways of knowing. Correspondingly, there is substantial diversity in research methods and areas of focus within the discipline.

Evidence-based quality improvement practices In 2008, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality AHRQ created the AHRQ Health Care Innovations Exchange to document and share health care quality improvement programs, including hundreds of profiles featuring nursing innovations. Each of the nursing profiles contained in this collection contains an evidence rating that assesses how strong the relationship is between the innovative practice and the results described in the profile. Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) is both a goal and approach in nursing, however, there are nurse-related barriers to evidence based-practice such as limited knowledge of EBP and work overload.

See also AHRQ Health Care Innovations Exchange Evidence-based medicine Nursing journal Nursing theory

References

Hamer S. & Collinson G. (1999). Achieving Evidence-Based Practice. Ballière Tindall. ISBN 0-7020-2349-3. Parahoo K. (1997). Nursing Research: Principles, Process and Issues. Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-69918-1.

External links Media related to Nursing research at Wikimedia Commons

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Nursing research

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Nursing research claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Nursing research before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Nursing research ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Nursing research

In research: Nursing research appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Nursing research in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Nursing research is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Health research, Nursing research, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Nursing research outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Nursing research in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Nursing research means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Nursing research out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Nursing research in simple terms?

Why does Nursing research matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Nursing research?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Nursing research.