200+ Amazing Nursing Research Topics for Students

What is basic research in nursing?

Nursing research is the systematic inquiry of the goals, values, methods, and outcomes of the nursing practice. Thereby, basic

nursing research is a scientific inquiry that is aimed at the discovery of new facts or confirming existing facts about nursing

practice.

What are the four types of nursing research?

A nursing research paper can either be qualitative or quantitative. However, nursing research has four major types of research

namely:

1. Action Research, –Action research is focused on getting research outcomes as well as pursuing action or application at the same time.

2. Exploratory Research, –Exploratory research is similar to a pilot study whereby data concerning a particular topic is collected to add to the existing knowledge on the phenomenon.

3. Diagnostic Research, –Diagnostic research is the descriptive research version of nursing ad it focused on identifying the causal relationships and the implications.

4. Evaluative Research, –Evaluative research assesses the effectiveness, efficacy, or efficiency of various aspects related to nursing practice.

How to Write Excellent Nursing Research Papers

A research paper in nursing school follows the same guidelines as any other research paper in terms of structure, formatting, and

resources required as in other academic fields. The vital part to remember is that nursing research papers are evidence-based and

they require scholarly or scientific evidence to support the findings.

Nursing research paper outline

Here is an outline of how a nursing research paper should look like.

• Title page: Formatted according to the specific writing formats such as APA, MLA, and Harvard.

• Abstract: Gives an overview of the entire paper using 200-300 words. Make sure to be guided by the rubric.

• Introduction: Offers background information on the subject matter. Include the research problem being addressed in a PICO format preferably (if necessary) and the aim of the research paper. Outline the scope of the paper too.

• Literature review: Literature review involves exploration of nursing scholarly works that relate to the PICO or thesis statement.

• Research Methodology: Specify the exact nursing research design applied to the research paper. Include the sampling technique, data collection methods, analysis, and a justification for use of the research design.

• Results and Discussion: Present the findings of the research paper in the results section.  These findings are then discussed using concepts, facts, and information from the review of the literature. Include study limitations and delimitations too.

• Recommendations: Explore future suggestions for research into the same topics.\

• Conclusion: Recap the problem statement, thesis statement, methodology, and findings.

• References: Ensure references are written according to the specified format.

What is a research problem in nursing?

A research problem in nursing refers to an area of concern in either nursing practice, theory, or literature where there is a

knowledge gap. It requires research to be conducted to address the issue to offer evidence-based care.

What are the 4 sources of nursing research problems?

There are four major sources of research problems. One is clinical or nursing practice whereby the nursing student observes a

problem or a gap for both patients and healthcare workers. Other sources include personal or peer experiences, theory, and

literature review

Interesting research topics and ideas related to nursing

Research topics involve research and knowledge inquisition, making it challenging and problematic to identify one correctly.

However, here are a few ideas on choosing nursing research paper topics.

Qualitative nursing research topics

Qualitative nursing research topics can either be phenomenological studies, ethnography, qualitative descriptive studies, or

grounded theory.

Quantitative nursing research topics

 Quantitative research topics study the link/association/relationship between two or more phenomena. It can also study the

effect/impact of phenomena on another.

200+ Easy Topics for Research Papers in Nursing

Trending research topics for undergraduate nursing students

• Gender pay parity in nursing

• Health issues of immigrants

• Improvements in neonatal care in the last decade

• Mental health and psychiatric acre

• Obesity and weight management

• Vaccination

Research topics for nursing papers

• Adolescent medicine practices

• Healthcare management issues

• Leadership in nursing

• Advocacy roles of nurses

• Scope of practice of RNPs

• Ethics in the delivery of care

Evidence-based nursing research topics

• EBP and leadership

• Challenges of incorporating EBP in everyday care

• Promoting quality care and EBP

• Misconceptions of EBP

• EBP in nursing education

• Infection control as EBP

Critical care nursing research topics

• Stress management in critical care units

• Decision-making process in critical care

• Technology used in critical care

• Patient safety

• Organ donation

• Post-surgery recovery in critical care

Pediatrics nursing research topics

• Ethics in pediatric care

• Health promotion and obesity in children

• Speech disorder therapy

• Autism

• Resuscitation practices for newborns

• Critical care of children

Research topics for mental health nursing

• Emotional labor in mental health units

• Management strategies for ADHD

• Exploring treatments for dementia patients

• Genetic disposition for bipolar disorder

• Environmental factors related to Alzheimer’s disease

• Prevention of PTSD strategies

Nursing research topics for pain management

• Nurse’s role in paint management

• Chemical and non-chemical pain management plans for post-surgery

• Pain management strategies for cancer patients

• Pain management strategies in pediatrics

• Best practices of cognitive hypnotherapy as a pain management strategy

• Chronic pain management in elderly patients

Infection control nursing research topics

• Education and training on infection control

• Investigation of outbreak and management

• Vaccination strategies

• Hand hygiene

• PPEs best practices

• Communication and leadership during an outbreak

Psychiatric nursing research topics

• Cultural competency in psychiatry

• Handling young patients in a psychiatric unit

• Stigmatization of psychiatric nurses

• Psychiatric care for nurses

• Psychiatric theory in practice

Nursing informatics topics for research paper

• Health information security and safety

• Intelligent systems

• Data mining

• Clinical decision support systems

• Telemedicine

• Electronic/medical health records

Cardiovascular nursing research topics

• Hypertension management strategies

• Imaging

• Heart failure

• Neurodevelopment in Congenital Heart disease patients

• Acute Coronary Syndromes

• Atrial Fibrillation

ICU nursing research topics

• EBP in ICU care settings

• Nurses’ burnouts in ICU settings

• Needs of patient’s family in ICU

• Role of critical nurses in palliative care

• Association between actual and perceived risk assessment in ICU

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