Overview of Nursing Research
Research papers are usually considered the epitome of nursing school education.
Just like a risk for nursing diagnosis or nursing care plan for pneumonia, research papers are quite common assignments in nursing school.
As a nursing student, you need skills on how to write a research paper.
For this reason, you are required to demonstrate extensive skills in research and writing.
In some cases, you will be provided with a topic to explore.
In most cases however, you will be required to find your own research topic.
Finding the topic is an important skill when it comes to how to write a nursing research paper.
This demands that you come up with the most viable topics for investigation.
Clearly, the process of finding appropriate evidence based practice nursing research topics is thorough and systematic.
This process is as illustrated below.
Coming up with Ideas on Topics for a Nursing Research Paper
Just like is the case when writing nursing essays, finding the right nursing research paper topic is quite critical.
With this in mind, identifying appropriate ideas is the first step when it comes to developing a potential list of research topics for nursing students.
In this step, you are supposed to do the following.
1. Identify two or three topics of interest
This requires you to go through your discipline and isolate areas with discrepancies, of national interest, or of common concern in the nursing discipline.
2. Evaluate the reasons for joining the profession
It is advisable to examine the reason for enrolling for nursing as a good source for topics for a nursing research paper.
If you were drawn to the nursing profession by specific interest in a disease, condition, or a solution to a problem, explore it as a potential research topic.
3. Explore real life scenarios
In this, you should look at conditions or diseases that affect or have in the past affected you, your family members, or friends as potential areas for research.
The entailed experiences could form good research topics in nursing and midwifery.
4. Examine nursing research articles
You can look for articles with recent health issues that are interesting. Such articles could include newspapers or clinical journals.
Specifically, you can use available data to analyze the health status of a certain population and arising issues as potential research topics.
5. Review nursing textbooks
Nursing textbooks are another potential source for topics for a nursing research paper.
You can go through textbooks in nursing and other relevant courses to find out whether there are issues that can be potential research topics.
6. Examine potentially controversial issues
This requires you to explore health and clinical issues that raise diverse opinions within the society.
You can pick topics on issues such as marijuana, euthanasia, anxiety disorders, etc.
7. Explore a combination of factors
You can generate evidence based practice nursing research topics by combining key health issues with factors such as socioeconomic class, ethnicity, religion, geographical location, etc.
Narrowing down Topics for a Nursing Research Paper
This is the next step in generating topics for a nursing research paper. The step requires you to conduct a study on the topics to identify the type of questions that have not been addressed yet about the topic.
You should go through recent nursing research articles and other publications to find out what has not been covered about your topic. Identify what could be studied and its future research implications.
The process of narrowing down the topics requires systematic adjustment of the potential topic, where you determine whether its scope is too broad, too narrow, or right.
Examples on how to Narrow Down Topics for a Nursing Research Paper
|
Topic |
Scope |
| Therapy for bone injuries | Too broad |
| Causes of injuries in athletes | Too broad |
| Medication for allergies | Too broad |
| Health benefits of citrus fruits in a diet | Right |
| Health needs for children below 5 years in war torn Syria | Right |
| Arthritis treatment using Tylenol for a 60 year old male patient | Too narrow |
Sample Topics for a Nursing Research Paper
Research topics for nursing and midwifery could be derived from a wide ranging topic areas. As earlier noted, such topics could focus on a number of issues not specifically within the context of clinical practice.
Per se, some potential topics for a nursing research paper are as listed below.
Pain Management
This is a great are to explore. You can evaluate topics in areas such as pain management, prescription drugs, alternative medication, etc.
Below is a list of research topics for nursing students in this area.
1. Chronic pain disorders that result from wrong acute pain treatment.
2. Pain treatments for post-discharged patients.
3. Fibromyalgia treatment options.
4. Long-term pain treatment options.
5. Pediatric opioid poisoning risk.
6. Measures for enhancing pain management after surgery.
7. Pain treatment using non-pharmacological methods.
Mental Health
This is another area to look for topics for a nursing research paper. Mental health is of paramount importance to nurses as it plays a key role in patient health.
Evidence based practice nursing research topics in this area may focus on care and therapies, treatment and management, as well as mental health causes.
Below is a list of research topics for nursing on mental health.
1. Management of cognitive decline among Alzheimer patients.
2. Treatment for social anxiety disorder.
3. Impacts of aging on psychological health.
4. Treatment for dementia in its early stages.
5. Treatment processes for suicidal patients.
6. Role of a psychiatrist in treatment of a patient.
7. Role of a nurse in patient depression management.
Obstetrics
This is a rich area for viable topics for a nursing research paper. As evidenced by past and current nursing research articles, there are numerous issues that require further scrutiny in this field.
With this in mind, common topics may include:
1. Risks associated with multiple pregnancies.
2. The impact of excess mother’s weight before and during birth.
3. How to treat hypertension resulting from pregnancy.
4. Impacts of drug abuse on a pregnant mother.
5. Risks arising from adolescent pregnancy.
6. Importance of maintaining appropriate glucose levels during pregnancy.
7. Role of education among new mothers in reducing sudden infant death syndrome incidences.
Health Care Promotion
Topics for a nursing research paper in this area focus on strategies meant to enhance the health of a patient, the family, or a community.
They should look at different approaches in reducing risks for diseases and other health conditions.
Key evidence based practice nursing research topics in this area include:
1. The role of healthy diets/exercise in preventing diabetes occurrence.
2. Teenage pregnancy prevention measures among the Latino Americans.
3. Mitigation of occupational hazards among construction workers.
4. Prevention of child obesity.
5. Drug abuse effects among teenagers and children.
6. Colorectal cancer prevention.
7. Importance of vaccination against Hepatitis B among health workers.
Midwifery
This is also an interesting area to find topics for a nursing research paper. You should focus on the context of practice, entailed controversies, and evolutions in the field.
Per se, research topics in nursing and midwifery include:
1. Potential problems during childbirth among overweight women.
2. Effectiveness of family planning in third world countries.
3. Prevention of STIs among adolescent girls.
4. Contraception and prevention of pregnancy among teenagers.
5. The impact of low weight among lactating mothers on the child.
6. The negative impact of unscientific traditional practices on pregnancy.
7. The impact of anxiety among first time mothers during pregnancy.
Child Nursing
Child nursing is another interesting area to look for topics for a nursing research paper. You can explore issues on child health conditions, treatments, and disease prevention.
Potential topics in this area include:
1. Management of cancer among pediatrics.
2. Importance of healthy diets in prevention of health complications among children.
3. Prevention of child mortality for children above 5 years.
4. Prevention of diabetes among children below 5 years.
5. Prevention of diarrhea associated with contamination among children below 5 years.
6. Treatment of children who have been victims of child abuse.
7. Improvement of care for new mothers within the ward environment.
Geriatrics
This is another interesting area to seek topics for a nursing research paper. You can decide to study different issues related to the health of the elderly.
Such issues may include lifestyle challenges, deteriorating health and physiological functioning, and emotional changes.
Evidence-based practice research topics in this area may include:
1. Suicidal tendencies among the elderly.
2. Prevention of malnutrition among geriatric patients.
3. Best approaches in diabetes management among the elderly.
4. Management of dementia among geriatric patients.
5. Prevention of infectious diseases among the elderly.
6. Prevention of bed falls and injuries among geriatric patients.
7. Identification of hearing impairment among the elderly and appropriate treatment.
Note that the above are just a few examples of topics and topic areas for a nursing research paper. Accordingly, you can modify them to suit your specific research interests.
