Definition of Nursing Research

Nursing research develops knowledge about health and the promotion of health over the full lifespan, care of persons with health problems and disabilities, and nursing actions to enhance the ability of individuals to respond effectively to actual or potential health problems.

These foci of nursing research complement those of biomedical research, which is primarily concerned with causes and treatments of disease. Advancements in biomedical research have resulted in increased life expectancies, including life expectancies of those with serious injury and those with chronic or terminal disease. These biomedical advances have thus led to growth in the numbers of those who require nursing care to live with health problems, such as the frail elderly, the chronically ill, and the terminally ill.

Research conducted by nurses includes various types of studies in order to derive clinical interventions to assist those who require nursing care. The complexity of nursing research and its broad scope often require scientific underpinning from several disciplines. Hence, nursing research cuts across traditional research lines, and draws its methods from several fields.

Directions for Research

Priority should be given to nursing research that would generate knowledge to guide practice in:

1.

Promoting health, well-being, and competency for personal care among all age groups;

2.

Preventing health problems throughout the life span that have the potential to reduce productivity and satisfaction;

3.

Decreasing the negative impact of health problems on coping abilities, productivity, and life satisfaction of individuals and families;

4.

Ensuring that the care needs of particularly vulnerable groups are met through appropriate strategies;

5.

Designing and developing health care systems that are cost-effective in meeting the nursing needs of the population.

Examples

Examples of research consistent with these priorities include the following:

• Identification of determinants (personal and environmental, including social support networks) of wellness and health functioning in individuals and families, e.g. avoidance of abusive behaviors such as alcoholism and drug use, successful adaptation to chronic illness, and coping with the last days of life.
• Identification of phenomena that negatively influence the course of recovery and that may be alleviated by nursing practice, such as, for example, anorexia, diarrhea, sleep deprivation, deficiencies in nutrients, electrolyte imbalances, and infections.
• Development and testing of care strategies to do the following:
  Facilitate individuals' ability to adopt and maintain health enhancing behaviors (e.g. alterations in diet and exercise).
  Enhance patients' ability to manage acute and chronic illness in such a way as to minimize or eliminate the necessity of institutionalization and to maximize well-being.
  Reduce stressful responses associated with the medical management of patients (e.g. surgical procedures, intrusive examination procedures, or use of extensive monitoring devices).
  Provide more effective care to high-risk populations (e.g. maternal and child care service to vulnerable mothers and infants, family planning services to young teenagers, services designed to enhance self-care in the chronically ill and the very old).
  Enhance the care of clients culturally different from the majority (e.g. Black Americans, Mexican-Americans, Native Americans) and clients with special problems (e.g. teenagers, prisoners, and the mentally ill), and the underserved (the elderly, the poor, and the rural).
• Design and assessment, in terms of effectiveness and cost, of models for delivering nursing care strategies found to be effective in clinical studies.

All of the foregoing are directly related to the priority of developing the knowledge and information needed for improvement of the practice of nursing.

While priority should be given to this form of clinical research, there is no intent to discourage other forms of nursing research. These would include such investigations as those utilizing historical and philosophical modes of inquiry, and studies of manpower for nursing education, practice, and research, as well as studies of quality assurance for nursing and those for establishment of criterion measures for practice and education.

Footnotes

1

American Nurses' Association. Research priorities for the 1980s: Generating a scientific basis for nursing practice (Publication No. D-68). Kansas City, Mo.: American Nurses' Association, 1981.