NURSING

Research for nursing

Papers a nurse can act on, across critical and emergency care, medical-surgical, mental health, paediatrics and neonatal, maternity, older adults, community and primary care, and oncology and palliative care. Each is read in full rather than from its abstract.

10,756 PAPERS · PAGE 102 OF 216 · NEWEST FIRST

• RNCohort2022D-dimer level for ruling out peripherally inserted central catheter-associated upper extremity deep vein thrombosis and superficial vein thrombosis.Nursing openA negative D-dimer did not reliably exclude PICC-associated upper extremity vein thrombosis. Among 180 low-risk patients with negative D-dimer, 39 had thrombosis on ultrasound.
• RNQualitative2022Dignity reflections based on experiences of end-of-life care during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative inquiry among bereaved relatives in the Netherlands (the CO-LIVE study).Scandinavian journal of caring sciencesBereaved relatives described isolation, unclear communication and restricted farewells as undermining dignity. Some nursing care preserved it by arranging visits, calls, videos, attentive personal care and clear conversations, even when rules were hard.
• RNOther2022Adherence to Analgesics Among Outpatients Seriously Ill With Cancer.Cancer nursingHospice and palliative care patients with cancer self-reported lower analgesic adherence when doses were due more often than every 8 hours. Longer dosing intervals were the only factor linked to better adherence in this study.
• RNQualitative2022Hospital to Home: Supporting the Transition From Hospital to Home for Older Adults.The Canadian journal of nursing research = Revue canadienne de recherche en sciences infirmieresFamily caregivers of three older adults stuck in hospital learned about enhanced home care only after burnout or decline. Overnight and inconsistent support, plus prior negative experiences, made returning home feel impossible.
• RNRCT2022Routine Catheter Lock Solutions in Pediatric Cancer Care: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of Heparin vs Saline.Cancer nursingThis pilot did not show a difference between saline and heparin locks for pediatric cancer CVAD occlusion. Heparin had more occlusions descriptively, but the study was too small to decide.
• PTOTSLPRNCohort2022Reasons for Hospitalization while Receiving Dementia Care Coordination through Maximizing Independence at Home.Journal of the American Medical Directors AssociationIn older adults with dementia receiving home care coordination, infection and falls were the top causes of hospitalization. Severely impaired patients were hospitalized most often for infection, while mildly impaired patients fell most often.
• RNOther2021Establishing Validity of the Midlife Black Women's Stress-Reduction Wellness Program Materials Using a Mixed Methods Approach.The Journal of cardiovascular nursingTwelve experts rated the B-SWELL materials highly for relevance, cultural fit and ease, but comments asked for more stress, safety and smoking context for midlife Black women. Use this to refine education, not as proof it improves heart health.
• RNPilot2021The Utility of Nursing Notes Among Medicare Patients With Heart Failure to Predict 30-Day Rehospitalization: A Pilot Study.The Journal of cardiovascular nursingNursing notes predicted 30-day heart failure rehospitalization better than physician discharge summaries in this pilot study. The nursing notes model achieved an accuracy score of 0.85, compared to 0.74 for discharge summaries, suggesting nurses' narrative documentation holds valuable prognostic information.
• RNSurvey2021Parental Stress as the Mediator Between Symptom Burden and the Quality of Life of Chinese Children With Cancer.Cancer nursingIn 80 Chinese children with cancer and parents, symptom burden was linked to more parental stress and lower quality of life. Stress helped explain the parent-reported quality-of-life link, not the child-reported one.
• RNQualitative2023Crossroads of parental decision making: Intersections of hope, communication, relationships, and emotions.Journal of child health care : for professionals working with children in the hospital and communityParents of infants with complex congenital heart disease wanted honest, hopeful communication. Sugarcoating or avoiding bad news left them feeling alone and less able to decide. Clear provider communication and trusting relationships were linked to hope and decision making.
• RNSystematic Review2023What Are the Characteristics of the Parish Nursing Research Literature and How Can it Inform Parish Nurse Practice and Research in Canada? A Scoping Review.The Canadian journal of nursing research = Revue canadienne de recherche en sciences infirmieresParish nursing research is mostly from the United States and has variable quality. It maps nurse roles, health promotion, and program evaluations, but does not show that parish nursing improves patient outcomes.
• RNOther2022Navigating Professional and Personal Knowing Through Reflective Storytelling Amidst Covid-19.Journal of holistic nursing : official journal of the American Holistic Nurses' AssociationA nurse educator shares reflective stories about her father's hospital-acquired death and the impact of pandemic visiting restrictions on families. She describes using these narratives to help students understand person-centredness and grief, rather than to test an intervention.
• RNQualitative2022From Expressing Human Milk to Breastfeeding-An Essential Element in the Journey to Motherhood of Mothers of Prematurely Born Infants.Advances in neonatal care : official journal of the National Association of Neonatal NursesFor mothers of premature infants, expressing milk was not just a feeding task but a vital step in becoming a mother. Nurses who offered practical support, skin-to-skin guidance, and emotional validation helped mothers overcome the stress of the NICU and establish breastfeeding.
• RNCohort2022Vaginal birth after caesarean section before and during COVID-19 pandemic. Factors associated with successful vaginal birth.Women and birth : journal of the Australian College of MidwivesVaginal birth after one caesarean was less likely during the pandemic period: 58.9% versus 83.3% before. Previous vaginal birth, epidural analgesia, and night birth were linked to higher success in 276 women.
• RNSurvey2022The impact of perinatal healthcare changes on birth trauma during COVID-19.Women and birth : journal of the Australian College of MidwivesRestrictions on support people and mask mandates during birth were linked to higher trauma symptoms. Changes to birth plans, including support person, breastfeeding, and location, also predicted more symptoms. Screen for birth-related PTSD even if full diagnostic criteria are not met.
• RNSystematic Review2022Hospital-Based Palliative and End-of-Life Care in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review.The American journal of hospice & palliative careHospital palliative care services reported more consults during the pandemic surge, mostly for goals-of-care and advance care planning. Breathlessness and agitation were common, dying phases were often shorter, and visiting restrictions left patients isolated and clinicians distressed.
• RNSurvey2022Process Evaluation of the Regional Referral Clinical Pathway for Home-Based Palliative Care and Outreach Program: A Questionnaire Survey of the Medical Staff and Bereaved Families.The American journal of hospice & palliative careStaff and families in Japanese home palliative care found outreach and a shared pathway useful for communication and reduced burden, but some reported stress from multiple visits and duplicated records. These are perceptions, not proof.
• RNRCT2022Sleep, Stress, and Symptoms Among People With Heart Failure During the COVID-19 Pandemic.The Journal of cardiovascular nursingPeople with heart failure and insomnia reported less severe insomnia than at 6-month follow-up, but slept 0.59 hours less and had more daytime impairment. Stress, anxiety, and depression stayed near 6-month levels.
• RNQualitative2022Towards patient-centred communication in the management of older patients' medications across transitions of care: A focused ethnographic study.Journal of clinical nursingOlder patients wanted different roles in medication decisions across admission, transfer and discharge. Nurses often focused on tasks and handovers, so patients missed chances to ask questions or state preferences. Pharmacists were observed using empathetic medication talk, while nurses and doctors generally were not.
• RNQualitative2022Postpartum women's experiences of social and healthcare professional support during the COVID-19 pandemic: A recurrent cross-sectional thematic analysis.Women and birth : journal of the Australian College of MidwivesPostnatal women described lockdown as isolating, with reduced family support and rushed virtual healthcare. When restrictions eased, renewed contact helped, but missed milestones, excluded partners, and limited online support still left many feeling unsupported.
• RNQualitative2022Making good care essential: The impact of increased obstetric interventions and decreased services during the COVID-19 pandemic.Women and birth : journal of the Australian College of MidwivesPregnant and birthing people in Canada described pandemic maternity care as less hands-on and more intervention-heavy: virtual prenatal visits pushed monitoring onto them, hospital restrictions removed support, and fear of being alone prompted inductions or caesareans.
• RNCohort2022Effectiveness of Pediatric Concurrent Hospice Care to Improve Continuity of Care.The American journal of hospice & palliative careChildren receiving concurrent hospice care stayed in hospice significantly longer and disenrolled less often than those in standard care. However, they were more likely to transition to the emergency room or inpatient care, suggesting these medical moves are part of the blended care model rather than a failure of hospice.
• RNCohort2022Image diagnosis models for the oral assessment of older people using convolutional neural networks: A retrospective observational study.Journal of clinical nursingAn image recognition model classified six visual oral assessment items with high accuracy except mucous membranes, but it was not tested in routine care, so nurses should not rely on it yet.
• RNOther2021Characterizing Pain Leading to Emergency Medical Services Activation in Heart Failure.The Journal of cardiovascular nursingMore than 1 in 5 patients with heart failure transported by EMS had pain as the primary complaint, most often chest pain and often severe. Prior heart attack was linked to pain complaints.
• RNSurvey2021Obstructive Sleep Apnea Risk Is Associated With Severity of Metabolic Syndrome: A Secondary Analysis of the 2015-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.The Journal of cardiovascular nursingHigher estimated sleep apnea risk was linked to worse metabolic syndrome severity, even after body weight, age, diet, and activity were considered. Adults with more snoring and apnea symptoms may need a closer look at cardiometabolic health.
• RNRCT2021Engaging Patients in Research That Involves Meditation: Religious Concerns and Nursing Implications.Cancer nursingWhen recruiters stopped using 'yoga' and described meditation as breathing exercises, seated exercises, and learning to relax the body, dropout in the first 4 weeks was reported as 31% before and 26% after. Staff reported more comfort addressing religious concerns.
• RNCohort2021A National Study of Healthcare Service Patterns at the End of Life Among Children With Cardiac Disease.The Journal of cardiovascular nursingChildren with cardiac disease in hospice still used heavy amounts of other care. Most needed only moderate services like meds and doctor visits, but a high-intensity group used nearly everything, especially home health, often in rural areas.
• PTRNSurvey2023Symptom clusters, associated factors and health-related quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A structural equation modelling analysis.Journal of clinical nursingIn adults with COPD, breathlessness, weakness, drowsiness and poor mobility clustered together; anxiety and depression also clustered, and each cluster was associated with lower quality of life. These clusters suggest symptoms can be assessed as groups, not one by one.
• RNOther2023Life-Sustaining Treatment Decision in Palliative Care Based on Electronic Health Records Analysis.Journal of clinical nursingFamilies made 53.9% of life-sustaining treatment decisions in 2,721 Korean palliative records. Decisions occurred a median 3 days before discharge or death. Nursing records per patient were 28.6 seven days before, 37.7 three days before, and 67.7 on the decision day.
• RNQualitative2023Experiences of Stress - A Focus Group Interview Study Among Swedish Adolescents During the COVID-19 Pandemic.The Journal of school nursing : the official publication of the National Association of School NursesAdolescents reported stress from balancing school, leisure, social media, family demands and pandemic worries. Some described moderate stress as helping focus, while too much was reported alongside sleep problems, physical symptoms and emotional reactions.
• RNSystematic Review2022Factors affecting hospital readmission rates following an acute coronary syndrome: A systematic review.Journal of clinical nursingReadmission rates after acute coronary syndrome varied widely, from 4.2% to 81%. Older age, female gender, smoking, and comorbidities like diabetes and renal disease were linked to higher risk, though findings on age and gender were inconsistent across studies.
• RNSystematic Review2022Pediatric End-of-Life Care in Rural America: A Systematic Review.The American journal of hospice & palliative careRural pediatric hospice care in the US faced barriers from provider shortages, pharmacy gaps, and admission policies. Telehealth and pediatric training were described as helpful, and geographic studies identified unmet need.
• RNRCT2022Psychosocial and Sensory Factors Contribute to Self-Reported Pain and Quality of Life in Young Adults with Irritable Bowel Syndrome.Pain management nursing : official journal of the American Society of Pain Management NursesIn young adults with IBS, fatigue, pain catastrophizing, low self-efficacy, alcohol intake, mechanical pain sensitivity, and cold pain threshold were associated with worse pain interference and quality of life.
• RNSurvey2022Sex Differences in Cardiac Risk Factors in Young Adults: A Secondary Analysis and Surveillance Study.The Journal of cardiovascular nursingYoung adults showed different heart risk patterns by sex: men had more hypertension, smoking, high cholesterol and overweight, while women had more obesity and lower activity. Hypertension, age, cholesterol, smoking and prediabetes predicted CAD.
• RNSystematic Review2022A scoping review of outpatient interventions to support the reduction of prescription opioid medication for chronic non cancer pain.Journal of clinical nursingNo outpatient intervention was proven to reduce prescription opioids in chronic non-cancer pain. The review found 19 small, mixed-quality studies; many reported dose reductions, but only half had a control or comparator group.
• RNCohort2022Polypharmacy and Clinical Outcomes in Hospitalized Patients With Acute Decompensated Heart Failure.The Journal of cardiovascular nursingHeart failure patients discharged on 12 or more medications had a 30% higher adjusted risk of death or readmission within one year compared to those on 5 or fewer. This risk was not significant in patients aged 80 or older or those with anemia.
• RNOther2022Translation and Cross-cultural Adaptation of the Self-care of Hypertension Inventory for Thais With Hypertension.The Journal of cardiovascular nursingThe Thai hypertension self-care questionnaire was feasible and gave consistent answers when patients repeated it or when two investigators scored the same patient. It can help assess self-care in rural Thai primary care, not improve outcomes.
• RNPilot2022Mind Your Heart: Exploring Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Effects of Phone-Delivered Mindfulness Training on Medication Adherence in Outpatients With Chronic Heart Failure.The Journal of cardiovascular nursingIn outpatients with chronic heart failure, phone-delivered mindfulness training was feasible and acceptable, but did not improve medication adherence; objectively measured adherence dropped from 73% to 58%.
• RNMeta-Analysis2022Effect of a game-based intervention on preoperative pain and anxiety in children: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of clinical nursingPain evidence was sparse and mixed. Game-based distraction before anaesthesia favoured lower anxiety, with a mYPAS score difference of -10.62 favouring the game group, but one anxiety scale showed no clear reduction.
• RNCohort2022Effectiveness of a telephone-based nursing intervention to reduce hospital utilization by COVID-19 patients.Public health nursing (Boston, Mass.)Nurse-led phone follow-up for patients isolating at home with COVID-19 did not show a clear reduction in 30-day emergency or hospital use compared with care before the protocol. The reported reduction was uncertain. The study was too small.
• RNNarrative Review2022Holistic Health of Two Spirit People in Canada: A Call for Nursing Action.Journal of holistic nursing : official journal of the American Holistic Nurses' AssociationTwo Spirit people's health in Canada was described through mental, spiritual, physical and emotional themes. Culture and spirituality were strengths; racism, homophobia, violence and invisibility were barriers. No nursing research on their care was found.
• PTRNPilot2022Assessing Physical and Cognitive Function in Individuals With Head and Neck Cancer: A Feasibility Study.Cancer nursingA pedometer, NIH Toolbox, and REDCap battery was feasible and acceptable in newly diagnosed head and neck cancer patients. They walked fewer steps and reported worse symptoms at follow-up; some attention and cognitive flexibility tests improved.
• RNQualitative2022Patients and family members´ perceptions of interprofessional teamwork in palliative care: A qualitative descriptive study.Journal of clinical nursingPatients and family members judged teamwork mainly by visible nurse and doctor communication, a warm atmosphere and clear roles. Too many visits or pain made patients unable to take part, so pacing contacts and explaining roles were important to them.
• RNCohort2023Prevalence and determinants of medication administration errors in clinical wards: A two-centre prospective observational study.Journal of clinical nursingNurses in two Dutch hospitals made at least one medication administration error in 13.7% of administrations. Complex forms and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. were linked to more errors. 45 of 380 errors could harm patients.
• RNRCT2022Exploratory Analysis of Associations Between Whole Blood Mitochondrial Gene Expression and Cancer-Related Fatigue Among Breast Cancer Survivors.Nursing researchFish oil, soybean oil, or both did not differ in breast cancer survivors' cancer-related fatigue. Fatigue improved over six weeks in all groups; lower baseline mitochondrial gene expression was linked to greater improvement, an exploratory finding.
• RNOther2022Profiles of adult people in a Spanish sample with chronic pain: Cluster analysis.Journal of advanced nursingIn Spanish adults with chronic non-cancer pain, two profiles emerged: lower impairment was aged 45-64, employed, mild daily-life impact and no opioid/anxiolytic use; higher impairment was over 65, retired/on leave, severe daily-life impact and opioid/anxiolytic use.
• RNQualitative2022Patients' Perceptions at Diagnosis: Lung Cancer Discovery and Provider Relationships.Cancer nursingNewly diagnosed lung cancer patients described vague flu-like symptoms, fear and smoking stigma delaying care, and poor communication from providers. They wanted clear, direct information about treatment, side effects, and test results to feel supported and trust providers.
• RNQualitative2022Experiences of Symptoms and Impact on Daily Life and Health in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients: A Meta-synthesis of Qualitative Research.Cancer nursingHepatocellular carcinoma patients described overwhelming life disruption, stigma, and uncertainty about symptoms caused by disease or treatment. They often withdrew to avoid burdening others, so nurses may need to ask directly about symptoms and experiences.
• RNSystematic Review2022Unsafe and Unsettling: An Integrative Review on Correctional Nursing Work Environments and Stressors.Journal of forensic nursingCorrectional nurses face high stress from workplace violence, ethical conflicts with security protocols, and heavy workloads. While many report job satisfaction from meaningful work, the review links these stressors to burnout and intent to leave, highlighting a critical need for better staffing and safety support.
• RNPilot2022Clinical application of 'Sophia Observation withdrawal Symptoms-Paediatric Delirium' screening tool in Danish version: A feasibility study.Scandinavian journal of caring sciencesBedside nurses found the Danish SOS-PD quick and easy for screening children's delirium, and it agreed with a psychiatrist in 44 of 50 assessments. It was not used every shift, and three missed cases showed the day-shift screen may miss fluctuating delirium.