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 167 OF 216 · NEWEST FIRST

• RNOther2025Difference between estimated and actual body weight in an intensive care unit-A service evaluation.Nursing in critical careICU staff weight estimates were often wrong, with a median difference from actual weight of 7.9%. Patients able to estimate were more accurate at 4.14%. Ideal and predicted body weight were far less accurate and should not replace actual weighing.
• RNOther2025Questions older people and caregivers ask about kidney therapies: A computer-assisted analysis.Patient education and counselingCaregivers asked far more questions about dialysis logistics than patients, while patients focused on access site appearance. Both groups rarely asked about conservative management or end-of-life care. Clinicians should proactively discuss these options rather than waiting for prompts.
• RNOther2025Psychometric properties of the Chinese-version Behavioral Inhibition System/Behavioral Activation System Scales among stroke survivors with depressive symptoms.International journal of nursing sciencesThe Chinese BIS/BAS scales seem usable for stroke survivors with depressive symptoms. Ten participants found the items clear, scores were stable when retested, and people with probable depression showed lower activation and higher inhibition.
• RNOther2025The implementation and impact of narrative diaries in neonatal intensive care units: A scoping review.Nursing in critical careNICU diaries are increasingly used, but their formats and effects vary widely. A pilot journal trial found no clear difference in parent anxiety or depression, while other studies reported reduced stress; evidence is too limited to confirm benefit.
• RNRCT2025Let my father listen to my heart sounds too: Attachment in fathers who perform Leopold maneuvers and listen to fetal heart sounds, attachment and partner relationships in mothers.Japan journal of nursing science : JJNSFathers trained to feel the pregnant belly and listen to fetal heartbeats daily for 15 days reported stronger attachment to the unborn baby than control fathers. Mothers also reported stronger attachment and better partner relationships.
• RNOther2025Pain Acceptance in Chronic Postoperative Pain: Concept Analysis.Pain management nursing : official journal of the American Society of Pain Management NursesPain acceptance means engaging in life despite chronic postoperative pain while respecting recovery limits. It can make patients seem less in pain, so nurses should assess pain rather than assume coping means less pain.
• PTRNMeta-Analysis2025Nurse-involved early mobilization in the intensive care unit: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Nursing in critical careNurse-involved ICU early mobilization did not show a clear improvement in muscle strength. It was linked with shorter ICU stays, but the studies varied in how nurses and other staff shared the work.
• RNCohort2025Do Medicare Accountable Care Organizations Impact Health Care Utilization among Long-Stay Nursing Home Residents?Journal of the American Medical Directors AssociationBeing attributed to a Medicare Accountable Care Organization did not significantly change hospitalizations, emergency visits, or costs for long-stay nursing home residents. The reduction in spending seen over time occurred in both groups, suggesting broader reforms rather than ACOs drove the change.
• RNSurvey2025Examining Differences Among Opioid Agonist Treatment Clients in Regional and Metropolitan Settings of New South Wales, Australia.The Australian journal of rural healthRegional OAT clients were more likely to use buprenorphine and private dosing sites, and to travel by car or active transport rather than public transport. They reported less past-month heroin, but driving offences mostly did not differ.
• RNMeta-Analysis2025Fear of Cancer Recurrence Prevalence and Its Associated Factors Among Family Caregivers of Women With Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of clinical nursingAbout 45% of spouses or partners of women with breast cancer had high fear of cancer recurrence. Low resilience, poor couple communication, social constraints and protective buffering were linked to higher fear.
• RNOther2025Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Accessing High-Quality Home Health Care among Older Adults with and Without Dementia.Journal of the American Medical Directors AssociationNon-Hispanic Black and Hispanic older adults and people with dementia were less likely to receive home health care from high-quality agencies. Dementia widened these gaps, and minority patients were more often in low-quality agencies.
• RNCohort2025Association of early versus late tracheostomy with prognosis in hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy patients: A propensity-matched cohort study.Nursing in critical careEarly tracheostomy within 10 days shortened hospital stay, ICU stay and ventilation time compared to later tracheostomy. However, it did not reduce ventilator-associated pneumonia and showed no significant survival benefit, with non-significant trends toward higher mortality in the early group.
• RNSystematic Review2025The effect of music on pain in mechanically ventilated patients: A Systematic review.Nursing in critical careIn mechanically ventilated intensive care patients, music reduced pain in eight of 10 included studies, with no adverse effects reported. The interventions varied widely, so no standard dose or music type is established.
• RNOther2025Prevention and management of postoperative delirium in adult patients: a best practice implementation project.Revista da Escola de Enfermagem da U S PTraining and a CAM-ICU workflow raised staff adherence to several delirium care criteria in an audit of 10 PACU patients. Sedation-depth monitoring stayed at zero because BIS equipment was not acquired.
• RNCohort2025Feasibility of Remote Intensive Monitoring: A Novel Approach to Reduce Black Postpartum Maternal Cardiovascular Complications.Journal of midwifery & women's health19 Black postpartum women rated remote monitoring as feasible, acceptable, appropriate and usable. Some had high blood pressure readings, but the study did not test whether monitoring reduced complications.
• RNSystematic Review2025Quality Improvement Interventions for Peripheral Intravenous Catheter Nursing Practices: A Systematic Review.Journal of nursing care qualityQI bundles, ultrasound guidance, and new devices reported fewer peripheral IV catheter complications and better nurse practice, but evidence is weak: few reported whether improvement was more than chance, and sustainability was often not reported.
• RNRCT2025Impact of Individualized Versus Weight-Based Pain Protocols on Patient Satisfaction for Patients With Sickle Cell Disease Experiencing a Vaso-Occlusive Episode.Journal of emergency nursingPain scores did not differ between individualized and weight-based ED protocols. Compared with past ED care, more individualized-protocol patients were very satisfied (57.1% vs 31.8%), but most satisfaction items showed no difference.
• RNSystematic Review2025The Central Role of Learning in Preventing Foot Complications in Persons With Diabetes: A Scoping Review.Journal of clinical nursingDiabetes foot-care education was described as learning processes: reflection, motivation, hands-on tasks and feedback. Included studies reported practice, peer support and reinforcement; the review did not prove these prevent ulcers.
• RNOther2025Psychometric Testing of the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire 12 in A European Population.The Journal of cardiovascular nursingThe Italian KCCQ-12 appears usable for assessing quality of life in Italian patients with heart failure. Scores can be compared across ejection fraction groups, but some items behaved differently in those groups.
• RNSystematic Review2025Interventions to Increase Thriving Amongst Older People in Care Homes and Factors Contributing to Their Thriving Experience-A Scoping Review.Nursing openThriving in care homes was associated with residents' attitude to living there, quality of care, meaningful activity, environment and neuropsychiatric symptoms such as depression and aggression. Only two intervention studies were found, so this does not show that thriving programmes work.
• RNCohort2025Outcomes of Discontinuing Long-Term Opioid Therapy among Older Cancer Survivors in Long-Term Care Settings.Journal of the American Medical Directors AssociationIn older nursing home cancer survivors, stopping long-term opioids was linked with less worsening pain and fewer opioid use disorder or overdose events, without worse physical function or depression.
• RNOther2025Perceptions of blame among black women during prenatal care: A mixed methods study.Patient education and counselingBlack women interviewed about prenatal care often blamed themselves for complications, linking them to diet, stress, or not speaking up. All said hearing 'it's not your fault' would be affirming and could build trust.
• RNMeta-Analysis2025Effectiveness of Acupressure on Sleep Quality Among Inpatients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Nursing & health sciencesAcupressure significantly improved sleep quality in hospitalized adults compared with usual care and benzodiazepines. The benefit was seen in both general wards and ICUs, whether self-administered or delivered by nurses, with only one minor skin infection reported.
• PTRNCohort2025Falls in Hospitals: Challenging Traditional Risk Assessments With New Insights Into Patient Mobility.Journal of advanced nursingHospitalised patients with lower mobility capability fell more often. Actual mobility showed a U-shaped pattern: bed-level and high-walking patients fell less than those in between. Capability and performance may identify different fall risks.
• RNSurvey2025Colonial Mentality and Diabetes Self-Management in Filipino Americans.Nursing openFilipino American adults with type 2 diabetes who reported more cultural shame or internalised inferiority also reported lower glucose control, healthcare use, and overall diabetes self-management scores. These were associations in 37 survey respondents, not proof of cause.
• RNOther2025Pain in Hospital: A Real-Word Data Analysis.Nursing openAt least one self-rated pain score of 3 or more was documented in 56.86% of ward stays and severe pain in 18.84%. Analgesics were given in 72.43%, nonpharmacological care in 9.07%. Nurses should check whether pain treatment included nonpharmacological options.
• RNCohort2025Identifying Human Trafficking in the Hospital via an Abuse Screening Tool.Journal of forensic nursingAdding three trafficking questions to a hospital abuse screen found 25 of 303 patients who answered yes to those questions had charting concerning for trafficking. 11 concerning cases did not answer yes to them. Nurses should not rely on the questions alone.
• RNSystematic Review2025Effects of digital health interventions in women with high-risk pregnancies: a systematic review.Women's health nursing (Seoul, Korea)Across seven trials, digital health tools for high-risk pregnancy did not improve primary blood pressure or birth outcomes. Some secondary anxiety, satisfaction, and illness-perception results were better with the tools.
• RNRCT2025Parent and pediatric nurse practitioner views on integrating the digital TELL tool intervention into clinical practice.Journal of pediatric nursingParents using donated gametes or embryos said the TELL Tool gave them confidence to talk with their children. Pediatric nurse practitioners would welcome it as a supplement, but all but one wanted proof it works and hands-on access first.
• RNQualitative2025An Explorative Study on the Role of Family Members in Caring for Mental Health Care Users in South Africa.Journal of psychiatric and mental health nursingFamily caregivers of people with mental illness struggle to ensure treatment adherence and hygiene, often lacking knowledge about causes and side effects. They reported stigma and insufficient support from nurses after discharge, leaving them isolated and fearful of relapse.
• RNQualitative2025Sleep in Residential Aged Care: A Secondary Qualitative Analysis of Data from the Australian Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.Western journal of nursing researchPeople in Australian residential aged care described sleep disrupted by inconsistent sleep care planning, early waking for hygiene, night checks, continence care, repositioning, noise, light, and restraint. Staff and families said routines often overrode residents’ preferences.
• RNRCT2025Effects of Health Education Based on the Roy Adaptation Model on the Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors and Self-Esteem of Working Adolescents: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Public health nursing (Boston, Mass.)Working adolescents who received six health education sessions scored higher on healthy lifestyle behaviours right after the programme, but not six weeks later. Self-esteem scores differed between groups only at six weeks, with lower scores indicating better self-esteem.
• RNCohort2025Using Machine Learning to Identify Social Determinants of Health that Impact Discharge Disposition for Hospitalized Patients.Journal of the American Medical Directors AssociationIn 134,807 hospitalized adults, lack of a partner, older age, more comorbidities, unstable finances, no employment, poor transportation, limited dental care, little exercise, or few social contacts were linked to a higher chance of skilled nursing facility discharge.
• RNQualitative2025Social Support and Sleep Quality Among Bereaved AD/ADRD Caregivers: A Qualitative Study.Western journal of nursing researchBereaved dementia caregivers described feeling safe, connected, and comforted through memories, prayer, belongings, and dreams as helping their sleep. The study did not test whether these practices improve sleep.
• RNCohort2025Interruptions and downtime of continuous renal replacement therapy in critically ill adults: A retrospective observational study.Nursing in critical careCRRT circuits stopped often. Each circuit had 67 interruptions on average and a median of 1.98 hours of downtime. Bag changes caused most downtime, and passive bag change caused more downtime than active bag change.
• RNMeta-Analysis2025The Effectiveness of Nurse-Led Transition Care on Post-Discharge Outcomes of Adult Stroke Survivors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Nursing openNurse-led stroke transition care improved quality of life by a medium amount, but did not clearly reduce mortality or readmission at 1 year. Results varied widely across studies.
• RNQualitative2025'It's a Balancing Act'. A Qualitative Study of the Everyday Management of Type 1 Diabetes Among People with Unexplained Persistent Hyperglycaemia.Scandinavian journal of caring sciencesParticipants with persistent high blood sugar often chose higher readings to avoid lows. They described lows as exhausting, embarrassing and socially risky, while diabetes felt unpredictable despite routines, sensors and clinic advice.
• RNSurvey2025Identifying Health Services Preferences for a Community-Based HIV Status-Neutral Mobile Clinic Among Marginalized Populations in Oakland, CA: A Maximum-Difference Analysis.The Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care : JANACMarginalized Oakland community members ranked housing case management, mental health counseling, and mental health screening as most important services for a mobile HIV clinic, ahead of standard medical services.
• RNQualitative2025Re-Determining My Position: Experiences of Adolescent Siblings of Pediatric Cancer Survivors.Nursing & health sciencesAdolescent siblings of pediatric cancer survivors described fear for their sibling, feeling excluded when parents focused on treatment, and hiding distress while taking on family duties.
• RNQualitative2025"I have to be strong": A qualitative study of parental bereavement experiences in Uganda following the death of their baby.Women and birth : journal of the Australian College of MidwivesBereaved parents in Uganda described avoiding memory-making practices like holding the baby or keeping photos, finding them distressing. They relied on family and community financial support to cover funeral costs, rather than formal health service bereavement care.
• RNCohort2025High Anticholinergic Burden of Patients Hospitalized for Hip Fracture Reveals a Target for Deprescribing.Journal of the American Medical Directors AssociationAmong older hip fracture patients with high anticholinergic burden, 42.6% had lower burden during post-acute nursing home care, but 47.5% had no meaningful change and 9.9% increased.
• RNSystematic Review2025A Rapid Review of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy in the Context of Palliative Care.Journal of hospice and palliative nursing : JHPN : the official journal of the Hospice and Palliative Nurses AssociationPsychedelic-assisted therapy was reported to reduce depression, anxiety, hopelessness, death anxiety, demoralization, and existential distress in reviewed palliative care studies, and to improve spiritual well-being and quality of life. No serious adverse events were reported, but one participant worsened.
• RNProtocol2025Patient and family experiences of early cognitive rehabilitation in critical illness: A qualitative study protocol.Nursing in critical careNo results yet: this protocol plans interviews with ICU survivors and families about early cognitive rehabilitation, including barriers, to inform a nurse-led intervention.
• RNSurvey2025Do Adolescents Living With HIV in Kenya Know Their Viral Load Results? Record Audit and Adolescent Exit Surveys in Kiambu and Nakuru Counties: A Cross-Sectional Study.The Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care : JANACMost adolescents living with HIV in Kenya did not know their last viral load result. Half reported receiving it, while 38% said they did not. Older adolescents were more likely to know their status than younger ones. Record audits showed most lab results matched clinic files, but some were missing or incorrect.
• RNOther2025Connections Reduce Rheumatic Heart Disease-Related Mortality in Western Australia: A Mixed Methods Study.The Australian journal of rural healthMost deaths among WA RHD register patients under 65 were Aboriginal and remote. Register data showed low BPG adherence and delayed echo and specialist review. Interviews described access and cultural barriers, with trusting relationships and community-controlled services seen as key.
• RNQualitative2025"I don't think I have been out of fight or flight. Ever." Transgender people's experiences in inpatient psychiatric treatment.International journal of nursing studiesTransgender adults described inpatient psychiatric care as exhausting because staff misgendered them, withheld hormones, and ignored their distress. Nurses who actively corrected names and advocated for affirming care were rare but made the difference between feeling safe and feeling targeted.
• RNMeta-Analysis2025Postnatal Depression Beyond 12 Months: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of mental health nursingDepression rates did not differ between the first and second postpartum years: 16% then 15%, and 19% beyond 24 months. This suggests postnatal depression can continue or begin later.
• RNMeta-Analysis2025Prevalence of Hypochloremia in Patients With Heart Failure: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Nursing openLow serum chloride was found in 14.0% across studies of 29,807 heart failure patients. In 3 studies, 27.0% had low serum chloride at discharge. Monitor chloride when loop diuretics are used.
• RNSystematic Review2025Integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) With Workforce Solutions for Sustainable Care: A Follow Up to Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (ML) Based Decision Support Systems in Mental Health.International journal of mental health nursingAI decision support in mental health may help clinicians personalise care and reduce workload, but the reviewed evidence is feasibility, acceptability and model performance, not proven patient outcomes. Bias and transparency remain unresolved.
• RNRCT2025Effect of psychological intervention combined with feedback-based health education on lung cancer patients.Revista da Escola de Enfermagem da U S PLung cancer patients who received routine nursing plus stage-based psychological support and feedback health education reported lower anxiety and depression, better quality of life, and fewer adverse reactions than routine nursing alone in a pilot study.