Need ideas for nursing research topic

talaxandra · Aug 26, 2004

I would suggest that you think about what practices, procedures or interventions most interest you - maybe that surprised you when you first learned about or saw them, that you had a strong reaction to, that made you question the underlying principle etc. Researching something that you don't have a connection with is the most boring thing you can do!

For example, several years ago I read an article by Peter Singer, a philosopher with an interest in medical ethics. He was writing about ICU nurses and brain death, and from the observation that they spoke to the brain dead, concluded that they didn't understand the concept of brain death. I talk to dead patients as I lay them out, and I absolutely know they're dead (!) so my immediate reaction was "that's not right!"

Now I'm interviewing ICU nurses who speak to their brain dead patients about the reasons why they do it. It's something I've thought about for a while and am really interested in.

A friend of mine was uninspired about a research topic and ended up writing a thesis on how the local nurses' board came up with their code of ethics. By the end of it she was heartily sick of the whole thing, and it was a real effort for her to even finish it off.

Hope this helps, even though it's not a list of possible areas of research :)

edited for typo

llg, PhD, RN · Aug 26, 2004

I agree totally with talaxandra. Choose a topic that really excites you, intrigues you, or interests you in some other way sufficiently for you to "live with it" for a long time. Is there a question in nursing that you can't find the answer to? Is there an issue about which nurses seem to be confused ... or have more questions about than answers? Do you have a "burning passion" about any aspect of nursing? What motivates you? What do you care about? What makes you angry? ... or disappointed? Is there anything you would like to change?

I did my doctoral research developing a philosophy of technology for nurses. The topic grew out of my frustration working with monitors, computers, etc. that were implemented in the hospital setting that didn't seem to be helping as much as the salesmen said they would. It seemed we nurses were often spending a lot of time, effort, and money on technology and not reaping as much reward as we should. I became interested in the relationship between technology and nursing ... and eventually did my dissertation on it.

llg

talaxandra · Aug 27, 2004

Thanks, llg. That's another reason why you should look at a topic which interests you - you never know where it's going to lead. You might not think that you'll ever be interested in going back to school once you finally graduate (I know it was the last thing on my mind!) but you never know. Good luck!

thenuja · Aug 8, 2010

I am BSC nursing student.

emm_ey · Oct 5, 2011

Good day.. Would like to know if smoking may be a topic for a graduate student?..and need your ideas bout it.

elizabenny · Nov 14, 2011

Please let me also get some help from the experts.I m planning to do some research in pediatric pulmonary.I know a lot about asthma.tell me some thing about bronchoscopy

talaxandra · Nov 14, 2011

Anything? If there isn't a light you can't see anything.

Rob72, ASN, RN · Nov 16, 2011

talaxandra said:
Anything? If there isn't a light you can't see anything.

So wrong...

Best suggestion: if you have a med school nearby, call the department of pulmonology, and see if you could interview one of their peds people. If you know/meet an RT during your clinicals, they can probably give you the best blow-by-blow (no pun intended) on bronchs.