A study on clinical nursing research trends and hotspots based on bibliometric analysis

Objective

This study was conducted to understand the trends and research hotspots of clinical nursing in China and abroad, thereby to provide guidance for nursing practice and studies.

Methods

We retrieved clinical nursing literature (excluding literature related to psychological nursing and traditional Chinese medicine nursing) cited in Wanfang Data (www.wanfangdata.com.cn) and PubMed between 2007 and 2015 and subsequently performed bibliometric analyses on article volume, journal, clustering of high-frequency keywords, and co-occurrence of keywords.

Results

A total of 10374 publications, excluding those related to psychological nursing, were retrieved via a PubMed search. The literature displayed a rising trend in terms of annual publication volume. The journal distribution of clinical nursing publications overall was consistent with Bradford's Law. The main contents of clinical nursing literature between 2007 and 2009 included: (1) studies on effects of the midwife and midwifery methods for natural childbirth; (2) studies on emergency nursing care; (3) studies on dementia care; (4) studies on bandage dressing in trauma nursing; and (5) studies on quality of life in cancer patients nursing. The main contents of clinical nursing literature between 2010 and 2012 included: (1) studies on obstetric nurse–patient relationships; (2) studies on patients' medical team in stroke nursing; (3) studies on cancer nursing methods; (4) studies on nursing patients with trauma related to urinary incontinence; and (5) studies on the quality of life of caregivers of dementia patients. The main contents of clinical nursing literature between 2013 and 2015 included (1) studies on skin care and bandaging in trauma nursing; (2) studies on evidence-based nursing in AIDS care; (3) studies on nurses' role in obstetric nurse–patient relationships; studies on cancer nursing methods; (4) studies on nursing for Alzheimer's disease and dementia; and (5) studies on caregivers and nursing of stroke patients. A Wanfang Data search retrieved a total of 85570 publications, whose volume also exhibited an annual rising trend, in particular with regard to those in core journals. However, percentage of total publication volume, mean cited frequency per article, and total ranking of clinical nursing publications overall displayed a decreasing trend. The main contents of clinical nursing literature between 2007 and 2009 included: (1) diabetes nursing; (2) nursing for cancer; (3) nursing for senility-related diseases; (4) nursing in the event of complications; (5) nursing for hypertension; (6) studies on quality of life after nursing interventions; (7) chemotherapy nursing; (8) studies on compliance after nursing interventions; (9) constipation nursing; and (10) nursing for stroke patients. The main contents of clinical nursing literature between 2010 and 2012 included: (1) diabetes nursing; (2) nursing for cancer; (3) nursing for senility-related diseases; (4) studies on quality of life after nursing interventions; (5) nursing in the event of complications; (6) nursing for hypertension; (7) prevention nursing; (8) perioperative nursing; (9) pain nursing; and (10) studies on compliance after nursing interventions. The main contents of clinical nursing literature between 2013 and 2015 included: (1) diabetes nursing; (2) nursing in the event of complications; (3) cancer nursing; (4) studies on quality of life after nursing interventions; (5) nursing for stroke patients; (6) nursing for the elderly; (7) studies on compliance after nursing interventions; (8) nursing for hypertension; (9) constipation nursing; and (10) prevention nursing.

Conclusions

Clinical nursing research in China is in a rapid development stage as defined by Price's law whereby there is a rapid growth in publication volume. By comparison, clinical nursing research in developed countries is in the stable development stage or maturation phase, which is characterized by a flat curve of publication volume and stable development rate. There is a gap of 25–30 years between China and these countries in terms of the growth phases of clinical nursing literature.