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A Scoping Review of Nursing Research Priorities in Pediatric Care
Evalotte Mörelius1, Mandie Foster2, Fenella J Gill3
1Perth Children's Hospital, Nedlands, WA, Australia; School of Nursing and Midwifery, Edith Cowan University, WA, Australia.
Insights
This scoping review identified pediatric nursing research priorities, highlighting themes like evidence-based practice and child-centered care. Future research should include consumer perspectives and non-acute care areas.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nursing Research
- Health Services Research
- Evidence-Based Practice
Background:
- Effective pediatric nursing research requires clear priority setting.
- Previous research has not systematically synthesized identified pediatric nursing research priorities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically identify and synthesize the nature, range, and extent of published pediatric nursing research priorities.
- To inform future pediatric nursing research agendas.
Main Methods:
- A scoping review of English language full-text publications (2008-2019).
- Searched CINAHL, EMBASE, Cochrane, AMED, MEDLINE, and PsycINFO.
- Eight studies met eligibility criteria, were quality assessed (CREDES), and synthesized.
Main Results:
- Eight studies utilized consensus-building methods (Delphi, NGT, workshops).
- 234 nursing research priorities were identified, grouped into four themes: evidence-based practice, pediatric context, child and family-centered care, and pediatric nursing.
- Priorities focused on acute care, with limited representation of child, school, or mental health, and no consumer priorities.
Conclusions:
- Identified pediatric nursing research priorities remain relevant.
- There is a need to broaden research to include child, school, and mental health, as well as consumer and community perspectives.
- Established priorities can guide national/local research agendas but require broader stakeholder input.
Problem:
Priority setting for pediatric nursing is important to plan, coordinate and direct future research. The aim of this scoping review was to systematically identify and synthesise the nature, range and extent of published pediatric nursing research priorities.
Eligibility Criteria:
English language full text publications focusing generic nursing research priorities for the child or adolescent, indexed in CINAHL, EMBASE, The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, AMED, MEDLINE and PsycINFO and published from 2008 to 2019.
Sample:
A total of 789 citations were identified, 44 full text articles were retrieved and assessed for eligibility and eight studies were finally reviewed, quality assessed (CREDES) and synthesised.
Results:
All eight studies used a consensus building method to identify research priorities reported by nurses. Six used Delphi technique, one Nominal Group Technique (NGT) and one consensus workshop. CREDES score range was 10-14 of a possible 16. Synthesis of the 234 nursing research priorities generated four themes; evidenced-based practice, pediatric context, child and family-centered care; pediatric nursing, with 14 subthemes.
Conclusion:
The nursing research priorities reported appear to be still current and important to nurses. There was a focus on acute care, with fewer priorities reflecting areas of child-, school-, or mental- health. Consumer and community priorities have not been reported.
Implications:
These nursing research priorities can be used to inform the national or local research agenda, although there is a need to establish priorities from the perspective of all stakeholders and in particular, identify what is important to consumers.
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