Nursing Articles

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Nursing is a healthcare profession for the care of patients so they may attain, maintain or recover optimal health. Nurses serve in a wide variety of specialties, where they work either independently or in teams to assess, implement and evaluate healthcare. Nursing science is a field of knowledge based on the contributions made by nursing scientists through peer-reviewed scholarly journals.

Nursing science has its own specialized journals as in any other established discipline where nursing articles are published. Some of the notable journals include AACN Viewpoint, Advances in Neonatal Care, BMC Nursing, British Journal of Cardiac Nursing and Nurse Researcher.

Some of the common types of nursing articles are:
• Discussion and Practice Review Articles – These discuss different aspects of nursing theory or practice and are typically 3,500 words long [including abstract and references].
• Innovations – These nursing articles report on practice developments or the audits undertaken by nurses. Their purpose is to share knowledge and motivate nurses to undertake similar initiatives for improving their services. Such articles may present information in the form of graphs and tables.
• Research Reports – They report on original and latest research work. Results may be discussed either in plain or substantially technical language. A typical research report consists of the following sections:
o Abstract
o Background
o Aim
o Literature review
o Method
o Results
o Discussion
o Conclusion
• Research Reviews – They are an opportunity to publish literature reviews in greater depth and detail than is possible in a Research Report. Literature reviews collect valuable evidence on a subject or aspect of healthcare that may be of significant interest to nurses. Research Reviews often aim to:
o Highlight core issues which are relevant to the subject
o Ascertain the strength and weaknesses of relevant literature
o Point out gaps in the literature or different problems which should be solved
o Combine the vital themes and arguments
o Discuss the implications and relevance of the literature for nursing profession
• Research Methods – This type of nursing articles discusses the practical aspects of a research work and their application to nursing. The aim is to help nurses in developing research skills.
• Practice Educator – Its purpose is to assist nurses in updating their clinical skills, and provide a checklist to help workplace mentors as they are responsible for teaching and assessing these skills. Each article of this category discusses in detail the competencies nurses need to have before carrying out a particular procedure and how to document care.
• 5-minute briefing – These articles facilitate the flow of knowledge from senior and specialist nurses to general nurses. 5-minute briefing is normally a one-page article and is presented in the following format:
o General Introduction – It highlights the main points related to caring for a particular group of patients.
o When to call in the specialist nurse
o Guidance and resources
• Patient’s voice – Last but not the least, these articles provide patients the opportunity to see in black and white their experience of nursing care and how it could be improved. They are useful for nurses in responding to specific concerns.
The types of articles vary by journal. We have discussed the most common types above. Nursing articles are useful for nurses as well as for general public to attain knowledge about healthcare.