Mapping the evidence-based practice research field in nursing from 1995 to 2021: A bibliometric analysis

Abstract

Background

Evidence-based nursing and its practices are increasing rapidly in the health and nursing literature. A holistic image of evidence-based nursing research is needed to address evidence-based studies and available information on nursing.

Aim

The aim of this study was to evaluate evidence-based nursing-related research with bibliometric analysis in order to provide a structured macroscopic overview of its features and advances.

Methods

A bibliometric analysis of 4,159 publications from 1995 to 2021 was performed to map the literature of evidence-based nursing studies and assess the structure of the scientific community. The studies' publication output and growth trend, authors and collaborations, publishing journals, terms, current trends, subject categories, global distribution and collaboration, and the authors' average number of citations were all assessed.

Results

It was found that the number of evidence-based nursing publications increased until 2016, reaching the publication peak (n = 369), after which they began to decline. Most studies on the topic (n = 543) have been published in the journal Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing. Evidence-based knowledge, dissemination, implementation, implementation barriers, and implementation and training curricula in particular fields have all evolved over time as the key concepts of research. The United States (6,218), Australia (1,247), and England (790) are the three nations with the highest number of publications. On the other hand, it is seen that the subject has yet to be discussed in a few developing or underdeveloped countries.

Conclusions

In the last 12 years, evidence-based nursing has been a comprehensive area of research. In comparison with the research areas in its field, it can be speculated that it has a more practical focus. It was determined that the authors' keywords primarily began with research implementation, practice development, and knowledge utilization over time, and then evolved to specific areas, educational areas, process applications, and important current topics such as Covid19.

Keywords

Bibliometrics nursing nursing research evidence-based nursing evidence-based practice

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality . (2015). Evidence-based Practice Centers (EPC) Program Overview. Retrieved from https://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/evidence-based-reports/overview/index.html

Aravind

Chung

K. C.

(2009). Evidence-based medicine and hospital reform: Tracing origins back to Florence Nightingale. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 125, 403–409. https://doi.org/10.1097/PRS.0b013e3181c2bb89

Aria

Cuccurullo

(2017). Bibliometrix: An R-tool for comprehensive science mapping analysis, Journal of Informetrics, 114, 959–975.

Bianchi

Bagnasco

Bressan

Barisone

Timmins

Rossi

Pellegrini

Aleo

Sasso

(2018). A review of the role of nurse leadership in promoting and sustaining evidence-based practice. Journal of Nursing Management, 268, 918–932. https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.12638

Busayo

E. T.

Kalumba

A. M.

Afuye

A. G.

Abayomi

Ekundayo

O. Y.

Orimoloye

I. R.

(2020). Assessment of the Sendai framework for disaster risk reduction studies since 2015. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 50, 1–7. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2020.101906

Chien

L. Y.

(2019). Evidence-based practice and nursing research. The Journal of Nursing Research, 274, 29. https://doi.org/10.1097/jnr.0000000000000346

Dalheim

Harthug

Nilsen

R. M.

Nortvedt

M. W.

(2012). Factors influencing the development of evidence-based practice among nurses: A self-report survey. BMC Health Services Research, 12, 367. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-12-367

Dong

Wei

Wang

Peng

(2020). Research trends and hotspots in caregiver studies: A bibliometric and scientometric analysis of nursing journals. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 7611, 2955–2970. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14489

Farokhzadian

Khajouei

Ahmadian

(2015). Evaluating factors associated with implementing evidence-based practice in nursing. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 216, 1107–1113. https://doi.org/10.1111/jep.12480

10.

French

(2002). What is the evidence on evidence-based nursing? An epistemological concern. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 373, 250–257. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2648.2002.02065.x

11.

Garfield

Sher

I. H.

(1993). Keywords PlusTM algorithmic derivative indexing. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 445, 298–299. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-4571(199306)44:5<298:AID-ASI5>3.0.CO;2-A

12.

Giménez-Espert

M. D. C.

Prado-Gascó

V. J.

(2019). Bibliometric analysis of six nursing journals from the Web of Science, 2012–2017. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 753, 543–554. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.13868

13.

Harvey

Gifford

Cummings

Kelly

Kislov

Kitson

Pettersson

Wallin

Wilson

Ehrenberg

(2019). Mobilising evidence to improve nursing practice: A qualitative study of leadership roles and processes in four countries. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 90, 21–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2018.09.017

14.

Hasanpoor

Siraneh Belete

Janati

Hajebrahimi

Haghgoshayie

(2019). Nursing managers’ perspectives on the facilitators and barriers to implementation of evidence based management. Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing, 164, 255–262. https://doi.org/10.1111/wvn.12372

15.

Herrera-Peco

Santillán-García

Morán

J. M.

Goodman-Casanova

J. M.

Cuesta-Lozano

(2020). The evidence-based practice silent enemy: Retracted articles and their use in systematic reviews. Healthcare (Basel), 6(84), 465. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare8040465

16.

Institute of Medicine, & Committee on Quality of Health Care in America . (2001). Crossing the quality chasm: A new health system for the 21st century. The National Academies Press. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.17226/10027

17.

Khalil

G. M.

Gotway Crawford

C. A.

(2015). A bibliometric analysis of U.S.-based research on the behavioral risk factor surveillance system. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 481, 50–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2014.08.021

18.

Kokol

Vošner

H. B.

(2019). Historical, descriptive, and exploratory analysis of the application of bibliometrics in nursing research. Nursing Outlook, 676, 680–695. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2019.04.009

19.

Kredo

Bernhardsson

Machingaidze

Young

Louw

Ochodo

Grimmer

(2016). Guide to clinical practice guidelines: The current state of play. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 281, 122–128. https://doi.org/10.1093/intqhc/mzv115

20.

Lambert

(2011). The Crimean war. BBC history. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/crimea_01.shtml

21.

Leufer

(2020). Teaching core EBP skills to postgraduate nursing students. Worldviews Evid Based Nursing, 17, 404–405. https://doi.org/10.1111/wvn.12431

22.

Mazurek

M. B.

Fineout-Overholt

(2011). Evidence-based practice in nursing and healthcare a guide to best practice (2nd ed.; pp. 4–5).Wolters Kluwer.

23.

McDonald

(2001). Florence Nightingale and the early origins of evidence-based nursing. Evidence Based Nursing, 43, 68–69. https://doi.org/10.1136/ebn.4.3.68

24.

Melnyk

B. M.

(2012). Achieving a high-reliability organization through implementation of the ARCC model for systemwide sustainability of evidence-based practice. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 362, 127–135. https://doi.org/10.1097/NAQ.0b013e318249fb6a

25.

Melnyk

B. M.

Fineout-Overholt

Feinstein

N. F.

Wilcox

Kraus

(2004). Nurses’ perceived knowledge, beliefs, skills, and needs regarding evidence-based practice: Implications for accelerating the paradigm shift. Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing, 1, 185–193. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1524-475X.2004.04024.x

26.

Moral-Muñoz

J. A.

Herrera-Viedma

Santisteban-Espejo

Cobo

M. J.

(2020). Software tools for conducting bibliometric analysis in science: An up-to-date review. Profesional De La Información, 29(1). https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2020.ene.03

27.

Myco

(1980). Nursing research information: Are nurse educators and practitioners seeking it out? Journal of Advanced Nursing, 56, 637–46.

28.

Pickler

R. H.

(2018). Honoring the past, pursuing the future. Nursing Research, 671, 1–2. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNR.0000000000000255

29.

Prado-Gascó

Giménez-Espert

M. D. C.

De Witte

(2021). Job insecurity in nursing: A bibliometric analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18, 663. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18020663

30.

Roser

Ritchie

Ortiz-Ospina

(2021). Internet – Our world in data. Retrieved from https://ourworldindata.org/internet

31.

Rowlands

(2005). Emerald authorship data, Lotka's law and research productivity. Aslib Proceedings: New Information Perspectives, 571, 5–10.

32.

Sackett

D. L.

Rosenberg

W. M.

Gray

J. A.

Haynes

R. B.

Richardson

W. S.

(1996). Evidence-based medicine: What it is and what it isn't. The British Medical Journal, 312, 71–72.

33.

Salmond

S. W.

(2007). Advancing evidence-based practice: A primer. Orthopaedic Nursing, 26, 114–123. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NOR.0000265869.72265.0a

34.

Schaefer

J. D.

Welton

J. M.

(2018). Evidence-based practice readiness: A concept analysis. Journal of Nursing Management, 266, 621–629. https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.12599

35.

Shayan

S. J.

Kiwanuka

Nakaye

(2019). Barriers associated with evidence-based practice among nurses in low-and middle-income countries: A systematic review. Worldviews Evid Based Nursing, 161, 12–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/wvn.12337

36.

Stevens

K. R.

(2013). The impact of evidence-based practice in nursing and the next big ideas. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 182, 4.

37.

Thoroddsen

Ehnfors

Ehrenberg

(2010). Nursing specialty knowledge as expressed by standardized nursing languages. International Journal of Nursing Terminologies and Classifications, 212, 69–79. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-618X.2010.01148.x

38.

Van Eck

N. J.

Waltman

(2020). Manual for VOSviewer version 1.6.16. Retrieved from https://www.vosviewer.com/documentation/Manual_VOSviewer_1.6.16.pdf

39.

Yıldız-Gülhan

Kurutkan

(2021). Bibliometric analysis of COVID-19 publications in the field of chest and infectious diseases. Duzce Medical Journal, 231, 30–40. https://doi.org/10.18678/dtfd.826465

40.

Young

Rohwer

Volmink

Clarke

(2014). What are the effects of teaching evidence-based health care (EBHC)? Overview of systematic reviews. PLOS ONE, 91, 86706. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0086706

41.

Zhu

Liu

Meng

Han

Duan

(2021). A bibliometric analysis of publication of funded studies in nursing research from Web of Science, 2008–2018. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 771, 176–188. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14578