The Evolution of Nursing Research

Abstract

THE RESEARCH CULTURE in nursing has evolved in the last 150 years, beginning with Nightingale’s work in the mid-1850s and culminating in the creation of the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) at the National Institues of Health (NIH). This article highlights nursing’s efforts to facilitate the growth of the research culture by developing theory, establishing the importance of a research-based practice, advancing education, and providing avenues for dissemination of research. Similarities with the chiropractic profession are discussed, along with a commentary by Cheryl Hawk, D.C, Ph.D.

EVOLUTION OF NURSING RESEARCH

The development of a research culture in nursing in many ways parallels that of chiropractic, and by reviewing key aspects of the evolution of the science of nursing, there are lessons to be learned, and mistakes to be avoided. Nursing research has changed dramatically in the past 150 years, beginning with Florence Nightingale in the 19th century. Clearly, nursing research has not always had the influence and significance it holds today. In fact, for a number of years after Nightingale’s work, little is found in the literature concerning nursing research. This is perhaps due to the past perception of nursing as an apprenticeship in a task-oriented caring profession (1). Although research was conducted with respect to nursing education and administration in the first half of the 20th century, it was not until the 1950s that nursing research began the advancement that has been seen in the past three decades. This is due to many factors: an increase in the number of nurses with advanced academic preparation, the establishment of vehicles for dissemination of nursing research, federal funding and support for nursing research, and the upgrading of research skills in faculty and students. This article provides a brief review of the development of research in nursing, and along with it, the theory that has guided that process.

NURSING THEORY DEVELOPMENT

As with other practice professions, nursing requires a knowledge foundation that is based on theory and derived from systematic research. The first nursing theorist, Florence Nightingale, created detailed reports of both medical and nursing matters as chief nurse for the British in the Crimean War in the mid-1850s. Nightingale noted that “… apprehension, uncertainty, waiting, expectation, fear of surprise, do a patient more harm than any exertion” (p. 6) (2). As a result, Nightingale’s conceptualization of nursing included the need to have an understanding of the laws of nature, the prevention of disease, and the use of personal power. She viewed persons as both physical and spiritual beings, emphasizing the importance of the environment and the need to care for the patient, not the disease. With her emphasis on the environment, changes in nutrition, hydration, and sanitation resulted, and mortality rates dropped drastically during the Crimean War (3). In subsequent years, Nightingale developed “laws of nursing” that formed the basis for nursing science and guided nursing education in the United States from 1850 to the 1950s (4).

In the 1960s, nursing theory was used to guide teaching rather than research or practice. This was a natural outgrowth of nursing’s earlier focus on education and professional identity. Additionally, the National League for Nursing (the professional accrediting body) stipulated a conceptual framework for curriculum. Paradigmatic concepts integral to nursing were identified as person, environment, health, and nursing (5–7), and scientific energies were spent developing curriculum that corresponded to existing theories (7). At this point in time, nurse educators began to urge students to “care for the whole person” and textbooks underscored the importance of “holism” in nursing, with subtitles such as “The Biopsychosocial Approach.” Nurse authors acknowledged multiple causality in human illness, but all too often research, curricula, and textbooks reflected linear cause-and-effect models rather than multivariate approaches.

The 1950s and 1960s saw the development of theories explaining the art and science of nursing. Hildegard Peplau published Interpersonal Relations in Nursing (8) in 1952, based on her work as a psychiatric nurse. Other theories. included Levine’s Conservation Principles of Nursing (9) in, 1967; Roger’s Introduction to the Theoretical Basis of Nursing (10) in 1970, and The Science of Unitary Man (11) in 1980, followed by The Science of Unitary Human Beings, a Paradigm for Nursing (12) in 1983. Imogene King published A Theory for Nursing: Systems, Concepts, Process (13) in 1981, and Sister Calista Roy published her adaptation model (14) in 1980. These “grand” theories were complex and key concepts were hard to measure empirically. Thus it was difficult to test these early nursing theories through research. With the emphasis on clinical nursing research, the recent trend has been to develop and test midrange theories that describe patient problems and nursing practice.

NURSING RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT

In 1859, Nightingale used the battlefield hospitals of the Crimean War as her research laboratory, using an epidemiological process to describe the morbidity and mortality of sick and injured soldiers. Her pioneering epidemiological research and statistical methodology (documenting the relationship between the environment and health status of soldiers) was the hallmark of scientific investigation in nursing (4,15).

An historical review from 1900 to 1949 reveals that nursing research in the United States (see Table 1) was in its infancy, focusing on nursing education, nurses, nursing students, and ways to organize nurses’ work. As noted earlier, at this time, nursing theory was discussed solely as a means of developing and organizing educational curriculum. Early educators were unable to develop educational programs that both represented a nursing perspective and helped students focus on nursing concepts and problems rather than medical concepts and problems. In the first half of this century, groups were formed to answer such questions as: what is nursing, what do nurses do, and how unique is nursing from other health science disciplines? Professional debates raged as to whether nursing was merely a “poor stepsister” of medicine or whether it was part of the biological, natural, or physical sciences (4). Research during this period was essentially nonexistent in terms of nursing practice.

TABLE 1.

Nursing: Historical Developments in Nursing Theory and Research

Date	Development
1850	Florence Nightingale: first nurse researcher; first nurse theorist
Late 1800s–1900	‘Dark Ages’
	Nursing viewed as an apprenticeship
	Little focus on research-based practice
1900–1949	American Journal of Nursing (AJN) published
	Research focus: nursing education and administration
	Questions: What is nursing? What do nurses do? How is nursing unique?
	Debates: nursing vs. medicine as separate disciplines
1950s	Growing emphasis on need to identify a body of nursing knowledge
	Nursing Research journal established (1952)
	American Nurses Foundation
	Federal support for funding
1960s	Number of nurse researchers miniscule
	Early funding for nursing doctorate education — “hyphenated nurse”
	Emphasis on nursing’s rightful place in the university setting
	Nursing theory to guide practice: person, environment, health, and nursing
	Beginning of “Grand” Theory development
1970s	Nursing educators aware of need to develop new knowledge
	American Nurses’ Association (ANA) Commission on Nursing Research
	Journals published: Research in Nursing and Health, Advances in Nursing Science, and
	Western Journal of Nursing Research
	Increase in doctoral programs in nursing education
1980s	Conduct and Utilization of Research in Nursing (CURN) project published
	National Center for Nursing for Nursing Research (NCNR) established within the
	National Institutes of Health (NIH)
	Journals published: Annual Review of Nursing Research and Applied Nursing Research
	Research focus: patients and patient behavior
	Empirical modes of inquiry (logical positivitist)
	Beginnings of qualitative research (phenomenology and ethnography
	Better preparation for nurse researchers
	Federal funding $16.2 million at NCNR
1990s	Healthy People 2000 published
	Clinical Practice Guidelines (AHCPR)
	Clinical Nursing Research journal published
	NCNR renamed the National Institute for Nursing Research (NINR) in 1993
	Nursing doctoral programs in 65 institutions
	Emphasis on clinical research
	Research-based practice-research utilization, evidence-based practice
	Multiple modes of inquiry
	Emphasis on explanatory and predictive-level studies (vs. descriptive and exploratory)
	Encyclopedia of Nursing Research published in 1998
	Federal funding $55 million at NINR
1995–1999	Community-based nursing models
	NINR research priorities: effectiveness of nursing interventions in HIV/AIDS; cognitive impairment; living with chronic illness; biobehavioral factors related to immunocompetence
2000	Chronic illnesses
	NINR research priorities: quality and cost effectiveness of care; health promotion and disease prevention; management of symptoms; adaptation to new technologies; health disparities; palliative care at the end of life budget: over $70 million

It was not until the 1980s that nursing devoted a sizeable portion of its research effort to patients and patient behavior, an emphasis that emerged logically as nurses began to recognize the interplay between behavior and rehabilitation or recovery from illness. Historically, nurses searched for single causative agents when promoting health or preventing illness, even as they acknowledged the contributions of multiple other factors. Predominant modes of inquiry relied on early in the development of a culture of nursing research were empirical (logical positivist). Nurse researchers modeled themselves after colleagues in the basic and biomedical sciences, perhaps in an effort to seek scientific validation. Only during the 1980s and 1990s did nurses increasingly use qualitative research methods, such as phenomenology and ethnography, to explain complex human phenomena. Therefore, nurse researchers are just beginning to respond to the need to view human problems in less reductionistic terms when the research questions call for a holistic combination of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies (16). Over the past two decades, many nurses have pursued further education, consultation, or research to enhance their understanding and ability to respond constructively to patient behavior. For example, by the mid-1980s, there was a sizable increase in nursing studies of individuals and families experiencing developmental, environmental, or illness-generated crisis situations involving both acute and long-term stress responses (17–20).

During the 1990s, nursing practice underwent a clinical revolution in response to societal, medical, scientific, and technologic advances. Changes in nursing practice began to result from nursing research (e.g., research-based practice guidelines) as the efforts of individuals both in and outside of nursing (e.g., National Academy of Science, National Institute for Nursing Research, and major foundations) coalesced to stimulate and support clinical nursing research. Concurrently, there was a new surge of interest among nurses themselves in redefining the problems of their practice and delineating the gaps in knowledge underpinning their practice base. As noted earlier, the current decade has been marked by interest in multiple modes of inquiry (qualitative and quantitative) for a practice discipline which must address complex human phenomena. In the past, the type of research questions most often addressed through nursing research were of a descriptive or exploratory nature. However, nurse researchers are now going beyond “what is” and “how” questions and are addressing more explanatory or predictive-level questions using methodologically rigorous experimental and quasi-experimental designs as they redefine clinical problems and systematically address gaps in their knowledge base. After becoming established in the research arena, nursing researchers have expanded to incorporate and collaborate on interdisciplinary studies, health care systems and health services research, and taxonomies such as Nursing Intervention Classification (NIC) (21) and Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC) (22). The taxonomies represent efforts to define what nurses do and outcomes sensitive to nursing interventions.

The culture of nursing research has now advanced to the point where consideration can be given not just to the conduct of research, but also to its application in practice. The conduct of research is not the end, but rather a means through which practice is improved by utilizing research findings. Research utilization is the process of conveying and applying research-based knowledge to impact or change existing practices in the health care system (23). The primary components of research utilization involve summarizing knowledge generated through research; imparting the research knowledge to nurses, other health professionals, policymakers, and consumers of health care; and accomplishing desired outcomes for patients, their families, and health care providers and agencies. Models for research utilization were developed in the 1970s, beginning with the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education in Nursing (WCHEN) Regional Program for Nursing Development (24). Other models include the Conduct and Utilization of Research in Nursing (CURN) project (25), the Stetler/Marram model (26), the retrieval and application of research in nursing (RARIN) model (27) and the Iowa model of research in practice (28). The primary goal of research utilization programs is to make research findings an integral part of nursing practice, assuring research-based care delivery models. Research utilization is an excellent model for application of research findings to practice by advanced practice nurses.

An important trend is the use of research findings to serve as the basis for treatment decision making called evidence-based practice (29). Using this process, a question involving treatment is developed, and determination of the adequacy of current research is made. If the research base is adequate, it is synthesized, protocols are developed and applied, and evaluation is completed. Through these efforts, the nursing profession, in partnership with other professions, bridges the gap between research and practice to improve patient care.

EDUCATIONAL ADVANCEMENT

Early nursing education took place in hospital training programs (nursing diploma), modeled on Florence Nightingale’s work in the United Kingdom (30). In 1915, nursing’s educational accrediting body, the National League for Nursing (NLN) called for university-level education. Baccalaureate programs in nursing emerged in 1923 at Yale University and Western Reserve University, but the majority of nursing education took place in hospital-based diploma programs. In 1971, the first community college programs for nursing education opened, providing graduates with an associate degree in nursing. Today, entry into nursing practice takes place primarily in associate degree programs, with baccalaureate programs second. Gradually, diploma programs have decreased in number, and few exist today. Associate degree programs may introduce nursing students to research, but baccalaureate programs included nursing research in the upper division curriculum. From 1900 to the 1960s, most nursing leaders obtained their graduate-level preparation in schools of education (30). For many years, the Master’s degree was considered the terminal degree in nursing.

The number of nurses whose career was devoted to research was miniscule in the 1960s. Indeed, even by the 1970s only about 400 nurses in the United States held a doctoral degree (31). In 1955, the Nursing Research Grants and Fellowship Program of the Division of Nursing, United States Public Health Service (USPHS) was established. This program awarded grants for nursing research projects, nursing research fellowships, and nurse-scientist graduate training (32). Early funding was for nurses to obtain their doctorates in fields outside of nursing, because there were no nursing doctoral programs available. As a result, nurse-physiologists, nurse-anthropologists, and so forth emerged in the field. They were educated to conduct research, but often stayed in the field of their doctorate and did not apply their research efforts to nursing care problems.The emphasis during this period continued to be on establishing nursing’s rightful place in the academic setting of the university. As nursing became integrated into university life during the 1970s, nursing faculty became aware of their responsibility to develop new knowledge, and in many university-based schools of nursing, faculty members began to prepare both themselves and their students to become investigators (33).

Currently, three types of doctoral degrees in nursing are available. A Nursing Doctorate (ND), first established at Case Western Reserve University in 1979, was designed to be equivalent to the Doctor of Medicine degree, providing students preparation for the practice of generalized nursing and future leadership, but not for advanced practice. Professional doctorates, Doctor of Nursing Science (DNS, DNSc, DSN), emphasized advanced clinical, administrative, or policy-related practice and leadership. The Doctor of Nursing Science degree focuses on applied rather than basic research, and on applying and testing new knowledge in practice. Although the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) was first available to nurses at Teachers College at Columbia University in the 1920s, interest in doctoral education was rekindled in the 1970s. The number of doctoral programs in nursing has increased from zero in the 1950s to over 65 institutions, three-fourths of which are academic doctorates (PhD) that prepare graduates for a lifetime of scholarship and research (34). More recently, nurses in academic settings have been encouraged to obtain postdoctoral research training with support available through both individual (F32) and institutional (T32) traineeships through the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

RESEARCH FUNDING AND SUPPORT

Several factors stimulated the growth of nursing research in the 1980s and 1990s. Perhaps the most important factor was the creation in 1986 of the National Center for Nursing Research (NCNR) in the United States Public Health Service (USPHS). The development of this Center resulted from intense political action by the American Nurses’ Association (ANA) (23). The primary aim of the NCNR was “the conduct, support, and dissemination of information regarding basic and clinical nursing research, training and other programs in patient care research” (p. 2) (35). Prior to the establishment of the NCNR, most of the federal funds supporting research were designated for medical studies that concentrated on the diagnosis and cure of disease. Thus, creation of the NCNR was a major achievement for nurse researchers. In 1993, the NCNR became the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), strengthening nursing’s position by giving the Center institute status within the NIH. This advance served to put nursing into the mainstream of research activities and on more equal status with scientists and other health professions. With the establishment of the Center and then the Institute, federal funding for nursing research has grown. In 1986, the NCNR had a budget of $16.2 million. In 1996, the budget for the NINR was about $55 million (1), more than a threefold increase over a decade. The NINR elected to foster five research priorities for 1995 through 1999: community-based nursing models, effectiveness of nursing interventions in HIV/AIDS, cognitive impairment, living with chronic illness, and biobehavioral factors related to immunocompetence (22).

The NINR’s strategic plan for the next millenium includes funding nursing research on chronic illnesses (e.g., improving adherence to chemotherapy, pain relief), quality and cost effectiveness of care, health promotion and disease prevention, management of symptoms (e.g., gender differences in response to therapeutics, managing the pain cycle), health disparities (e.g., cultural sensitivity), adaptation to new technologies (e.g., transplants), and palliative care at the end of life. Special allocations and Requests for Applications (RFA) have facilitated research in these target areas, although investigator-initiated research topics are funded if they are significant to nursing or patient care. The projected budget for NINR for the year 2000 is over $70 million, which is approximately distributed as follows: 73% for extramural research project grants; 8% for pre- and postdoctoral training; 3.5% for career development; 3.5% for Core Centers in specialized areas of research inquiry; 3% for the intramural program. Planning research for the next 5 years and into the next century is a welcome challenge for the NINR and the scientific community (36).

RESEARCH DISSEMINATION

Significant milestones in the development of nursing science began in the mid-1950s (see Table 1). From 1950 to 1959, there was growing emphasis on the need to identify a body of knowledge for the developing profession of nursing in order to justify its presence in post-World War II universities (37). Not only was the first journal of Nursing Research established in 1952; several textbooks related to nursing research were also published. Another critical step in the evolution of the culture of nursing science was the establishment of the American Nurses Foundation by the American Nurses Association specifically to promote nursing research. During the 1950s, regional research conferences were instituted for the first time, and federal support of nursing research began (4,33,37). All these elements were essential to the development of a science of nursing.

Several new nursing research journals, including Applied Nursing Research (ANR), were instituted in the late 1980s. ANR publishes research reports of special significance to nurse clinicians (1). Increasingly, clinical specialty (i.e., Heart and Lung, Journal of Gerontological Nursing) journals are publishing data-based articles as well.

Another important event in the development and dissemination of nursing theory and research was the creation of the Annual Review of Nursing Research in 1983. This publication includes critical analyses of research pertinent to nursing and health, including nursing practice, nursing care delivery, nursing education, and the nursing profession. Chapters systematically assess knowledge development in nursing, encourage the use of research findings in practice, and provide direction for future research (22). More recently, scholars have joined to create the Encyclopedia of Nursing Research (38), a publication that provides a comprehensive overview of research studies, the history of nursing research, and the evolution of theory development in nursing.

CONCLUSION

The next century challenges nursing research with critical imperatives for improving health care. Changes in our nation’s population and their needs and expectations will impact the direction of nursing research. Consumers are becoming more involved in managing their own health care, and practitioners are continually adjusting to new technologies as well as innovative health care systems. The broad spectrum of nursing research encompasses both clinical and basic investigations with the patient as the central focus. Nursing must concentrate on making certain that our valuable scientific findings are incorporated into practice and focus on developing the next generation of nurse researchers (36).

The research culture in chiropractic is similar to where nursing research was in its early years. To move chiropractic research forward will require many of the same changes that occurred in nursing, such as educational advancement, collaboration in academic settings, federal acknowledgement and support, and development of more avenues for research dissemination to practitioners. Just as nursing had to overcome significant barriers such as attitudes and low educational and professional status, so, too, will the chiropractic profession have to strive to develop a research tradition in order to integrate research as part of its practice culture.