Nursing literature refers to articles in journals and texts in books devoted to the field of

nursing Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

History

Nursing journals

Under the influence of

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during th ...

, nursing became a scientific field of study and an independent discipline in healthcare. On March 6, 1886, the first nursing journal, '' The Nightingale'' was published, becoming the first nursing journal. In 1900, the ''

American Journal of Nursing The ''American Journal of Nursing'' (AJN) is a monthly peer-reviewed nursing journal established in 1900. the editor-in-chief is Carl Kirton and it is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. In 2009 the journal was selected as one of the "10 ...

'' began publication, becoming the first nursing journal to be owned and operated by nurses. It remains the oldest nursing journal still in circulation. In 1952, the first journal dedicated to

nursing research Nursing research is research that provides evidence used to support nursing practices. Nursing, as an evidence-based area of practice, has been developing since the time of Florence Nightingale to the present day, where many nurses now work as resea ...

, ''

Nursing Research Nursing research is research that provides evidence used to support nursing practices. Nursing, as an evidence-based area of practice, has been developing since the time of Florence Nightingale to the present day, where many nurses now work as resea ...

'' was published. As the profession grew, new journals began to be published, including journals dedicated to various

nursing specialties This is a list of different nursing specialities. In recent decades, the number of non-bedside nursing roles has increased. Professional organizations or certifying boards issue voluntary Nursing board certification, certification in many of the ...

Nursing journal This is a list of notable academic journals about nursing. *'' AACN Advanced Critical Care'' *'' AACN Nursing Scan in Critical Care'' *'' Advances in Neonatal Care'' *'' American Journal of Critical Care'' *'' American Journal of Nursin ...

s remain a primary method in which the nursing community shares information and disseminates research findings. These journals are most often

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

and contain

editorial An editorial, or leading article (UK) or leader (UK), is an article or any other written document, often unsigned, written by the senior editorial people or publisher of a newspaper or magazine, that expresses the publication's opinion about ...

s and reports of original research, including

randomized controlled trials A randomized controlled trial (or randomized control trial; RCT) is a form of scientific experiment used to control factors not under direct experimental control. Examples of RCTs are clinical trials that compare the effects of drugs, surgical ...

observational studies In fields such as epidemiology, social sciences, psychology and statistics, an observational study draws inferences from a sample to a population where the independent variable is not under the control of the researcher because of ethical conc ...

systematic review A systematic review is a scholarly synthesis of the evidence on a clearly presented topic using critical methods to identify, define and assess research on the topic. A systematic review extracts and interprets data from published studies on ...

meta-analyses Meta-analysis is a method of synthesis of quantitative data from multiple independent studies addressing a common research question. An important part of this method involves computing a combined effect size across all of the studies. As such, th ...

, and

qualitative research Qualitative research is a type of research that aims to gather and analyse non-numerical (descriptive) data in order to gain an understanding of individuals' social reality, including understanding their attitudes, beliefs, and motivation. This ...

. Some journals also include

case report In medicine, a case report is a detailed report of the symptoms, signs, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of an individual patient. Case reports may contain a demographic profile of the patient, but usually describe an unusual or novel occurrenc ...

s and

case studies A case study is an in-depth, detailed examination of a particular case (or cases) within a real-world context. For example, case studies in medicine may focus on an individual patient or ailment; case studies in business might cover a particular fi ...

. With the advent of evidence-based nursing, the number of journals blossomed. Most journal articles are indexed in

National Library of Medicine The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), operated by the United States federal government, is the world's largest medical library. Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the NLM is an institute within the National Institutes of Health. I ...

PubMed PubMed is an openly accessible, free database which includes primarily the MEDLINE database of references and abstracts on life sciences and biomedical topics. The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the National Institute ...

database as well as various other databases, including

CINAHL CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) is an index of English-language and selected other-language journal articles about nursing, allied health, biomedicine and healthcare. Ella Crandall, Mildred Grandbois, and M ...

Nursing texts

Nightingale wrote extensively during her years as a nurse. Her most important work was

Notes on Nursing ''Notes on Nursing: What it is and What it is Not'' is a book first published by Florence Nightingale in 1859. A 76-page volume with 3 page appendix published by Harrison of Pall Mall, it was intended to give hints on nursing to those entrusted wi ...

in which she provided instructions for caregivers, including nurses, on how to provide care to the wounded and sick, as well as

health promotion Health promotion is, as stated in the 1986 World Health Organization (WHO) Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, the "process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve their health." Scope The WHO's 1986 Ottawa Charter for ...

topics. Although not officially a textbook for nursing, it is considered the first scientific writing about nursing care. The first scholarly textbook for nursing is generally accepted as '' Text-Book of the Principles and Practice of Nursing'' by

Bertha Harmer Bertha Harmer (2 March 1885 – 14 December 1934) was a Canadian nurse, writer and educator, known for writing the textbook ''Textbook of the Principles and Practice of Nursing''. Harmer was born in Port Hope, Ontario, the daughter of a railway c ...

, a Canadian nurse and early

nurse educator A nurse educator is a nurse who teaches and prepares licensed practical nurses (LPN) and registered nurses (RN) for entry into practice positions. They can also teach in various patient care settings to provide continuing education to licensed nur ...

Virginia Henderson Virginia Avenel Henderson (November 30, 1897 – March 19, 1996) was an American nurse, researcher, theorist, and writer. Henderson is famous for a definition of nursing: ''"The unique function of the nurse is to assist the individual, sick or w ...

is regarded as one of the earliest nurse educators to expand the scholarly writings of nursing into textbooks for use in schools and colleges of nursing.

History

Nursing journals

Nursing texts

References

See also