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Research Guides by Subject: Nursing - Getting Started
When developing a research topic:
  • Think about aspects that interest you.
  • To narrow a topic it sometimes helps to think about time periods, population groups, geographic regions, etc.
  • Discuss ideas with your classmates, TAs, or professors.
  • Take notes and record information about interesting resources you find while exploring a topic.
  • Be sure that the topic meets the requirements of the assignment.
  • Start early to determine if the scope of a topic is manageable in the time you have to complete your assignment and so that you know if there are available resources on the topic.

Before you can start your research, you should have a solid understanding of the concept or topic that you're dealing with. The following resources will help you form and/or refine your research topic.

Journal Articles

Browsing recent issues of nursing journals may inspire some ideas about a research topic. Try these:

AJN - American Journal of Nursing

Canadian Journal of Nursing Leadership
(on campus only - click on Sign In under the Institutional Users section)

CJNR - Canadian Journal of Nursing Research

Canadian Nurse

Nursing Research

Research in Nursing & Health

Professional
Web sites

Look at association/organization web sites for current nursing or health issues. The following are just a small sample of web sites where you can read about current issues. For more web sites listed by subject click here.

Canadian Nurses Association - CNA on the Issues

Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions - Campaigns

College of Nurses of Ontario - Policy Issues

Ontario Nurses' Association

Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario - Issues

 
Newspapers & News Websites

Review recent issues of local, regional, or national newspapers. Canadian Newsstand is one of the most comprehensive newspaper databases available at Trent. For more information on how to search Newspapers click here.

CBC Health
Textbooks

Check relevant chapters in your course textbook - your topic may have already been introduced. Use any references in the bibliography to get you started.

Reserve Readings

There may be items on Reserve for your course that can get you started. Search TOPCAT under "Reserves" for your course and browse the list (read how).

Online Reference Books

These online books may be helpful.

What are reference books?

Medical Dictionary - Medline Plus, US National Library of Medicine

Medical Encyclopedia - Medline Plus, US National Library of Medicine

Mosby's Medical, Nursing and Allied Health Dictionary (2002, 6th edition) - (Look under Medicine in xreferplus)

Reference Books in the Library

These books are on the stacks in the Reference section on the Main Floor of the library.

What are reference books?

General Reference Books
 
  Dictionary of nursing theory and research RT 81.5 .P69 2006 REF
  Encyclopedia of nursing research RT 81.5 .E53 2006 REF
  Stedman's medical dictionary for the health professions and nursing R 121 .S8 2005 REF
  The encyclopedia of children's health and wellness RJ 45 .T9465 2004 V.1 REF
  Encyclopedia of health and behavior R 726.5 .E53 2004 REF V.1
  A Dictionary of nursing RT 21 .D52 2003 REF
  Encyclopedia & dictionary of medicine, nursing, and allied health R 121 .M65 2003 REF
  Encyclopedia of public health RA 423 .E53 2002 V.1 REF
  The Gale encyclopedia of nursing & allied health RT 21 .G353 2002 REF V.1
  Historical encyclopedia of nursing RT 31 .S66 1999 REF
   
Bibliographies
 
  Resources for nursing research : an annotated bibliography Z 6675 .N7 C53 2004 REF
  Nursing : a bibliography with indexes RT 41 .Z9 N87 2002 REF

 
Getting Started
Developing a Research Topic
Finding Books
Finding Journal Articles
Finding Health Statistics
Evaluating Information
Writing
Citing
Back to Nursing Subject Guide (Main Page)
   

 

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Last Modified: January 16, 2009
Maintained by , Thomas J. Bata Library.