As a nursing student, you will spend much time researching, reading, and writing papers. Many students find the entire process of writing research papers challenging.
Imagine on top of spending many hours in clinical practice shifts only to find yourself sparing more time researching and writing, not to mention the overwhelming information condensed in a few hours of in-class lecture sessions. Working shifts and studying while having family duties and obligations worsens it, and when done in a rush, you end up with subpar papers and average grades.
Even though many student nurses find writing research papers tricky and daunting, you can write a perfect paper that ticks all the checkboxes your professor uses to mark them and be sure to get an A+ grade on your nursing paper.
Our expert nursing research writers, who have written thousands of BSN, MSN, DNP, and Ph.D. papers, have compiled this comprehensive guide to help you write a strong nursing research paper that leaves a lasting impression on your professor.
Having marked many papers and supervised many theses, capstone projects, and dissertations, you can trust that the information herein is valuable and timely in your pursuit of nursing career success.
A nursing research paper is a scholarly and thesis-driven paper that a nursing student (at ADN, BSN, MSN, DNP, or Ph.D. level) writes to comprehensively explore a specific nursing research topic either of their choice or one that the professor assigns.
To write a perfect research paper, the student has to provide concrete, reliable, and trustworthy evidence. In most cases, even professionals such as RNs undertaking clinical practice, nursing education training, clinical studies and evaluations, and nursing research can also write research papers published in journals or conferences to advance and disseminate nursing knowledge. The typical length of most nursing papers ranges from 5 pages to 20 pages, depending mainly on the complexity of the subject, the word count limits, and the requirements. Nurses and nursing students write research papers to share their insights as they learn more about nursing processes and practices. Nursing research papers are used to: document research, organize information, advance nursing scholarship, and improve the writing skills of nurses. Students in the USA, Australia, Japan, and Canada write their research papers in the American Psychological Association (APA) format, while those in Australia and the UK write them in Harvard formats. The research papers fall under three main categories:
A simple nursing research paper, especially an expository or informative type, can have 5 paragraphs, like a typical essay. However, longer research papers have additional sections.
Here is a breakdown of how a well-formatted and scientific nursing research paper should look like.
If you are writing a non-scientific nursing research paper, you will only have three sections as follows:
An excellent nursing research paper follows this structure as long as it is not research-based. The three-part approach is super recommended if you did not conduct any study. In most cases, when assigned to write those 5-12 pages of nursing school research papers, you will be using this format.
So, what are the steps for writing a good nursing research paper? Let’s find out in the next section.
Writing assignments are an essential training aspect for nursing students. No wonder professors will stress that you write essays, discussion posts, responses, or proposals well. They are doing so to prepare you for research roles somewhere in your nursing career.
According to our most successful research paper writers, writing a top-grade research paper involves decoding the instructions, selecting a good topic, planning, researching, writing, and polishing the paper.
Here is a breakdown of each step for clarity and deeper understanding.
You can only perfect what you know! Therefore, you can begin the research writing process by reading, analyzing, and understanding the instructions. It is an essential pre-writing stage process where you carefully read the instructions.
Although it sounds obvious, most nursing students who write off-topic and subpar research papers jump into writing without reading to understand the instructions.
You need to skim through the instructions on the first attempt, then read keenly and critically as you take note of the scope of the assignment, the topic, and other things you must fulfill in the paper. Take note of the:
If you need further clarification, ensure that you ask your peers, professor, or a professional writer in time.
Compared to average students, top nursing students always remember to select a research topic they are comfortable handling. When you are confident with a topic, you can develop it without procrastinating.
Sometimes you are given a list of nursing research paper topics, issues, and ideas to consider. Other times, you come up with the topic and consult your professor/educator for approval.
Choose topics related to patient safety, nursing processes, nurse staffing, nursing policies, nurse privileges, nursing legislations, nursing ethics, mental health, health promotion, chronic disease management, healthcare systems, health informatics, changes in healthcare, and working conditions.
Choose any nursing topic that resonates with your specialization interests. It should be manageable, relevant, and explorable.
Related Readings:
Create a thesis statement for your research paper if it is thesis-driven rather than study-based or scientific (experimental). After writing the thesis, like any of our nursing assignment slayers, write a good outline using Roman numbers and numbers.
List the ideas you wish to have in your paper in chronological order, starting with the introduction, body, and concluding paragraphs. As you outline, do some preliminary research so that you develop arguments the right way.
Include the in-text citations in your nursing research paper outline to simplify the writing process.
Doing in-depth research as you refine the draft would be appropriate because you know what you want the paper to look like. Use scholarly nursing databases for research and limit yourself to topic-related scholarly articles published within the last 5 years.
You can read the abstracts of the articles to determine if they are fit to use in your paper. If you find the best articles, list them using online citation management tools such as RefWorks, Zotero, EndNote, Citefast, or any of your choice.
Ensure to list them in the most appropriate formatting styles. Take notes and list the points and ideas in your outline. Do your research meticulously and ensure that you organize the process to avoid any confusion.
With the research, synthesis, and outline, you are now left with the chance to put rubber on the road. Use the Pomodoro technique, where you spend stretches of 25 minutes of focused work and have minor 5-minute breaks.
Ensure you cover as much ground in your research paper as possible before three-quarters of the deadline. When writing the paper, and considering that you have the outline, you can start chronologically from the introduction to the appendices.
Most research paper writing pros prefer working on the body section and conclusion before writing the introduction and finalizing the abstract. Whatever works best for you, adopt it. When writing the first draft, focus on piecing together the information rather than perfection.
Ensure you research lightly as you write and assert your voice while giving the right in-text citations for every idea you paraphrase from a source to avoid plagiarism. Each body paragraph should only have one idea.
The final step towards completing your nursing research paper is ensuring everything is in its rightful place. A polished research paper scores 90% and above, which is an A. Begin by reading the paper aloud to identify areas that do not make sense.
If there is a need, do not hesitate to rewrite an entire section so that you have the right flow of information.
Check the grammatical, spelling, and syntax errors and make necessary corrections. You should also check the tenses used in the paper. If you feel like polishing the essay is too much work, you are better off hiring a nursing paper proofreader/editor.
When you receive feedback from your educator or professor, address the changes and resend the paper for grading.
Related Reading: How to write an evidence-based nursing paper.
Nursing schools and educators have their standards and guidelines for writing a research paper. Therefore, ensure that before everything else, you familiarize yourself and adhere to these instructions, which include word count and citation styles.
Do not assume anything when writing a paper. You should also access and understand suggestions from your school’s writing lab. Apart from these essential tips, also ensure that you follow the insights we give below:
When writing a research paper, adhere to the writing conventions. You should also read well and understand how to communicate through academic writing effectively. Your paper should document evidence that supports your arguments and topic.
Write concisely, coherently, and accurately. It is not all in vain; you are training for your future role as a nurse when you will write conference papers, white papers, essays, policy documents, letters, blog posts, and professional nursing articles.
Now that you have written your paper, you must align a few things to make it the best your professor will read. Most nursing classes, especially at the graduate levels (MSN, DNP, and Ph.D. levels), have small class sizes, and the professors spend time reading the papers from start to end. This means that you should leave nothing to chance.
Nursing research asserts professional identity, ensures accountability in nursing decision-making, and expands nursing practice. You have to be meticulous when writing a research paper in nursing.
A good research paper demonstrates a complete understanding of nursing knowledge, topic exploration, advanced organization, proper formatting, and mature academic writing skills. The following checklist enlists some main aspects to countercheck before hitting the submit button.
If your answer to all these questions is a resounding YES, you are sure it will fetch your professor a good grade. Our nursing writers, most of whom are alumni from top nursing universities and colleges such as Chamberlain, Capella, Herzing, Vanderbilt, SFU, Rutgers, Yale, Duke, NYU, UCLA, University of Pennsylvania, University of Toronto, McGill, Ottawa, Queens, and other best colleges in the USA, UK, Canada, and many other places. Besides, they are nursing educators in different capacities, and a couple are nursing professors with big titles; you can trust the checklist to guarantee you an excellent grade.
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