trends in nursing research in jordan 2013 2016 a scoping review

Background: Nursing research is developing and has improved over the last 15 years in some Middle Eastern countries including Jordan. Providing current knowledge about the state of nursing research activities is vital to direct nursing research to meet the health needs of communities. Aims and objectives: To explore the state of nursing research in Jordan in terms of topics researched, methodology, theoretical framework, the source of funding and research relation to Jordanian Nursing Council priority area. Methods: A search was done using PubMed/MEDLINE, Google scholar, Cochrane online Library and CINAHL with related keywords. The search included articles published in English between 2013 and 2016. The abstract that met the inclusion criteria were retrieved and read. Data were extracted and evaluated by the primary investigator according to the review objectives. Results: The search resulted in the identification of 604 articles with the highest number of publications (176) published in 2014. The highest percentage of studies focused on adult health topics, while few investigated geriatric topics. Almost 72% of articles utilized a quantitative approach; only 15 articles used a true experimental design and 13.1 % of articles used a qualitative approach. The most common method of participant selection was convenience sampling. Almost 44% were conducted in a hospital setting, with 27.7% of articles collected data from hospitalized patients. Only six studies used a nursing theory or model; 35.8 % of the studies were funded with the highest percentage of funding from Jordanian universities. The highest percentage of articles focused on nursing practice. Conclusions: Nursing research in Jordan is rapidly developing. More research is necessary to contribute to priority research areas and to inform practice. To further develop the nursing knowledge, nurses need to utilize nursing models and theories as a basis for their research.