Nursing Research Trends Analysis Using 2011 East Asian Forum of Nursing Scholars (EAFONS) Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the current status of Asian research and suggest a direction for the future development of nursing research in Asian countries Methods: To examine the current status of Asian nursing research, 539 abstracts presented at the 2011 East Asian Forum of Nursing Scholars in Seoul were analyzed according to the structured analysis format. Results: The results showed that most of the studies (77.6%) were quantitative design, but qualitative design was also conducted. Most of quantitative studies were quasi experimental designs and questionnaires are most frequently used for data collection. Only 8.5% of the studies used physiological measures. Key words were categorized into four nursing metaparadigms: clients, environment, health and nursing. The most frequently mentioned domain was health. Main themes of research were elderly, chronic disease, health promotion, and nurse/nursing management. Most frequently used key words were elderly, social support, depression, and stress. Conclusion: Major trends were similar in Asian countries, and mostly conducted with quantitative designs. Research topics were varied and major interests in nursing research topics were elderly, health promotion, and mental health in all countries. We need to develop nursing science based on closer communication and cooperation among Asian countries.