BSN · MSN · DNP · Nursing dissertations
50 nursing research questions with study designs, statistical methods, dataset access information and related university projects. Choose a question you can actually investigate.
50 Research questions
10 Sub-fields
9 Data sources
8 Universities cited
2023–26 Project years
By Siddharth Gupta · Statssy
Nursing students rarely struggle to find a problem. You see ten of them on every shift.
The struggle starts when you have to measure it. In my 12 years of helping BSN, MSN and DNP students, the same question comes up again and again. Where do I get the data, and which test do I run?
This list answers both. Each question has a suitable study design, a proposed statistical test and a dataset source. You can also examine a related university thesis or DNP project to see how the research was carried out.
How to use this list Choose two or three questions from your practice area. Check the dataset access badge: Open for direct access, Free login for account access, and Apply where approval is required. Open the related university project and review how its outcomes were measured. Focus on one unit, patient group or time period. Discuss the shortlist with your faculty advisor or book a short call . Jump to a sub-field 01. Patient safety and quality 02. Nurse burnout and wellbeing 03. Workforce, retention and leadership 04. Critical care and emergency nursing 05. Maternal and neonatal nursing 06. Paediatric nursing 07. Older adults and long-term care 08. Mental health nursing 09. Infection prevention and control 10. Chronic disease and readmissions Nursing research area 01 / 10
Patient safety and quality Safety topics link a care process to a harm outcome. Hospital-level data from CMS is free and updated every quarter.
TOPIC 01 Do hospitals where patients rate nurse communication highly also score better on patient safety? Study design Cross-sectional, hospital level Statistical test Multiple linear regression Dataset CMS Provider Data Open TOPIC 02 Which patient factors predict an injury from a fall in hospital? Study design Retrospective cohort Statistical test Logistic regression Dataset AHRQ HCUP Apply TOPIC 03 Does a change in diabetes medication during admission lower 30-day readmission? Study design Retrospective cohort Statistical test Logistic regression Dataset Diabetes 130-US Hospitals (UCI) Open TOPIC 04 Do trusts where staff feel safe raising concerns have better safety culture scores? Study design Cross-sectional, trust level Statistical test Pearson correlation and linear regression Dataset NHS Staff Survey Open TOPIC 05 Which staff groups report the most violence from patients and the public? Study design Repeated cross-sectional Statistical test Chi-square test with trend analysis Dataset NHS Staff Survey Open Nursing research area 02 / 10
Nurse burnout and wellbeing Burnout topics are popular because the data already exists. The NHS Staff Survey and NSSRN both measure it every cycle.
TOPIC 06 Which NHS staff groups report the highest burnout? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical test One-way ANOVA Dataset NHS Staff Survey Open Related nursing project: Reducing Nurse Burnout Oluwarotimi Tunde Aborisade · Walden University · 2026 · Related study for methodological reference TOPIC 07 Does support from a line manager lower burnout among nurses? Study design Cross-sectional, trust level Statistical test Multiple linear regression Dataset NHS Staff Survey Open TOPIC 08 Does working extra unpaid hours link to higher burnout? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical test Linear regression Dataset NHS Staff Survey Open TOPIC 09 Are nurses who report burnout more likely to plan to leave their job? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical test Logistic regression Dataset NSSRN Open TOPIC 10 Does burnout differ between nurses in paediatric and adult settings? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical test Chi-square test and logistic regression Dataset NSSRN Open Nursing research area 03 / 10
Workforce, retention and leadership Workforce topics answer questions managers care about. Who leaves, who stays, and what makes the difference.
TOPIC 11 Which nurses are most likely to leave the NHS, and has it changed since 2020? Study design Trend analysis Statistical test Poisson regression on leaver counts Dataset NHS Workforce Statistics Open TOPIC 12 Does holding a BSN or higher degree predict job satisfaction in nurses? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical test Ordinal logistic regression Dataset NSSRN Open TOPIC 13 Do nurses in leadership roles report higher job satisfaction? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical test Ordinal logistic regression Dataset NSSRN Open TOPIC 14 How fast has the share of internationally recruited nurses in the NHS grown? Study design Trend analysis Statistical test Interrupted time series Dataset NHS Workforce Statistics Open TOPIC 15 Does intent to leave differ by work setting and shift pattern? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical test Logistic regression Dataset NSSRN Open Nursing research area 04 / 10
Critical care and emergency nursing ICU topics need MIMIC-IV or eICU. Both are free, but you must finish CITI training first. Allow three to four weeks.
TOPIC 16 Does time to first mobilisation link to ICU length of stay? Study design Retrospective cohort Statistical test Negative binomial regression Dataset MIMIC-IV Apply TOPIC 17 Which ICU patients develop delirium, and does it lengthen their stay? Study design Retrospective cohort Statistical test Logistic regression and survival analysis Dataset MIMIC-IV Apply TOPIC 18 Do ICU death rates differ between teaching and non-teaching hospitals? Study design Retrospective cohort Statistical test Multilevel logistic regression Dataset eICU Database Apply TOPIC 19 Does time to first antibiotic change sepsis survival in the ICU? Study design Retrospective cohort Statistical test Cox proportional hazards regression Dataset MIMIC-IV Apply TOPIC 20 Which emergency visits for chest pain end in a hospital admission? Study design Retrospective cohort Statistical test Logistic regression Dataset AHRQ HCUP Apply Nursing research area 05 / 10
Maternal and neonatal nursing Birth records in HCUP let you study complications and stays. NHS data covers the midwifery workforce.
TOPIC 21 Which births carry the highest risk of severe maternal complications? Study design Retrospective cohort Statistical test Logistic regression Dataset AHRQ HCUP Apply TOPIC 22 Do hospitals with fewer early elective deliveries get better patient experience ratings? Study design Cross-sectional, hospital level Statistical test Multiple linear regression Dataset CMS Provider Data Open TOPIC 23 Do women with gestational diabetes have longer hospital stays after birth? Study design Retrospective cohort Statistical test Negative binomial regression Dataset AHRQ HCUP Apply TOPIC 24 Which newborns are most likely to need neonatal intensive care? Study design Retrospective cohort Statistical test Logistic regression Dataset AHRQ HCUP Apply TOPIC 25 Has the midwifery workforce in England kept pace with demand since 2015? Study design Trend analysis Statistical test Linear trend and joinpoint regression Dataset NHS Workforce Statistics Open Related nursing project: Postpartum Visitation Policies Jenna B. Holderman and Morgan E. Matthews · University of Arkansas · 2023 · Related study for methodological reference View the printable 50-topic PDF section
Nursing research area 06 / 10
Paediatric nursing The HCUP Kids’ Inpatient Database is the go-to source here. It covers millions of US child hospital stays.
TOPIC 26 Does high flow oxygen lengthen hospital stays for children with bronchiolitis? Study design Retrospective cohort Statistical test Negative binomial regression Dataset AHRQ HCUP Apply TOPIC 27 Do children with long intensive care stays have higher readmission rates? Study design Retrospective cohort Statistical test Logistic regression Dataset AHRQ HCUP Apply TOPIC 28 Are child asthma admissions falling, and in which groups? Study design Trend analysis Statistical test Poisson regression Dataset AHRQ HCUP Apply TOPIC 29 Is childhood obesity linked to longer hospital stays? Study design Retrospective cohort Statistical test Negative binomial regression Dataset AHRQ HCUP Apply TOPIC 30 Are emergency visits by young people for mental health rising, and in which months? Study design Time series Statistical test Seasonal time series model Dataset AHRQ HCUP Apply Nursing research area 07 / 10
Older adults and long-term care CMS publishes staffing and quality scores for every US nursing home. That makes staffing versus outcome topics easy to run.
TOPIC 31 Do nursing homes with more RN hours use fewer antipsychotics? Study design Cross-sectional, facility level Statistical test Multiple linear regression Dataset CMS Provider Data Open TOPIC 32 Do nursing homes with more nurse staffing have fewer falls with major injury? Study design Cross-sectional, facility level Statistical test Multiple linear regression Dataset CMS Provider Data Open TOPIC 33 Which older adults develop delirium after hip fracture surgery? Study design Retrospective cohort Statistical test Logistic regression Dataset AHRQ HCUP Apply TOPIC 34 Does a dementia diagnosis increase length of stay and readmission? Study design Retrospective cohort Statistical test Negative binomial and logistic regression Dataset AHRQ HCUP Apply TOPIC 35 Does taking many medicines predict readmission in older diabetic patients? Study design Retrospective cohort Statistical test Logistic regression Dataset Diabetes 130-US Hospitals (UCI) Open Nursing research area 08 / 10
Mental health nursing Mental health nursing topics often sit on workforce or readmission data. Both are free or close to free.
TOPIC 36 Do mental health nurses report more burnout than nurses in other fields? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical test Independent t-test and chi-square Dataset NHS Staff Survey Open TOPIC 37 Has the mental health nursing workforce in England grown or shrunk since 2015? Study design Trend analysis Statistical test Linear trend analysis Dataset NHS Workforce Statistics Open TOPIC 38 Are ICU patients with depression or anxiety more likely to be readmitted? Study design Retrospective cohort Statistical test Logistic regression Dataset MIMIC-IV Apply TOPIC 39 Which adults with substance use disorder are readmitted within 30 days? Study design Retrospective cohort Statistical test Logistic regression Dataset AHRQ HCUP Apply TOPIC 40 Does a mental health diagnosis lengthen stays for medical admissions? Study design Retrospective cohort Statistical test Negative binomial regression Dataset AHRQ HCUP Apply Nursing research area 09 / 10
Infection prevention and control CMS reports infection ratios for every US hospital. ICU databases let you study infections at patient level.
TOPIC 41 Which hospital features predict higher central line infection ratios? Study design Cross-sectional, hospital level Statistical test Multiple linear regression Dataset CMS Provider Data Open TOPIC 42 Are catheter-associated urinary infection ratios linked to hospital size and teaching status? Study design Cross-sectional, hospital level Statistical test Multiple linear regression Dataset CMS Provider Data Open TOPIC 43 Which ventilated ICU patients develop pneumonia? Study design Retrospective cohort Statistical test Logistic regression Dataset MIMIC-IV Apply TOPIC 44 How much does a C. difficile infection add to hospital stay and cost? Study design Retrospective cohort Statistical test Propensity score matching Dataset AHRQ HCUP Apply TOPIC 45 Is sepsis on arrival more deadly than sepsis that starts in the ICU? Study design Retrospective cohort Statistical test Multilevel logistic regression Dataset eICU Database Apply Nursing research area 10 / 10
Chronic disease and readmissions Readmission topics are a favourite for DNP projects. The UCI diabetes and Kaggle stroke files need no approval at all.
TOPIC 46 Which diabetic patients are readmitted within 30 days? Study design Retrospective cohort Statistical test Logistic regression Dataset Diabetes 130-US Hospitals (UCI) Open TOPIC 47 Does testing HbA1c during admission change 30-day readmission? Study design Retrospective cohort Statistical test Logistic regression Dataset Diabetes 130-US Hospitals (UCI) Open TOPIC 48 Which risk factors best predict stroke in adults? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical test Logistic regression Dataset Stroke Prediction Dataset (Kaggle) Free login TOPIC 49 Does high blood pressure raise stroke risk more in older adults? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical test Logistic regression with an interaction term Dataset Stroke Prediction Dataset (Kaggle) Free login TOPIC 50 Do hospitals with lower heart failure readmissions score higher on discharge information? Study design Cross-sectional, hospital level Statistical test Pearson correlation and linear regression Dataset CMS Provider Data Open View the printable 50-topic PDF section
Printable nursing research reference
Get all 50 topics in one PDF Download the complete 23-page Statssy nursing research guide with all 50 questions, study designs, statistical methods, dataset access information and related university projects. Includes clickable references and Statssy contact links.
How to turn one of these into your own project Start from your practice. Choose a question that addresses a problem you encounter at work.Check the data first. Confirm the necessary outcomes and variables exist in the dataset.Match your analysis to your outcomes. See how to choose appropriate statistical analysis for your data and design.Plan for approval time. HCUP, MIMIC-IV and eICU require application and access procedures.Review the literature. Search for closely related nursing projects and identify your original contribution.Before finalising your topic, review your sample-size planning and the requirements for protecting participant confidentiality .
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