Life & Health Sciences
Nursing and allied health research
Nursing and allied health research studies nursing care, rehabilitation and the work of professions such as physiotherapy and occupational therapy, along with how evidence moves into practice. The core index is CINAHL, which EBSCO describes as covering 3,741 active nursing and allied health journals, searched with subject headings built on the structure of MeSH; most reviews also search PubMed. Discipline databases fill gaps: PEDro lists more than 71,000 physiotherapy trials, reviews and guidelines and rates trials on the PEDro scale, and OTseeker holds appraised occupational therapy trials and reviews, though it warns that its coverage since 2016 is less complete. In the United States the main federal funder is the National Institute of Nursing Research, one of 27 NIH institutes and centres, which began in 1986 as the National Center for Nursing Research. The American Occupational Therapy Foundation funds intervention and implementation research and publishes OTJR. Sigma, founded in 1922, has more than 600 chapters, the Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science within the American Academy of Nursing hosts the State of the Science Congress, and World Physiotherapy publishes global research priorities. Evidence-based practice work leans on JBI, based at Adelaide University, and on models such as the Iowa Model Revised. Nurse researchers working with patients follow the same IRB, Common Rule and trial-registration rules as other clinical studies.
New to the field? What is Nursing & Allied Health? →
Reviewed 5 November 2026 by CASRAI Editorial Board
- EBSCO: CINAHL database(read 5 November 2026)
- PubMed: about(read 5 November 2026)
- PEDro home(read 5 November 2026)
- OTseeker home(read 5 November 2026)
- NINR: about(read 5 November 2026)
- American Occupational Therapy Foundation home(read 5 November 2026)
- Sigma: about(read 5 November 2026)
- Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science(read 5 November 2026)
- World Physiotherapy home(read 5 November 2026)
- International Journal of Nursing Studies (Wikipedia)(read 5 November 2026)
- JBI: about(read 5 November 2026)
- University of Iowa Health Care: evidence-based practice(read 5 November 2026)
- Common Rule (Wikipedia)(read 5 November 2026)
Field at a glance
Preprints and indexes
- CINAHL
- EBSCO index of nursing and allied health literature: 3,741 active journals, with subject headings modelled on MeSH.Website ↗ · Our guide →
- PubMed
- NLM's free biomedical citation search, 40M+ records; nursing reviews usually search it alongside CINAHL.Website ↗ · Our guide →
- PEDro (Physiotherapy Evidence Database)
- Free database of 71,000+ physiotherapy trials, systematic reviews and guidelines, with trials rated on the PEDro scale.Website ↗
- OTseeker
- Occupational therapy database of systematic reviews and appraised randomised trials; coverage since 2016 is less complete.Website ↗
Funders and programmes
- National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)
- One of 27 NIH institutes and centres; began in 1986 as the National Center for Nursing Research and became an institute in 1993.Website ↗
- American Occupational Therapy Foundation (AOTF)
- Funds occupational therapy research, including Intervention and Implementation Research Grants, and publishes OTJR quarterly.Website ↗
Societies
- Sigma (Sigma Theta Tau International)
- Nursing honor society founded in 1922 with more than 1 million members and 600+ chapters in over 100 countries.Website ↗
- Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science (CANS)
- American Academy of Nursing council for nursing science; hosts the State of the Science Congress on Nursing Research.Website ↗
- World Physiotherapy
- Confederation of national physiotherapy associations from 129 countries and territories; publishes global research priorities.Website ↗
Journals
- International Journal of Nursing Studies
- Elsevier journal, founded 1963, on health-care delivery, workforce, policy and research methods in nursing and midwifery.Website ↗
- JBI Evidence Synthesis
- Journal of JBI, an evidence-based health care organisation at Adelaide University that also issues critical appraisal tools.Website ↗ · Our guide →
Standards and formats
- Iowa Model Revised
- University of Iowa Health Care's copyrighted evidence-based practice model for moving research into health-care practice.Website ↗ · Our guide →
- Common Rule (45 CFR 46)
- US human-subjects rule that nursing and allied health studies with participants fall under; revised effective July 2018.Website ↗ · Our guide →
52 pages across 7 topic areas
Research Methods & Statistics
- Choosing an Evidence-Based Practice Model for Your Organisation
Iowa, JHNEBP, PRECEDE-PROCEED, RE-AIM, and CFIR answer five different questions. This guide is a decision framework, not another model walkthrough: wh…
- Choosing and Validating a Patient-Reported Outcome Measure (PROM)
A five-step checklist for choosing an existing patient-reported outcome measure rather than building one: matching the construct, finding candidates,…
- Colaizzi Method
Master the Colaizzi method of phenomenological data analysis: explore the seven steps, formulated meanings, member checking, and applied nursing resea…
- Cronbach's Alpha: What It Measures, How to Interpret It, and When to Use Omega Instead
Cronbach's alpha measures internal consistency, not unidimensionality or reliability in general — the most common misreading of the statistic. This gu…
- Evidence-Based Practice Competencies for Practicing Nurses and Nurse Leaders
The 13 EBP competencies every practicing registered nurse should demonstrate, plus 11 additional competencies for advanced practice nurses (Melnyk et…
- Johns Hopkins Nursing EBP Model: The PET Process and Evidence Appraisal Tools
The Johns Hopkins Nursing EBP model runs on a three-phase PET process (Practice question, Evidence, Translation) and two dedicated appraisal tools tha…
- Occupational Therapy vs Physical Therapy: Key DifferencesComparison
Occupational therapy targets participation in daily activities; physical therapy targets movement and physical function. A side-by-side comparison of…
- Pathway to Excellence vs. Magnet: How the Two Nursing Designations Differ
Pathway to Excellence and Magnet measure different things and ask for different evidence — what each ANCC program actually requires, and the size/reso…
- Qualitative Descriptive Design
Master qualitative descriptive design in healthcare research: Sandelowski framework, low-inference content analysis, and practical clinical utility.…
- Questionnaire Design: Writing Survey Questions That Work
A construction guide to the questionnaire-design decisions that determine data quality: question wording, response-option and Likert scale design, que…
- The ARCC Model: How EBP Mentors Drive Evidence-Based Practice Implementation
The ARCC (Advancing Research and Clinical practice through close Collaboration) model implements evidence-based practice through EBP mentors and an or…
- The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR): The 5 Domains as a Coding Framework
CFIR organizes the contextual barriers and facilitators an implementation runs into across five domains. This guide covers the 2022 domain names and c…
- The Iowa Model of Evidence-Based Practice: The Full Decision Pathway
The Iowa Model of Evidence-Based Practice is a decision pathway, not a checklist: a trigger moves through explicit go/no-go gates, with two feedback l…
- Types of Validity in Research: Measurement Validity vs Design Validity
Measurement validity (face, content, construct, criterion) and design validity (internal, external, statistical-conclusion) are two distinct families…
- Walker and Avant Concept Analysis: Method Guide
A methodological guide to Walker and Avant's 8-step concept analysis framework in nursing science, examining defining attributes, case construction, e…
- What Is Midwifery and Maternal Health Research? Areas, Funding, and Careers
Midwifery is both a health profession and a research field. This guide covers how it differs from obstetrics, what maternal and perinatal health resea…
- What Is Nursing Science? Research Areas, Funding, and Career Paths
A complete guide to nursing science: its core definition and methods, major subfields, the real funding landscape (NIH NINR, HRSA, AHRQ, private found…
- What Is Occupational Therapy? Research Field Overview
Occupational therapy research studies how people carry out the everyday activities that matter to them and how to restore or support that participatio…
- What Is Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Research?
Physical therapy (physiotherapy) and rehabilitation science study how to restore, maintain, and improve movement and function. This guide covers the f…
- What Is Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology?
Speech-language pathology and audiology are the professions and research fields devoted to human communication and its disorders: speech, language, he…
Patient Safety & Infection Prevention
- ACHC Accreditation: Which Programmes Actually Carry CMS Deeming Authority
CMS grants deeming authority programme by programme, not organisation-wide. Which seven ACHC programmes are deemed, their Federal Register terms, the…
- Barthel Index: The 10 Items, Scoring, and the Modified Version
The Barthel Index's 10 activities-of-daily-living items, 0-100 point scoring, and score-band interpretation, verified against the original 1965 descri…
- Berg Balance Scale: The 14 Items, Scoring, and Fall-Risk Cutoffs
The Berg Balance Scale's 14 performance-based items, 0-4 point scoring, and the standard low/medium/high fall-risk bands, verified against the tool's…
- CPPS Certification: The Four Domains, Their Item Counts, and the 91-Task Second Axis
What the CBPPS content outline and candidate handbook actually publish for the Certified Professional in Patient Safety: four content domains with ite…
- Enhanced Barrier Precautions (EBP): What It Requires That Standard and Contact Precautions Do Not
Enhanced Barrier Precautions require gown and gloves during eight high-contact resident care activities in nursing homes, without the room restriction…
- Functional Independence Measure (FIM): The 18 Items, Scoring, and CMS's IRF Reporting Role
The Functional Independence Measure's 18 items across motor and cognitive subscales, 7-point scoring, and CMS's inpatient rehabilitation facility repo…
- Joint Commission Tracer Methodology: The Survey Sequence, and How a Finding Becomes an RFI
How a Joint Commission tracer actually runs: the tracer types, the questions asked at each stop, and the federally mandated path from an observation t…
- Katz Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living (Katz ADL): Items and Scoring
The Katz Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living's six basic self-care items, 0-6 point scoring, and score-band interpretation, verified a…
- Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) Scale: The 8 Items and Scoring
The Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale's eight domains, 0-8 point scoring, and its historical gender-scoring convention, verified ag…
- Magnet Designation Requirements and the Appraisal Process
The five Magnet Model components, document submission, appraisal team review, and the site visit — a practical roadmap for hospital patient-safety and…
- NDNQI: What It Collects, How Unit-Type Benchmarking Works, and What Magnet Actually Requires
NDNQI is a voluntary, proprietary, unit-level nursing benchmarking database owned by Press Ganey and originated by the ANA. It stratifies by unit type…
- Nurse-Sensitive Indicators: The NQF-Endorsed Measure Set and What Makes One Nurse-Sensitive
Nursing-sensitive indicators are the quality measures whose results move when nursing staffing, skill mix, or practice changes. This guide walks throu…
- Palliative Performance Scale (PPS): Scoring, Leftward Precedence, and Hospice Eligibility
The Palliative Performance Scale's 5 domains, the 0-100% leftward-precedence scoring rule, the hospice-eligibility thresholds clinicians cite, and how…
- PPE Donning and Doffing: The Sequence, the Trained Observer, and the Competency Record
Isolation PPE donning and doffing for infection preventionists: the ordering logic, the OSHA clauses that make competency enforceable, the trained-obs…
- Rapid Response Team Activation Criteria: Charter, Staffing Model, and Programme Measures
A programme-design guide to rapid response teams: the afferent and efferent limbs, what accreditation actually requires, the activation criteria card,…
- Tall Man Lettering: Two Different Lists, the CD3 Rule, and Making It Hold Across Every Screen
FDA and ISMP maintain two separate, non-matching tall man lettering lists. How the CD3 capitalisation rule works, how to apply the convention consiste…
Scholarly Publishing
- BMC Geriatrics: Journal Scope, Metrics & Guide
BMC Geriatrics journal guide: Explore scope, Springer Nature indexing, APC fees, 4.5 Impact Factor, transparent peer review, and submission requiremen…
- CINAHL Search Strategy: Subject Headings and Nursing-Specific Filters
How to build a CINAHL search: CINAHL Headings vs. MeSH, the Explode and Major Concept toggles, MH/MM field codes, the Exclude MEDLINE Records checkbox…
- CONSORT-PRO and SPIRIT-PRO: Reporting Patient-Reported Outcomes in Trials
SPIRIT-PRO governs how a trial protocol specifies patient-reported outcomes; CONSORT-PRO governs how the completed trial reports them. Both extensions…
- International Journal of Nursing Studies (Nursing Studies Journal): Scope and Indexing
What the International Journal of Nursing Studies covers, who publishes it, its NLM indexing and ISSNs, and how it differs from IJNS Advances.…
- JBI Critical Appraisal Checklists: Choosing the Right Instrument
JBI publishes 13 separate critical appraisal checklists, one per study design. This guide maps each checklist to its study design and shows how to cho…
- Journal of Palliative Medicine: Scope and Indexing
An overview of the Journal of Palliative Medicine, covering its clinical scope, MEDLINE indexing, editorial team, society partners, and publication op…
- The Gerontologist (Journal): Scope, Metrics, Submission Rules
Fact sheet for The Gerontologist, a GSA journal from Oxford University Press: scope, indexing, length limits by article type and submission rules.…
Grants Management & Research Funding
- American Academy of Nursing: Fellowship, CANS, and Policy
A reference guide to the American Academy of Nursing, FAAN fellowship eligibility, the Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science (CANS), and prog…
- American Nurses Foundation: Research Grants Guide
A guide to the American Nurses Foundation, detailing research grant mechanisms, nurse PI eligibility, allowable expenses, and compliance requirements.…
- Future of Nursing Report: NAM Recommendations
A guide to the Future of Nursing reports, covering the 2011 and 2020–2030 consensus recommendations, scope of practice, and health equity mandates.…
- NINR Grants, Strategic Plan, and Payline Policy
An operational guide to NINR funding mechanisms, the 5 strategic plan research lenses, holistic payline policies, and grant application procedures.…
Laboratory Operations & Safety
- Ankle-Foot Orthosis (AFO): Classification and Categories
Ankle-foot orthosis (AFO) explained: FDA Class I status, CMS prefabricated, custom fitted and custom fabricated definitions, and coverage criteria.…
- ASHA Evidence Maps: What They Contain and How to Read an Entry
ASHA Evidence Maps indexes 4,000+ summaries of reviews, guidelines and policy documents. Learn how entries are vetted and what they do not tell you.…
Research Tools & Software
- CINAHL vs PubMed: Scope, Subject Headings and Grey LiteratureComparison
CINAHL adds nursing and 17 allied health disciplines, its own MeSH-derived subject headings, and material PubMed does not index at all — dissertations…
- Covidence vs. Rayyan vs. DistillerSR: Systematic Review Software ComparedComparison
Covidence, Rayyan, and DistillerSR compared on screening workflow, deduplication, PRISMA flow diagrams, data extraction, licensing, and regulatory aud…
Research Data Management
- TalkBank and CHILDES: The Domain Repository for Language Acquisition and Communication Research
TalkBank is a research infrastructure for studying human communication; CHILDES, its flagship child-language-acquisition component, is the field-stand…
