If you have chosen pediatric nursing as your area of specialty, you will be required to write a research paper to gauge how well you understand that field. Various pediatric nursing research topics will assist you in narrowing down the best pediatric topic for your research paper.
There are numerous topics on which you can choose to focus your discussion. Many students, however, struggle to find a topic with sufficient research material to earn them the highest possible grades.
This article contains topics on various pediatric nursing research topics that you can use for your paper or that will inspire you to find the best topic to write about.
What is pediatric nursing?
Practice nursing with children, youth, and their families in health promotion, restoration, and management is considered pediatric nursing. Pediatric nursing is aimed at child care and the family’s well-being.
If this is your area of interest, your responsibilities will include emotional control, a love of children, good interaction skills, empathy, and stress management. Given that this area is for nursing care for children and youth, you have a variety of topics to choose from for your nursing research paper.
Pediatric nursing research topics
Nursing is broad and requires you to have enough time to research your topic and find an interesting one. This article will discuss what a research paper is, what to consider when choosing pediatric nursing research topics, and provide you with a list of potential research topics.
A pediatric nursing research paper usually shows that you can conduct research and that you have understood the topic of your chosen field. Further, the paper helps you familiarize yourself with your area of specialization.
A research paper is essential in your studies and equally in your grade. You will be required to complete this paper to graduate. Therefore, you must choose a topic that will help you succeed.
How to choose pediatric nursing research topics
You must narrow your focus when researching pediatric nursing research topics paper. Even within pediatrics, there are several areas you can choose to base your discussion on. A significant problem is impossible to examine comprehensively. To ensure that you have a unique and well-researched paper, solve a specific problem within your specialty.
Further, choose a current topic that has enough literature. However, add new information to make standout and unique. In pediatrics, areas such as neonatal, NICU, and PICU, among others, offer significant areas for research topics. Since a research paper is crucial, ensure that the topic is:
- Original
- Relevant
- Explorative
- Interesting
Before you narrow down the topic you want to discuss, ask your professor for suggestions, ideas, and directions on how to make it more specific. This will ensure that your paper is successful.
Pediatric Nursing research topics
As a pediatric nurse, you need to focus your research on topics within childhood nursing. Examples of such topics include :
- Pediatric care ethics
- Tourette’s syndrome is caused in children
- Measles complications in children
- Development of pediatric cancer treatment
- Treatment of childhood malnutrition
- Diagnosis and treatment of childhood respiratory illnesses
- Malnutrition prevention in children
- Antibiotic resistance in children
- Antibiotic resistance in children
- ADHD treatment
- Pediatric care ethics
- Antibiotic effects on childhood immunity
Pediatric oncology research topics
- Communication difficulties in pediatric hematology
- Recent trends in pediatric oncology nursing
- Grieving among pediatric oncology nursing
- Work-related stress for pediatric oncology nurses
- Safety standards for pediatric oncology
- Emotional hazards for pediatric oncology nursing
- Burnout among pediatric oncology nurses
- Music therapy in pediatric oncology
- Cultural competence of pediatric oncology nurses
- Protocols for febrile pediatric oncology patients
- Education for families and patients of newly diagnosed pediatric oncology patients
- Psychological aspects of pediatric oncology
- Communication in palliative care and at the end of life
- Provision of comprehensive palliative care
- A comparison of previous and current surgical oncology nursing
- The response of the hematopoietic system during radiotherapy in oncology patients
- The effects of leukemia cells on the immune system
- Childhood acute leukemia
- Strategies to reduce the risk of blindness in children receiving oxygen therapy
- Cancer-related psychological issues in children and their families
- New approaches to improving childhood cancer treatment
Evidence-based practice in pediatric nursing topics
How do you determine that a new treatment is suitable for a child under your care? Evidence-based practice is aimed at helping you answer this question when caring for your patient. The evidence-based practice combines clinical experience and considering each patient’s values to determine the best practice for each situation.
Evidence-based practice follows these four steps:
- Asking a question
- Acquiring information
- Appraising the research
- Applying the findings
If you are looking for evidence-based topics for your pediatric nursing topics for a research paper, below are some examples to choose from:
- Using developmental characteristics to prepare children for procedures
- Family preparation
- General hygiene procedures
- Safety procedures
- Procedure positioning
- Specimen collection
- Medication administration procedures
- Blood administration procedures
- Interventions in end-of-life care
- Pain reduction in infants during minor procedures
- Infant intramuscular injections
- End-of-life pain management in pediatrics
General Pediatric nursing topics
- Immunization
- Obesity, weight management, and healthy eating
- Diagnosis and management of asthma
- Diagnosis of autism
- Antibiotic resistance in preschool children
- Congenital heart disease
- Child psychiatry
- ADHD causes and treatment
- Adolescent medicine
- Pediatric dermatology
- Neonatal medicine
- Rare diseases
- Pediatric care nursing
- Speech disorders therapy
- Causes of seizures in infants
Neonatal pediatric nursing research topics
Neonatology is an area within pediatrics. Development and evolution through technology and scientific advances have increased the survival of premature infants who require essential care. Neonatal nursing is very demanding but also rewarding.
You will be required to care for newborn infants with health problems in the first days after birth. You will have in your care babies with physical defects, infections, and other health problems that may require the infant to spend time in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Neonatal nursing has robust topics such as understanding the fundamental biology of preterm births and their complications, testing new therapeutics in infants, and developing new knowledge on risks following poor outcomes in sick neonates. Below are topics you can choose to write for your research paper on neonatal nursing in areas such as; pulmonary, neurology, genetics, cardiac, and general neonatal
Pediatric neonatal research topics
Check out this list of pediatric nursing research topics:
- The leading causes of childhood mortality
- Feeding issues and treatment
- Neonatal illness diagnosis
- Eating disorders in infants
- Postpartum infant care fundamentals
- Neonatal care in outlying areas
- Infant hygiene and skin care
- The significance of hand hygiene in neonatal units
- The origin of seizures in children
- Current neonatal practices
- The role of biomarkers in the diagnosis of infant traumatic brain injury
- The influence of maternal obesity on infant development
- Hormones involved in the development of the fetal lung
- Premature infants at risk of lung infections and diseases
- neonatal sepsis
- Drug use and infant neurological development
Pulmonary pediatric nursing research topics
Most emergency room emergencies are recorded to be from pediatric respiratory disorders. It is, therefore, a\ requirement that nurses must have an understanding of the anatomy, diagnosis, and state-of-the-art treatment knowledge of pediatric respiratory diseases.
Below are topics in nursing care in pediatric respiratory disease that you are pediatric and choose for pediatric nursing research topics:
- Diagnosis of infant diaphragmatic hernia
- Children’s passive smoker syndrome
- The functions and structural characteristics of a newborn’s lung
- The significance of self-care nursing in pediatrics
- Vaccination characteristics in minors
- Therapy for speech disorders
- Diabetes caused in children
- Neonatal care in the first hour of life
- Neonatal care in the first hour of life
- Neonatal respiratory care
- Lowering neonatal mortality
- Underdevelopment of the fetus
- Neonatal pulmonary function testing
- Fetal development hormone regulation
- The role of inflammation in lung disease
- The role of inflammation in lung disease
- Congenital hernia and pulmonary lesions
- Neonatal nitric oxide inhalation
- Tracheal intubation factors in infants
- Tracheal intubation factors in infants
- Health consequences of childhood air pollution exposure
- Asthma monitoring techniques in children
- Asthma monitoring techniques in children
Neurology pediatric nursing research topics
Nursing care for pediatric neurosurgery patients involves caring for children with neurosurgical problems. Presenting symptoms, findings on neurological examination, and history assist nurses in understanding the neurological disorder and identifying each problem. Below are pediatric nursing research topics you can choose from neurological and pediatric nursing:
- Neonatal brain injuries 2. Causes of abnormal neurological development in children
- The effects of maternal drug use on neonatal development
- Spinal Bifida Management
- Neurodevelopmental results
- Inflammation’s effects on the neonatal brain
- Neonatal meningitis prevention and immunization
- Brain abscess causes and treatment
- Malformations of the brain
- Tumors of the central nervous system
- Cerebral palsy diagnosis
- Coma
- Epilepsy diagnosis and treatment
- elevates intracranial pressure
- Hydrocephalus treatment
- Infant pain management
- Spina bifida
- Paraplegia
- Transitioning from pediatric to adult care
- Do oncological critical care units exist in hospitals?
- Achievements in neurosurgery in the twentieth century versus those in the twenty-first century
- Neonatal pulmonary disease
- Upper airway disorders
- Obstructive sleep apnea
- Acute respiratory issues
- Pediatric pulmonary physiology
- Stem cell applications in pediatric disease treatment
Genetics pediatric nursing research topics
- Neonatal gene therapy
- Biomarkers of neonatal sepsis
- Maternal obesity affects the fetus
- Tissue injury affects inflammation and fibrosis
- Surfactant protein processing
- Surfactant clinical trials
- Insulin resistance
- Gene regulation
- Mitochondrial biology
- Downs syndrome
- Edwards syndrome
- Fragile x syndrome
- Turners syndrome
- Tuberous sclerosis
- Ectodermal dysplasia
- Klippel Feil syndrome
- Achondroplasia
- Aarskog syndrome
cardiac pediatric nursing research topics
If you are training to be a cardiology nurse, you will be both the ears and eyes for the patient’s care. You will focus on assessing the child’s heart and lungs as they work together in cardiac disease management. Skills needed for this role include;
- Attention to detail for the health recorder and the patient
- Strong assessment skills of the patient
- Knowledge of anatomy and physiology of the heart
- Knowledge of the medications that affect cardiac function
- Cardiac rhythm problems management
- Early life exposures that cause heart problems
Below are pediatric nursing topics for research paper on cardiology in pediatric critical care nursing
- Congenital heart disease
- Atrial septic defects
- Ventricular septal defect
- Pulmonary hypertension
- Aortic stenosis
- Holter monitoring
- Tetralogy of Fallot
- Rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease(RHD)
- Cardiovascular risks factors from obesity
Adolescent health and development nursing topics
As a nurse, you will often be the first to encounter the youth in various settings. It can be in schools, college health centers, or hospitals. You must recognize high-risk groups, provide health education and intervene. These roles are essential in restoring stability among the youth and their families.
Adolescence is a difficult period for many families, and it is a precarious time for the youth because of the biological and physiological changes. This stage in growth presents you with many topics to write for your research paper.
- The effect of nurse-assisted asthma health education in schools
- The first warning sign and the time of diagnosis in autism spectrum disorders
- Anorexia’s effects on cognitive function in children
- Language pattern analysis in autistic children
- Factors influencing physically disabled children and adolescents’ participation in after-school activities
- The Effects of a Long Hospital Stay on Children
- Factors Contributing to Adolescent Fatigue
- HIV prevention during adolescence
- Preventing unwanted adolescent
- Adolescent behavior analysis methods
- Strategies for dealing with adolescent aggression pregnancies
- Factors influencing early adolescent health literacy
- Early adolescent suicide screening
- Adolescent treatment adherence
- Diabetes health education for families with children who have type 1 diabetes
- Young people have mental health issues
- Childhood asthma adaptation
- Improving healthcare for HIV-positive adolescents
- Food allergy management in primary and secondary school
- Provide care for children with special needs
- Asthma self-management in the family
- Providing care for adolescents with cystic fibrosis
- Congenital heart disease children’s independence
- Psychological aspects of caring for children with congenital heart disease
- Adolescents with Neurofibromatosis Type 1 Transition Readiness
- Adolescents with chronic conditions: care
Pediatric intensive care unit(PICU)
Critically ill children are unique and of high specialization. The pediatric intensive care unit is essential in offering invaluable resources to critically ill children and young people.
Pediatric intensive care nursing explores issues specific to nursing practice in a specialist pediatric intensive care unit. If you wish to write a research paper on PICU topics, below will guide you on specific pediatric nursing research topics to choose from:
- Care of critically ill children
- Resuscitation
- Care of a child suffering from a respiratory illness
- Cardiovascular disease in children
- Thermal injury care for a child
- Pediatric cancer patient care
- Transporting a critically ill child
- Bereavement care in the PICU
- Support for a PICU patient’s family
- Pain management in intensive care units
- Intensive care children’s safety
Perinatal pediatric nursing research topics
Perinatal nursing care involves caring for women during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. Perinatal nurses also care for infants from the beginning of pregnancy throughout the first month of the infant’s life.
As a perinatal nurse, you must help pregnant women throughout the pregnancy by educating them on how to take care of their unborn child and how to have a healthy pregnancy. You will also work on labor and delivery units, antepartum and postpartum units in hospitals
In your career as a perinatal nurse, you will collaborate with obstetricians, perinatal nurse practitioners, and midwives on several occasions. Perinatal nursing is broad, and there are many options for choosing the best pediatric nursing research topics:
- Pregnancy weight gain
- Substance use during pregnancy
- Mental health during pregnancy
- Breastfeeding
- Visitor interactions during childbirth
- Precautions when birth happens at home
- Beliefs about cord cutting
- Planned home birth
- Infant management during labor
- Delayed cord clamping during homebirth
- Advances in infants born management
- Maternal perinatal depression
- Perinatal mortality
- Perception of birthing place about childbirth risks
- Optimal cord clamping
- Comparison between waterbirth and hospital birth
Evidence-based practice nursing topics
- Economic implications of euthanasia
- Immigrant men’s health issues
- The opioid’s social consequences
- Nursing e-health adaptation
- Improving nursing diversity
- Women’s health
- Gender pay disparities in nursing
- Nutrition
- The significance of immunization during pregnancy
- Life-threatening conditions and emergency care
- Medication error reduction
- Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in children
- Newborn care
- Surgical site infection prevention
- Vaccination coverage
- Preventing Delirium
Pediatric nursing dermatology research topics
Pediatric dermatology specializes in treating skin, hair, and nails. You will encounter children and young people with various dermatological problems as a nurse interested in this area. The diversity in this field provides you with many options for your research paper on pediatric dermatology nursing research topics:
- Childhood psoriasis
- Eczema causes and treatment
- Atopic dermatitis development in children
- Acquired nail disorders
- Causes of nail dystrophy and dermatophyte fungal infection
- Subungual hematoma: black nail discoloration as a result of an injury
- Congenital nail problems
- Contact dermatitis in children
- Burn treatment 10. Vitiligo management and treatment
- Pregnancy hair and skin changes
- Acne treatment and management
- Herpes zosters
- Scabies
- Birthmarks
- Vascular birthmarks
Pediatric cardiac nursing anesthetist research topics
As a cardiac nurse anesthetist, you care for children undergoing cardiac surgery and other cardiovascular procedures. You get to meet your patient and their family before every procedure to explain what to expect during and after it.
Pediatric anesthesiology is at higher risk than adult anesthesia because of the difference in the children’s physiology. There are many pediatric nursing research topics you can choose from if you wish to write your research paper on pediatric anesthesia :
- Blood loss evaluation in pediatric surgery
- Anesthesia for a child with MERREF syndrome
- The effects of general anesthesia on pulmonary function in cystic fibrosis children
- Patient safety resources for pediatric anesthesia
- Cardiovascular incidents
- Neurotoxicity
- Medication mistakes
- Obesity increases the risk of anesthesia complications.
- Sedation for non-operative room anesthesia
- Airway events
- flaws in communication
- Anesthesia and related diseases
- distinct features of pediatric anesthesia
- Pediatric vascular surgery techniques
- Stimulation of pediatric anesthesia
- Drug pharmacology in children
Lactation consultancy pediatric nursing research topics
You help women during, through, and during delivery as a nurse. You will highly likely assist them through the breastfeeding process. Breastfeeding or breast milk is crucial in providing nutrition necessary to aid the growth and development of a child and generate multiple benefits for both mother and child.
Breastfeeding or not to breastfeed is a somewhat debatable subject. If this area interests you, you can opt to write a research paper on the various topics available:
- An approach to the breastfeeding process
- The similarities and differences between human and animal milk
- The Influence of Breastfeeding on Brain Development
- Breastfeeding assistance
- Breastfeeding and breast cancer risk reduction
- The Effects of Exclusive Breastfeeding
- The Obstacles to Exclusive Breastfeeding
- The First-Time Mother and Breastfeeding
- Breastfeeding exclusively for HIV-positive mothers
- The view of developed countries on exclusive breastfeeding
- Emotional experiences associated with teenage pregnancies and exclusive breastfeeding
- Nutrition and breastfeeding
- Effects of breastfeeding on intention to return to work
Pediatric radiology nursing research topics
You may find emerging topics interesting in this pediatric sub-specialty: acute bone fracture and joint imaging, fetal spine and airway imaging, and pediatric neurology. If you are competitive and interested in this area, below are topics you can select for your pediatric nursing research topics
- Hyperactivity disorder risk calculator for very preterm infants
- Imaging of hydrocephalus
- Imaging for pulmonary infections
- MRI imaging
- Treatment planning for radiotherapy
- Potential health risks associated with pediatric imaging
- Central nervous system injury and neuroprotection
Pediatric orthopedics nursing research topics
An orthopedic nurse’s chances of crossing paths with an orthopedic patient are relatively strong. You get the opportunity to help a child with extreme pain from an injury, trauma, long-term condition, or illness.
In this article, you will find different topics that you can choose for your research paper on pediatric orthopedics:
- Limb length deformity
- Spine deformity
- Growth plate disorders
- Treatment and management of Scoliosis
- Skeletal dysplasia
- Neuromuscular
- Pediatric joint disorders
- Obesity and weight management
- Exercise and sports medicine
- Pain management
- Relationship between stretching and athletic injury prevention
- Impact of music therapy on patient’s post-elective orthopedic surgery
- Recovery from hip and knee replacements
- Plantar fasciitis diagnosis and treatment
- Massage therapy
- Factors influencing post-total hip or knee replacement dischargePediatric rheumatology nursing research topics
Regarding the care of children or young people with rheumatic illnesses, you are responsible for caring for the patient and their families. You inform the family n the need for hygiene while administering injections and the use of analgesic methods.
- The Zika virus
- Lyme disease treatment
- Pain control
- Spinal disorders
- Fibromyalgia
- Lupus diagnosis and treatment
- Systemic lupus erythematosus in children
- Evaluation of health status and quality of life
- Pediatric rheumatology issues
- Immune system dysfunction and physiology
Pediatric surgical nursing topics
Children’s anatomical, emotional, physiological, and surgical conditions are unique compared to those of adults. As a pediatric surgical nurse, you will not only b there for the patient and the family.
Perioperative care of pediatrics targets the specific condition that affects them, and detailed birth history, development, immunization, and medical conditions form part of the preoperative assessment. Topics below are specific under pediatric surgery that you can discuss for your research paper.
- Surgery for anorectal malformation
- A retrospective examination of pancreatic operation in children
- Improved post-surgery recovery in children
- A review of contemporary surgical management
- Pancreas surgery with minimal invasiveness
- Pediatric achalasia management
- Suture-free closure
- The significance of tongue-tie in infants
- Diaphragmatic hernia
- Pediatric surgery in low-income areas
- Surgical outcomes of gastroschisis infants
- Surgical outcomes in infants with posterior urethral valves
Pediatric Topics in nursing
As a medical practitioner involved in pediatrics, you have the responsibility of taking care of a sick child. You should protect them from dangers such as; congenital disabilities, perinatal injuries, infections, malnutrition, trauma, and violence, among other things.
As a pediatric nurse, the care and welfare of pediatric patients from fetal life through the perinatal and neonatal period, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, until the transitional age to adults will be your specialty area. You will encounter various issues faced by sick children waiting for a solution. Below are topics in pediatric nursing
- Genetic diseases
- Prenatal testing
- Prematurity
- Neonatal physiology
- Bullying
- Obesity in children
- Chronic conditions
- Sexual exploitation of homeless adolescents
- Abuse of prescription drugs
- Young people’s depression
- Child sexual abuse
- Abdominal pain in children
- Adolescent alcoholism
- Abuse of children
- Suicidal tendencies in homeless adolescents
- Adolescent drug abuse among homeless youth
- Treatment of sexually abused children and adolescents
- Care for emotionally abused children and adolescents in nursing homes
Bottom line
Pediatric nursing is a broad field with various sub-specialties. The diversity within this field of study presents you with many areas to choose from in pediatric nursing research topics for your paper. What is crucial to note while narrowing down your topic is the availability of research material and your area of interest.
A good research paper is essential as it will determine success or failure in your grade, which will directly affect your graduation. Choose a topic that you are passionate about and relevant to your study area.