NURSING RESEARCH IN LATIN AMERICAN JOURNALS

Abstract

Research is a decisive factor for a science development; the scientific production of nursing, expressed in its publications is an important sensor for knowing the process of construction of the object of the discipline. This is a descriptive study, which analyzes 151 articles of research published among the years 2002 and 2005 in three Nursing Latin American journals. The variables studied were: theme, subject of study, research team, and methodological approach. The objectives were to explore how nurses construct its study object, and which is the methodological approach used in the research process. Of the 151 articles published, 26,5% were in the chilean journal, 55% in the cuban, and 18,5% in the colombian. Most of the studies (80,8%), used quantitative methods, and 48,3% of the publications were carried out by nurses from academic
world. The topics more frequent were patients perceptions, knowledge and beliefs (14,6%), health prevalence and incidence(13,2%), and professional competitions (12,6%). The subjects more frequently studied were adults and nurses (20,5%), followed by elder, women, and children (10,6%). This study may contribute to the discussion of the weaknesses, strengths and challenges of nursing discipline in the long term.