One widely accepted and valid areas of research in nursing is studying clinical practices to develop evidence-based results on what are the best practices for getting good results when interacting with patients. Some examples of this type of research could study different ways of getting a patient's history, different ways of asking a patient about their symptoms, or different modalities of education when teaching a patient about a health-related topic.
Nurses are often on the front line of educating patients about disease prevention. Researching disease prevention is a valid and common research topic within the field of nursing. Disease prevention research might entail studying nutrition, exercise, the best practices to ensure lasting lifestyle change, and effective forms of educating people on diseases. Since nurses often have more one-on-one time with patients than doctors, disease prevention is a great place for nursing research to enhance the efficacy of nursing.
Nursing deals with a wide variety of patients and symptoms, and researching symptom management is a valid and common practice. Many patients deal with on-going symptoms, and researching the best ways of coping with symptoms--be it psychological techniques, physical therapy, medications, or pain management--is a growing area in nursing research. Symptom management research is a large area of study with many different topics to explore in the hopes of finding more effective ways to help patients manage their symptoms.
Palliative care is the services that are given to someone with a serious illness. Palliative care focuses on helping with symptoms, pain and stress, and is interested in improving the quality of life for patients. Palliative care is a topic where much research in nursing happens, as nurses are on the front line of helping patients with serious illnesses maintain as much quality of life as possible. Palliative care research studies what are the most effective treatments and practices for nurses in aiding their patients through a difficult time that may be ongoing and extremely difficult.