What is Primary Research?
Primary research in nursing is one that reports the original findings of a study or experiment. It is usually written by the person(s) conducting the research, and is often found in peer reviewed journals.
Sources of primary research include:
Case studies
Clinical trials or randomized clinical trials (RCT)
Cohort studies
Dissertations or theses
Survey research
Finding Primary Research in PubMed and CINAHL
To find primary research in PubMed and CINAHL, you'll need to filter by article type. Trying searching for Clinical Trials, Randomized Controlled Trials, or Case Study/Reports in either database to find primary research.
Simple PubMed Queries for Quality Improvement Publications
Copy and paste the words in bold into PubMed, then add your specific topic to find QI articles. Each search below yields different results, for best results try each of them with your topic.
Additional Resources for Finding QI in PubMed
Health Services Research Filter for PubMed Searches
This page provides specialized PubMed searches on healthcare quality and costs. From NICHSR
Quality Improvement Articles in PubMed
Quality Improvement was introduced as a medical subject heading (MeSH) in 2011. This link goes to all articles indexed with the Quality Improvement subject heading since 2011. Add your topic to the search to find specific articles.
Simple CINAHL Queries for Quality Improvement
In CINAHL, you can copy and paste the same queries for quality improvement publications used above for PubMed, or you can search for "quality improvement" or "quality assurance" or "program evaluation" individually using SU Subject Terms in the drop-down menu to narrow your search results.
Additional Resources for Finding QI in CINAHL
Quality Improvement Articles in CINAHL
Quality Improvement was introduced as a Subject Heading in 1993. For articles prior to 1993 look under 'Quality Assurance'.