oral evidence, books, memos, photographs, letters, newsletters, newspapers,
diaries, journals, videos, films, official publications, written responses to
surveys, and memorabilia.
After the researcher has obtained all sources of data, including the verbatim
transcription of personal accounts or oral histories, central themes are identi-
fied from “disciplined reflection” (Galvin, Todres, & Richardson, 2005, p. 3).
The analysis and interpretation should be logical and easy to follow, flowing
smoothly from the data. Most historical research tells a story of events over
time. The usefulness to nursing lies in allowing the past to illuminate and
positively influence the future. The following examples of historical research
in nursing provide thought-provoking ways nurses can examine the evidence
on which we base our practice.
Examples of Nursing Research
Using Historical Research
Lusk (2005), one of the proponents of nurses using historical research, used
this method to study nurses who cared for patients with cancer between 1920
and 1950. She used primary sources from U.S. archives, nursing procedure
books, annual reports, and even minutes from meetings. Her secondary sources
included textbooks and journal articles. Lusk chronicled the development of
cancer as a specialty in nursing and revealed the discomfort nurses experienced
when hiding a cancer diagnosis from patients.
The Careful Nursing Philosophy, a model for professional nursing, was
derived from historical research. The author (Meehan, 2012) derived a model
from examining the practices of 19th-century Irish nurses. Twelve Irish nurses
were appointed to work closely with Florence Nightingale to develop a system
for nursing that became widely used in Europe. Using historical nursing re-
search as a method, the author used content analysis of historical documents
to discover the thinking and practice of these early nurses. Meehan’s (2006)
work on this model spanned many years, and she developed a practice model
based on an in-depth scrutiny and thematic analysis of historical writings in
context. Her results revealed 4 major concepts with 18 dimensions. The major
concepts for practice were “therapeutic milieu, practice competence and ex-
cellence, management of practice and influence in health systems and profes-
sional authority” (Meehan, 2012, p. 2905). Meehan believed that our present
nursing system could be improved and enhanced by revisiting our successful
roots within these four major areas. This research shows how identifying past
behavior can be used as a basis to inform decisions about nursing practice in
the present and future.
9.2 The Four Major Types of Qualitative Research 243