Status of the Science and Technology Award of the Chinese Nursing Association and analysis of the development trend of nursing research

Aims and objectiveThis study focuses on the status quo and development trend of nursing research in our country to provide a reference for nursing research workers and improve the development of nursing research in China.MethodsThe official website of the Chinese Nursing Association was searched to obtain the total number, category, geographical distribution, and job of project leaders of winning projects of the Chinese Nursing Association Technology Award. Findings were analyzed using webometrics and content analysis approach to understand the “study hotspots,” “study level,” and “development trend” of nursing research in China.ResultsThe total number of winning projects was 144. Among them, the number of first, second, and third prizes were 8, 36, and 100, respectively. Beijing is the area with the largest number of winners (21), followed by Shanghai (17) and Jiangsu (13). Among the winning projects, the top 3 research areas were specialty nursing, nursing management, and nursing education, with percentages of 50%, 27%, and 18%, respectively. Among the 144 project leaders, 96% were academic or hospital directors and only 4% were ordinary staff.ConclusionsThe geographical distribution of winning projects presented a regional concentration trend. The categories of winning projects are diverse, and our country has made great achievements in every category, particularly in specialty nursing. Most of the project leaders were academic or hospital directors. The stumbling block to nursing research is the lack of high-quality research projects with international influence. Future research should learn from the experiences of developed countries, focus on the in-depth refinement of specialty nursing, and highlight the importance of collaboration to coordinate and promote nursing development in all regions.