How to Write a Nursing Research Project: Step-by-Step Guide for Nursing Students (2027)

For most nursing students, the final-year research project is the most demanding piece of work in the whole programme. You must choose a topic, review the literature, design a study, get ethical approval, collect and analyse data, and write five chapters, all while attending clinical placements and preparing for licensing exams. The good news is that research follows a clear sequence. If you take it one step at a time, and use the right tools and support, it becomes manageable and even enjoyable.

This guide walks you through every stage of a nursing research project, from choosing a topic to defending your work, with examples from Nigeria and other countries. It also introduces the Nursing Research and Data Institute (NRDI), a Nigerian research and data institute that offers free courses, data tools and an open-access journal for nurses and health students.

Why research matters in nursing

Research is how nursing knows what works. Evidence from well-designed studies shapes how nurses prevent pressure injuries, reduce infections, manage pain, support breastfeeding and care for people with chronic disease. Nurses who understand research can:

• Judge whether a new practice is supported by good evidence.
• Improve care on their own wards through audits and quality improvement.
• Publish findings that influence policy and practice.
• Progress to postgraduate study, teaching and leadership roles.

Your undergraduate project is your first step into this world. It does not need to change the world; it needs to answer a clear question honestly and well.

Step 1: Choose a good research topic

A good topic is relevant to nursing, specific, researchable within your time and budget, and ethically acceptable. Strong undergraduate topics often focus on knowledge, attitudes and practices, or on factors associated with a health behaviour, in a defined group. For example:

• Knowledge and practice of hand hygiene among nurses in a teaching hospital.
• Factors influencing exclusive breastfeeding among mothers attending a primary health centre.
• Awareness of cervical cancer screening among women in a rural community.
• Prevalence of work-related stress among nurses in an emergency department.

Avoid topics that are too broad (“diabetes in Nigeria”), require equipment or expertise you do not have, or involve very vulnerable groups without strong supervision. For inspiration, see our list of 60 nursing research topics for students and NRDI’s nursing research topics. If research is new to you, the free Research Methods Foundations course on NRDI covers the basics, and its proposal builder helps you structure your proposal.

Tip: turn your topic into a clear research question. A useful structure is PICO (Population, Intervention or Exposure, Comparison, Outcome). Our guide to evidence-based practice and PICO explains how.

Step 2: Write clear objectives

Your objectives tell the reader exactly what your study will do. Use action verbs such as “assess”, “determine”, “identify” and “examine”. For a study on hand hygiene, objectives might be:

1. To assess the knowledge of hand hygiene among nurses in the hospital.
2. To determine the level of hand hygiene compliance among nurses.
3. To identify factors associated with hand hygiene compliance.

Each objective should match a research question, a section of your questionnaire, an analysis and a part of your results chapter. If an objective cannot be measured, rewrite it.

Step 3: Review the literature

A literature review shows what is already known, where the gaps are and why your study matters. To do it well:

• Search properly: use databases such as PubMed, Google Scholar, African Journals Online (AJOL) and your institution’s library databases. Many institutions in low- and middle-income countries can access journals free through Research4Life (HINARI).
• Use keywords and synonyms: for example, “hand hygiene”, “hand washing”, “compliance”, “nurses”, “Nigeria”.
• Prefer recent, peer-reviewed sources: ideally from the last five to ten years, plus key older studies.
• Organise by theme: rather than summarising one paper after another, group findings under headings such as “knowledge”, “practice” and “factors”.
• Include a theoretical or conceptual framework: such as the Health Belief Model or a nursing theory, if your department expects one.
• Keep track of references using a reference manager such as Zotero or Mendeley, and follow your department’s style, often APA 7th edition. NRDI’s free literature search and synthesis matrix and citation builder can help you organise sources and format references.

Step 4: Choose your research design

Most undergraduate nursing projects use one of these designs:

• Descriptive cross-sectional survey: collects data from a group at one point in time, often by questionnaire. Ideal for knowledge, attitude and practice studies.
• Correlational design: examines relationships between variables, such as workload and stress.
• Quasi-experimental design: tests an intervention, such as a health education session, by comparing knowledge before and after.
• Qualitative design: explores experiences and meanings through interviews or focus groups, for example the experiences of nurses caring for dying patients.

Choose the simplest design that answers your question well. Your supervisor will help you decide. NRDI’s free Research Methods Foundations and Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research courses explain each design with nursing examples.

Step 5: Define your population, sample and sample size

Your target population is the whole group you want to study, such as all nurses in a hospital. Your sample is the group you actually include.

Common sample size formulas

• Cochran’s formula (for large or unknown populations): n = Z² × p × (1 − p) ÷ d², where Z is 1.96 for 95% confidence, p is the expected proportion from previous studies, and d is the margin of error, often 0.05.
• Taro Yamane formula (for known, finite populations, widely used in Nigeria): n = N ÷ (1 + N × e²), where N is the population size and e is the margin of error.

Add 10% to allow for non-response. For example, with a population of 400 nurses and a 5% margin of error, Yamane gives n = 400 ÷ (1 + 400 × 0.0025) = 200, and adding 10% gives 220.

Sampling techniques

• Simple random sampling: every member has an equal chance of selection.
• Stratified sampling: the population is divided into groups, such as wards, and sampled proportionally.
• Systematic sampling: every kth person on a list is selected.
• Convenience sampling: easiest, but weakest; explain its limitations if you use it.

Free online calculators, including NRDI’s sample size calculator, can check your calculations.

Step 6: Develop your instrument

Most undergraduate projects use a structured questionnaire. A good questionnaire:

• Has sections that match your objectives (for example, demographics, knowledge, practice, factors).
• Uses clear, simple language and avoids leading or double-barrelled questions.
• Uses appropriate response formats, such as yes/no, multiple choice or Likert scales.
• Is adapted from validated instruments where possible, with permission and citation.
• Can be drafted with a tool such as NRDI’s questionnaire builder.

Validity and reliability

• Face and content validity: have your supervisor and experts review the questionnaire.
• Pilot test: try it with a small group similar to your sample (often about 10% of your sample size) in a different setting.
• Reliability: calculate Cronbach’s alpha for scales; a value of about 0.7 or higher is usually acceptable.
• Learn more: NRDI’s free Questionnaire Design, Validity and Reliability course walks you through content validity, pilot testing and Cronbach’s alpha step by step.

Step 7: Obtain ethical approval

All research involving people must be ethically approved before data collection. In Nigeria, health research is guided by the National Code of Health Research Ethics and overseen by the National Health Research Ethics Committee (NHREC), and most hospitals and universities have their own registered health research ethics committees. Typically you will need to:

1. Submit your proposal, questionnaire and consent form to the institution’s ethics committee.
2. Pay any required fee and respond to the committee’s comments.
3. Obtain written permission from the hospital or community where you will collect data.
4. Gain informed consent from every participant, explaining the purpose, voluntary participation, the right to withdraw and how confidentiality will be protected.

Never collect data before approval. Keep data anonymous, store it securely and use it only for the approved purpose. NRDI’s ethics pack can help you prepare consent forms and application documents for your committee.

Step 8: Collect your data

• Plan your schedule around shifts and clinic days so that participants are available.
• Use paper questionnaires or digital tools such as KoboToolbox, Google Forms or NRDI DataBridge, depending on your setting and approval. If you collected data in Excel or Google Forms, you can import it into DataBridge for analysis.
• Check each questionnaire for completeness as it is returned.
• Keep a log of questionnaires distributed, returned and excluded to calculate your response rate.
• Respect participants’ time and privacy; never pressure anyone to take part.

Step 9: Enter, clean and analyse your data

Data entry and cleaning

Create a coding sheet, enter data into a spreadsheet or statistical software, and check for errors such as impossible values or missing responses. Our step-by-step guide to data entry for questionnaires shows how, and NRDI explains how to move from questionnaire to SPSS.

Choosing statistical tests

• Descriptive statistics: frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations to describe your sample and main variables.
• Chi-square test: to test associations between categorical variables, such as years of experience and compliance.
• t-test or ANOVA: to compare mean scores between two or more groups.
• Correlation: to examine relationships between continuous variables.
• Logistic regression: for more advanced projects examining several factors together.

Use a significance level of p < 0.05 unless your supervisor specifies otherwise. Software options include SPSS, JASP (free), R (free), Stata and Excel. NRDI’s DataBridge also offers built-in statistical tests designed for nursing students, from descriptives and chi-square to regression, and can export your results tables as a Chapter Four draft in Word. To learn the reasoning behind each test, take the free Data Analysis for Nursing Research course, or R for Nursing Research if you want to use free software.

Presenting results

Use clear tables and charts with titles, and describe the key findings in words. Our guide to data visualisation for nursing students explains which chart to use.

Step 10: Write your project report

Many Nigerian and African nursing programmes use a five-chapter structure:

1. Chapter One: Introduction. Background, problem statement, objectives, research questions, hypotheses, significance, scope and definitions of terms.
2. Chapter Two: Literature review. Conceptual review, theoretical framework, empirical review and summary of gaps.
3. Chapter Three: Methodology. Design, setting, population, sample size and sampling, instrument, validity and reliability, data collection, data analysis and ethical considerations.
4. Chapter Four: Results. Presentation of findings by objective, with tables and charts.
5. Chapter Five: Discussion, conclusion and recommendations. Interpretation of findings in light of the literature, implications for nursing practice, limitations, recommendations and suggestions for further study.

Follow your department’s handbook exactly for formatting, referencing, word count and preliminary pages such as the abstract, certification and acknowledgements.

Writing tips

• Write in clear, formal English and the past tense for methods and results. NRDI’s free Writing and Publishing course and writing check tool can help.
• Discuss your findings; do not simply repeat the results.
• Acknowledge limitations honestly.
• Make recommendations that follow logically from your findings and are specific to nurses, managers and policymakers.
• Check your work with plagiarism-detection software if your institution provides it, and paraphrase and cite properly.
• Use AI tools only within your institution’s rules, for example to check grammar, and never to invent data, references or analysis.

Step 11: Defend your project

Most programmes require an oral defence. Prepare a short presentation covering your problem, objectives, methods, key findings and recommendations. Practise answering likely questions:

• Why did you choose this topic?
• How did you calculate your sample size?
• How did you ensure validity and reliability?
• Why did you choose those statistical tests?
• What are the limitations of your study?
• How can nurses use your findings?

Answer calmly, admit what you do not know and show that you understand your own study.

Step 12: Publish and share your findings

Many good undergraduate projects never leave the library shelf. With your supervisor’s support, consider:

• Presenting at a nursing conference or research day.
• Sharing findings with the hospital or community where you collected data.
• Publishing in a peer-reviewed journal. Choose reputable journals and avoid predatory publishers that charge high fees with little or no peer review. One no-fee option is the Journal of NRDI; see its submission guidelines.

Nursing Research and Data Institute (NRDI): research support for Nigerian nurses

The Nursing Research and Data Institute (NRDI) is a Nigerian research and data institute focused on helping nurses, midwives and health students carry out research, from planning to publication. It is based at Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex (OAUTHC) in Ile-Ife, Osun State. What it offers:

• Free research courses: hundreds of lessons and activities across courses including Research Methods Foundations, Questionnaire Design, Validity and Reliability, Data Analysis for Nursing Research, Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research, Writing and Publishing, R for Nursing Research, Medical, Research and Health Data Terminology and Health Data Analytics and Medical Coding. An account is only needed to save your progress.
• DataBridge tools: practical tools for planning, data collection, analysis and write-up, including a sample size calculator, a questionnaire builder, an ethics pack, literature search, a citation builder and statistical tests.
• Journal of NRDI (JNRDI): a peer-reviewed, open-access journal for nursing, midwifery and public health research that charges no submission or publication fees, which makes it a realistic first publishing option for students and early-career nurses.
• Mentoring and expert help: one-to-one mentoring and paid expert support for specific tasks, such as statistical analysis and questionnaire validation.

NRDI reports that its platform is used by students and nurses at institutions in Nigeria and abroad, including the University of Ibadan. You can contact NRDI at response@nrdi.org or through its contact page, and read its research help for nursing students.

Disclosure: NRDI is a sister platform of Nursing Media Network, which sponsors it.

A note on honest help: research support should help you learn and do your own project. Avoid anyone who offers to write your project for you; submitting someone else’s work is academic misconduct and can cost you your qualification.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Choosing a topic that is too broad or impossible to complete in time.
• Objectives that do not match the questionnaire or analysis.
• Copying a questionnaire from another study without adapting, testing or citing it.
• Collecting data before ethical approval.
• Using the wrong statistical test or reporting results without interpretation.
• Copying literature word for word.
• Leaving writing until the last two weeks.

A 12-week project timeline

• Weeks 1–2: finalise topic, objectives and literature search.
• Weeks 3–4: write Chapters One to Three (proposal) and develop the questionnaire.
• Week 5: submit for ethical approval; pilot test.
• Weeks 6–7: collect data.
• Week 8: enter and clean data.
• Week 9: analyse data and draft Chapter Four.
• Week 10: write Chapter Five and the abstract.
• Week 11: revise with supervisor feedback and check formatting and references.
• Week 12: final submission and defence preparation.

If you are doing a qualitative project

Qualitative research explores experiences, beliefs and meanings rather than numbers. It suits questions such as “What are the experiences of mothers whose babies are admitted to a neonatal unit?” The steps differ in important ways:

• Sampling: participants are chosen purposively for their experience, and sample size is guided by data saturation, the point at which new interviews add little new information. Many undergraduate studies interview around 10 to 20 people.
• Data collection: semi-structured interviews or focus groups using an interview guide, usually audio-recorded with consent.
• Analysis: transcribe recordings, read them repeatedly, code meaningful statements and group codes into themes. Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis is a widely used approach. NRDI’s Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research course covers coding and thematic analysis.
• Rigour: instead of validity and reliability, describe trustworthiness: credibility, dependability, confirmability and transferability.
• Reporting: present themes with direct quotes from participants, using codes instead of names to protect identities.

Working well with your supervisor

Your supervisor is your most important resource. Students who finish on time usually:

• Agree a meeting schedule early and keep to it.
• Send drafts before meetings, with specific questions.
• Keep a record of feedback and show how they addressed each point.
• Ask early when they are stuck, instead of waiting until close to the deadline.
• Respect their time and follow department guidelines without repeated reminders.

If communication becomes difficult, speak politely to your project coordinator. Most problems are easier to solve early.

Research integrity: beyond the ethics form

Ethical approval is the start, not the end, of ethical research. Throughout your project:

• Report honestly: never fabricate, alter or selectively omit data.
• Credit others: cite every source and acknowledge help you received.
• Protect participants: store questionnaires and data securely and destroy identifiable information when it is no longer needed.
• Share findings respectfully: present results about a hospital or community in a way that supports improvement rather than blame.

These habits will serve you throughout your career, whether you go on to postgraduate research, quality improvement or simply reading and applying evidence on the ward.

Turning your project into a career

Your final-year project can open doors long after graduation. Nurses who enjoyed their projects often go on to join hospital research or quality improvement committees, support clinical trials as research nurses, present at conferences, or apply for master’s and doctoral programmes. Keep a clean copy of your project, your dataset (where approval allows) and your ethics approval letter, and list the project on your CV and LinkedIn profile. If your findings revealed a problem on a ward, consider proposing a simple audit or improvement project once you are working there. Small, practical research done well is how many respected nurse researchers began. Read our guide on how to start a research career as a nurse for next steps.

Frequently asked questions

How do I choose a nursing research topic?

Choose something relevant to nursing practice, specific, achievable in your time frame, and ethically acceptable. Talk to your supervisor early.

Which sample size formula should I use?

Use Cochran’s formula for large or unknown populations and Taro Yamane’s formula for known, finite populations, as your department prefers.

Do I need ethical approval for a student project?

Yes. Any research involving people needs ethical approval and informed consent before data collection.

What software should I use for analysis?

SPSS is common in Nigerian institutions; free alternatives include JASP and R. NRDI’s DataBridge also offers statistical tools.

Where can I publish my nursing research?

In reputable peer-reviewed journals, including open-access options such as the Journal of NRDI, which charges no publication fees.

But what if my results are not significant?

That is still a valid finding. A study that finds no association, or lower knowledge than expected, tells nurses something important. Report your results honestly, discuss possible reasons and suggest further research. Examiners value careful, honest work far more than “perfect” results.

Related: 60 nursing research topics for students · How to start a research career as a nurse · Evidence-based practice and PICO

Sources: National Health Research Ethics Committee of Nigeria (National Code of Health Research Ethics), World Health Organization (Research4Life/HINARI), Nursing Research and Data Institute (nrdi.org), standard research methods texts. Follow your institution’s project handbook and ethics requirements.