Choosing a compelling dissertation topic lays the foundation for impactful nursing research. This article provides 120 timely, focused nursing dissertation topics spanning critical practice and education issues to inspire your own project.

List of Nursing Dissertation Topics

A nursing dissertation involves extensive original research and analysis on a specialized topic that contributes new insights to the broader field. Whether pursuing a Ph.D. or a professional doctorate, selecting a current, specific, research-worthy question is key.

Let these nursing dissertation topic suggestions across critical sub-disciplines spark ideas that match your interests and academic program aims.

Evidence-Based Practice Nursing Dissertation Topics

  1. Barriers to implementing evidence-based fall prevention protocols
  2. Efficacy of evidence-based interventions to reduce surgical site infections
  3. Improving nursing students’ evidence-based practice knowledge and skills
  4. Evidence-based mentorship programs to boost new nurse retention
  5. Overcoming barriers to evidence-based practice adoption in mental health settings
  6. Evidence-based guidelines to lower ventilator-associated pneumonia rates
  7. Reducing central line-associated bloodstream infections through evidence-based care
  8. Evidence-based approaches to prevent pressure injuries in elderly patients
  9. Strategies for enabling nurses to appraise and apply research at the point of care
  10. Evidence-based protocols to improve sepsis outcomes in emergency departments

Child Health Nursing Dissertation Topics

  1. Nurse home visits for improving outcomes of high-risk infants
  2. Programs expanding preventative healthcare access for homeless youth
  3. Interventions to boost HPV vaccination rates among pre-teens
  4. Evaluating school-based health center effectiveness on student outcomes
  5. Nutrition initiatives aimed at reducing childhood obesity prevalence
  6. Nurse case management models for children with chronic illnesses
  7. Interventions targeted at improving low-income children’s developmental outcomes
  8. Technology-based approaches to promoting healthy lifestyles among youth
  9. Reducing risky behaviors in adolescents through comprehensive sex education
  10. Enhancing quality of pediatric cancer care through advanced practice nurses

Adult Nursing Dissertation Topics

  1. Transitional care interventions to reduce hospital readmissions among adults
  2. Improving outcomes in adult diabetic patients through tailored education
  3. Health literacy interventions for optimal medication adherence
  4. Patient navigator programs to improve cancer care coordination
  5. Technology-based behavioral modification interventions for obesity
  6. Group-based parenting programs for high-risk families
  7. Violence prevention strategies for at-risk young adult populations
  8. Interventions addressing intimate partner violence in rural settings
  9. Health promotion programs tailored to LGBTQ+ young adult communities
  10. Holistic pain management therapies for adult chronic pain patients

Critical Care Nursing Dissertation Topics

  1. Evidence-based interventions to reduce delirium in ICU patients
  2. Enhancing end-of-life care practices in critical care settings
  3. Alarm fatigue effects on patient safety in high-acuity environments
  4. Family-centered approaches for humanizing care in the ICU
  5. Strategies for preventing ICU-acquired weakness to improve recovery
  6. Palliative sedation practices and policies in critical care
  7. Interventions to reduce the risk of post-intensive care syndrome
  8. Use of telehealth to improve critically ill rural patients’ access to ICU expertise
  9. Effects of music therapy on critically ill patients’ anxiety and outcomes
  10. Culturally competent critical care models for diverse populations

Dementia Nursing Dissertation Topics

  1. Efficacy of alternative therapies for managing dementia behavioral symptoms
  2. Improving coordination across acute and long-term dementia care settings
  3. Technology-based cognitive training interventions for early dementia
  4. Risk factors for developing dementia after a stroke or head trauma
  5. Impact of person-centered care approaches on dementia patients’ quality of life
  6. Needs assessments of early-onset dementia patients’ caregivers
  7. Pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for Lewy body dementia
  8. Enhancing frontline nurses’ competencies in dementia screening and care
  9. Palliative care access barriers for patients with advanced dementia
  10. Models of residential dementia care focused on patient dignity and autonomy

Midwifery Dissertation Topics

  1. Group prenatal education effects on birth outcomes for low-income women
  2. Midwife-led interventions to reduce premature births among African American mothers
  3. Reducing risky health behaviors in pregnant teenagers through targeted programs
  4. Birthing center models for low-risk pregnancies led by midwives
  5. Virtual midwifery care effects on maternal and newborn outcomes
  6. Midwifery approaches to promoting natural childbirth with fewer interventions
  7. Holistic pain management techniques in midwife-assisted births
  8. Community-based midwifery care models for rural or remote populations
  9. Midwife expertise integration into collaborative obstetrics practice models
  10. Midwifery roles in public health campaigns promoting pregnancy wellness

Palliative Care Nursing Dissertation Topics

  1. Music therapy effects on quality of life for terminally ill patients
  2. Integrative therapies for cancer pain management in palliative care
  3. Pet or animal-assisted therapy impacts on palliative care patients’ wellbeing
  4. Palliative sedation practices and policies surrounding end-of-life care
  5. Aromatherapy for comfort in end-of-life care settings
  6. Nurse practitioner roles in coordinating seamless palliative and hospice care
  7. Palliative and hospice care access barriers in rural communities
  8. Palliative care interventions tailored for advanced dementia patients
  9. Health literacy issues in palliative care decision-making and informed consent
  10. Culturally competent palliative and end-of-life care models

Mental Health Nursing Dissertation Topics

  1. Technology-based interventions for schizophrenia spectrum disorder patients
  2. Peer support programs for dual-diagnosis mental health populations
  3. Effectiveness of group CBT for anxiety disorders
  4. Nature-based therapies for PTSD treatment among veterans
  5. Reducing psychiatric rehospitalizations through care coordination
  6. Holistic nursing approaches to suicidal ideation intervention
  7. Best practices in nurse leadership of inpatient mental health units
  8. Improving mental healthcare access for at-risk rural youth
  9. Technology-enabled mental health promotion campaigns
  10. Integrating mental health expertise into primary care settings

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Nursing Dissertation Topics

  1. Remote patient monitoring impacts during COVID-19 quarantine periods
  2. Telehealth policy innovations during the COVID-19 pandemic
  3. Nurses’ experiences with redeployment to emergency COVID-19 roles
  4. Supporting nurse well-being and resilience throughout the COVID-19 response
  5. COVID-19 impacts on public perceptions of the nursing profession
  6. Balancing infection control with compassion in COVID-19 intensive care
  7. Global supply chain disruptions for PPE and medical supplies during COVID-19
  8. Leveraging technology to connect isolated patients and families during COVID-19
  9. Designing healthcare spaces for optimal post-pandemic infection control
  10. COVID-19 impacts on homeless, rural, and other underserved populations

Emergency Nursing Dissertation Topics

  1. Evidence-based interventions to prevent overcrowding in emergency departments
  2. Improving care coordination for frequent emergency department utilizers
  3. Developing culturally competent emergency care models for diverse populations
  4. Interventions to reduce workplace violence toward emergency department nurses
  5. Impact of nurse practitioner roles on emergency department flow and outcomes
  6. Strategies to address implicit bias in emergency nurses’ pain management practices
  7. Telehealth innovations to expand emergency care access in rural communities
  8. Preparedness of emergency departments to handle mass casualty incidents
  9. Improving emergency nursing skills in trauma-informed sexual assault care
  10. Technology-based solutions to overwhelmed emergency department information systems

Ph.D. Nursing Dissertation Topics

  1. Methodological issues in qualitative nursing research rigor and validity
  2. Maximizing clinical relevance of nursing theoretical frameworks
  3. Evaluation of evidence-based practice adoption barriers in graduate nursing education
  4. Effective mentorship models for nurturing nursing faculty scholarship
  5. Policy recommendations to expand NIH funding for nursing science research
  6. Publication bias in nursing journals against qualitative and mixed-methods studies
  7. Development of nursing theory using grounded theory methodology
  8. Text mining applications for knowledge discovery in nursing literature
  9. Bibliometric analysis of global trends in doctoral nursing research
  10. Facilitating PhD-prepared nurses’ translation of research into policy and practice

Community Nursing Dissertation Topics

  1. Efficacy of community health worker models for care coordination
  2. Addressing homelessness impacts on the community and public health
  3. Community-based participatory research methods in minority health promotion
  4. Reducing hospital readmission through post-discharge nurse home visits
  5. Culturally-centered community nursing interventions for rural populations
  6. Holistic community nursing approaches to substance use disorder
  7. Leadership strategies for developing community-academic research partnerships
  8. Community nurse roles in advocacy and activism addressing social determinants of health
  9. Use of telehealth to expand community nursing reach to homebound patients
  10. Effectiveness of faith community nurse programs on health outcomes

Pediatric Nursing Dissertation Topics

  1. Family-centered care interventions in pediatric hospital settings
  2. Pain management approaches for pediatric patients across developmental stages
  3. Impact of specialist pediatric nurse roles in general emergency departments
  4. Enhancing quality of life for children with chronic illnesses through technology
  5. Outcomes of nurse home-visiting programs for premature infants after discharge
  6. Age-appropriate pediatric palliative and hospice care models
  7. Supporting siblings of chronically ill children through holistic family nursing
  8. Pediatric safe sleep education for new parents to prevent SIDS
  9. Interventions to manage procedure-related pain and anxiety in children
  10. Best practices in school nursing management of pediatric chronic conditions

Environmental Health Dissertation Topics

  1. Environmental health impacts of climate change on vulnerable populations
  2. Air pollution and respiratory effects: Public health interventions
  3. Built environment roles in neighborhood health disparities
  4. Pesticide exposure risks and education needs of agricultural communities
  5. Health risks of endocrine disrupting chemicals: Precautionary principle vs. cost-benefit analysis
  6. Ethical issues surrounding the regulation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
  7. Potential neurodevelopmental risks of common environmental toxicants
  8. Nursing roles in environmental justice activism and advocacy
  9. Leveraging social media for community environmental hazard education
  10. Global chemical safety reform and implications for public health nursing

Geriatric / Older adults nursing Dissertation Topics

  1. Fall prevention education for community-dwelling elderly adults
  2. Addressing ageism in healthcare through specialized gerontological nursing education
  3. Pain management disparities among minority elders in outpatient settings
  4. Technology-based memory and cognition interventions for older adults
  5. Enhancing advance care planning communication between elderly patients and providers
  6. Programs tailored to the needs of LGBTQ+ older adults for culturally humble healthcare
  7. Telehealth effects on social isolation and depression among homebound elderly
  8. Holistic nursing strategies for addressing elder abuse and neglect
  9. Barriers to accessing community-based services faced by rural elders
  10. Innovative PDGM care models to optimize nursing home reimbursement while elevating the quality

Obstetrical / Prenatal Nursing Dissertation Topics

  1. Group prenatal education effects on birth outcomes for low-income populations
  2. Midwife-led interventions to reduce preterm births among minority women
  3. Reducing risky health behaviors in pregnant teenagers through targeted programs
  4. Effectiveness of Centering Pregnancy group prenatal care model
  5. Vaginal seeding for promoting vaginal microbiome after C-section delivery
  6. Holistic comfort measures during latent labor for unmedicated childbirth
  7. Cultural competency training effects on reducing racial disparities in maternal outcomes
  8. Technology-based HPV vaccination campaigns targeting preteen girls
  9. Policies surrounding planned home births led by certified nurse midwives
  10. Pelvic floor rehabilitation therapy for preventing postpartum urinary incontinence

Palliative care/ Hospice care Nursing Dissertation topics

  1. Music therapy impacts on terminally ill cancer patients’ quality of life
  2. Integrative therapies for multimodal cancer pain management
  3. Animal-assisted therapy effects on well-being of hospice patients
  4. Policy and practices surrounding palliative sedation at the end of life
  5. Aromatherapy for comfort in terminal illness and hospice care settings
  6. Roles of palliative care nurse practitioners in coordinated care transitions
  7. Addressing palliative and hospice care access gaps in rural communities
  8. Holistic nursing interventions tailored to advanced dementia patients’ needs
  9. Health literacy issues surrounding palliative care decision-making
  10. Development and validation of a cultural competency toolkit for palliative nurses

Final Thoughts on Nursing Dissertation Topics

A well-chosen topic reflects a student’s passion and understanding of the field and contributes meaningfully to the ongoing dialogue in nursing science. As the healthcare landscape evolves, so does the role of nurses, demanding a constant reevaluation and deepening of our knowledge base. It is through academic investigations, like dissertations, that we can ensure the continuous growth and relevance of the nursing profession in the future.

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