A CiteSpace-Based Analysis of the Development Trends Affecting Clinical Research Nurses in China: A Systematic Review

Objective: To examine the developmental characteristics and trends affecting clinical research nurses (CRNs) in China and provide a reference for the training and employment of nursing talents in this specialty.Methods: Literature pertaining to CRNs published from the year in which the database was constructed to 2020 was searched. The databases used were the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, Chinese Biomedical Literature and Weipu, while CiteSpace software was used to conduct a bibliometric analysis of literature quantity, annual distribution, literature journals and regional distribution, literature authors, subject funding status and literature type and keywords. The characteristics and trends affecting CRNs in China were then evaluated using a descriptive analysis.Results: A total of 3735 pieces of literature were retrieved, and after deduplication and screening, 199 pieces of literature were retained for this study. Overall, the number of publications increased year-on-year. Of these publications, 17 papers (8.5% of the retained papers) were published in the Chinese Journal of Modern Nursing and 9138 papers (69.3%) were published in the top 10 regions according to the location of the first author (of these, 31 [15.6%] were published in Beijing and 42 [21.1%] were funded by scientific research funds). The research fell mainly in the experience summary category, with 107 articles (53.8%) taking this approach. The top five research hotspots were clinical research, good clinical practice (GCP), research nurses, management and clinical trials. The practice and exploration of CRNs were regionalised, accounting for varying degrees of development. CRNs were found to be at the forefront of developments in oncology specialties.Conclusion: In China, CRNs are currently in a period of rapid development. Research into CRNs mainly involves single-centre studies and lacks financial support. In the future, it will be necessary to increase capital investment, strengthen cross-regional cooperation between authors and institutions to narrow the regional development gap, and promote strict and standardised CRN training models and qualification certification to improve the quality of clinical research nursing.