Mapping Nursing Interventions in Breast Cancer Palliative Care: A Prisma-Guided Bibliometric Review with Nvivo-Driven Analysis
TL;DR
This study maps the nursing intervention research landscape, identifies bibliometric gaps, extracts intervention themes, and develops nursing research priorities for palliative breast cancer care, and identifies 3 novel nursing research priorities: nurse-led RCTs, Newman/Peplau theory integration, NP pharmacotherapy leadership.
Abstract
Background: Breast cancer palliative care requires a comprehensive mapping of nursing interventions to identify research trends, practice patterns, and theoretical gaps in current literature. Purpose: The present study maps the nursing intervention research landscape, identifies bibliometric gaps, extracts intervention themes, and develops nursing research priorities for palliative breast cancer care. Methods: Literature was obtained from Scopus and Web of Science through specific Boolean searches for terminal breast cancer and nursing-led interventions. We used a PRISMA-guided bibliometric review of 114 openaccess articles coupled with VOSviewer followed by NVivo thematic synthesis of all 114 full texts. Results: Findings from VOSviewer identified 4 research clusters leading to the development of NVivo extracted 7 intervention themes: symptom management, psychosocial support, patient/carer education/training, equity, delivery models, economic factors, and comorbidity management. Nursing is under-represented in RCTa. Conclusion: We have identified 3 novel nursing research priorities: nurse-led RCTs, Newman/Peplau theory integration, NP pharmacotherapy leadership. Implications for Nursing: The present study supports strategic education, optimised care pathways, and equity-focused palliative models through evidence-based interventions (FOCUS, MCC programmes, and Strong Together). Keywords: Nursing interventions, Breast cancer, Palliative care, Bibliometric review