Trauma nursing research: a description and means of evaluation.

This article describes and discusses trends in trauma nursing research from 1988 to 1993, and provides a basis for evaluating this type of research. Trauma nursing research is divided into several topics: trauma prevention, prehospital care, acute care, outcome and rehabilitation, trauma systems and health policy, and trauma nursing education and administration. Variables specific to trauma, such as the trauma score, are identified and described. The contents of a research article and a means of evaluating each section of such literature are discussed.