Incorporating Documents Into Qualitative Nursing Research.

Purpose: To present an overview of how documents can be incorporated as key sources of data in qualitative nursing research. Methods: Analysis of the nature of documents and the distinctive features of any research strategy to analyze documents. Conclusions: Many different strategies can be used in the analysis of documentary sources that are relevant to nursing practice. A systematic approach to the analysis of these textual resources, using one or several of the analytic strategies described here, can support and advance nursing scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]