Abstract:

Objective To analyze the research hotspots and development trends of literature in the field of critical care. Methods With the core database of Web of science as the data source，the critical nursing care research literature collected from January 1，2020 to December 31，2024 were retrieved. CiteSpace software was used to analyze. Results 4 288 articles were included，and the number of published articles showed an increasing trend. High-frequency keywords included “palliative care”，“mechanical ventilation”，etc. A total of 14 cluster tags such as palliative care and 25 emergent words such as early ambulation were generated. The hot topics of research involved palliative care，moral distress，prone position，mechanical ventilation，post-intensive care syndrome and so on. The research trends included the diversification of search contents of hospice care in the field of critical care，the vertical development from basic nursing quality to critical care specialization and the integration of data empowerment and emerging technologies to promote the intelligent transformation of critical care. Conclusion From 2020 to 2024，the research in the field of critical nursing care has been rising，and the research scope has been expanding，involving humanistic care，mental health promotion，quality improvement of critical care technology，rehabilitation care，intelligent care and so on. In the future，it is still necessary to strengthen multidisciplinary cooperation，actively explore and summarize the hotspots in the field of critical nursing care，and provide basis for promoting the depth and breadth of research in the field of critical nursing care.

Key words: Critical Illness, Intensive Care, Nursing, CiteSpace, Bibliometrics