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NURS-502 Nursing Research

A guide to accompany the class presentation.

CINAHL

From the Library Home page, click on the button for "Databases" (red arrow above)


 

Navigate to CINAHL on the A-Z Database list. You can move quickly through the list by clicking the first letter of the database. In this case it is "C."

Choose CINAHL and click on it.


Notice when you start typing it will suggest other searches. Connecting words with similar meeting together with OR can be a great way to search.


In this search I combined a group of keywords connected with OR with an AND search.


After you find an article of interest, you can click on the title get see more information.


The record can help you by giving you a better idea if the article will actually be relevant to your topic and can also help you develop new keywords to use in your search. Always be on the lookout for unique or alternate keywords that will help you find additional articles.

Always make sure to note the date of the article. This article, for example, was published in 1997 so it would be worth your time to see if later studies confirmed or refuted the information in this article.

Limiting by type of publication

The Advanced Search screen is the default screen that appears when you select the database.  This screen includes Search Options that are listed below the search text boxes.

Evidence Based Practice:  Check the box for Evidence Based Practice in the right column,

Practice Guidelines:   Select Practice Guidelines from the Publication Type box in the right column,

Research articles:  Check the box for Research in the left column.

Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals:  Check the box for Scholarly Journals in the right column.

Refining search results

There are many ways to refine your search results in CINAHL.  One of the easiest ways to do this iis to type in your terms to get a list of citations, and then use the limits that are listed under Refine Results on the left-hand side of the screen.

Limit by date:  Use the slider bar under the Limit To section to select a date range, or type in the beginning and ending years in the boxes above the bar.

Limit by country:  Select a country under the Geography section.  USA is listed first.

Limit by language Select a language under the Language section.