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HOME > Research > Course Guides > NUR 604
 

Introduction | Reference Sources | Indexes & Databases | Internet Resources | Writing the Paper

 Contact Information

For assistance in locating information on any nursing topic, please contact Sheila Johnson sheilaj@usm.maine.edu; (780-4690) Nursing Department Liaison, USM Glickman Library, Portland. Please don't hesitate to contact me for an appointment.

 Introduction

Library Services

SERVICES FOR STUDENTS

http://library.usm.maine.edu/services/forstudents.html

LIBRARY HOME PAGE

http://library.usm.maine.edu

LIBRARY CARD

Your USM picture ID card is also your library card. Your library barcode is the small red number at the bottom beginning with 2502200. New or transfer students will have had this number automatically activated if the id was obtained before the semester began. Don't know if your barcode number works? Go to the library's home page, click Your Record and try to login. Doesn't work? Contact the library Circulation department at any of our campuses.

LIBRARY RESEARCH ASSISTANCE

Reference librarians and their assistants are available to give you expert help with any question that you may have about your library assignments and research. To contact them:

  • Go to the Reference/Information Commons service desk at any USM campus library.
  • Click: Ask a Librarian to send an IM or e-mail, or obtain service phone numbers.

INTERLIBRARY LOAN (ILLiad)
If an article is not available online or in print, we can obtain a copy for you. To register for this service, go to the library's home page, click ILLiad and First Time Users - Start Here. When you request an article on interlibrary loan, a link to it will appear in your e-mail within 3-5 working days. Please do not use interlibrary loan to request articles from print journals owned by the Portland campus library.

LOCATE PRINT JOURNALS AT PORTLAND

Go to 3rd floor (Serials/Periodicals Department) and ask for assistance at the service desk. Photocopy machines are also available on this floor. (Microfilm copies are free).

ARTICLE LINKER

The Finding Full Text Faster symbol appeears adjacent to your database search . Click on this and follow instructions to obtain an electronic or a print article, or request a copy on Interlibrary Loan.

For more information about this feature, consult the Article Linker Tutorial.

LOCATE ELECTRONIC JOURNAL PASSWORDS

Article Linker may connect to a journal publisher's website for the full text of an article. In some instances you may need to supply a subscription number or password to obtain it. To locate these, click Journals and type in title. For a complete list of electronic nursing periodicals, Click Journals, Health and Biological Sciences, Nursing.

REQUEST BOOKS NOT OWNED BY THE LIBRARY

Use request tab in URSUS catalog. Pick up books at circulation desk on 1st floor. Books not in URSUS can be ordered by completing an Interlibrary Loan form.

 Reference Sources

Dictionary of Nursing Theory and Research
POR Ref RT 81.5 .P69 2006 

Encyclopedia of Nursing Research
POR Ref RT 81.5 .E53

 Indexes and Databases

The easiest way to locate articles on your topic is to use a periodical database. You may find articles in professional/trade, or scholarly periodicals. Consult scholarly, popular and professional/trade periodicals for information about the distinctions.

Evidence-Based Research Databases / Search Operators / Search Tips / Finding Evidence Based Articles /
What Other Students Learned / Tutorials

Evidence-based Research Databases (Computer Indexes)

Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) 1982+ Updated weekly.
Covers material published in over 1,800 nursing and allied health periodicals. Also includes doctoral dissertations, selected nursing books, educational software, and audiovisuals. An excellent source for locating articles on evidence-based nursing practice.

Medline 1950+ Updated weekly except new records in “Medline In Process” updated daily.
Created by the National Library of Medicine. Covers 4,800 biomedical periodicals in all languages. EBSCO’s Medline also includes OLDMEDLINE (1950-65), Medline in Process, HealthSTAR, and other subsets - AIDS, Bioethics, Biotechnology, and Health Technology.

PsycINFO 1887+ Updated weekly.
Indexes the professional literature in psychology and related disciplines, including medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, education, pharmacology, and physiology in over 2,100 periodicals. Includes information from empirical studies, case studies, surveys, bibliographies, literature reviews, discussion articles, conference reports and dissertations. Excellent for nursing and medical topics related to behavior, attitudes and mental health or illness.

PubMed 1950+ Updated daily.
Available free from the National Library of Medicine. Same as Medline except also includes out-of-scope journals such as general science and biology. Includes links to many free full-text articles, but not to paid subscription journals covered by USM’s version of Medline. Clinical filters can be used to limit searches to articles on systematic reviews and meta analysis and to four types of clinical research - diagnosis, etiology, therapy and prognosis.

Cochrane Library Updated quarterly.
A collection of databases that contain "high-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making." The databases are published by the Cochrane Collaboration, an international not-for-profit organization, providing up-to-date information about the effects of health care. The member volunteers evaluate the effectiveness and appropriateness of health care interventions, including medications, surgery, and education--through systematic review of scientific literature. The database sections can be searched together or separately.

These databases index articles, reports, and full record reviews:

  • Cochrane Reviews (Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews)
    Collection of full text reviews (some over 100 pages) that synthesize the results of many individual studies on a topic from numerous articles and unpublished sources.
  • Other Reviews (Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects/DARE)
    Contains citations and enhanced abstracts of reviews not covered by the Cochrane Collaboration. Maintained by the NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination at the University of York, England.
  • Clinical Trials (Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials)
    Bibliography (i.e. citation and abstract only) of controlled trials in articles, conference proceedings and unpublished trials.

These databases cover related material:

  • Methods Studies (Cochrane Methodology Register)
    Bibliographic database of articles and books on methods used in controlled trials and in preparing reviews.
  • Technology Assessments (Health Technology Assessment Database)
    "Brings together details of health technology asssessments (studies of the medical, social, ethical and economic implications of healthcare interventions) from around the world."
  • Economic Evaluations (NHS Economic Evaluation Database)
    Abstracts of articles on economic evaluations of health care interventions, such as analysis of cost benefit, cost effectiveness, or cost utility.
  • Cochrane Groups (About the Cochrane Collaboration)
     "The Cochrane Collaboration is divided into groups: Cochrane Review Groups, each of which concentrates on a specific healthcare area; Fields that draw together healthcare issues impacting on many review groups; a Consumer Network, that represents the interests of healthcare consumers; Methods Groups develop methodological techniques; Centres with geographic and linguistic responsibilities; and a Steering Group, which provides the policy- and decision-making body of the Collaboration, and this, in turn, is supported by the Secretariat. "

Search Operators

Boolean Operators / Truncation Operators / Proximity Operators / Wildcards / Locational Operators

Boolean Operators: Or, And, Not

Purpose: Allows you to specify how you want your search terms combined. Used for all Databases.

OR

When terms are combined with the OR operator, your records will contain one or more of the search terms. The terms may occur anywhere in the record. Sets of terms may be combined in addition to single terms.

Multiple OR operators can be used to combine more than two terms. Records must contain at least one of the terms to be retrieved.


And
When terms are combined with the AND operator, retrieved records must contain all terms.
Multiple AND operators may be used to combine more than two terms. Only records containing every term will be retrieved.

NOT

NOT finds records containing one term but not another.
The terms may occur anywhere in the record, including the abstracts.

Note The NOT operator excludes some records, which contain the desired search term. Do not use unless you are confident that the excluded term will not eliminate relevant records. For example, education not patient education retrieves records of which the title contains only the term education and not the term patient education

Mixed
Combining the AND plus the OR operators will retrieve records in both combinations. In this example the word pairs renal & failure, or the paired terms kidney & failure, or all three terms, are searched. Use parentheses to specify the proper combination.

Truncation Operators

Purpose: To search the variations of a word stem.

Truncation
Type an asterisk following a word stem to retrieve a variety of word endings.

Example: searching prevent * retrieves records with the terms prevent, prevents, preventing, prevention, and preventative.

Proximity Operators

Purpose: Use to locate terms within a specified distance of each other.

NEAR (N) and WITH (W) Operators

Similar to ADJ operator. Use to retrieve records that contain search terms within a specified number of words in any order. Type N or W and a number (to specify the number of words).

Use NEAR to search if it does not matter which word appears first. 

Use WITH to specify that your terms must be in the same order in which they are entered. 

Example: typing theories n1 nursing would retrieve records that contain the word nursing and the word theories either next to each other or with one word separating them.  It would pick up nursing theories, theories of nursing, nursing practice theories, etc.

Example: typing nursing w1 theories would search for records where the word nursing is listed first, followed by the word theories, and where no more than one word separates the two terms.  It would retrieve nursing theories and nursing practice theories but not theories of nursing.

Wildcards

Purpose: Use the wildcard to create searches where there are unknown characters or multiple spellings.

Wildcard Symbol = (?)

To use a wildcard, enter your search term and replace the unknown character with a symbol.

Use ? within or at the end of a query word to substitute for one character. Two characters are needed before the symbol. 		Example: type behavio?r to retrieve records with the words behavior and behaviour.

Locational Operators

Purpose: Use to specify the field (record part) where you would like to find your terms.

Note: The techniques for searching record parts and field codes vary with each database. Most use a two-character abbreviation, e.g., au= author, ti = title etc.

For more information on which searchable fields are available in Cinahl/Medline and their label definitions, on the Choose Database Screen, click the More Information link for the database.

Example: For CINAHL/MEDLINE, click the arrow adjacent to Select a Field (optional). Select au, ti, or any other desired field.

Example: For COCHRANE LIBRARY, click the arrow adjacent to Search all Text and select desired field.

 

Search Tips for CINAHL, MEDLINE, PSYCInfo and Cochrane Library

Database
Truncation
Thesaurus
Combining Searches
Saving Searches
CINAHL (Ebsco)
*

Select

  • Type term. Select heading.
  • Use explode as appropriate.
  • Search each term individually.

Select

  • Delete text in the Find: box.
  • Click boxes adjacent to desired terms.
  • Use AND/OR to select combinations.
  • Review statement in Find box, Click:

Select

Select

To create an account, select and complete the form. Login, and enter a name and description for your search. Select desired type of save and click

Medline (Ebsco)
*

Select

  • Type term. Select heading.
  • Use explode as appropriate.
  • Search each term individually.
Same as CINAHL. Same as CINAHL.

PsycINFO
(Ebsco)

*

Select

Consider Explode if a term option.

Same as CINAHL.

 Same as CINAHL.

Cochrane Library
(Wiley)

*

No thesaurus. If uncertain of terminology try a MeSH Search. Otherwise:

  • Select Advanced Search option.
  • Type and search terms individually. Be sure to select Search All Text for each term.
  • If too many irrelevant records, change Search All Text to Title, Abstract or Keywords.

Searches are automatically combined when using AND/OR/NOT between concepts in search statement.

 

You must register once to save searches. Select My Profile, then Register Now. A one-time confirmation of your login and password will be sent to your email address.

Once registered, Select Save Search option on the Search Results page.

Finding Evidence Based Literature in CINAHL, Medline and PubMed

Adapted from Nancy Curtis' NUR 505 guide (UMO)

Search Target
CINAHL
Medline
PUBMED

Meta-Analysis or Systematic Review. These approaches can also be used to find literature on diagnosis, therapy, etc.

Limits – Select Refine Search, Publication Type:

  1. Select:
    Systematic Review.
    • Note: this may not retrieve all review articles.
  2. Also try:
    • Clinical Trial
    • Practice Guidelines
    • Protocol
    • Research
    • Review
    • Standards
  3. Clear previous limits and check box adjacent to Evidence-Based Practice. [Note: includes systematic reviews & meta-analyses but only from a pre-selected list of journals published since 2001+]

Limits – Cinahl Headings:

  • Literature Review (explode)
  • Meta Analysis
  • Professional Practice, Evidence based (explode)
  • Systematic Review

For an intervention search use clinical trial. Repeat search using research

 

Limits - Select Refine Search Publication Type:

  • Clinical Trial
  • Consensus Development Conferences
  • Guideline
  • Meta-Analysis
  • Multicenter Study Review (or more specific review types)

Limits – MeSH Headings

  • Clinical Trials
  • Evidence-Based Medicine
  • Meta-Analysis
  • Review Literature (explode)

Check EBM Review box-results likely to be limited.

Consult find systematic reviews to locate:

  • Meta-analysis
  • Systematic reviews
  • Reviews of clinical trials
  • Evidence-based medicine
  • Consensus development conferences
  • Guidelines

Diagnosis or Etiology

Limits: Cinahl Headings:

  • Case Control Studies (explode)
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Sensitivity and Specificity

Limits - MeSH Headings:

  • Case-Control Studies (explode)
  • Cohort Studies (explode)
  • Risk (explode)
  • Sensitivity and Specificity

Click search by clinical study category to find articles on diagnosis or etiology
Therapy or Prognosis

Subject headings:

  • Disease Progression
  • Placebos
  • Prognosis (explode)

Under Qualify Subheadings select Prognosis

Limits - MeSH Headings:

  • Clinical trials (explode)
  • Cohort Studies (explode)
  • Disease Progression
  • Double-Blind Method
  • Placebos
  • Single-Blind Method

Qualify Subheadings - Prognosis

Consult search by clinical study category to find articles on therapy or prognosis

 

What Other Students Learned the Hard Way

  1. Limit searching to 30 minutes at a time
    Judy advises that searching for more than 30 minutes at a time can easily lead to frustration, especially when “just a few more clicks” can turn into hours of unsuccessful effort    .
    • Tip: Get a timer and set it for 30 minutes of searching in one sitting.
  2. Avoid searching Cinahl and Medline simultaneously
     Terms for the same concept frequently vary between the two databases and searching them together will unintentionally limit your search.
    • Tip: If you select Choose Databases to switch from one index to another, first deselect box adjacent to the title that you’ve been searching to turn it off
  3. Know the limitations of the Evidenced-Based Practice check off option in Cinahl
    • Selecting the Evidence-Based Practice limiter from the Refine Search screen retrieves only articles from a pre-selected list of journals published from 2001+. For comprehensive results follow the the information in this guide titled Finding Evidence-based Literature in Cinahl & Medline. Start your search by selecting Research Article.
  4. Don’t limit searches to “Full Text”
    By selecting this limit you will:
    • Miss other full text articles that are accessible from other databases and publisher’s websites through Article Linker
    • Exclude many other excellent records
  5. Save your searches
    It’s always a good idea to save your searches for later use. Even saving failed searches will help you remember what didn’t work. Instructions for saving are located on Search Tips page.
  6. To retrieve full text from E-mailed articles follow these instructions:
    • Copy and Paste this URL into your Internet browser window http://www.library.umaine.edu/auth/EZProxy/test/authej.asp?url=
    • Copy the persistent link URL from your email Ebsco record
    • Paste this at the end of the URL you have already pasted into the browser
    • The end result will look like two complete URLs connected by an equal sign. For example: http://www.library.umaine.edu/auth/EZProxy/test/authej.asp?url=http://search.epnet.com/loginaspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=16793723
  7. Some full text articles are not always available off campus
    There are three types of full text articles:
    • Those provided by the Ebsco database and labeled HTML or PDF
    • Those labeled Linked Full Text may represent two scenarios:
    • 1) Articles at the publisher's website that may not be accessible off campus
    • 2) Articles that link to another Ebsco database that are available off campus
      • Tip: If you are uncertain of obtaining an article from home, print or save it while you are on campus.
  8. Interlibrary loan (ILLIAD) use tips
    • Please do not request articles that are available in print at Portland. Your request will be returned.
    • To request an article:
    • Click Article Linker and Submit an Interlibrary Loan request
    • Logon with User Name and Password, or click First Time Users...
    • The record will automatically convert to the form
    • Be sure to select Campus Pickup Location before submitting your request
    • You will be notified by e-mail, and a link to the article will be provided

Tutorials

CINAHL

Cochrane Library

PubMed

 Internet Resources

When selecting Internet resources it is important to evaluate the quality of any websites that you use. Consult the USM Library’s Evaluating Web Resources guide, or Evaluating Web Pages (UC Berkley) for evaluation criteria. The following is a selected list of websites that you may find useful. Consult your course guide on Blackboard for more sites.

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Provides a series of Evidence Reports to develop scientific information for other agencies and organizations on which to base clinical guidelines, performance measures, and other quality improvement tools.

Best Practice Guidelines
Developed by the Royal Nurses Association of Ontario. Includes a list of Guidelines designed to provide nurses with evidence-based recommendations regarding assessment and/or screening in a variety of practice settings and situations.

BMJ Online
Online version of the British Medical Journal. Contains a series of articles on How to Read a Paper, including Papers that go beyond numbers (qualitative research) and Papers that summarise other papers (systematic reviews and meta-analyses).

Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine
Produced by Oxford University, and one of the leading worldwide centers for evidence-based medicine. Contains information about learning, doing and teaching EBM as well as some useful analytical tools.

EBN Online
The electronic version of the journal Evidence Based Nursing.  Contains a link to evaluating systematic reviews of treatment/prevention.

Evidence-Based Nursing: Guides and Tools
An excellent site from McGill University with an extensive list of links to areas such as Question Formulation, Literature Searching, Critical Appraisal Tools and Examples.

Joanna Briggs Institute
Evidence-based information sheets for health professionals. Note: This is an Australian site; keep in mind cultural differences.

National Guideline Clearinghouse
Comprehensive database of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and related documents. You can browse the guidelines by disease/condition, by treatment/intervention, or by the name of the submitting organization.  Guidelines are abstracted into a standardized format and easy to compare.

Netting the Evidence
An extensive list from the University of Sheffield (UK). Has a section on evidenced-based primary guidelines, and a virtual library of links.

Evidence-Based Nursing
A University of Toronto site with sample scenarios, search strategies and completed worksheets for Evidence-Based Nursing.

 

 Writing the Paper

This section will apply if you are writing a paper or completing an assignment that requires you to cite your resources.

Citation Styles

Accurate, properly formatted footnotes and bibliographies are indicators of good academic research, and the ethical/legal use of information. The standard citation style for nursing courses is APA (American Psychological Association).

Endnote

A link to APA format is available on EndNote, a personal bibliographic management program (available on USM campus computers or can be purchased from the publisher). This program lets you maintain a database of references, download references from other databases, use the database to link to references in word-processed documents, and generate a bibliography in the correct style for publications.

Other APA Guides

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
POR/GOR Reference BF76.7 .P83 2001
LEW Reserve BF76.7 .P83 2001

APA Format An excellent guide that uses nursing and medical examples

APA Formatting and Style Guide (Purdue University Online Writing Lab)

 

Created by: Sheila Johnson
Last Updated: 1.2008
A member of the University of Maine System USM: University of Southern Maine [home page]