Nursing 386

Your Assignment:  Summarize two research articles that address the clinical issue. Acquire these articles by searching various databases.  These articles should be in nursing journals or contain at least one nurse author.  They should show original research.  The following headings or subheadings should appear in these journal articles:

The Parts of a Research Article  Introduction  Methods or methodology or procedure –Research question –Data Collection –Analysis, may be statistical

The Parts of a Research Article  Results or findings –Implications for nursing –Ethical Considerations  Discussion  Conclusion  References

Assignment Continued:  The articles should be less than five years old.  Discuss the findings of each article.  Discuss the implications of the research findings/conclusions for nursing care.  Not to exceed 6 pages.  Both articles must be turned in with the paper.

Assignment continued:  Format: Formal typed paper  Must be in 12 point font with 1 inch margins.  Consideration must be given to grammar, spelling and neatness.  Reference list must be included.

APA Manual is available at Ready Reference if you do not own the manual. The call number is: WZ 345 P512P 2001

Use these databases:  CINAHL, available from  MEDLINE, available from  While the Cochrane Library Evidence- based Medicine is considered the Gold Standard, some of its topic reviews contain a collection of research articles which are reviewed for their efficacy.

Databases continued:  Use only MEDLINE and CINAHL for this particular assignment.  The properties of each database will be discussed separately.

Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL )

CINAHL is available online from 1982 to the present. Prior to 1982, you can use the “Red Index” Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature found in Reference to look for citations.

CINAHL is a proprietary (subscription) database.

SAMPLE CINAHL SEARCH  Go to the Library web page,  Scroll down the left side of the page till you see MEDLINE/PubMed.  CLICK on the blue capsule Start Ovid.

Searching:  Choose the database you wish to search. Select them ONE at a TIME since you are moving between government and proprietary databases and they each have separate and unique subject headings.

SEARCHING CINAHL  In the search box, place the following subject headings on separate lines. Explode each term. Each will have its own set number.

Searching Continued:  When you “or” these terms together, you have a huge number of citations.  Next, you insert the condition, disease, or other search term you wish to research.

Searching  Limit your search to reduce your retrieval to a manageable number.  Scroll down the screen past the search box to choose appropriate limits.  Click on either the target or More Limits to see a full list of options.

Most articles are in English, but articles in other languages do appear in the database.  Choose to limit to English since the Library has very few journals published in foreign languages.  Click in the check box next to the word English below the search box.

Next, limit to a range of years reflecting the instructions for your assignment. Most instructors prefer that your articles appear in journals published in the most recent 3 to 5 years. Click the down arrows to the right of each of the two publication boxes to select a range of years.

Language Limit Limit to range of years Limit to research Limit to nursing journals

Select peer reviewed journals

Click the J for Journal of Advanced Nursing

Click the blue link to the journal

Choose this option, since the article was published in 2006

Choose and click a link to PDF if available

CINAHL does not use the same indexing terms as MEDLINE, nor the Cochrane databases in some cases

MEDLINE

 Includes a nursing index. The International Nursing Index is here.  The time line is further back, records are included from  There are many foreign language journals in this database. If you request an inter-library loan, of a foreign language journal article, the article will be in the language indicated on the screen.

SEARCHING:  To facilitate the search, we suggest a group of applicable terms. Add each on a separate line.  “Explode” and “focus” each term when you mark the box opposite the term.  Select all subheadings and continue.

Searching continued:  Nursing research  Pilot projects  Data collection  Reproducibility of results  Prospective studies  Longitudinal studies

Searching:  Use “or” (which is like the mathematical “addition” sign +)  “or”ing (or adding) the subject headings of the 6 terms you have listed will create a larger set of results.  Add the surgical or medical condition that is of interest to you.  Use myocardial infarction to be consistent with the search in CINAHL.

Searching:  When you “or” you get “more”, but when you take this string of or’s and “and” it to another term on a different line, your retrieval will be less.

Limiting:  You may limit to a type of journal, such as nursing journals.  MEDLINE doesn’t have a limit for peer reviewed journals.

Limiting:  As you can see, each limit decreases the search significantly. You may wish to select articles from both CINAHL and MEDLINE. Some may be duplicates.  Some may not be in full text. You may have to check the catalog and e-journal list to see if the library holds the journal.

EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICINE  This database appears to have fewer studies in nursing, but it is also the gold standard.

Evidence Based Nursing  You may go to the OVID databases again to CINAHL.

Click on J for Journal…