Searching the Nursing Journal Literature

Last update: October 2010,
by Maureen Bell

Do not use the Library catalogue when searching for journal articles, as it lists journals but not individual journal articles.

Instead you will need to use databases to find details of journal articles on your subject. You'll find a list of databases of interest for nursing on my web page.
We subscribe to two specifically nursing databases - CINAHL, and Health Source: Nursing - however there is good coverage of major nursing journals in PubMed.
If you're a beginner and the whole exercise seems a bit daunting try starting out with Scopus - it's our biggest database, and is very easy to use.

Database checklist

When using a new database it's a good idea to check its features using the Help option.

First Steps

1. Use of Boolean (logical) operators -It's important when searching databases to understand the use of AND, OR, NOT to connect your search terms. PubMed's tutorial gives a clear explanation of how Boolean logic works.

2. How do you truncate terms to search for plurals etc.? Some databases such as Health Source: Nursing have multiple options, whereas PubMed uses only one truncation symbol, and this is how it works.

Health Source: Nursing uses two different symbols

An asterisk allows for any number of characters, or the absence of a character.
For example, comput* to find the words computer, computers, or computing.

A question mark is used to replace a single character.
For example, if you type ne?t you will find all citations containing neat, nest or next. You will not find net because the wildcard replaces only a single character - it doesn't allow for the absence of a character.

3. Is there a thesaurus which will allow you to use a standardised language to search? How does it work? PubMed has a thesaurus which is called MeSH - which is simply an acronym for Medical Subject Headings. CINAHL also has a thesaurus which you need to use when searching.

4. How do you search for articles by an author, or in a particular journal?

5. How do you display references, or mark them for saving, printing, or emailing to yourself?

6. Can you link to the full text of articles, or will you need to find print articles in the Library?

Formulating a search strategy

Before you search for information you'll need to formulate a search strategy. Below are some tips on how to do this.

1. Identify the key concepts.

2. Work out alternative terms for these concepts.

3. Decide whether you want to restrict your search to a certain population or group

4. Decide whether you want to restrict your search to a particular type of article - eg. systematic reviews.

5. Remember that practice helps, and that there is no such thing as the perfect search - a strategy which may be fine for an essay may be totally inadequate for a thesis topic.

6. You may find it helps to clarify your thinking if you use a logic grid, in which you group related concepts or synonyms - see the example below

An example

Supposing you want to find articles on nursing management of anxiety in cancer patients. Below are some possible options for searching . As there are three distinct concepts involved in this search we will use three columns

You would need to OR the individual words in each column, and then AND the groups of words together - remembering to use parentheses to preserve the logic of your search. Click here to check on Boolean logic (the use of logical operators, and the importance of parentheses in search strategies).

(cancer or oncol* ) and (stress or anxiety or coping ) and  nurs*

Try testing this strategy by copying and pasting it into the Find box in the database Health Source: Nursing.

Search results

The purpose of searching a database is to get a list of citations telling you where to look for articles on your subject.

Finding the full journal article

A database citation may give a link to a full electronic article, often in .pdf format which you can save or print directly.
If there is no link, or a faulty link, the Library may still have the journal in electronic or paper format - so always search the Library catalogue under the journal title. There is a demonstration on how to do this in our library tutorial.