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Need research help and not sure where to turn? Get help from the library via email, chat, and online appointments or stop by one of our reference desks during open hours of operation.
Want to contact your Nursing & Health Sciences Librarian or set up a virtual or F2F appointment with her? Email Debra Smith: smithkak@cod.edu
Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature (CINAHL)
- CINAHL CompleteCINAHL (the Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature) is your go-to database for locating health care-related articles. Follow the 10-steps handout, drill down using subject headings and subheadings (plus the extensive limiters like publication date, peer-reviewed, age groups) to locate articles specific to clinical patients and scenarios.
- Research in 10 STEPS Using CINAHLFollow these steps to successfully locate journal articles in CINAHL.
- Sample CINAHL Search with Step-by-Step InstructionsThis document follows the Research in 10 Steps using CINAHL handout utilizing a sample clinical scenario. It contains illustrated screen shots of the CINAHL database for each step to aid visual learners.
CINAHL Subject Headings
- CINAHL headings are controlled vocabulary (subject headings) representing concepts allowing more thorough searches than if you just used keywords
- For example, searching the CINAHL heading “myocardial infarction” finds articles containing all synonyms including Heart Attack; Infarction, Myocardial; Myocardiac Infarction; Myocardial Infarctions; Heart Attacks; Infarctions Myocardial; Myocardiac Infarctions; MI
To browse or search for specific CINAHL headings, click the CINAHL headings button located at the top of all CINAHL database pages
For additional information on using CINAHL headings, check out the
Using CINAHL/MeSH Headings - Help Sheet
This tutorial demonstrates how to create a targeted search using the CINAHL/MeSH Headings (3:33)
CINAHL Advanced Searching Tutorial (3:45)
My EBSCOhost Personalized Folder Tutorial (3:42)
This tutorial demonstrates how to create a FREE personal My EBSCOhost folder account as well as the features of the Personalization folder.
Benefits of creating a personal folder account include:
- Saving searches
- rerun them at a later date (retrieving newly published articles)--this works great if you are interested specific topics and wish to see all new articles published on your topic
- don't have to reinvent complicated search strategies if your session times out or you need to close out of CINAHL
- Organize various assignments or interest areas into folders for saved searches and articles
- create saved searches for all of your research assignments/topics
- create topic folders to organize saved articles
Click on the HELP link located at the top, right-hand side of CINAHL to access step-by-step instructions on creating/sharing folders, saving searches, articles and more.