Evidence-Based Practice: CINAHL

The online version of CINAHL covers literature from 1982 to the present. To identify older nursing literature, consider the International Nursing Index. 

CINAHL uses some subject headings that include acronyms at the end of the heading, such as Animal Assisted Therapy (Iowa NOC), Sensory-Perceptual Alterations (NANDA), or Risk Identification (Iowa NOC). These acronyms refer to nursing classification systems. When searching CINAHL for a topic, it is recommended that a more general subject heading be used. Only use the nursing classification subject headings if you are looking for records that specifically mention the classification.

CINAHL (Cumulated Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) is the authoritative resource for nursing and allied health professionals, students, educators and researchers. This database provides indexing and abstracting for over 2,900 current nursing and allied health journals and publications dating back to 1982, totaling over 880,000 records. CINAHL contains references to journal articles, meeting abstracts, audiovisuals and dissertations. It indexes nearly all English-language nursing journals, publications from the American Nurses' Association and the National League for Nursing. In addition, it covers the primary journals from allied health disciplines, biomedical, behavioral science, management, and popular medical literatures. Coverage begins in 1983 and continues to the current date.

The CINAHL and MEDLINE databases are designed to be preferentially searched using the Subject Headings. Records are coded with Subjects according to the topic(s) of the publication. 

CINAHL makes new records visible even before their employees have finished coding them in order to provide current awareness of new journal articles. These new records may not yet have Subject Headings added. The early display of incomplete records enables users to find publications that have just been published, even all features affecting findability are not finished.

Finding research articles in CINAHL.
For general research articles,...
On the left, click "Show More"
In the "Publication Type" box, select "Research"
Click Search.

or

Click "CINAHL Headings" at the top of the screen.
Type: RESEARCH.
Click Browse.
CLICK on the link "RESEARCH"
* See all of the different types of research that can be searched?
Check box to the left of "RESEARCH"  To the right, check the box under "Explode."
On the far right side, click "Search Database."

Finding quantitative research articles in CINAHL.     
Click "CINAHL Headings" at the top of the screen.
Type: QUANTITATIVE.
Click Browse.
Check box to the left of "QUANTITATIVE STUDIES."
On the far right side, click "Search Database."

Finding qualitative research articles in CINAHL.     
Click: “CINAHL Headings” at the top of the screen
Type: QUALITATIVE.
Click Browse.
CLICK on the link "QUALITATIVE STUDIES"
* See all of the different types of qualitative studies that can be searched?
Check box to the left of "QUALITATIVE STUDIES." To the right, check the box under "Explode."
On the far right side, click "Search Database."

Finding publications that use specific methodologies in CINAHL. 
Click: “CINAHL Headings” at the top of the screen
Type: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.
Click Browse.
CLICK on the link "RESEARCH METHODOLOGY."
* See all of the different types of methodologies that can be searched?
Check box to the left of "RESEARCH METHODOLOGY."  To the right, check the box under "Explode."
On the far right side, click "Search Database."

From EBSCO's press release:

Clinical Queries, designed for clinician use, allow users to limit searches with specific search strategies, to aid in retrieving scientifically sound and clinically relevant study reports indexed in CINAHL databases. Searches can be refined using specific search strategies designed to produce results in five research areas:

• Therapy
• Prognosis
• Review
• Qualitative
• Causation (Etiology)

As research may require different emphasis, three strategies are provided for each area.

• High Sensitivity is the broadest search, to include ALL relevant material. It may also include less relevant materials.
• High Specificity is the most targeted search to include only the most relevant result set, may miss some relevant materials.
• Best Balance retrieves the best balance between Sensitivity and Specificity.

To perform a search using Clinical Queries

1. Enter the CINAHL database.
2. Enter your search terms.
3. Scroll down to the Search Options (or click Show More on the Results page) and select the desired choices (from above) in the Clinical Query box.
4. Click Search.

Filters are prewritten search queries designed to be copied and pasted into a database to retrieve a certain type of result. A few Cinahl filters follow. Content includes prewritten filters for diagnosis, etiology, prognosis, therapy, meta-analysis, and qualitative research.

CINAHL provides some search features that help searchers to include or exclude geographic regions (specific states, countries, or continents) from the search results.

Click "CINAHL Headings" at the top of the screen.
Type: geographic locations.
Click Browse.
CLICK on the link "GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS"
Observe that locations are subcategorized by continent or by region. You may narrow down to the location(s) that you wish.
Check the box in front of the desired location.  To the right, check the box for Explode.
Click "Search Database."

(MH "India") OR (MH "Middle East+") OR (MH "China+") OR (MH "Russia") OR (MH "USSR+")

If desired, you may also combine searches with NOT to eliminate locations.