Searching for Evidence Based Practice Information in CINAHL Plus with Full Text Houston Cole Library Paula Barnett-Ellis 2012

What Is Evidence Based Practice? “Evidence-based practice is a framework for clinical practice that incorporates the best available scientific evidence with the expertise of the clinical staff and the patient’s preferences and values to make decisions about health care.” Levin, Rona F. and Harriet R. Feldman, Teaching Evidence-based Practice in Nursing. NY: Springer, pg. 6.

Five Steps in EBP 1.Ask the clinical question 2.Collect the most relevant and best evidence 3.Critically appraise the evidence 4.Integrate with clinical expertise, patient preferences and values in making a practice decision or change 5.Evaluate the practice decision or change Melnyk, Bernadette Mazurek and Ellen Fineout-Overholt. Evidence-based Practice In Nursing & Healthcare: a Guide To Best Practice. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, pg

Form a Question  Example: For hospitalized patients are usual oral health measures OR bundling more effective in reducing the incidence of ventilator associated pneumonia?

PICOT: Answerable, Searchable Question  Patient population of interest  Intervention of interest  Comparison of interest  Outcome of interest  Time frame

PICOT PatientHospitalized patients InterventionUsual oral care ComparisonBundling OutcomeReduce VAP cases TimeNot used

How Can I Find EBP Literature?  Use controlled vocabulary (CINAHL subject headings; the way terms are indexed in the database)  Keyword searching  Boolean logic (AND, OR, NOT) And narrows search Or broadens search Not excludes terms

CINAHL Plus with Full Text  CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) Can limit Advanced Search to Research Articles  On research studies, with charts and/or graphs of data, method, discussion, results, etc. Can limit search to Evidence-Based Practice  Used in articles about clinical practice that base clinical decisions on research, clinical expertise, patient choices, and critical evaluation of the literature. Don’t use Full Text limit, as your article may be found in another database

Using CINAHL Plus with Full Text  Start at the library home page  Click on the Databases tab  Under Databases By Title, select CINAHL Plus with Full Text from the menu, click GO  Opens to Advanced Search Screen

Library Databases Click the Databases tab

Click Title Listing

Click on Link for CINAHL Plus Full Text Scroll down the page titled Electronic Resources and Databases by Title to CINAHL Plus Full Text

Advanced Search Screen

Set Limits for EBP Scroll down on the opening page and click the check box for Evidence-Based Practice

Subject Heading Search Click CINAHL Headings

Type Search Term(s), click Browse Type your search term(s), click Browse

Select Your Subject Heading

Click Check Box, then Click Search Database

Search Results

Add Terms to Narrow Search Results

Finding Full Text Articles Click Linked Full Text to see article text

Article Text

How Do I Find the Full Text if It’s Not There?  Use links within databases to locate full text or search catalog or Serials Solutions  Use Article Linker to see if an article is available in an online database. If it is, you may click a link for access. To use Article Linker, click on Link to Full Text in database record, or click on E-journals tab, then Article Linker.

Article Linker Type article title, journal, click Look Up

Click Get Article

Article Full Text

Finding My Article Cont.  Use our online catalog to find journal titles, not the articles.  Use the online catalog at  Click Author/Title/Subject/Call Number  Select Journal Title, and type the title in the search box You will need a call number for print journals. There will be an Internet Link for electronic format

Additional Resources  Houston Cole Library Distance Education Services page Houston Cole Library Distance Education Services page  Electronic Resources & Databases for Distance Learning Nursing Students Electronic Resources & Databases for Distance Learning Nursing Students  Frequently Asked Questions Frequently Asked Questions  Tutorials Tutorials

Contact Information Paula Barnett-Ellis 9 th Floor, Houston Cole Library Facebook Blackboard IM: pbarnett