CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health)

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Introduction

The CINAHL Plus (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health) database contains bibliographic references (books, dissertations, standards of professional practice, and educational software) to nursing, allied health, biomedical, emergency services, occupational therapy, physical therapy, respiratory therapy, surgical technology, physician's assistant and consumer health journals.

cinahl search screen

Accessing

This database may be accessed from the Electronic Resources Section of the Alvin Sherman Library website.

After logging in with your "SharkLink ID and Password, you can now access the database.

electronic resources page

Searching

To begin your search in CINAHL

  • type your search term(s) in the entry box
  • click the Search button

search screen
Searching in CINAHL.

Search Results

Search results will vary. If you get:

  • No records matched your search, then check your spelling or the fields you searched in.
  • Too many, then go back and limit your search. Sometimes a search needs to be modified with: additional search words, searching only a specific field, adding date limitations, or type of materials.
  • Too few, then go back and expand your search. Consider synonyms for your search words or concepts. Try to use professional language or terminology.
  • Irrelevant results, then try new search terms. Consider synonyms or related concepts. Identify and search using descriptors. Try a different database.

A Search History/Alerts screen will display

  • search terms as processed by the database
  • number of matching results
  • options to revise or delete the search

pdf article link

Search History/Alerts screen in CINAHL.

To display the items that matched the search terms

  • click the "View Results" link to display results

A list of search results matching your search terms will be displayed. The results page shows

  • citations for items that matched the search terms
  • document formats available for retrieval; depends on the search results
    • FIND IT - provides a link directly from a citation to the full text, if available
    • PDF Full Text - indicates that a PDF format of the article is available
    • HTML Full Text - indicates that a full-text version of the article is available

pdf article link
Search results list in CINAHL.

Search Tips

Use advanced search features to modify a search to obtain more successful search results. You can combine advanced search features to modify and improve your search. Advanced search features often include:

  • date
  • document and/or publication type and
  • Boolean operators

    • Modify searches in CINAHL by using one or more of the following

    • enter multiple search terms or concepts
    • combine terms using Boolean operators
    • limit search terms using field searching
    • refine searches with limiters, such as date, full text, publication type, language, gender, etc.

    Maintained by the Alvin Sherman Library, Research, and Information Technology Center
    Nova Southeastern University :: Copyright © 2004-2005
    Last updated: 04/22/2005