The CINAHL Databases Advanced Searching

Tutorial featuring:

support.ebsco.com

Welcome to EBSCO’s advanced searching on the CINAHL databases tutorial, featuring CINAHL Complete, the most comprehensive resource for nursing and allied health literature. In this tutorial, you will learn how to perform an Advanced search, as well as how to combine multiple searches using the Search History feature.

We’ll begin by searching for

catheters

, selecting the Full Text limiter. Enter the term in the

Find

field, select your limiters, and click

Search

.

A result list is displayed. This search can be further modified by using the Limiters available in the left column under

Limit To

. Click the

Search History

link to view the search in the Search History/Alerts window. In this search, we want to restrict our results to catheter infections in the urinary tract.

We click on

New Search

to clear our Search screen as well as any limiters we may have selected, so we can create a new search on hemodialysis. After completing the search on hemodialysis, we will combine it, using our Search History, with our search of Catheters. Enter

hemodialysis

in the

Find

field, check the

Full Text

limiter, and click

Search

.

The search is added to the Search History. The next step is to combine this search statement with search statement

S1

, which is the full text search on Catheters. To combine the searches, check the box to the left of each search and select a button to combine the searches. We’ll click

Search with AND

for results which contain both search terms.

Note

, if your

Find

field has not been cleared automatically, remove your previous search terms prior to clicking

Search with AND

.

The result list is refreshed to reflect the combined search. The new search is also added to your Search History.

This search can be further refined by selecting limiters from the

Limit To

section on the left. The

Show More

link provides additional limiters which can further refine your search.

Limiters may include

Research Article

,

Evidence-Based Practice

, and

Age Groups

. After selecting any desired limiters, click

Search

.

The result list is displayed. Note the

Options set

indicator, which reflects that limiters have been selected.

The Search History reflects all of our search statements and each search statement provides the terms and limiters applied, as well as the number of results retrieved. Click the

Edit

link on any line of your search history to modify the search terms, limiters, and expanders. This is useful when further modification of the search statement is needed.

Searching for subject terms can also be useful. The CINAHL Editorial staff has assigned subject terms based on article content, allowing you to create a targeted search. When you click the

Suggest Subject Terms

box above the

Find

field prior to conducting a search, your terms are searched against the CINAHL Headings authority. From there, you can select headings and subheadings to refine your search.

You can also click on the

CINAHL Headings

link along the top toolbar to browse for appropriate subject terms. For more information on searching using subject headings, see the “Using CINAHL/MeSH Headings” tutorial on the EBSCO Support Site. The ability to search CINAHL Headings is available in all of the CINAHL databases.

When you are searching

CINAHL Plus

,

CINAHL Plus with Full Text

, or

CINAHL Complete

, you can click on the

Evidence-Based Care Sheets

link in the top toolbar or

Quick Lessons

under the

More

link to view a list of all available topics. Simply check the box in front of any item on the list and click on the

Search

button.

The document is displayed in the result list. Click the

PDF Full Text

link to view the Quick Lesson or Evidence-Based Care Sheet. To access the CINAHL Continuing Education Unit Modules, click the

CE Module

link and follow the directions to enroll with CINAHL.

At any time, click on the

Help

link to view the complete online help system.