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, 2006. 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, 2005. 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
Patient
Intervention
Comparison
Outcome
Time
Hospitalized patients
Usual oral care
Bundling
Reduce VAP cases
Not 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
http://library.jsu.edu/
 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
 Electronic Resources & Databases for
Distance Learning Nursing Students
 Frequently Asked Questions
 Tutorials
Contact Information
Paula Barnett-Ellis
9th Floor, Houston Cole Library
256-782-5249
pbarnett@jsu.edu
Facebook
Blackboard IM: pbarnett