At times it is necessary to find articles which are authored by nurses. There are two databases with specific methods of finding those articles, CINAHL and PubMed. Click the tabs above for instructions on searching the databases.
The Nursing database CINAHL has options to limit to articles authored by a nurse. This limit was added in the summer of 2010 so can only be used for articles published since then.
To activate the limiter:
Here is a video tutorial of using CINAHL to search for articles by nurses.
If the "Any Author is a Nurse" limit does not work for you, you have to look at the full-text of articles to determine if the author is a nurse. This is usually on the first page of the article and may be noted by degrees (CRNA, MSN, RN etc...) after the name or in an "about the authors" section. Some journals do not provide this information at all.
Please Note: There are not necessarily articles published/written by a nurse on your topic! If you follow the directions on this page -- it is possible your search results in zero results. You may have to broaden your search, choose another aspect of your topic, or ultimately change your topic altogether.
PubMed does not have a limiter for articles authored by a nurse. However, you can construct a search for nurse authors.
"RN"[ad] OR "CRNA"[ad] OR "MSN"[ad] OR "APRN"[ad] OR "CNS"[ad] OR "DNP"[ad] OR "NP"[ad] OR "nursing"[ad] AND [your search term]
So for example, if you wanted to search Pubmed for nurse authored articles on Patient Falls your search would look like this:
"RN"[ad] OR "CRNA"[ad] OR "MSN"[ad] OR "APRN"[ad] OR "CNS"[ad] OR "DNP"[ad] OR "NP"[ad] OR "nursing"[ad] AND Patient Falls
Here is a video tutorial of using CINAHL/PubMed to search for articles by nurses.
This will search the Author Description field and any author that includes RN in their credentials will show up. It is up to you as the researcher to be sure that the authors are indeed nurses while searching in Pubmed.
Please Note: There are not necessarily articles published/written by a nurse on your topic! If you follow the directions on this page -- it is possible your search results in zero results. You may have to broaden your search, choose another aspect of your topic, or ultimately change your topic altogether.
Trusted Clinical Practice Guideline Repositories
Finding Guidelines in Databases
Qualitative research is defined as "research that derives data from observation, interviews, or verbal interactions and focuses on the meanings and interpretations of the participants." (Holloway and Wheeler, 1995)
Qualitative research can be challenging to find as these methodologies are not always well-indexed in bibliographic databases. This help guide will provide some tips and information to guide you in your search for qualitative research articles through databases, such as PubMed and CINAHL.
Strategy 1: Use Subject Headings
Databases use controlled keywords (known as thesaurus or subject terms) to categorize each record stored. PubMed, for example, uses Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), a highly structured index of terminology. The subject headings vary for each database according to their indexing system. The term "qualitative research" is indexed in PubMed as "Qualitative Research" or "Nursing Methodology Research", while in CINAHL the subject heading "Qualitative Studies" is complemented by more detailed terms, including "Phenomenological Research" and "Grounded Theory".
Strategy 2: Use Text Words
This strategy uses text or keywords that might specifically identify qualitative research and searches the titles, abstracts and keywords of records held in the databases. Some Text Words include: qualitative, ethnograph*, phenomenol*, ethnonurs*, grounded theor*, purposive sample, hermeneutic*, heuristic*, semiotics, lived experience*, narrative*, life experiences, cluster sample, action research, observational method, content analysis, thematic analysis, constant comparative method, field stud*, theoretical sample, discourse analysis, focus group*, ethnological research, ethnomethodolog*, interview*.
Strategy 3: Use Qualitative Research Filters
Qualitative Research Filters are pre-formulated search strategies that have been constructed by librarians to help you retrieve articles in databases that deal with qualitative research. You can use the filter and then combine the results with your subject.
CINAHL: Qualitative Research Filter
Evidence-based filter search for Qualitative Research. Combine these results with your search subject. The search below will automatically be executed for you (the search may be modified once you are in CINAHL):
(MH “action research”) or (MH "Audiorecording") or (MH "cluster sample+") or (MH "constant comparative method") or (MH "content analysis") or (MH "discourse analysis") or (MH "ethnographic research") or (MH "ethnological research") or (MH "ethnography") or (MH "ethnonursing research") or (MH "field studies") or (MH "focus groups") or (MH "grounded theory") or (MH "Historical Records") or (MH "Interviews+") or (MH "Narratives") or (MH “naturalistic inquiry”) or (MH "observational methods+") or (MH "phenomenological research") or (MH "phenomenology") or (MH "purposive sample") or (MH "qualitative studies") or (MH "qualitative validity+") or (MH "questionnaires") or (MH "thematic analysis") or (MH "theoretical sample") or (MH "Videorecording+") or TX colaizzi* or TX constant comparative or TX constant comparison or TX cooperative inquir* or TX co-operative inquir* or TX co operative inquir* or TX Corbin* TX data saturat* or TX discourse* analysis or TX emic or TX etic or TX ethnon* or TX field research or TX field stud* or TX focus group* or TX Foucault* or TX giorgi* or TX Glaser* or TX grounded analysis or TX grounded research or TX grounded studies or TX grounded study or TX grounded theor* or TX heidegger* or TX hermeneutic* or TX heuristic or TX human science or TX husserl* or TX life experiences or TX life stor* or TX lived experience* or TX merleau ponty* or TX narrative analysis or TX qualitative or TX participant observ* or TX phenomenol* or TX purpos* sampl* or TX questionnaire* or TX semiotics or TX spiegelberg* or TX Strauss* TX van kaam* or TX van manen*