This page will provide you with some tips for perfecting your search strategy that you can use throughout your article searches for this course. Examples of how to use these tips with relevant search terms will appear on the tab for each assignment.
You're probably familiar with CINAHL, the library's main nursing database.
CINAHL is still the best place to start searching for articles for these assignments.
If you aren't getting enough results from CINAHL, try this MILO search box. MILO searches nearly all of the library's resources at once, so you're sure to get more results. To limit your MILO results to peer-reviewed articles no more than five years old, take a look at the "Not enough results?" box on the Assignment 2 tab. You may also click here to link directly to MILO.
For more examples of how to create an effective search strategy, take a look at these resources.
Use advanced search. Click on "Advanced Search" under the main search box in CINAHL, and it will open up three search boxes instead of just one. Using three search boxes can make it easier to organize your search terms in a way that gives you better results.
Try breaking down your search topic so that one aspect of the search phrase goes in each box. It takes practice to learn how to break down your search terms, so look for examples of this on the other tabs in this guide that are specific to each assignment.
Using the three search boxes also puts the word "AND" between each box by default. Using AND between your search terms tells the database to search for articles where both words/phrases appear. Using this AND in combination with the word OR between synonyms (see Search Tip #3, below) can help you search more efficiently.
Add an asterisk. An asterisk can really improve your search results if used correctly. For example, if you are searching for an article about diagnosing asthma, all of the following versions of the word "diagnose" could show up in a relevant article:
You can make the database search all of these versions of the word at the same time by using an asterisk (*) after the letters all of the words have in common, like this:
Think of synonyms for your search terms. What other words might a relevant article use that mean the same thing as what you're searching? For example, if you're searching for articles about working with geriatric patients, other terms could include elderly or older people.
Add synonyms to your search by using the word OR. In the example above, you would type in the search box:
geriatric or elderly or older
If you can't think of any synonyms, it sometimes helps to do a preliminary search and see what alternate terms the articles are using, then add those to your search. Most of the time, you'll have to run your search a few times to craft the perfect search strategy, and that's OK.