Skip to Main Content
Nova southeastern University logo Martin and Gail Press Health Professions Division Library Logo

Nursing: CINAHL

This library guide serves as the Martin and Gail Press Health Professions Division Library portal for the Ron and Kathy Assaf College of Nursing, directing faculty and students to the most helpful library resources and services for their academic program.

CINAHL

CINAHL Complete - EBSCOhost
Citations and abstracts for literature of nursing and allied health. Also includes full-text from selected journals, legal cases, drug records, research instruments, clinical trials, and more

CINAHL is the major database of nursing and allied health information. There are multiple ways to search for research instruments in CINAHL. The most appropriate for you depends on what you want to know. When searching by the name of a research instrument, it is often most effective to use a unique term or phrase from the name of the instrument, instead of the exact name.

CINAHL Publication Types

To find a work that is a published research instrument, search for a Publication Type of RESEARCH INSTRUMENT. This indicates the work indexed is actually a research instrument.

  1. Search using search terms for your topic and then
  2. Click Search Options
  3. Next to Publication Types, click Research Instrument.
  4. Click SearchBeginning in 1994, CINAHL began indexing research instruments as a publication type. However, other CINAHL records may also include information about research instruments.

CINAHL did not begin indexing research instruments as a publication type until 1994.  However, other CINAHL records may also include information about research instruments.

CINAHL Instrumentation

To find a body of work that uses a specific research instrument, search using the particular name of the research instrument as an INSTRUMENTATION in the drop-down list.

  1. Enter the specific name of the research instrument and
  2. Select INSTRUMENTATION from the drop-down list
  3. Click Search

CINAHL Subject Headings

To search for material about research instruments, search for RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS as a Subject Heading in the drop-down list. Records have major subject headings and minor subject headings. Major subject headings indicate the primary or major topics of the work. Minor subject headings indicate less important or minor topics of the work.

  1. Enter the specific name of the research instrument and select Subject Heading from the drop-down list
  2. Click Search

OR

  1. Enter a topic in the first search box and
  2. Enter RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS in the second search box and select Subject Heading from the drop-down list
  3. Click Search

MW Word in Subject Heading = search for a word or phrase anywhere in the subject heading fields
MH Exact Subject Heading = search for a word or phrase that exactly matches an existing subject heading anywhere in the subject heading fields
MJ Word in Major Subject Heading = search for a word or phrase that is a major topic of the work anywhere in the Major subject heading field
MM Exact Major Subject Heading = search for a word or phrase that exactly matches an existing subject heading that is a major topic of the work anywhere in the subject heading fields