The databases below are especially useful for finding secondary literature (Systematic Reviews, Meta-Analyses, Practice guidelines, etc.). CINAHL and PubMed also index the primary literature (controlled trials, cohort studies, case studies, etc.).
CINAHL - Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature
The best resource to find published literature in nursing and in the allied health fields. In advanced search mode, you can limit your results list to specific levels of evidence.
Cochrane Library*
The top resource for systematic reviews.
Joanna Briggs Institute EBP Database*
Developed by an international organization based in Australia, JBI offers a range of summarized and appraised evidence specifically for nurses: Recommended Practices, Evidence Summaries, Best Practice Information Sheets, Systematic Reviews, Consumer Information Sheets, and more. A good complement to the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
PubMed
The best resource for published literature in the health sciences. PubMed covers thousands of journals in all aspects of the health sciences, both human and veterinary. Searches can be limited to practice guidelines, systematic reviews, or controlled trials by applying the appropriate "Type of Article" limit. Free access through the National Library of Medicine, but starting from our library link provides many more full-text articles than PubMed through Google.
*Databases marked with an asterisk are accessed through the Wegner Health Sciences Library website.
Access Medicine: Practice Guidelines in Primary Care*
This handy guide draws information from many sources of the latest guidelines for preventive services, screening methods, and treatment approaches commonly encountered in the outpatient setting.
ClinicalKey for Nursing*
Provides nurses with clinically relevant answers from evidence-based nursing books, peer-reviewed journals, practice guidelines, and core measures with nursing recommendations. Designed for nursing care, including: - Administering medication - Managing nurse policy - Monitoring for complications - Providing patient education.
DynaMed*
Content is written by an international "team of physicians who synthesize the evidence and provide objective analysis of health interventions.
National Guidelines Clearinghouse (NGC)
Provides structured, standardized summaries of thousands of current practice guidelines created by medical specialty associations, professional societies, public or private organizations, government agencies at the federal, state, or local level, or health care organizations. To be included in the NGC, the guideline creators must have performed a systematic literature search and a review of existing scientific evidence published in peer reviewed journals during guideline development.
Improve your CINAHL search skills with these brief (3-4 minute) tutorials.
Building a PubMed Search
Improve your PubMed searching skills by viewing this longer video tutorial. Total run-time for the series: approximately 17 minutes.
