Nursing

• Start with CINAHL Subject Headings — use controlled vocabulary terms instead of only keywords.
• Check the scope note for the term to confirm how CINAHL defines it (for example, “Caring”).
• Use “Major Heading” to focus on articles where your concept is central, not just mentioned in passing.
• Add keywords or context terms such as nurs* (nurse, nursing) or a condition (e.g., cancer).
• Combine your concept with concept-analysis terms like “concept analysis”, Walker and Avant, or Rodgers.
• Use Boolean and truncation (AND/OR, *) to include variations (e.g., concept* for concept/conceptual).
• Apply key limits: scholarly (peer reviewed), English language, date range (e.g., last five years), and adult population.

Optional narrowing:

• add nurs* in the author affiliation or publication name (SO) fields to find nursing journals. Note: using nurs* in publication name can be too refined — try it only if your results are too broad.
• Refine with title or abstract fields if needed, but remember this may find articles about nurses, not by nurses.

Tip: Some CINAHL tags are unintuitive — for example, “hardiness” is used for “resilience.” Checking the scope note helps avoid missing relevant results.

Example search:

hope AND ("concept analysis" OR "Walker and Avant" OR Rodgers)

Sometimes authors describe a concept analysis without using that exact phrase. Try combining your concept with other terms that relate to how ideas are explored or defined in nursing theory and philosophy.

Alternative terms you can use: philosophy, theory, definition, concept, religion, anthropology, psychology

Examples:

compassion AND "concept analysis"
compassion AND philosoph*
compassion AND theor*
compassion AND defin*
compassion AND concept*
compassion AND (religious OR religion* OR theolog*)
compassion AND anthropolog*
compassion AND theor* AND psycholog*

Notice the truncation symbol (*) — it helps you find word variations like philosophy/philosophical or theory/theoretical.

Adapt these for your own topic (e.g., trust AND theor* or hope AND concept*).

Tip inspired by the John B. Cade Library Concept Analysis Guide.

Goal: Retrieve articles that are truly about the concept (e.g., Caring) rather than any article that merely mentions the term.

🔎 Search the CINAHL Headings list for concepts like:

• uncertainty
• hope
• empowerment
• coping

🧭 Helpful related headings (add where appropriate):

• “nurse-patient relations”
• “patient-family relations”
• “professional-family relations”
• “attitude to illness” / “attitude to health” / “attitude to death”
• “nurse attitudes” / “patient attitudes”
• “decision making”
• “support, psychosocial”

💡 Tip: CINAHL Headings often emphasize the patient experience. Use the scope note to confirm you’ve got the right concept, and consider Major Concept to focus results.

• Scholarly (peer reviewed): filters out most non-academic content but isn’t perfect — some editorials may remain.
• Research article: helps focus results but may miss untagged newer articles.
• Publication date: limit to the last five years unless otherwise specified.
• English language (unless your assignment requires multilingual sources).
• Age group (Adults): use if your results include pediatric studies that don’t fit your focus.

1. Identify your concept (e.g., compassion, trust, dignity).
2. Add related terms for concept analysis (e.g., philosophy, theory, definition).
3. Include nursing context by adding nurs* or illness/setting terms (e.g., cancer, palliative).
4. Use Boolean and truncation to connect your ideas and expand word forms.
5. Critically read the results to confirm that the article connects the concept to nursing practice.

Example:

compassion AND (concept* OR theor* OR philosoph*)

Quick checks — always confirm with your professor’s instructions.

• Journal title: includes “nursing” (e.g., Journal of Advanced Nursing).
• Author credentials/affiliations: RN, BN/BSN, MN, or School/Faculty of Nursing.
• Audience: written by nurses or for a nursing audience.

Search tips (not perfect but can help):

• Add nurs* in the author affiliation field → finds nurse authors.
• Add nurs* in the journal title field → finds journals with “nursing” or “nurse.”
• Add nursing in the title/abstract → can find related work (may include articles about nurses).

💡 None of these limits are perfect — always open the article and check the journal name and author details to confirm.

Ask yourself:

• Is at least one of your papers a concept analysis (not a research study)?
• Is it peer reviewed?
• Is it a nursing article (from a nursing journal or by nurse authors)?
• Does it fit your concept or patient story?
• Can you summarize it in your own words to show understanding?

• Use Google’s site limiter to focus on credible Canadian and nursing-specific sources:
  • site:.gc.ca → Government of Canada or provincial health authorities
  • site:.ca → Canadian organizations or associations
  • site:cna-aiic.ca or site:nurses.ab.ca → professional nursing organizations
• Combine your concept with these filters:

  trust site:cna-aiic.ca OR site:nurses.ab.ca

  "nursing ethics" site:.gc.ca

• Exclude AI-generated summaries or unrelated pages:

  nursing ethics site:.ca -ai

• Try adding words such as framework, guidelines, practice standards, ethics, or health promotion.

Locate reliable public or patient-facing health information that could help a client or family understand your concept in plain language.

• MyHealth.Alberta.ca - Health information for Albertans
• The Online Health Information Aid — Created by graduate students, librarians, and researchers (mainly from McGill). Offers useful websites and tutorials on finding, evaluating, and using online health information
• McGill Library – Patient Education and Consumer Health — Tips and resources for locating, creating, and evaluating patient health information materials.
• Provincial Health Services Authority (BC) – Intro to Digital Health Literacy (PDF) — Educational resource on digital health literacy for both patients and providers.
• Medline Plus Health Information in Multiple Languages

💡 These sources model clear, plain-language health communication — a useful benchmark for evaluating public websites and materials.

• ✅ The site is relevant in its scope — ideally Alberta or Canadian in focus.
• ✅ It’s from a professional or government organization (not a personal blog, news outlet, or commercial site).
• ✅ Information is authored or reviewed by experts and transparent about its evidence or funding.
• ✅ It’s current — ideally updated within the past 5 years.
• ✅ It connects to your concept by linking nursing values, ethics, or public health practice to patient care.
• ✅ For public sites — check the “About” section to see who created the content, their credentials, and any sponsors or partners.

Professional nursing websites share standards, ethical frameworks, and policy guidance for practice. Public information websites explain health topics clearly and cite evidence or expert review.

Examples of trusted sources include:

• Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) — nursing ethics, values, and practice standards.
• College of Registered Nurses of Alberta (CRNA) — provincial standards and professional expectations.
• Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) — national frameworks on population health and health equity.
• Health Santé Info and Healthcare for Real — public initiatives modeling plain-language, evidence-based communication about digital health and misinformation.

💬 Tip: When in doubt, ask: Who created this information? and Who is it for? Professional = written for nurses or health workers. Public = written for Canadians seeking reliable, evidence-based health information.

• Try removing one limiter (e.g., site:.gc.ca) to include nursing associations with .ca domains.
• Use broader terms such as nursing standards, professional values, or patient communication.
• Search directly within major sites: CNA, CRNA, PHAC.
• If you use a non-Canadian source, explain how its ideas relate to nursing practice or health education in Canada.