Using the CINAHL Headings rather than keyword searching can make your searches more effective.
After you log into CINAHL, start by clicking on the CINAHL Headings link on the search page. If you enter your search term and click Browse, you will be shown a list of subject headings. You may find the term you entered or a related term. Select the term that best fits your topic. Put a check in the box next to it and another check in the box under Major Concept so that it will be the main topic of the articles you find. (One advantage to using the CINAHL headings is that they will pick up variant spellings that a keyword search will miss.) Click the Search Database button at the top of the page. You will be shown the results of your search. To limit your results, use the menu on the left. Clicking Show more under Refine your results will bring up CINAHL's search page where you can add limiters such as Research Article or Journal Subset (like nursing journals for example). If you hover over the magnifying glass next to the articles in your results list, you will see the abstract of the article if available.
