CINAHL Searching: Home

Welcome to the 'CINAHL Searching' LibGuide.Use this LibGuide if you want to know the basics of how to go about a well-constructed, straightforward search of the CINAHL database. Use the tabs along the top of the page to work your way through the search process. The tabs are in a logical order, but are easy enough to use if you need to go over a particular aspect of searching again.

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If you need further help, or have any questions about using CINAHL, please contact library staff. Contact details are on the right of this page.

CINAHL stands for Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and is a very useful database to use if you are looking for information on nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, dietetics, and other allied health disciplines. The database is large, with several million records, and dates back to the early 1980s. Some material from the database is available in full-text, either by linking from the articles you retrieve, or by searching the library's ejournal list.

This LibGuide will look at:

• Search preparation
• Using subject headings in your search
• Making the most of subheadings
• The best use of keyword searching
• Useful tricks with truncation
• Combining your search results using AND or OR
• Useful limits
• Selecting references
• Saving your search