Tips for Finding Evidence Based Articles for Nursing

Though many articles may be evidence based, for research purposes evidence based generally refers to articles in the medical, nursing, psychiatry and related health sciences fields.

• Evidence-based practice (EBP) is the conscientious use of current best evidence in making decisions about patient care (Sackett, Straus, Richardson, Rosenberg, & Haynes, 2000).
• Evidence based might be described as evidence based practice, evidence based healthcare or evidence based medicine.
• Like other advanced research, the best way to find the required articles is using databases that provide a specific way to limit to those kinds of resources.
• In COM Library you can apply an evidence based limit to your search in CINAHL.
• There are more databases with evidence based articles in COM Library, but you have to take a different approach since they don't have a limit to apply.

Extracted from The impact of implementing a nursing care program based on Johnson’s model on the behavioral systems of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft: a Randomized clinical trial (Must be on campus or have a COM account to view the entire article).

The databases below have qualitative articles. Nursing research requires that sources not be older than 5 years unless of historical interest. Each database has a way to limit dates; tips for each are listed below. The way to get the evidence based articles is to:

Gale Databases

1. Search for your topic  
2. On the result list, expand the Subjects option> find evidence-based medicine and select it. Now all articles will be evidence based. 
3. Expand Publication date and enter a date range that spans 5 years. Alternatively you could use the quick limit Past Year. 

Health Research Premium Collection or Nursing & Allied Health Database

1. Search for your topic.
2. On the result list, expand the Document type option> select more> then check the box next to Evidence Based Healthcare> select Apply. Now all articles will be evidence based. 
3. Under Publication date, select Last 5 years.

ScienceDirect

1. Search for your topic but add the term AND "evidence based" with quotes.
2. On the result list, under Subject areas, select Nursing and Health Professions. 
3. Under Years, select a span of 5 years or less. 

Part I (18:55)
The fundamentals of evidence-based healthcare in this concise, easy-to-understand presentation. Topics include the origins of EBP, its global impact on healthcare practice, the different types of research including systematic reviews and meta-analyses, the hierarchy of evidence, and when can a healthcare practitioner say he or she is delivering evidence-based care.

Part II (21:23)
The Joanna Briggs Institute Evidence model, how to formulate an effective question using the PICOT model, and what it means to put evidence into practice.