How To Get Started Using CINAHL Effectively
CINAHL stands for Cumulated Index To Nursing And Allied Health Literature. It indexes and abstracts articles from a large number of nursing, medical, and allied health journals, as well as a variety of other materials, such as conference proceedings and laws. CINAHL itself does not include the full text of journal articles, but links to the text in other EBSCOhost databases.
CINAHL via EBSCOhost can be accessed from the library's database page at http://newterra.chemeketa.edu/library/information/database.htm. If you are accessing the database from outside the Chemeketa campus, you will need your My Chemeketa user name and password.
Keyword searching
The EBSCOhost interface to CINAHL is easy to use. The default search is by keyword. Enter a word or phrase in the top search space and click the Search button at right. To combine terms, use more than one search space. The pull-down menus next to the search spaces let you choose to combine your terms with AND, OR, and NOT.
See Boolean Searching (http://newterra.chemeketa.edu/library/instruction/boolean.htm) for more on how to combine terms in searching.
Using CINAHL's subject index
It is also possible to search by using subject headings, or descriptors, assigned by CINAHL. This is a good practice, as it tends to result in a more focused search and guards against problems caused when different authors use different terminology to describe the same thing. To use these descriptors, click the button marked "CINAHL Headings," in the green toolbar at the top of the CINAHL screen.
Type a term describing your subject in the space provided (1) and click the Browse button(2). In the example, we have typed "arthritis." A list of headings beginning with the word, "arthritis" appears, part of which is shown in the illustration. To search for all articles with the subject heading "arthritis," click the check box next to the term (3) and click the Add button (4). CINAHL will place your desired term in the search space. Click the Search button to begin searching.
Instead of adding the term, "Arthritis," to our search we can explore the term further. Clicking on the term itself (3A in the illustration), instead of the check box, results in a screen with details about the term. 
To the left side of the screen (under "Tree Views") we see a hierarchical list of terms with our chosen term, "Arthritis," in the middle. Subject headings above "Arthritis" in the list are broader, more general terms. Those below "Arthritis" are narrower, more specific terms. If we wished, we could choose "Arthritis, Rheumatoid," the more specific term, by clicking on that term.
At the right of the screen are subdivisions of the term we have chosen. For example, to look for articles dealing only with drug treatments for arthritis, you would click the box next to "Drug Therapy." After choosing subdivisions, click the Search button to see the results.
Interpreting Results
Here is a sample article citation with an explanation of the parts:
Alternate text-based sample and explanation
Frequently-Asked Questions
Q: Can I print the articles from CINAHL?
A: Since there are no full-text articles, clicking the "print" link in the CINAHL citation will give only the citations and abstracts. Occasionally, a link will be shown to the full text of the article in another database to which we subscribe ("PDF Full text" or "HTML Full text"). In that case you can click the link to full text and then print. For more information on printing, saving, and e-mailing EBSCOhost entries, click EBSCOhost's Help button.
Q: What is the 360 Link?
A: The 360 Link icon and text link ("Check for full text") searches the library's non-EBSCOhost databases, such as Ovid and Science Direct, for full text of an article. If 360 Link finds full text, it will present the article in a new window. If there is no full text, the 360 Link screen will show other options, such as searching in the library catalog for a paper copy of the journal, or interlibrary loan. You can close the 360 Link window at any time. Important note: If you use a full text article in the Ovid database, please click the Ovid "Logout" link to free the resource for another user. Only one user at a time may read an Ovid journal.
Q: How about printing a list of citations?
A: You can print a list from CINAHL containing only the citations you select. Following each citation is a link and icon marked, "Add to folder." The screen with detailed information about the article also has a folder icon you can click. Clicking on this will add that citation to a list. 
When you click on Folder at the very top of the screen, only the citations you have selected will appear. You can then choose the Print icon at the top of your list. Pull down the menu under "Citation Format" to select "APA ," then click the "Print" button. Your list of citations will be shown on the screen. Important: When working with folders, do not use the browser's Back button. Use the on-screen navigation links instead.
Q: I need an article written by a nurse. How can I find this?
A: Although there is no way to specify this in CINAHL, if the article is in a nursing journal, chances are that it was written by a nurse. You will be able to confirm this when you look at the article. The author's credentials are ususally shown on the first page of the article. To limit your results to nursing journals in searching, you can type "nursing" on a blank search line, and pull down "SB Journal Subset" from the menu that says "Select a Field."
Q: Can I have CINAHL show only articles that are in Chemeketa's library?
A: When searching, use the CINAHL headings first. Then click the box next to "Chemeketa periodicals" at the right side of the search screen, and click the "Update Results" button."
Q: Can I limit to nursing journals approved by Chemeketa's nursing faculty?
If you limit to the nursing subset and to Chemeketa journals you will automatically have the "approved" journals. For how to do this, see the previous two answers.
Q: How can I tell whether an article has references?
A: Click on the title of the article to see the full record. The number of references will be shown in parentheses after the page numbers under "Source." Example: "(12 ref)." Some, but not all, entries actually link to a list of the references, so that you can check the references without having to get the journal off the shelf. Absence of this link does not mean that the article is without references. Whether a link to the references is provided depends on whether the publisher has agreed to this. The only certain way to know whether an article has references is to click on the title. See the answer below on how to limit your results only to articles with references.
Q: I need to have an article with references. Is there a way to specify this in the search?
A: Yes. If you add the command language "and RF ref" to the end of a search, it will find articles with references. For example, if you do a search for "pediatric nursing" in the CINAHL thesaurus, and then click Refine Search, the search line will read
MH "Pediatric nursing"
You change this to:
MH "Pediatric nursing" AND RF ref
Q: Why isn't there an abstract of my article?
A: You may need to scroll down to see the abstract after clicking on the article title. Not all articles have abstracts. Brief news articles, letters to the editor, and similar items do not have abstracts. Recent entries may not yet have had an abstract prepared. CINAHL did not start including abstracts in its articles until the mid-1990s, so the oldest articles have no abstracts, either.
Q: I need a recent article. How can I find the most recent ones on my subject?
A: Although you can limit by date, it is unnecessary, since the articles are displayed in chronological order with the most recent first.
Q: I can only use journals published in the United States. Can I limit to U.S. periodicals?
A: The Advanced Search screen has special limiters. Choose "USA" from the pull-down list of journal subsets toward the bottom of the Advanced Search screen. If you prefer, you can type "USA" on a blank search line, and pull down "SB Journal Subset" from the menu that says "Select a Field."
Q: I need to search for an article on fractures in the elderly. Can I limit my search by age?
A: Yes. CINAHL has pull-down Age Group lists in the lower part of its Advanced Search screen. (See answer above.) You could select the "in old age" limiter from the list. CINAHL allows you to limit by age group or time of life, from fetal to extreme old age.
Q: I need an article written by a nurse. How can I find this?
A: Although there is no way to specify this in CINAHL, if the article is in a nursing journal, chances are that it was written by a nurse. You will be able to confirm this when you look at the article. The author's credentials are ususally shown on the first page of the article. In searching, you can choose the journal subset "nursing" from the pull-down list of journal subsets on the Advanced Search screen, or you can type "and sb nursing" on the line where you do your search.
Q: How can I find an article on a specific surgery?
A: You may have to try more than one search term. Click the CINAHL headings button to see what descriptors CINAHL uses. You can search on the name of the procedure, on the name of the condition, or on the name of the organ or body part. Conditions and body parts as descriptors generally use "surgery" as one of their subdivisions. For example, you might perform three different searches describing the same operation: hysterectomy; endometriosis and surgery; uterus and surgery. If your search fails, try a broader search.
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