Aileen Rohan from the INMO library team outlines the various nursing and midwifery databases available to students
Facing into a new academic term can be daunting with starting new modules and receiving reading lists, as well as getting into a new routine of study and work. This article aims to introduce anyone who is studying to the key nursing and midwifery databases. It also runs through which database to use for what purpose.
While these databases may be new to you, there is no need to worry as they will become very familiar as you progress through your course. While it is all too easy to simply use a well-known search engine like Google to find information, academic assignments require more current, credible sources.
CINAHL
Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied
Health Literature (CINAHL) is the main
nursing database. It covers nursing and
midwifery as well as allied health professions.
It should be your first stop for all
assignments, in particular research proposals
and literature reviews.
When searching this database, think in terms of keywords. For example, if the assignment is to investigate the assessment and management of pain during wound dressing changes, the keywords of interest are “pain” and “wound dressing”.
You may also need to look at synonyms or alternative spellings while searching. For example, when researching “oral care in the older person”, you may also search the words “mouth care”, “oral hygiene”, “toothbrushes” or “mouthwashes””.
Internurse and Intermid
Internurse is a full text database of 20
publications from Mark Allen Publishing,
including the British Journal of Nursing,
Practice Nursing, Nursing and Residential
care and the Journal of Wound Care. This is
an excellent resource for clinical practice
articles. It also provides quick information
on nursing tasks and introductions to
the nursing care of specific disorders and
diseases.
Intermid is a full text database providing full text access to British Journal of Midwifery.
Maternity and Infant Care database
The MIDIRS online reference service
provides abstracts of midwifery resources
including journal articles, book chapters,
reports, pamphlets, news items, audio visual
materials, conference proceedings and
other ‘grey literature’ relating to the midwifery
profession, pregnancy, labour, birth,
postnatal care, and neonatal care extending
into the first year of life.
Medline
Medline is the National Library of Medicine’s
database covering the fields of
medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary
medicine, the health care system, and the
preclinical sciences. It contains citations
from a wide range of biomedical journals
published in the US and internationally.
This is the paid version of Pubmed which
is freely available online.
Medline provides different capabilities and therefore a different user experience than Pubmed.
Nursing@Ovid
This is the nursing database available
from the Ovid. It allows you to search
across multiple databases simultaneously
with normal language.
All of these databases are available through the INMO’s educational website www.nurse2nurse.ie
Literature searching service
If you have a query relating to a college
assignment, INMO library staff can
assist by undertaking the search on your
behalf. Simply phone or email the library
and staff will take details on what you are
looking for. They will then use your keywords
to search the relevant databases.
Normally, the resulting list that will be sent to you includes 20-50 citations that we feel best give you an overview of the literature available on the topic. There is a charge of €6 for this service.
One-to-one information retrieval
training
One2One training is on offer to assist
you in searching the internet and electronic
databases in order to find the
relevant information yourself. This is a skill
which is extremely useful for the rest of
your career for professional development
and career advancement. To avail of training
for yourself or a small group, contact
the library to make an appointment.
Contact the INMO library
For more information on any library
service, visit the library team at INMO HQ
from 9am-4.45pm, Monday to Friday. The
team can also be contacted via phone or
email:
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Library - Databases – where to start |