NURS 1221 — Introduction to Nursing — Dr. Steele

Assignment: Find a popular and scholarly article on a medical condition and critique them

Part I

Scholarly articles are written for readers who have advanced knowledge of their subject area. They often contain empirical research, are longer, and have a Works Cited list at the end.

Databases for locating a scholarly article:

CINAHL — (Recommended) Comprehensive database for nursing & allied health

Tips:

• Limit search to scholarly/peer-reviewed journals
• Limit Publication Type to Research for articles including an experiment

HealthSource Nursing/Academic — Many full text articles on all aspects of health

Tip: Limit search to scholarly/peer-reviewed journals on the Refine Search tab

Medline — Comprehensive in-depth coverage of materials on all aspects of medicine. Directed to physicians more than nurses or allied health fields.

Tip: Use Medline for more clinical information about a condition.

Part II

Popular articles are written for a general audience who know little about the subject area. Popular articles rarely have a Works Cited list.

Database for locating a popular article:

Academic Search Premier — Contains popular and scholarly articles on various subjects

Tip: After searching, click on the “Magazines” tab at the top of the Result List. Clicking on this tab will display only articles from popular magazines such as Time or Good Housekeeping

Other Databases to Consider:

PsycInfo — Comprehensive database for psychology materials

Tip: Consider checking PsycInfo for information about mental conditions or conditions where mental issues might be a factor, such as post-partum depression.

SocIndex — Comprehensive database for the social sciences

Tip: Consider checking SocIndex when ethnic, economic, or age is a factor in a condition or treatment.

Finding a biography about a nurse:

• Check the Nursing Biography Resources handout for useful books located in the library’s Reference Collection with short biographies of nurses
• Use Biography Reference Bank database by typing your nurse’s name into the search box to find short biographies online
• Use the UCO Library Catalog to find a book-length biography to check out from the library. Only very famous nurses will have book-length biographies

Handouts:

The Basics library guide — Consult to review searching techniques, locations, call numbers, etc.

APA Style Guide – Consult this guide for correct information on citing sources

Nursing Biography Resources — Consult for a list of useful books with biographies of nurses