Nursing Research

Things to keep in mind as you search:

• CINAHL is the only database that has a limiter/filter for Any Author is a Nurse
• In some databases, it is possible use the Author Field to search for initials (BSN, RN, MSN, CNP, DNP, etc). This is not 100% accurate.
• In some databases, like MAG Online Library, initials often aren't listed after the author name. You will need to check the author's credentials either by clicking on their name or looking at the PDF of the article.

In any Nursing, Medicine, Science, or Multidisciplinary resources it is always your responsibility to check the author's credentials, affiliated institution, and area of expertise.

In CINAHL, scroll down to limiters and select the box for Any Author is a Nurse

The Health & Life Sciences Subject Collection searches CINAHL, you need to scroll down the search page to find Any Author is a Nurse limiter.

Note: In many resources you will need to select the article type (Research Article, Original Article, Peer-Reviewed, etc.), any other limiters/filters that are necessary and then narrow by Nursing as the subject area. Then you will be able to browse your result list and check for Author credentials and affiliations. 

In MAG Online Library, initials are often not listed after the author's name. You will need to look at the PDF to see the author's credentials and affiliated institution. See the example below:

In some cases, you might be able to add credential initials like BSN, RN, or PhD to the author field in a search. This will not work for every database and is not 100% accurate. You should always double-check your author's credentials. See the Nursing & Allied Health database example below.

Nursing & Allied Health Database and Health & Medical Collection - ProQuest - Note that searching this way will also return results from authors who have RN in their initials and not just nurses with the RN designation.

Sage Journal Collections - In your search, select the Research Article limiter and the Nursing subject limiter. Then you will need to look at the author's names to find the RN or other nursing credential. The third example in the screenshot below is authored by nurses.

In Science Direct, initials may not be listed after an author's name and are not searchable. After selecting Research Articles (article type) and limiting by the Nursing and Health Professions (subject) limiters you will need to check the authors' names and if initials aren't listed you can check credentials by clicking on their name (when available). See the different examples listed below:

Option 1: Initials are listed after the author's names

Option 2: Initials are not listed after author names but when you click on the name, a pop-up window shows you more information