Nursing Resources

MeSH stands for Medical Subject Headings. These terms are used to systematically index and describe information in the PubMed database. You can also use MeSH terms when searching MEDLINE, and they can be used in CINAHL to an extent.

One of the challenges with getting started with academic research is knowing what search terms to use. As students, you are often still learning the specialized language of the discipline and may not always know the best way to find terms to search for. Here is a three step process you can use to get started.

1. Step one: Free-write about your topic in word processing app like Word or GoogleDocs.
   1. What topics are you curious about? Why?
   2. Who is the population? What is the problem? What is the intervention? What is the Outcome?
   3. What do you already know about this topic?
2. Step two: Copy and paste your free write content into MeSH on Demand
   1. MeSH on Demand identifies MeSH Terms in your text. After processing, MeSH on Demand returns a list of MeSH Terms relevant to your text.
   2. MeSH stands for Medical Subject Headings. They are created by the National Library of Medicine and are used to organizing information in the PubMed database, MEDLINE, and CINAHL (note that CINAHL has some variations).
3. Step three: Use the MeSH terms generated in CINAHL , MEDLINE , or PubMed in order to find relevant sources.

HEAL-WA Resources: Cochrane's Database of Systematic Reviews

Follow this link to learn how to access HEAL-WA and use Cochrane's Database of Systematic Reviews

Saving Searches in EBSCO Databases (CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, ERIC):

Create an EBSCO account:

1. Sign-in to the EBSCO database of your choice.
2. Click "Sign In" in the upper right hand portion of the screen.
3. Create an account by clicking the "Sign Up" link or logging in with your Google Account credentials.
4. Your account allows you to save your search history and set-up search alerts in EBSCO.

Use Search History/Alerts Feature and Save Your Sessions:

1. Search one field (PICOT element) at a time.
2. Click 'clear' between each searches and repeat.
3. Click "search history"
4. Use the check-boxes on the left hand side of the screen to combine your searches in different ways. Use the "Search with AND" or Search with "OR" button to launch your combined searches.
5. To save your search session, click "Save Searches/Alerts"
6. Name your search and leave yourself a short description if needed. Make sure you select "Saved Search (Permanent) and click "Save".
7. Now you can access your search history using the "Folder" button at the the upper right hand corner of the screen.

Saving Searches in PubMed:

Create a 'My NCBI Account':

1. Log-in to PubMed through Western Libraries.
2. Click "Log in" in the upper right hand corner of the screen.
3. At the bottom, click "Sign Up"
4. Use your Google Account or Microsoft Account to create your account.
5. You know you're logged in when you see your email in the upper right hand corner of the website.

Save your PubMed Searches:

1. Enter your search terms and limiters.
2. To save your search, click "Create Alert"
3. Name your search and determine if you would like to get updated search results sent to you on a regular basis. (For the purpose of NURS 402, this is probably not necessary, so click "NO")
4. Click "Save"
5. You can access your saved searches by accessing your My NCBI Dashboard. To do this, click your email address in the top right corner>Dashboard.