How do I find a recent journal article written by a nurse about a specific nursing practice?
Last Updated: Apr 08, 2026    Views: 1265

  1. Choose an appropriate database.
    Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition and OVID are databases with lots of articles written by nurses. You may find Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition easier to use. When you use OVID, choose "Truxal Library Full Text Ovid Journals" to avoid results from PubMed. Access to both of these databases is available on our health database list.
  2. Choose search terms.
    Combine the topic AND nursing in the database search box. Now you have results that meet several of your criteria.

    Screenshot shows search box with these search terms entered: evidence based and nursing. Evidence based is in double quotation marks and the word and is capitalized.
    • Another possibility is to use the advanced search, which will allow you to search for journals that have nurse in the title. To do this enter your topic in one search box. In another search box enter 'nurs*' and set the search to SO-Publication Name.
      Screenshot shows search term pneumonia in first search box and nurs followed by asterisk in second. The dropdown menu accompanying the nurs term is set to S O Publication name.
  3. Use the search limiters to define the 5 year range for the publication date. Consider using other limiters like Full Text or Scholarly Peer Reviewed Journals.
    Screenshot indicates menu of search limiters described on search results page.
  4. Among your results, find an article related to a topic covered in your class. You might just browse through the list for something you recognize, or you can add another term to your search box – something you’ve discussed in class or seen in your textbook.
    Screenshot shows evidence based and nursing search with term diabetes added. Matches for the term diabetes in article titles are highlighted.
  5. Verify that the author is a nurse. Having chosen an appropriate database, and included all the required elements in your search, chances are excellent that most of the articles in your results list are from nursing journals and are written by nurses. Verify by locating the journal title, and the authors’ qualifications. If the qualifications of the authors are not evident, you may need to examine the PDF of the article to verify that the authors are nurses.
    Screenshot of PDF article shows author names and credentials listed below the article title.

More answers

    Related topics

    Need help? Get in touch!