RN Refresher Course Developers: Finding Sources

Guideline & Sources of High-Level Evidence

You can find guidelines by searching for part of your topic (usually a specific disease, condition, or intervention) through the sources below.

1. Check guideline-producing sites & organizations.

2. Check article databases by searching for part of your topic and selecting "Guideline" or "Practice Guideline" from the Publication Type or Article Type filter.

3. Check the websites of trusted professional organizations (See the list of examples)

• Search the web for part of your topic and the words "practice guideline" or "clinical guideline"
• Go to an organization's website and search on their site for guidelines they have posted

Databases

If you are unable to find guidelines, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, or other types of articles reporting the evidence, you can search databases for individual studies on your topic.

Try subject-specific databases

1. Think of any synonyms that might be helpful for each part of your topic.​  Consider subject headings, alternate spellings, acronyms, generic and brand names, and opposite concepts ( for example, compliance or non-compliance, barriers or facilitators).
   
   smoking, smoke, smoker, cigarette, cigar, tobacco, nicotine
   cessation, quit, quitting, stop, stopping, abstinence, abstain
   lung, lungs, pulmonary, bronchial, respiratory, airway, pleural
   cancer, oncology, malignancy, neoplasm, carcinoma
    
2. If you want to search for variations of a word, you can type out the different word endings or you can use an asterisk at the end of the word so the database will search for any different endings.  NOTE: This may cause the database to search for unintended words. For example, lung* would return articles with lung or lungs, but it would also include lunge.
   
   smok*  cigar*
   quit*   stop*  abstinen*  abstain*
   pulmon*   respirat*
   cancer*   oncolog*   malignan*  neoplas*
    
3. If there is a phrase that describes part of your topic, enclose it in double quotes so the database knows to treat those words as one idea.  NOTE: the database will only search for the phrases exactly as you type them, so you must list any variations or plurals you can think of.
   
   "quit smoking"   "quitting smoking"   "smoking cessation"   "smoking abstinence"
   "lung cancer"   "lung neoplasm"   "lung neoplasms"   "respiratory oncology"
    
4. Connect your synonyms with OR. Group the synonyms together with parentheses.
   
   (smoking OR smoke OR smoker OR cigarette OR cigar OR tobacco OR nicotine)
   (cessation OR quit OR quitting OR stop OR stopping OR abstinence)
   (lung OR lungs OR pulmonary OR bronchial OR respiratory OR airway OR pleural)
   (cancer OR oncology OR malignancy OR neoplasm OR carcinoma)
    
5. Connect the parts of your topic with AND.
   
   (smoking OR smoke OR smoker OR cigarette OR cigar OR tobacco OR nicotine) AND (cessation OR quit OR quitting OR stop OR stopping OR abstinence) AND (lung OR lungs OR pulmonary OR bronchial OR respiratory OR airway OR pleural) AND (cancer OR oncology OR malignancy OR neoplasm OR carcinoma)
    
6. Put your search into one or more databases, selected by the database's topic coverage. For example,
   
   PubMed, Embase, and Scopus include a wide variety of health specialties and are our largest databases.
   CINAHL focuses on nursing, nurses, patient care, rehabilitation, and other allied health sciences.
   PsycInfo covers psychology, psychiatry, and mental and behavioral health, but also things like attitudes, opinions, and motivation.
   ERIC and Education Full Text discuss teaching, learning, educational facilities, students, and educators.
   
   Ask a Librarian if you need help selecting databases.
    
7.  Apply database filters such as publication date, language, and article type to focus on recent, high level evidence.  Make sure the results are sorted by Best Match or by Relevance for optimal results.
    
8.  Check your results.  Is the search returning relevant articles?  Are there any synonyms you should add to your search to make it more thorough? 
   • If you only have a few results, consider adding more synonyms, removing restrictive filters or a part of your topic, or changing databases.
   • If your search is bringing back too many results, you can add filters, add another set of search terms to narrow down your topic, or sort by relevance and then skim the results until the articles no longer seem relevant.

Look for the Find@UNC button in your search results

The Find @ UNC button takes you directly to full-text articles that are available through UNC-CH Libraries subscriptions and many open-access resources.

Always connect to databases from UNC-CH Library pages so you will see the Find @ UNC button.

If the article is not available in our subscriptions...

When the article is not online via Find @ UNC, a page with other ways to get the article is displayed.  Follow the steps below to see if you can find the article another way.

 

1. Look for print in the UNC Libraries' catalog
 

2. Check for free access with Google Scholar or the Google Scholar Button browser add-in (available for Chrome or Firefox)

3. Request from another library via Interlibrary Loan


 

4. Ask a librarian for help locating the item.

These statistics just skim the surface of what is available! Sometimes the best option is to do a web search for the statistic you want to find, and then look for reputable professional or media sources.

Be sure to check the HSL guide on Health Data & Statistics linked below for many more resources sorted by location.

Google Images

1. Go to

2. Enter your search term, and click Search.

3. On the results screen, click Tools below the search box. 

   

4. Select Labeled for Reuse in the Usage Rights drop-down menu.

5. Search for images.

6. Click on EACH IMAGE that you'd like to use.

7. Click on the Visit Page button next to the image.

8. You will need to skim the resulting page to find the license for the image. If it is on Flickr, it will be in the lower right-hand corner of the screen. Otherwise, skim the page for the words "license," "Public Domain," or "CC." You may also see one or more of the Creative Commons symbols (for more on these, see our Copyright page on this guide).

Flickr

1. Go to the search page at 

2. Click on the Any License drop-down menu. 

   

3. Select All Creative Commons to see images with a range of different permissions, or select the specific kind of permission you need. Select U.S. Government works for images in the public domain.

4. Search for images, and click on the ones you want to use.

5. License information will be in the lower right-hand corner of the screen.

6. If the license is a Creative Commons license, like the one above, first find the name of the owner or artist (in Flickr this will be on the lower left-side of the screen).

   

7. Then go back to the lefthand portion of the screen, where the license information is. Click on the link next to the Creative Commons symbols (it will say something like "Some Rights Reserved).

8. You will be taken to a page which lists the terms of the license. In most cases it will require you to give credit to the owner of the image and to link to the terms of the license (the same page you should be on when reading the terms of the license).

Diverse & Inclusive Image Collections

Anatomy

Assessment

Clinical Tools

Diverse & Inclusive Media

Educational

Skills