Nursing Research Guide: Mining your CINAHL Search Results

The goal of this tutorial is for you to learn how to create a list of search words & phrases, and subjects that you can use to retrieve different, but relevant search results while searching CINAHL.

Searching is a strategic process that typically requires experimentation with different search words.

CINAHL search example you can either type or paste in, and select the filter Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals, and select the Search button:

• medication errors and prevention and nurs* and long term care

As you review the results of your search, take note of promising search words/phrases and subjects. Copy and paste the most useful combinations into a document where you can track your searching and results. Select the title to view the subjects and abstracts.

Result 1: Nurses' self‐assessments of adherence to guidelines on safe medication preparation and administration in long‐term elderly care.

• Title phrases:
  • Nurses' self‐assessments of adherence
  • guidelines on safe medication preparation and administration
• Major Subjects:
  • Nursing Assessment
  • Self Assessment
  • Guideline Adherence
  • Medication Errors -- Prevention and Control
  • Drug Administration
  • Long Term Care -- In Old Age
  • Nursing Staff, Hospital -- Psychosocial Factors
• Minor Subjects:
  • Nursing Care
  • Medication Management 
• • Education, Continuing 
• • Questionnaires 
  • Qualitative Studies
• Abstract phrases:
• • Medication-related errors
  • Preventing errors
  • Elderly care

Result 2: Case Study: Using Electronic Medication Administration Record to Enhance Medication Safety and Improve Efficiency in Long-Term Care Facilities.

• Title phrase: Electronic Medication Administration Record
• Major Subjects:
  • Electronic Health Records -- Education
  • Patient Safety
• Minor Subjects:
  • Program Implementation
  • Team Building
  • Program Planning
  • Electronic Order Entry
  • Program Evaluation
  • Nurse Attitudes
  • Feedback
• Abstract phrases:
  • decrease in medication incidents
  • improve medication delivery

Result 3: Linking the processes of medication administration to medication errors in the elderly.

• Title phrase: processes of medication administration

• Major Subjects:
  • Long Term Care Nurses
  • Nursing Role
  • Self Report

• Abstract phrases:
  • medication administration processes
  • risk-management strategies and policies

As you "mine" CINAHL results for new search words, you can generate potential new combinations of search words that you can search with to see if you get different, but relevant results.

Please note: It is best to use the formatting of subjects exactly as they listed, including capitalization and punctuation.

1. Medication Errors Prevention and Control and staff training
2. Medication Reconciliation and Hand Off (Patient Safety) and Long Term Care
3. Medication Errors and Epidemiology and Long Term Care
4. medication errors and programs and Long Term Care
5. medication errors and data and Long Term Care
6. Patient Safety and Quality Improvement and Medication Errors and Long Term Care
7. Medication Errors Prevention and Control and Gerontologic Nursing

As you conduct new searches, you might start to see repeats in results from your other searches, and that is normal. When you start to recognize authors and titles and studies, you are getting “saturated” in the literature of your topic, which is a good thing.

Questions to consider as you review search results:

1. What potential search words and subjects are you finding in your topic areas?

2. What themes are you seeing in the literature from the article titles, journal titles, publication types, abstracts, subjects, and authors?