Nursing Research Guide

Welcome to the Library Guide for nursing research at TLU!

Reminders:

1. Ask a librarian! Use the Ask a Question button at the side of the library website. If a librarian is available, it will launch a chat. If a librarian is not available, you can leave us a message. A big part of the librarians' job is helping students one-on-one with library research. Click here to learn more about the Nursing Liaison Librarian.
    
2. Don't give up on an article, and don't pay for an article! Request it for free through Interlibrary Loan. 
    
3. To access our online databases, start from the library website. Clicking through from the library website lets the computer know you're with TLU. Some databases will authenticate using your Microsoft 365 sign-on and some will ask you to enter your last name and TLU ID number. If you are having trouble accessing any database, email us at librarian@tlu.edu or use the Ask a Question button. 

Reference sources can provide background material and be a launching point for further research. Here are some examples.

The Library Catalog is the gateway to finding books. Most of our nursing books are ebooks.

Databases allow you to find scholarly articles, disease overviews, care sheets, book chapters, and more. To see a full list of TLU's databases related to nursing, go to the Nursing Databases page. Here are a few of the key databases and tutorials:

Finding research instruments like questionnaires, tests, and scales can be challenging. Many of them are proprietary and must be requested from publishers. Some cost money to use. 

Here are some strategies for finding instruments:

• Instruments are sometimes reprinted in research articles. They are usually appended at the end of the article. As you research your topic, keep an eye out for articles that include instruments! If you find an article where the authors describe an instrument that you want to use, but the full instrument isn't reprinted in the article, you can email the authors to ask whether they would be willing to share it with you. 
• In CINAHL, look at the Advanced Search screen. After you enter your search terms in the top box, scroll down to the Publication Type menu. Choose "Questionnaire/Scale" and run the search. This will find articles that used questionnaires and scales. Some of the articles will include the reprinted questinnaire/scale, and some won't. There is not a way to limit your search to only articles that contain copies of instruments. 
• Some instruments are available for free on the Web. Here is another library's list of some places to find instruments: https://research.library.gsu.edu/surveys-and-qualtrics/surveys-scales-measurements 

Writing in APA Style

Look at the book! Publication Manual of the APA. Use the index. (For example, if you find an article with an article number instead of page numbers, look up Article Number in the index.) The APA Style website has a lot of information, too.

The Purdue OWL APA Guide has lots of good examples. Ignore the pop-up ads and the auto-generator.

Use caution when working with automatic citation generators. The ones within databases (like CINAHL or PubMed) are often closer to correct than the ones on the open web.

Example in-text citation:

(Sultanoğlu, H. et al., 2022)

(Sultanoğlu, H. et al., 2022, p. 127) for an exact quote

Example reference list entry:

Sultanoğlu, H., Demir, M. C., & Boğan, M. (2022). Trends in geriatric trauma emergency department admissions during COVID-19. Journal of Trauma Nursing, 29(3), 125–130. https://doi.org/10.1097/jtn.0000000000000652