Dana Medical Library

What is CINAHL?

The Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) provides authoritative coverage of the professional literature in nursing and allied health.  The CINAHL electronic database dates from 1982 to present and is available by license from Ovid Technologies ®.  CINAHL indexes articles from over 1,700 current journals as well as books and book chapters, theses and dissertations, educational software, accreditation documents, critical paths, systematic reviews, legal cases, pamphlets, conference proceedings, audiovisuals, websites, and continuing education modules.  The CINAHL database provides citations and abstracts, and in many cases a link to the full-text of journal articles.  CINAHL is provided to patrons at the University of Vermont (UVM) and Fletcher Allen Health Care (FAHC) by Dana Medical Library.

CINAHL provides comprehensive coverage to the following disciplines:

• Nursing
• Athletic training
• Audiology
• Cardiopulmonary Technology
• Dental Hygiene
• Emergency Services
• Health Information Management
• Medical Assisting
• Medical/Laboratory Technology
• Nutrition and Dietetics
• Occupational Therapy
• Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation
• Physician's Assistant
• Radiologic Technology
• Respiratory Therapy
• Social Service in Health Care
• Speech-Language Pathology
• Surgical Technology
• Chiropractic
• Podiatry
• CINAHL also provides selective coverage to over a dozen additional fields including Alternative Therapy, Gerontology, Optometry, and Women's Health. 

Why choose CINAHL?

The CINAHL database is designed specifically to meet the information needs of nurses and allied health professionals, and as such it has many unique features:

• CINAHL covers many journals in the nursing & allied health fields that are not indexed by MEDLINE.
• CINAHL Subject Headings is a vocabulary list (thesaurus) designed specifically for nursing & allied health fields.  It is heavily based on the MEDLINE vocabulary list, but contains many unique terms in addition.  Each year, new terms are added to the vocabulary list to reflect evolving terminology. 
• CINAHL indexes numerous publications other than journal articles, many of which are not indexed by any other major databases.
• CINAHL has a number of specialized features that provide difficult-to-find information.

Special features of CINAHL

• Cited References for selected articles and book chapters
• Peer-reviewed journals subset
• Quantitative and qualitative research

How do I access CINAHL?

• Go to Dana Medical Library's homepage
• Click on the link for CINAHL under Databases & E-Books.
• To access CINAHL from off-campus, you must be a UVM or FAHC faculty, staff, or student.  See the Connect from Off-Campus page on the Dana Medical Library website for details.
• Unaffiliated patrons may use CINAHL on site at Dana Medical Library. 
• The CINAHL print index is available in the Dana Medical Library reference collection for use on-site. 

How do I search CINAHL?

• Enter a word or phrase for the first concept in the search box and click SEARCH.
• Select the one best option from the list of CINAHL Subject Headings displayed.
• Enter a word or phrase for additional concepts, and repeat the process.
• Combine sets.
• Apply limits such as language, local holdings, publication type, age groups, journal subsets, or special interest category. 

Fig.1  CINAHL main search page showing a typical search strategy.  Search on each concept separately and then combine the sets together.

Fig. 2  Default CINAHL display, showing citations and local holdings messages, with links for abstract, complete CINAHL reference, and full text (when available). 

Fig. 3.  Abstract display for a typical CINAHL record.

For more information about CINAHL or any other library resource . . .

• Consult the CINAHL database search guide.
• Contact a reference librarian at Dana Medical Library at 656-2201 or email danaref@uvm.edu.
• Stop by the reference desk at Dana Medical Library Mon-Friday 8:30 am -5:00 pm for personal assistance.