Nursing Orientation

Research databases are the tools for finding the articles you need. They:

• Index the journal articles of a specific subject area or discipline.
• Allow for searching by keywords and, in the sciences and clinical fields, by subject headings (controlled vocabulary).
• Provide for combining concept terms using logical operators to get more relevant results.
• Offer ways to limit to further customize results.
• Provide output options, including printing, e-mailing, downloading, or exporting results to reference manager software

When searching in a research database provided by Rider University, click on the "Get it @ Rider University Libraries " icon to get the article to display (if a PDF or HTML, is not available).

When doing research you do want to consider the levels of evidence appropriate for your clinical question.  Below are the different levels of evidence and matching type of study.

Level I
Experimental study, randomized controlled trial (RCT)
Systematic review of RCTs, with or without meta-analysis

Level II
Quasi-experimental Study
Systematic review of a combination of RCTs and quasi-experimental, or quasi-experimental studies only, with or without meta-analysis.

Level III
Non-experimental study
Systematic review of a combination of RCTs, quasi-experimental and non-experimental, or non-experimental studies only, with or without meta-analysis.
Qualitative study or systematic review, with or without meta-analysis

Level IV
Opinion of respected authorities and/or nationally recognized expert committees/consensus panels based on scientific evidence.
    Includes:
         - Clinical practice guidelines
         - Consensus panels

Level V
Based on experiential and non-research evidence.
    Includes:
      - Literature reviews
      - Quality improvement, program or financial evaluation
      - Case reports
      - Opinion of nationally recognized expert(s) based on experiential evidence

From Johns Hopkins nursing evidence-based practice : Models and Guidelines

Dang, D., & Dearholt, S.L. (2018). Johns Hopkins nursing evidence-based practice : Model & guidelines (3rd ed). Sigma Theta Tau International.

You may not always find a RCT related to your research question. This table charts what research design would be appropriate for your clinical question.

This table suggests study designs best suited to answer different types of clinical question.