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NUR 65000: Concepts for the Nurse Executive: Creating an Environment for Professional Practice: Search Strategy

Creating an environment for professional practice

About the Library

The library offers a wide range of online resources, including databases with various journals from which to choose articles and research studies.

To access your Library resources, please visit the homepage

Please consult your Library Liaison directly for research assistance.

If your Librarian is unavailable, please contact the Library's Reference desk at (219) 989-2676 or click on the CHAT WITH A LIBRARIAN link below to submit a question or see answers to frequently asked questions.

Library Hours

Library staff members are available to assist you during library hours

Search Strategy by Topic

A search strategy will help focus your search, allow the database to retrieve more relevant results, limit the results to a more manageable number, and ultimately save you time. 

The following is just one of several search strategies that you can use to locate articles within library databases. 

Basic Search Strategy

1. Break topic down into narrower concepts.
2. Find synonyms/keywords for each concept.
3. Combine search terms and concepts.
4. Apply database limiters.
5. Review, revise and refine as needed-consider a simpler or more complex search.

These steps are fluid. Their order may vary by topic, database, or researcher. 

Boolean Database Search Example

If you are confident that you have enough keywords to represent your research topic, then you can enter those words directly into the database search box(es) as shown in the following:

The same search can be represented in one search box as the following:

(Patient* OR elder* OR Inpatient* OR Outpatient*) AND (fall* or accident* or slip*)

Library Liaison for Nursing Students & Faculty

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Marcia Keith
Contact:
Student Union & Library Building: Rm 203-B
219-989-2523
Subjects: Health, Nursing