Nursing Resources

If you are searching for survey instruments, we suggest using CINAHL. PubMed is an incredibly large database and can be overwhelming when searching for survey instruments; if you are using PubMed, some of these subject headings may be useful, though we generally recommend CINAHL as the best database for finding data collection tools:

• Surveys and Questionnaires [mh]
• Health Care Surveys [mh]
• Health Surveys [mh]
• Health Status Indicators [mh]
• Psychological Tests [mh]
• Personality Tests [mh]
• Psychometrics [mh]
• Data Collection [mh]

SEARCHING IN CINAHL

SEARCH BY INSTRUMENT NAME

To find a specific test, search the name of the instrument or acronym, and change the drop-down box to be IN Instrumentation.

IF YOU DON'T KNOW THE INSTRUMENT NAME...

If you don't know the name of the test, you can search for the topic, and add one of the following options:

• The CINAHL heading (MH "Research Instruments+");
• Limiting to Publication Type: Research Instrument;
• Including some of the following keywords in your search: (test* OR measure* OR survey* OR questionnaire* OR scale* OR inventor* OR checklist* OR instrument* OR pretest* OR posttest* OR interview* OR  index* OR indices OR tool*)

FINDING TEST EVALUATIONS / REVIEWS

To find reviews or evaluations of an instrument, search by instrument name and additional subject headings such as

• Instrument Validation (MH "Instrument Validation+")
• Reliability and Validity (MH "Reliability and Validity+")

Additionally, you can try using a filter by selecting Publication Types: Research Instrument Utilization or Research Instrument Validation.