Walden University Library is a free online library that contains a variety of digital materials such as journals, articles, conference papers, dissertations, books, and videos covering various academic and scientific subjects. Students are encouraged to use it in their academic research to improve their writing skills, explore ideas, and gain new insights. The library is divided into databases that cover different topics, from business to psychology, and features a convenient navigation system (Walden University, n.d.). It provides free guides and tutorials and offers librarian assistance to help students navigate the databases, develop search strategies, and find relevant sources.
I selected the article by Girardot, K. et al. (2020) entitled “Effectiveness of multimodal pain therapy on reducing opioid use in surgical geriatric hip fracture patients.” It studies the effectiveness of multimodal pain therapy for reducing postoperative pain in the geriatric hip fracture population. The main findings of the research are that implementing a multimodal approach to pain management may help reduce opioid use and prevent the national opioid epidemic (Girardot et al., 2020). The article provides valuable information that I can use both in my academic research and nursing practice.
I found this article in the CINAHL Plus database in Walden University Library. CINAHL stands for the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature and provides indexing of top publications on the subject from the National League for Nursing and the American Nurses Association (EBSCO, n.d.). The source contains 7.4 million records from 5.5 thousand journals on the subjects of nursing, biomedicine, alternative medicine, consumer health, and other allied disciplines (EBSCO, n.d.).
It is a good database to use while searching for qualitative studies covering topics in the nursing field. It is important to note that synthesizing materials for a literature review is a difficult task, and it is helpful to use a comprehensive database that simplifies the selection process (Shellenbarger, 2016). Therefore, I chose the CINAHL database due to the fact that I believe it to be the most comprehensive database in Walden University Library for the Master of Science in Nursing students, which is also confirmed by my academic advisers.
Overall, I did not experience any particular difficulties when searching for the article. I started with selecting the CINAHL Plus database from the list of 15 databases on the subject of nursing on the Walden University Library webpage (Walden University Library, n.d.). The CINAHL database can be accessed for free using the Walden University student login. It has a user-friendly search system that allows users to select the field of their interest and search for articles based on a number of criteria, such as publication date and type. When searching for my article, I chose “Gerontology care” as a special interest and browsed through the list of suggestions that the search produced until I found the article that I thought could be useful for my practice.
In conclusion, I think that the CINAHL database can be helpful for both my fellow students and colleagues because it provides a comprehensive set of peer-reviewed articles on various nursing topics. Moreover, it is easy to use and has a convenient search system. Therefore, I would recommend this database for health care professionals who want to expand their knowledge of the current nursing problems and learn about the recent research findings.
References
EBSCO. (n.d.). CINAHL database.
Girardot, K., Hollister, L., Hlaing, T., Hoeppner, S., Opoku, D., Heisler, J., & Bane, T. (2020). Effectiveness of multimodal pain therapy on reducing opioid use in surgical geriatric hip fracture patients. Journal of Trauma Nursing, 27(4), 207–e14.
Shellenbarger, T. (2016). Simplifying synthesis. Nurse Author & Editor, 26(3).
Walden University. (n.d.). PUBH 8551 Introduction to the Walden Library. Web.
Walden University Library. (n.d.). Databases A-Z: Nursing. Web.