Finding evidence: refining literature searching skills for the advanced practice nurse

With increasing interest in evidence-based healthcare, nurses are finding the need to improve skills in locating current, valid evidence to support clinical practice. Because of the holistic nature of nursing, gathering evidence requires searching a variety of sources within many different scientific disciplines. The diverse nature of this task requires effective skills for finding information from both print and electronic sources. This article identifies informational databases available to advanced practice nurses, reviews search terminology, and suggests practical strategies for successful database searches in support of evidence-based practice.