From PICO to CINAHL, the Houston Methodist Library is your one-stop shop for access to the nursing literature. Whether you are answering a clinical question or beginning an extensive research project, the library is only a keystroke away with countless tools to support your efforts!

Nursing Reference Center (NRC) is a clinical decision support database and mobile application that is designed specifically for nurses by nurses. This resource provides evidence-based information at the point of care, helps strengthen nursing skills, and provides full-text articles and continuing education. NRC includes quick lessons on diseases and conditions that map to nursing workflow. It also has evidence-based care sheets that provide summaries of diseases and the best treatment options and point of care drug Information. Nursing cultural competencies included in NRC provide information on how to treat patients from diverse cultures. The mobile app is easy to download, and once you log on to an HM computer and create an account, this becomes your login for the application.

The flagship database for nursing literature is CINAHL – the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature which includes journal articles about nursing, allied health, biomedicine, and healthcare practice. This robust database had its origins as a card index of nursing journals in the 1940s. Its current coverage is over 1,200 professional journals in nursing and 17 allied health disciplines, dating back to 1982. In addition to journal articles, you’ll also find evidence-based care sheets, quick lessons, legal cases, clinical trials, and much more.

Considering the search capabilities of CINAHL, its big brother, MEDLINE, including PubMed, has even more resources. The NIH/National Library of Medicine’s version includes 28 million references to journal articles with a great concentration on Biomedicine. This extensive database uses an indexing language of unique subject headings known as MESH and includes coverage from 1966 to the present and in over 40 languages. If you have exhausted your search in CINAHL, try a MEDLINE Search to gain access to even more literature.

The Cochrane Library of Evidence-Based Medicine includes six unique databases covering everything from Systematic Reviews to Methodology Register and Controlled Trials. The Cochrane Library is a collection of high-quality, independent evidence to influence healthcare decision-making. This specialized set of databases is in the EBSCO suite of tools and is easy to use and searches the same platform as both MEDLINE and CINAHL.

The Houston Methodist Library provides many full-text nursing journals, as well as textbooks to support both clinical and research initiatives. A listing of all journals and book titles can be found at the link labeled PUBLICATION SEARCH – which is our electronic “card catalog”. If we don’t have something you need, you may request a copy through our Inter-Library Loan process, and you will find that link just below the catalog on the library’s home page – HM LIBRARY RESOURCES.

Exam Master hosts a collection of certification exams which includes the NCLEX and can be found on the HM library’s home page under Nursing. This may be an ideal tool for those hoping to get certified or if you’re currently in nursing school.

To meet the needs of your busy schedule and educational and research needs, the Houston Methodist Library is available 24/7 via Citrix for remote access. If you are looking for a place to study or a computer and printer, our physical location is in the Main building – M155 on the first floor between Fannin Valet Parking and the Emergency Room. The HM Library Staff consists of two Librarians – Linné Girouard and Amy Taylor, who are available via email, phone, zoom, or personal consultations.