LibGuides: Nursing Research: Websites

Evidence Based Practice Research Websites

Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) offers practical, research-based tools and other resources to help a variety of health care organizations, providers and others make care safer in all health care settings.
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)
Part of the National Institutes of Health. Start with the "Health Topics A-Z" and "Information for Health Care Providers" links.

Cochrane Library (College Students) This link opens in a new window
Free version available to students. A collection of databases containing high-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making. Includes the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), and Cochrane Clinical Answers.
Cochrane Library (Personnel & Residents) This link opens in a new window
Provided by the Northeast Ohio Medical University. A collection of databases containing high-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making. Includes the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), and Cochrane Clinical Answers.
MedlinePlus This link opens in a new window
A consumer health resource with over 800 diseases & conditions. The site is mirrored in Spanish and also contains drug & supplement information, a medical dictionary, and media tools such as images and videos.
Trip Database This link opens in a new window
Trip is a clinical search engine designed to allow users to quickly and easily find and use high-quality research evidence to support their practice and/or care.

Professional Nursing Organizations

American Nurses Association
Includes information for Student Nurses and a Career Center.
American Organization for Nurse Executives (AONE)
Organzation devoted to advance nursing practice and patient care. AONE is a subsidiary of the American Hospital Association.
National Gerontological Nursing Association
Focuses on issues nurses need to know for taking care of the elderly population.
Ohio Nurses Association
Ohio Nurses Association membership page
Sigma Theta Tau International
The International Honor Society for Nurses.

Evaluating Websites

Evaluating Websites

It is especially important to critically evaluate any websites you reference because information found on the Internet is not regulated in the way that information in databases and in scholarly journals is regulated. You are more likely to run into information that is inaccurate, outdated, and/or biased. You may also have a harder time determining the origin of the information (author, publisher, whether the content is original).

Website URLs

The old standby that .com URLs are bad, whereas .edu, .org, and .gov are fine is overly simplified.

In health care, dates are very important when analyzing information, so if you find information from a .gov site that hasn't been updated since 1998, it is probably information you might want to scrutinize. In addition, trade publications often have .com domains, but contain valuable quality information. A lot more goes into analyzing results than just the domain.

Website Evaluation Checklist
Created by University Libraries at the University of Maryland.