Nursing

EBP gathers together research evidence and the advice of experts.  Below are links to some good, free resources: 

Cochrane Reviews  Summaries from the Cochrane Library, a regularly updated collection of evidence-based medicine research.

The National Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC)  A comprehensive database of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and related documents.

Evidence-Based Clinical Guidelines and Recommendations From the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

ANA The American Nurses Association (ANA) represents America's registered nurses (RNs).

Human Anatomy Online  “Animations, 100’s of graphics, and thousands of descriptive links.”

National Center for Health Statistics  The nation’s principal health statistics agency.

National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc. (NCSBN)  The association that is responsible for the NCLEX tests.

National Institute of Nursing Research  This government institute "supports clinical and basic research to establish a scientific basis for the care of individuals across the lifespan."

National Student Nurses' Association Mentors the professional development of future registered nurses and facilitates their entrance into the profession by providing educational resources, leadership opportunities, and career guidance.

NCLEX-RN Exam Review Guide Provides over 85 pages of guidance covering what you need to know as you prepare for the NCLEX-RN exam.

Nurses for a Healthier Tomorrow  Coalition of 43 nursing and health care organizations working together to wage a communications campaign to attract people to the nursing profession.

Medline Medical Encyclopedia  Includes diseases, symptoms, injuries and more with photographs and illustrations.

Before you use a website for a paper or project, you should evaluate it and make sure it is appropriate for your class research. The continuum of credibility below shows which sources you should be skeptical of using and which are more appropriate, or you can use the CRAAP test below that to help you determine if your source is a good one. 

CRAAP scorecard for evaluating sources. The categories for scoring include:

• Currency
  • when was the information published or updated?
• Relevance
  • does this source answer your research or assignment questions?
• Authority
  • who is the author or publisher and can you verify his or her credentials?
• Accuracy
  • are the statements or facts backed up with evidence and sources?
• Purpose
  • is the information unbiased and impartial?

Each category can be scored from one to ten with one being the low score and ten being the high score. The higher the total score, the more reliable the website may be. Any source scoring below thirty might not be considered acceptable for academic research.