5 Searching for Evidence 81
collections, and online resources such as PubMed, CINAHL, the Cochrane Li-
brary, and the Joanna Briggs Institute. For hospital administrators and case man-
agers, Health Business FullText is a source for quality improvement and financial
information.
Primary evidence is data generally collected from direct patient or subject contact
and includes hospital data, clinical trials, peer-reviewed research journals, confer-
ence reports and abstracts, and monographs, as well as summaries from data sets
such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Minimum Data
Set. Databases where this information can be found include PubMed, CINAHL,
Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE), library catalogs, and institutional reposi-
tories. For hospital administrators, the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project
(HCUP) is a source for health statistics and information on hospital inpatient
and emergency department use.
The Answerable Question
After a practice problem has been identified and converted into an answerable
EBP question (see Chapter 4), the search for evidence begins with the following
steps:
- Identify the searchable keywords contained in the EBP question and list
them on the Question Development Tool (see Appendix B). Include also
any synonymous or related terms.
- Identify the types of information needed to best answer the question and
list the sources where such information can be found. What database(s)
will provide the best information to answer the question?
- Develop the search strategy.
- Evaluate search results for relevance to the EBP question.
- Revise the search strategy as needed.
- Record the strategy specifics (terms used, limits placed, years searched) on
the Question Development Tool and save the results.
