Skip to Main Content

HMS 260: Substance Abuse Counseling: Health Source: Nursing

This guide is meant to serve as a research assistant to students in our HMS 260 course.

Using Health Source: Nursing / Academic Edition

The following is an overview of the Alt HealthWatch database search process. For a fuller description, with images of the searching process, click through the tabs above. 

  1. Accessing Nursing and Health Sciences Databases: To find articles using our library databases, go to the library homepage, and use the link for "Articles/Databases. In the Subjects dropdown, select Nursing & Health Sciences. To access Medline directly, click on the H in the alphabetical list. Scroll down to Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition, and click the link to open the database.

  2. Searching Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition: Once you are in the database, you can use the search boxes at the top to begin your research. You may begin with a simple search, or use multiple terms and Boolean operators to create a more complex search.

  3. Using Filters/Limiters: You will most likely get a large amount of results when you begin your search. There are a variety of limits (filters) available to adjust the number and quality of your results. "Full Text" and "Peer Reviewed" are the most used. 

  4. Accessing the Article: To access the full text article click on one of the options below the title. Click the "Get full text" button to open the article. It will open the resource in a new tab. It will appear as published. 

  5. Database Tools: You can use the database tools to access the citation for your article, download a PDF of the source, or save it to your Drive. 

To access all Nursing databases, go to the A-Z databases list by clicking Articles/Databases on the library homepage.

Click on Subjects and select Nursing & Health Sciences to see a list of all databases with information related to that subject.

Or, to access Alt HealthWatch directly, click on the H in the alphabetical list. Scroll down to Health Source: Nursing / Academic Edition, and click the link to open the database.

Once you are in the database, type in keywords related to your subject in the search box. You may begin with a simple search...

...Or use multiple terms and Boolean operators to create a more complex search.

If you are working with keywords that are similar/parallel to other terms, it may be helpful to use the OR boolean operator to include all iterations of a concept within your search. For example, the concept of "therapy" is similar to a few other terms: "treatment or intervention or counseling or psychotherapy." Adding in these parallel terms increased my number of search results.

 

After hitting search, you will see a list of results. Sometimes this list can be in the thousands. You can use the filters underneath the search bar to refine your results.

We recommend always activating the "Full text" filter, as it will force your results to only show articles that you have full access to read. "Peer reviewed" will limit the results to those approved by the peer review process. The "All time" dropdown menu will provide publication date range options.

Always check with your professor to determine what specifications they require for your scholarly resources. For example, do they require peer-reviewed items published within the last ten years?

You can also click the "All filters" button to bring up the full list of filter options. 

If you specifically need a journal article, use the "Source types" filter and activate the Academic journals option. If you need to narrow your search further, try searching for a specific subject using the "Subject" filter. Once you have chosen your filters, click Apply.

To access the full text article click on the "Access options" and choose either PDF or choose to read via "Online full text."

Both viewing options have benefits. The PDF version (left) will show the article as originally published. Images, charts, and tables will appear in the article as mentioned. The online version (right) may remove images, or shift them to the end of the article, but it provides added accessibility functions, including audio and translation tools. 

You can access the full menu of tools at the top of the article page.

You may also want to save the article by printing, emailing it, or saving it to your Google Drive. You can also now create an EBSCO account to permanently save articles for easy access. See the guide below for what each menu item means.

 

Download (Options for PDF or HTML link) 

Translate function

Table of Contents

Listen - Audio playback

Save item (must have an account to save long-term)

Citation tool

Save to project - Login to save item in your projects (must have an account)

Share

Print

The citation tool is a great place to start for your works cited page. However, be sure to check the citation that is generated for the article against our citation handouts, as they are not always 100% accurate. 

Many databases also have accessibility functions. In this case there is an option for having the article read to you, as well as a translation function.

For more information on the translation function check out our guide: https://brcc.vccs.libguides.com/translating/asc

To keep track of your search history and articles, we recommend setting up an EBSCO account. To do this, click on the MyEBSCO icon in the upper right hand corner of the database page.

Use your school email to setup your account.

You are now ready to save articles to your account for easy access! Use the same MyEBSCO button to login each time you begin a research session. Set up project folders to keep track of which articles you want to use for each course.