Subject Searching or CINAHL Headings
In most cases, the most efficient way to search is by using subjects, also called CINAHL Headings. These are the terms used when assigning subject headings to articles in the database.
You can begin a subject search in 2 ways. You can click on CINAHL Headings in the top menu bar or input your search term in the box, check the "Suggest Subject Terms" box and click search.
Click Scope to see the definition of a term.
Clicking on the Subject Heading itself will lead you to more information about the heading in the Tree, or hierarchical view of terms. You can select Subheadings if needed and may also specify that the term be a major focus of the article by checking the Major Concept box.
Click on the term to view the tree and subheading details.
Some terms are marked Explode, indicating there are narrower, more specific terms in the hierarchical list of subject headings. If you clikc this option, you will "explode" the number of results by automatically including all the narrower terms in your search with the Boolean operator 'OR.'