Carolyn PaduanoLibrary Database/Website Search

3. Search of low salt diet

4. Search of low salt diet and congestive heart failure

5. If an article is not found to be in full text, a blue box containing the phrase “Get

Article” is present below the title of the piece. In order to obtain an article that is not

available in full text, a student can try to search it using the title of the journal in which it

was located. If this search is unsuccessful, the student can request it through the

Interlibrary Loan. After clicking on the link, a form must be completed which asks for the

particulars the article. This form will then be sent to the library for approval. If the

student does not understand how to accomplish this task, the library staff is available for

assistance.

Alsafwah, S., LaGuardia, S., Arroyo, M., Dockery, B., Bhattacharya, S., Ahoks, R., & Newman, K. (2007). Congestive heart failure is a systemic illness: A role forminerals and micronutrients. Clinical Medicine & Research, 5(4), 238-243.

Hendricksen, M.H, Hoogenveen, R.T., Hoekstra, J., Geleijnse, J.M., Boshuizen, H.C., &Van Ragjj, J.M. (2014). Potential effect of salt reduction in processed foods onhealth. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 99(3), 446-453.

6. A low salt diet is an important nursing topic in regards to the diagnosis of congestive

heart failure (CHF). Utilizing the Monmouth University online library, a search was

conducted on the topic via the CINAHL database. After searching the phrase “low salt

diet”, 105 items were found regarding the topic. It was interesting to see that the majority

of the articles were not found in full text. It would be necessary to request the desired

articles, which were not found in full text, from the library.

Upon changing the search from “low salt diet” to “low salt diet and congestive

heart failure,” the search yielded only 9 results. By altering the search phrase, it narrowed

down the results, making them more specific to heart failure and sodium intake. Some of

the resulted materials contained full text, which were easily accessible and informative.

However, some of the other pieces would still need to be requested via the library.

After doing the above search, it was surprising to see the small number of results

available. By altering the search further, it was found that changing the phrase “low salt

diet” to “low sodium diet” resulted in a greater number of articles. However, when

searching “low sodium diet and congestive heart failure,” the information returned

included only three articles, which was even less than the previous search. The results

seem to be extremely word sensitive. A search can be refined further by simply clicking

on various boxes to the left of the screen. This allows the searcher to view only articles

that are found in full text, as well articles that were published in a specific time frame.

This search provided useful information regarding a low sodium diet and how it

relates to congestive heart failure. Academic articles, magazine articles, graphs, and

newspaper clippings can all be found utilizing the CINAHL database. All of this

information will be helpful when creating a brochure regarding congestive heart failure

and a low salt diet.

7. Search of websites via Google

Search of websites via Bing

8. Medline Plus website from Google search

Low Salt Foods website from Bing search

9. The website “Medline Plus” was created by the U.S. National Library of Medicine and

is an aspect of the National Institutes of Health. This site has a section pertaining to

congestive heart failure and a page dedicated to information regarding a low salt diet. The

information on the pages has a list of references ranging from internet resources to

academic journals. There is also a section at the bottom of each page that states when the

information was last updated and who it was written by. There is no specific page that

lists all the editors or authors who wrote the articles for the website. Information is both

copyrighted and not copyrighted. The individuals who wrote the majority of the unbiased

materials have credentials such as MD or PhD. The domain of the website is “.gov”

which verifies that this can be considered a credible resource.

All links on the Medline Plus website are available for public access and there is

no fee needed to view any of the pages or articles. There is also contact information for

any questions prospective viewers may have. This website seems to be well maintained

and appears to be updated on a regular basis. Medline Plus would be an excellent source

of information for the brochure project. Not only are there academic articles, there are

also user-friendly handouts, charts, and videos to further explain the health topic.

The website lowsaltfoods.com does not seem to be as credible as the Medline Plus

website. The information on this website was not written by a health care professional,

rather it was written by an individual who was diagnosed with hypertension. There are

sections of the site that provide various statistics and facts about following a low salt diet.

However, this information does not have any references or credible resources to support

it. There is a resource tab but it only provides the author’s and other bloggers’ opinion.

The site is free to view by the public and no sponsorship is noted. The majority of the

links seem to be in working order, with only a few that resulted in an error page. This

leads to the conclusion that this site is not properly maintained or updated.

Lowsaltfood.com does have a variety of recipes that may be suitable to be used to inform

patients. However due to the lack of credentials, it may not be advantageous to utilize this

site for the upcoming brochure project.