CINAHL Ultimate

The Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) Ultimate is a subscription aggregate health and allied health sciences database available exclusively from EBSCO. CINAHL Ultimate is the premier product in a lineup of five tiered versions, including CINAHL, CINAHL with Full Text, CINAHL Plus with Full Text, and CINAHL Complete. The database is widely used by educators, students, researchers, and practitioners. CINAHL Ultimate is valued for its substantial indexing of publications core to the nursing and allied health field, use of the MeSH structure for subject headings, and numerous options for advanced searching specific to the needs of the health sciences. The collection indexes more than 3,800 journals beginning in 1937, with 925 being offered full text from non‐open access journals and with a substantial number with no embargo. In particular, the number of full-text, peer-reviewed journals with no embargo available from non‐open access sources is a significant upgrade from CINAHL Complete, and one that may very likely justify the additional investment. Value-added features include accredited continuing education modules, evidence-based care sheets, and quick lessons. With contributing publishers from 73 countries, the majority hail from the United States and the United Kingdom. Some potential drawbacks for those considering CINAHL Ultimate may be the lack of video-based continuing education content and source material beyond academic journals, as well as the limited emphasis on international perspectives; such perspectives may be more evident in competitors such as ProQuest’s Nursing & Allied Health Premium and MEDLINE Ultimate.