1. Carolyn Paduano
Library Database/Website Search
3. Search of low salt diet
4. Search of low salt diet and congestive heart failure

2. 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 for
minerals 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 on
health. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 99(3), 446-453.

3. 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

4. information will be helpful when creating a brochure regarding congestive heart failure
and a low salt diet.

5. 7. Search of websites via Google
Search of websites via Bing

6. 8. Medline Plus website from Google search
Low Salt Foods website from Bing search

7. 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

8. 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.