Key Resources for Pharmacy, Nursing, & Health Sciences
There are many different resources available to help you with your wider reading and research. You’ll find some essential resources to explore for Pharmacy, Nursing, and Health Sciences in the sections below.
If you want to find the best academic resources for research and evidence to inform your practice, this page is a great place to start. Use these resources alongside your recommended reading from your tutors to extend your research into new areas.
eBook Collections: Clinical Key and LWW Health Library
Health Talk | Real People sharing their experiences of living with a health condition
Cite them Right – your guide to referencing
Spotlight on Nursing Journals: Week 3 Nursing Times
Spotlight on Nursing Journals Week 2: RCNi Publications
Spotlight on Nursing Journals Week 1: Journal of Advanced Nursing
Anatomical and scientific images you can use in your assignments (without infringing copyright)
Books & eBooks
Books and eBooks in the Library collection not only reflect the titles on your My Module Resources lists but also offer titles for background and wider reading. The majority of the books you’ll need for Pharmacy, Nursing & Health Sciences subjects can be found at Murray Library.
All books and eBooks available at Sunderland are listed on the Library Catalogue.
Search for books on the Library Catalogue (via the library web page)
Find books in the Murray Library
Accessing eBooks
How do I find books in the Library?
To search for books in our print collection go to the Library home page.
Enter your search term, you can search by title, author, subject or keyword or any combination of these, and click on the ‘Books and eBooks’ radial button.
Once you have your search results back you may refine your search by location, subject, author, date etc. using the options on the left hand side of the screen.
How do I find eBooks available from the Library?
To narrow your search down to only look for eBooks select ‘eBooks’ from under the Collection title on the left hand side of the page.
For some extra help with searching for and using eBooks this video has some useful hints and tips: Searching for eBooks
What books have the Library recently bought?
If you want to keep up to date with new stock arriving in the library then check out our new books list. It is updated monthly with details of new books that have been purchased for all Health Sciences and Wellbeing subjects. You can search for your subject area by using the drop down filter list and selecting the tags relating to your topic.
Academic Journals
The Library subscribes to journals chosen by the Faculty that you can access in print and online.
The most effective way of searching is to use Library Search so that you can search across all available sources.
Start your search at the library web page. Enter your title or keywords into the library search box and choose the ‘Journal Articles’ button. You will be taken to Library Search where you can review and filter your results.
To access any of our online journals you need to be logged on with your University of Sunderland login details. This ensures that you are accessing the journal through our subscription.
Alternatively if you know the title of the Journal you would like to search for select the ‘Journal Titles’ option from the library web page. It is easier to start at our website and follow a link from there to the journal or specific article but sometimes you will need to log in once you are on the publisher’s website.
Video: Searching for journal articles
Some quality academic research is published in free to access journals, known as Open Access journals. You can find many of these in your subject area from the Directory of Open Access Journals and MDPI Open Access.
Nursing Times
The University Library subscription to Nursing Times allows staff and students full access to the current issue, online content as well as the digital archive.
The periodical is only available from the Nursing Times website and you will need to register for an account before you can access any content.
To register for access to Nursing Times through the University of Sunderland subscription
- Go to the Library homepage: https://library.sunderland.ac.uk/
- Click on the Journal Titles button
- Search for Nursing Times
- Access the Nursing Times website using the link that says ‘Click here to register the first time you use Nursing Times’
- Register for your Nursing Times access using your University of Sunderland email address
Articles and content from Nursing Times can only be accessed directly through the Nursing Times website: https://www.nursingtimes.net/. To access articles and content available through the University Library subscription go to the Nursing Times website and log in using the details you created when following the registration process above.
Databases containing health-related journal articles
Although we recommend you begin your search using Library Search via the library home page, you may wish to continue your search using some other resources. The Library subscribes to many databases containing information relevant to specific subject areas.
To access a specific database use the Databases A-Z link on the library homepage. The core resources for your subjects are listed here:
Health Research Premium Collection (HRPC)
Offers a broad collection of health care journals, books, evidence-based resources, videos and audio and full text dissertations.
A comprehensive source of full text for nursing & allied health journals.
Contains bibliographic records from biomedical articles in peer reviewed journals covering drug and pharmaceutical research. If you are off campus simply click the link for Institutional Login then select University of Sunderland from the drop down list. You will be prompted to enter your University ID and password.
MEDLINE is the U.S. National Library of Medicine® (NLM) premier bibliographic database that contains more than 25 million references to journal articles in life sciences with a concentration on biomedicine.
Includes citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for biomedical articles.
Use Reaxys to search the world’s most extensive collection of organic and inorganic chemistry data. Designed to support the full range of chemistry research, including pharmaceutical development, the chemicals industry and academic research.
View a video tutorial to get started with using Reaxys
A full-text scientific database offering journal articles and book chapters covering physical sciences, life sciences, health sciences, and social sciences and humanities.
This database is the premier source of literature for sports and sports medicine journals, providing full-text content from many well-known and respected sources. SPORTDiscus with Full Text provides extensive coverage in the areas of fitness, health and sport studies.
Covers a broad range of sources and is particularly good for interdisciplinary searches. Offers citation searching.
Drugs & Medicines Information
British National Formulary (BNF)
Up-to-date guidance on prescribing, dispensing and administering medicines.
Updated annually, the British Pharmacopoeia (BP) is the only comprehensive collection of authoritative official standards for UK pharmaceutical substances and medicinal products. All monographs and requirements of the European Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eur.) are reproduced in the BP, making the BP a convenient and fully comprehensive set of standards that can be used across Europe and beyond. Access British Pharmacopoeia via the Library Catalogue.
New to using British Pharmacopoeia? Check out the ‘How to use the BP’ guide.
Information on drugs and medicines used globally. Provides access to:
- British National Formulary (BNF)
- BNF for Children (BNFC)
- Martindale: The Complete Drug Reference
- Stockley’s Drug Interactions
Interactive Anatomical Images
Detailed interactive 3D models of the human body, online.
Other Evidence-Based Resources
CKS (Clinical Knowledge Summaries)
Summary of current evidence and practical guidance on best practice in respect of over 300 common and/or significant primary care presentations. Managed by NICE.
Contains independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making including systematic reviews abstracts and individual clinical trials. Help searching Cochrane library
A single search box which searches resources provided by the NHS and other reputable organisations.
This collection of guidelines is based in the US but includes English-language guidelines from around the world
Trip is a clinical search engine to help you find high-quality research evidence to support practice and/or care. It also searches other content types including images, videos, patient information leaflets, educational courses and news.
Useful Websites
A lot of information is freely available online from the websites of professional associations, government departments, and research bodies. This includes research reports, professional practice, and current news. Some of the authoritative sources of online information for your subject are listed below.
Environmental Science
Peer reviewed and regularly updated, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Climate Science is a free resource which provides articles written by experts.
Gov.uk (Environment and Countryside)
Official government web site. Topics covered include recycling and waste management where you will find information on all elements of environment including preventing air pollution, hazardous waste etc.
Maintained by the UNs Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), FAOLEX is a comprehensive and up-to-date legislative and policy database, one of the world’s largest electronic collection of national laws, regulations and policies on food, agriculture and natural resources management. Users of FAOLEX have direct access to the abstracts and indexing information about each text, as well as to the full text of the legislation and policies contained in the database.
Biomedical Science
Health and Care Professions Council
Regulate biomedical scientists, clinical scientists, dietitians, occupational therapists, operating department practitioners, paramedics, radiographers and social workers in England.
The UK’s professional body for chemical scientists.
Sport & Exercise Science
UK Sport (UKSP) supports Britain’s best Olympic and Paralympic sports and athletes, co-ordinating the bids for and staging of major international sporting events in the UK. It invests around £100 million each year in high performance sport.
Sport England (SE) helps people and communities across the country get a sporting habit for life. It also protects existing sports provision and must be consulted on any planning applications that affect playing fields in England.
UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) implements and manages anti-doping policy in the UK. It works with athletes and national sports bodies to ensure compliance with the World Anti-Doping (WADA) Code.
UKSP, SE and UKAD are executive non-departmental public bodies, sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport.
Nursing & Allied Health
The UK’s leading authority on mental health research.
Choices – Your health, your choices National health Services
NHS Choices is the UK’s biggest health website which gives users the opportunity to find what policies and processes govern NHS Choices.
Lead, shape and fund health and care in England, making sure people have the support, care and treatment they need, with the compassion, respect and dignity they deserve.
e-Learning for Healthcare (e-LfH) is a Health Education England (HEE) Programme working in partnership with the NHS and professional bodies to support patient care by providing e-learning to educate and train the health and social care workforce.
Health and Care Professions Council
Regulate biomedical scientists, clinical scientists, dietitians, occupational therapists, operating department practitioners, paramedics, radiographers and social workers in England.
Public Health England (PHE) exists to protect and improve the nation’s health and wellbeing, and reduce health inequalities.
PHE is an executive agency, sponsored by the Department of Health and Social Care.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
Aims to improve health and social care through evidence based practice with guidance, advice, quality standards and information services for health, public health and social care.
NICE Evidence search finds selected, authoritative evidence in health, social care and public health.
The UK’s Faculty of Public Health
The standard setting body for specialists in public health in the United Kingdom.
Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
General Pharmaceutical Council
The regulator for pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and registered pharmacy premises in England, Scotland and Wales.
Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency
Regulates medicines, medical devices and blood components for transfusion in the UK.
These webpages detail influence on the local government’s new public health role including information on health, adult social care and ageing.
Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee
Framework to help support community pharmacies to meet local need, improving the health and wellbeing of the local population and helping to reduce health inequalities.
The professional membership body for pharmacists and pharmacy in Great Britain and an internationally renowned publisher of medicines information.
The UK’s professional body for chemical scientists.
TV & Radio – Box of Broadcasts (BoB)
Box of Broadcasts (BoB) is an on-demand TV & Radio streaming service for education and research. It contains over 2 million broadcasts from over 65 free-to-air channels including BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and more. You can find a complete list of channels here.
As well as giving stable, legal access to broadcast content, BoB offers some exciting features for teaching and learning.
- Links to broadcasts or clips can be embedded into presentations, or embedded into Canvas.
- Advanced search: It’s possible to search BoB by subject or program as well as by date e.g. it’s possible to see everything broadcast from a date in time.
- Clips and notes: You can use slider bars on a broadcast to create clips and write annotations on those clips. It’s possible to put these clips into a compilation. No extra software is needed.
- Playlists: Tutors can create playlists, with annotations, and make these available publicly, to a cohort, or keep them private in a workspace. There are over 80,000 publicly available playlists, and it’s possible to search these by curator, keyword, or institution. Playlists can include programmes, individual broadcasts, clips or clip compilations
- Transcripts: BoB also offers transcripts, which would be helpful for accessibility, language comprehension, and quoting for essays. Transcripts are fully searchable by keyword
You need to log in with your university ID and password, and then enter your email address and name (one time only) to create an account within BoB. It should work in all internet browsers, but Chrome seems to be working the best at the moment. Due to licensing restrictions, BoB can only be used in the United Kingdom.
- Access Box of Broadcasts
Theses
PhD theses can be useful sources of unpublished information. University of Sunderland theses are added to the Sunderland Repository. You may find theses from other universities via EThOS or PQDT Open.
SURE (Sunderland Repository)
Search research written by University of Sunderland staff.
EThOS (e-theses online service) – from the British Library
EThOS is the UK’s national thesis service with approximately 400,000 records relating to theses awarded by over 120 institutions. Around 160,000 of these also provide access to the full text.
PQDT Open
PQDT Open provides the full text of open access dissertations and theses free of charge where the author has opted to publish as open access. This includes international Universities
Conferences and Conference Proceedings
Find conferences to attend
Conference Alerts indexes many academic conferences. Browse by topic or by country.
Find Conference Proceedings
Zetoc is a British Library service which indexes over 100,000 conference proceedings.
Some conference proceedings may be available on Google Scholar.
Newspapers
Newspapers can be useful as both primary and secondary sources of information. As well as providing commentary on events, newspaper articles can provide insight on how the public viewed an event or incident.
Newsstream – Gives access to many contemporary news sources from around the world – find out more about on our blog.
Legal Information
University of Sunderland subscribes to two key legal databases – Lexis Library and Westlaw – where you can find legislation, case law and journal articles related to your subject.
Find Lexis Library or Westlaw in the Database A-Z list
UK Legislation is also published on https://www.legislation.gov.uk
Need to know more about the Library’s key resources for Law? Take a look at our subject guide for Law.
EU Legal information for Environmental Science
European Court of Justice Rulings on Environment
Case law
EEL: European Environmental Law Network
Free resource maintained by the Asser Institute providing case law, dossiers, a news service and more.