The objectives of this study were to determine nurses' use of electronic databases to inform practice. A questionnaire survey of 114 nurses working on five acute wards in a large inner city teaching hospital investigated their general use of computers and the three databases, CINAHL, MEDLINE and the Cochrane Library. Eighty-two qualified nurses responded (response rate 72%). The results show limited confidence and low frequency in using the databases. Thirty-four per cent expressed low confidence using CINAHL. Twenty-seven per cent used CINAHL on a regular basis. Twenty-two per cent never used it. Eighteen per cent were unaware that it was available locally. Knowledge and use of MEDLINE was even lower with only 18% using it regularly. Knowledge of the Cochrane Library was extremely limited, with 75% unaware of its existence. Use of a home computer and higher education were associated with higher frequency of use of CINAHL and MEDLINE. If nurses are to make use of electronic resources to contribute to evidence-based practice, effort needs to be put into ensuring that already qualified nurses have basic computer skills and specific knowledge of available resources. More emphasis should be placed on 'evidence-based' resources, such as the Cochrane library, as sources of information for practice.