1. Describe your clinical problem and choice of electronic index. How did the index facilitate (or impede) your ability to construct an efficient search? How time consuming was your search? Would there be barriers to using the index in daily practice?
The electronic index or data base I chose to use was PubMed. I chose this index because it lets the user know if the article is available in either full text, abstract or both at Eccles Library in either a hard or electronic copy. This is a very important and valuable service to me since I teach at the University of Utah and often need immediate access to articles. However, MeSH terms were not very helpful in my public health topic search as they did not narrow it down significantly. I did my search on prevention and control of obesity. I came to the conclusion that PubMed may be better suited for disease treatment and clinical data rather than public health information or studies. However, I was able to find some very interesting and useful articles on my subject.
This search was very time consuming—it took me about 3 hours. I think most of that was learning PubMed. In the future I think I could do a similar search in about an hour or less. I believe time would be the only barrier in doing a literature search. So how does one get around this issue—hire a librarian.
2.What features in your chosen reference management software can be used to sort, classify, and otherwise organize references? Describe software functionality that allows you to better organize and share information for efficient retrieval and use.
True confessions (can we put these on our blog?) I do not like all these electronic computer programs and I am not an IT person and don’t find anything about any computer program as being ‘intuitive’. However, as we all know information technology is here to stay and it is a necessary tool in our lives. That said, and there is a point to my rambling, I used EndNote as my reference management software. Being the information technology dolt that I am, I was pleasantly surprised to see how easy Endnote is to use and what a very useful tool it is. It has very user friendly features on the left hand tool bar. I was able to sort, classify and organize my references by simply right clicking on My Groups. This let me organize major groups, subgroups, rename or delete groups. I chose Obesity as my major group and then created a subgroup of Prevention and Control of Obesity. Once this was done I was able to preview individual citations or search for additional ones. It also keeps all references in one main file and then lets you store and organize these into different files or groups. You can organize by author, journal, date, and title.
3.You used an electronic index, a guideline index, and a web search engine to retrieve information relevant to your clinical problem. Compare and contrast your results. Which resources were useful/ not useful for your information retrieval task, and why? Identify some alternative strategies for retrieving relevant information - would context relevant information retrieval be useful?
In comparing PubMed (electronic index) NCG (guideline index) and Google (Web Search) I found Google to be the easiest but least reliable in terms of evidence based practice and peer review reliability. NCG offers three ways to do a search. The Basic Search, The Detailed Search and the Frequently Requested Search. I liked the variety of search option in NCG. I particularly liked the frequently requested search option. Using this option I was able to find several topics that I could click on and immediately find some references and articles that I found useful. PubMed is the most difficult search, yet the most comprehensive and professional in terms of peer review journals and evidenced-based practice, clinical trials and research. It is the gold-standard in terms of academics and research and clinical practice.
I think all these retrieval information systems can be useful depending on what information you are seeking. For example, I often use Google to search for current events related to public health issues. It is an invaluable resource for this kind of search. As stated earlier, I will use PubMed for professional publications. I will use NCG for a quick search. It is also useful in telling you how to do a comprehensive detailed search. It thought the instructions on NCG were very clear and concise.
I’m not sure what the question means on what alternative strategies for retrieving information are, but one other source I use and really like is Medscape. It is a terrific data base for peer review journals and always gives you full text articles at no charge. The librarians at Eccles Medical Library referred me to this electronic index. I highly recommend it to all of you.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Information to Informatics: Sherri Evershed
Information to Informatics: Sherri Evershed
MODULE I con't.
1. What do you as a graduate level nurse need to know about information management?
I believe the most important thing to know is how to determine and evaluate if the information I read is valid, reliable, accurate, current, or bias. This is often difficult to do when using the internet, particularly when some of the articles I use for public health are current event articles. The current event may be accurate, but the writer/publisher can insert their bias and slant into the article, which then renders it only partially accurate. Another important aspect of information management I need to know is exactly that—how to manage it. That includes how to search and organize data bases, know which journals or internet articles are the most applicable to my practice and/or research, and last but not least, to integrate this knowledge into practice to improve patient outcomes and prevent diseases, such as obesity.
2. Describe what is happening related to IT in your clinical or practice setting.
I am not as informed about IT in my field of public health as I hope to become. But, I know there is the National Association for Public Health Information Technology (NAPHIT). NAPHIT’s stated purpose and goal is to provide leadership in public health information technology. They assist in selecting, evaluating and implementing IT tools in public health and encourage professional development in public health information technology. They also help coordinate efforts between state, local, national organizations. Another organization is the Public Health Data Standards Consortium (PHDSC) which is a national non-profit membership-based organization of federal, state and local health agencies and academic institutions. It supports the exchange of information technology between public health and clinical care via Electronic Health Record (EHR) Systems (EHR-S). This is important for patient data such as in the case of an infectious disease outbreak (H1N1) so data can be quickly synthesized to alert the public regarding preventive measures.
3. What structured documentation, standards, and/or coded terminologies do you see within your practice setting (if none--where might they be applicable)?
Again, I am not that familiar with the specifics of the standards of IT in public health, but upon doing a little research I learned that studies have been done and are currently being done to look at effective public health information systems. Specifically, looking at how public health informatics (PHI), apply to the improved health of the community. The difference between PHI and other information technology is that public health is focused on the use of IT for disease prevention.
4. How are structured/coded clinical data useful in promoting quality patient care?
Structured data in public health is used for disease surveillance and prevention. When data follows a structured format it allows labs, hospitals, health departments to accurately determine the cause, incubation period, agent, host, treatment and prevention of disease. It facilitates public health education to the accurate target or susceptible population.
MODULE I con't.
1. What do you as a graduate level nurse need to know about information management?
I believe the most important thing to know is how to determine and evaluate if the information I read is valid, reliable, accurate, current, or bias. This is often difficult to do when using the internet, particularly when some of the articles I use for public health are current event articles. The current event may be accurate, but the writer/publisher can insert their bias and slant into the article, which then renders it only partially accurate. Another important aspect of information management I need to know is exactly that—how to manage it. That includes how to search and organize data bases, know which journals or internet articles are the most applicable to my practice and/or research, and last but not least, to integrate this knowledge into practice to improve patient outcomes and prevent diseases, such as obesity.
2. Describe what is happening related to IT in your clinical or practice setting.
I am not as informed about IT in my field of public health as I hope to become. But, I know there is the National Association for Public Health Information Technology (NAPHIT). NAPHIT’s stated purpose and goal is to provide leadership in public health information technology. They assist in selecting, evaluating and implementing IT tools in public health and encourage professional development in public health information technology. They also help coordinate efforts between state, local, national organizations. Another organization is the Public Health Data Standards Consortium (PHDSC) which is a national non-profit membership-based organization of federal, state and local health agencies and academic institutions. It supports the exchange of information technology between public health and clinical care via Electronic Health Record (EHR) Systems (EHR-S). This is important for patient data such as in the case of an infectious disease outbreak (H1N1) so data can be quickly synthesized to alert the public regarding preventive measures.
3. What structured documentation, standards, and/or coded terminologies do you see within your practice setting (if none--where might they be applicable)?
Again, I am not that familiar with the specifics of the standards of IT in public health, but upon doing a little research I learned that studies have been done and are currently being done to look at effective public health information systems. Specifically, looking at how public health informatics (PHI), apply to the improved health of the community. The difference between PHI and other information technology is that public health is focused on the use of IT for disease prevention.
4. How are structured/coded clinical data useful in promoting quality patient care?
Structured data in public health is used for disease surveillance and prevention. When data follows a structured format it allows labs, hospitals, health departments to accurately determine the cause, incubation period, agent, host, treatment and prevention of disease. It facilitates public health education to the accurate target or susceptible population.
Information to Informatics: Sherri Evershed
Information to Informatics: Sherri Evershed
Module I
Hello. My name is Sherri Evershed. I am married with two college age children and have a wonderful Golden Retriever.
I have been teaching nursing for a cumulative six years at Westminster College and now the University of Utah. I am a clinical instructor for Community Nursing in the Fall and Spring and I am the Lead Instructor for Community and Family Focused Care in the RN-BSN program in the summer. I love teaching college students and thoroughly enjoy the clinical setting.
I have a commitment and passion for education, as a teacher and a student. Prior to my bachelor’s degree in Nursing and master’s degree is in Public Health, I received a bachelor’s degree in Community Health Education.
I have been fortunate to have a very rich and diverse career as a nurse. Looking back on my career, it is clear to me that regardless of my position I always found myself gravitating toward the educational and preventive health aspect of the job. I was instrumental in, or involved with the development of various education programs for pediatric oncology, pediatric LifeFlight, Utah Telehealth program, infection control, and my graduate thesis study on Hep. B for Centers for Disease Control in American Samoa. I was a volunteer, for one school year, as the Vice President for Health and Safety at Rosslyn Heights Elementary School. In that position I was instrumental in developing a program that was successful in increasing the percentage of children that wore seat belts and bicycle helmets.
At this point in my academic teaching career I would like to expand my horizons in teaching. My goals are to be eligible to teach on a wider variety of subjects, to teach in broader educational settings, and to teach at the graduate level in nursing education and community health nursing. I have chosen to pursue a DNP with an emphasis on public health to facilitate the achievement of my personal goals.
Module I
Hello. My name is Sherri Evershed. I am married with two college age children and have a wonderful Golden Retriever.
I have been teaching nursing for a cumulative six years at Westminster College and now the University of Utah. I am a clinical instructor for Community Nursing in the Fall and Spring and I am the Lead Instructor for Community and Family Focused Care in the RN-BSN program in the summer. I love teaching college students and thoroughly enjoy the clinical setting.
I have a commitment and passion for education, as a teacher and a student. Prior to my bachelor’s degree in Nursing and master’s degree is in Public Health, I received a bachelor’s degree in Community Health Education.
I have been fortunate to have a very rich and diverse career as a nurse. Looking back on my career, it is clear to me that regardless of my position I always found myself gravitating toward the educational and preventive health aspect of the job. I was instrumental in, or involved with the development of various education programs for pediatric oncology, pediatric LifeFlight, Utah Telehealth program, infection control, and my graduate thesis study on Hep. B for Centers for Disease Control in American Samoa. I was a volunteer, for one school year, as the Vice President for Health and Safety at Rosslyn Heights Elementary School. In that position I was instrumental in developing a program that was successful in increasing the percentage of children that wore seat belts and bicycle helmets.
At this point in my academic teaching career I would like to expand my horizons in teaching. My goals are to be eligible to teach on a wider variety of subjects, to teach in broader educational settings, and to teach at the graduate level in nursing education and community health nursing. I have chosen to pursue a DNP with an emphasis on public health to facilitate the achievement of my personal goals.
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