Cutting Edge - This is a "Must Read Article"

Marty Swartz sent me this article ...
The potential use of "blogs" in nursing education.

Yes people, the use of blogs is cutting edge !

This well researched article describes in great detail the technicalities of what a blog is and how it works. There is also much discussion about the growing use of blogs in education.

Best of all though, let me point you to the very thoughtful discussion about the potential uses by students in the healthcare profession (see under heading Discussion and Implications).

If you see a purpose, and think you want to develop something along these lines, I would be happy to work on it with you.

South of the Border

For those of you that don't already know ...

I thought that you might be curious to know about the change in guard at Duke School of Nursing, and most particularly her plans for the future!

Alum seeks growth for nursing school

YSN Library Feb. 28 - Mar. 4

Here is the schedule for when I will be at YSN for this week.
Questions, comments, concerns? .... please email me
janene.batten@yale.edu

Monday 2/28
1:30-5:00
Class: 1:00-2:00 RefWorks Basics
Class: 2:00-3:00 Library 101

Tuesday 3/1
See me in Medical Library for assistance - 737-2964
Class: 5:30-6:30 EndNote Basics

Wednesday 3/2
1:30 - 5:00

Thursday 3/3
See me in Medical Library for assistance - 737-2964
Class: 3:30-4:30 EndNote Advanced

Friday 3/4
See me in Medical Library for assistance - 737-2964
8:30 - 12:00
Class: 11:00-12:00 Ovid Refresher

Cell Phones: Can You SEE Me Now?

A study in the February issue of Archives of Dermatology shows that cell phones with cameras can assist doctors in the evaluation of leg ulcers. The study compared the face-to-face evaluation with images obtained by mobile phone and emailed directly to the physician.

It is common for nurses in the field to call doctors with concerns about leg ulcers in nursing home or other in-home patients. While a description can be good, the image helped doctors to give better advice about immedicate treatment. After viewing the images, doctors can ask the nurse further questions while they are still with the patient.

Read the whole article: Telemedical Wound Care Using a New Generation of Mobile Telephones: A Feasibility Study Arch Dermatol. 2005;141:254-258.

Powerful girls have powerful bones

Visit Carla on the National Bone Health Campaign website!

This bright website is dedicated to teaching girls how to develop strong and healthy bones. The campaign is called Powerful bones. Powerful girls. (Hosted on the CDC website.)

There's all sorts of information for girls about how to create strong bones. Girls can click around games, quizzes, print a colorful calendar, and link to other related sites, and well as do many other things. Some of it seems to be aimed at girls in their early teens, but the computer savvy 9-10 year old will enjoy browsing and doing things on this incredibly interactive site. There is a lot to do, and much to be learned! Check out the dictionary.

National Bone Health Campaign is devoted to having people share the message. There is information on how to link to the site, as well as graphics and descriptions to use.

HRT and Urinary Incontinence

Adding "yet another problem" to the list of conditions that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) appears to worsen rather than improve, new findings from the Women's Health Initiative study published in today's JAMA suggest that the drugs may exacerbate urinary incontinence (UI) rather than improve it.

See complete article Effects of estrogen with and without progestin on urinary incontinence

Ovid Training Times

Need to rediscover how to get the most out of an Ovid search?
Come and get some hands on training in the Medical Library's Training Room (the TCC).

March 4: 11:00 - 12:00 (5 people already signed up)
March 11: 10:00 - 11:00
March 18: 12:30 - 1:30
March 25: 9:30 - 10:30

These are "drop-in" classes, but you can also email me to let me know you are coming.

janene.batten@yale.edu

What Patients Are Reading

If you didn't know ... under the tab that says News, in MDConsult, there is a neat link that allows you to access What Your Patients Are Reading (look in the LH sidebar). It is a nifty opportunity to keep abreast of all those problems and conditions that people read or hear about and come to you, The Professional, to get confirmation on. Yes, it gives you the opportunity to give that knowing nod, and then to scramble to the computer to find out what the heck they are talking about!

It lists recent newspaper or radio articles. They even include recent ER storylines. Now I don't watch ER myself, and it seems thanks to MDConsult I never have to! What Your Patients Are Reading gives the ER storyline synopsis. But here's the value add. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page there are links galore to related information for that episode. There's textbook links, journal article links, practice guidelines, drug information links and even patient handouts.

So give it a try ... click to the Nursing Library web page, click the pull down Major Resources menu, and click on MDConsult. No need to login. Just click "open generic account". And you will never have to stay up to watch ER again.

Eating Fish: Benefits and Concerns

I read an email alert today that gave some interesting facts about eating fish. The report comes from the Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource, and is titled "Fish Has Health Benefits, and a Few Risks".

The report points out the health benefits of eating fish, but also cautions against fish containing toxins such as mercury. It is especially important to note this for "children under age 5, nursing mothers and women who are pregnant or trying to conceive".

There is more information about mercury from U.S. Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

Diabetes Care - 2005 Clinical Practice Recommendations

For those of you that have not seen it, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) has updated their clinical practice recommendations for 2005.

All recommendations can be found in the January 2005 issue of Diabetes Care. If you need help getting any of this information, please ask me (janene.batten@yale.edu)

Coffee vs. Cancer

Two articles in the latest Journal of the National Cancer Institute [Feb 16; 97(4)] indicated that there is some correlation between drinking coffee regularly and reducing the risk of cancer.

One was a prospective study based in Japan where the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was halved in people who drank coffee daily compared to those that did not drink coffee at all. Find the full-text of the article: Influence of coffee drinking on subsequent risk of hepatocellular carcinoma: a prospective study in Japan

The other article in this issue of the Journal is a study was done here in the US. The consumption of coffee is associated with the reduced risk of colorectal cancer . See: Coffee, Tea, and Caffeine Consumption and Incidence of Colon and Rectal Cancer.

You be the judge!

YSN Library Feb. 21 - Feb. 25

Here is the schedule for when I will be at YSN for this week.
Questions, comments, concerns? .... please email me
janene.batten@yale.edu

Monday 2/21
2:00-5:00 (I have appointments)

Wednesday 2/23
2:30 - 5:00

Thursday 2/24
8:30 - 11:00

Friday 2/25
8:30 - 12:00
Class: 2 p.m. - 3 p.m.EndNote Basics [Medical Library TCC]

Clinical Nursing Supervision and Nursing Ethics

I ran across this article in an upcoming issue of Nursing & health sciences (March 2005) - Core ethical issues of clinical nursing supervision. It is a synthesis of research in, and theory of, clinical nursing supervision. The authors are from Sweden, and bring up some interesting points about the importance of clinical supervision in ethical decision making.

For those of you that are interested here is the The ICN Code of Ethics for Nurses that is mentioned in the article, developed by the International Council of Nurses .

Here are some other ethics statements:

• American Nurses Association's Code of Ethics for Nurses , from The Center for Ethics & Human Rights.
• American College of Nurse-Midwives ethics statement.
  

New Way to Hear the Latest

Want a way to get information and news without adding to your email list?

Try regularly checking this weblog, or blog for short.

What is it? It's sort of a journal on the web that is updated by me.
What will it do? It will be an opportunity to tell you what's new and what's of interest in the world of nursing and medical information. It contains timely information and links to websites that are of interest.

It will be posted to the YSN Library website, and all you have to do is link to the Library and read it. Posts are in chronological order, most recent at the top. The posts are archived by the month, so you can always go back and look at items from the past.

Sometimes you will have the opportunity to add your comments on the blog. See the comments link at the end of this post? Click that and you can post a comment. Don't be afraid - but just remember - everyone can click in and read comments that have been posted!