Module 5

All this information on heuristics was very "eye opening"!  I've always felt intuition is such a valuable thing - but I now realize that it isn't always the case.  I really enjoyed the article and the YouTube video.  This information will help me be more aware of decisions I make based on "intuition" instead of evidence.  Making evidenced based decision will provide better outcomes for my patients and give me skills that will improve my intuition when it is necessary to "jump to conclusions".

Module 3

Module 3

For this module I searched PubMed, CINAHL, and Google Scholar. I have not used PubMed much because I always found it difficult to use. With the tutorial I had more success but I still struggled with exporting my citations into EndNote -- but I did manage to do it (Yeah!). I've used CINAHL often and I am able to find relevant data when I do my searches. It is also very easy to export citations to EndNote through EBSCOhost. I've used Google Scholar quite often. I find it sometimes gives me a good starting point when I haven't quite decided what I'm looking for.

Pub Med: Once I set some limits for my search, most of the articles were relevant for what I was looking for. I then searched using MeSH terms, this narrowed my search a little more, it didn't really change the amount of articles that were relevant for me. I'm still pretty uncomfortable with PubMed - so I need to practice more.

CINAHL: This was quick and easy for me since I have used it so often. Most of the articles I found were relevant. One thing that I really like about CINAHL is you can select "peer reviewed" as a search criteria, of course - everything is PubMed is peer reviewed.

Google Scholar: As I already said, sometimes I like to start with this when I haven't quite decided yet what I want to look for. You do get an overwhelming amount of results quite often, but I usually only go through the first 10 or so. This is usually enough to give me some good ideas on where I want to go next.

October 16, 2010 7:12 PM

I didn't get this in the right place the first time.........sorry  :o(

Module 4

Well, here we are - half way through the semester!  :o)

What sort of teaching is done in your professional role?

I do lots of teaching all the time.  Not only do I do education with my patients, but I do with my colleagues at work – in my clinic and other clinics; and those I interact with on the phone.  I really enjoy seeing people learn and grow, becoming more self-reliant.  I do healthcare related teaching, along with other things….like how to tell a reliable website!

Is there any nursing/health care provider role that does not involve teaching in some manner?

I don’t think it’s possible for someone to be in healthcare and not teach.  We all teach all the time.  We don’t have to be going into education to teach.  We teach our patients, we teach each other, we teach all those we interact with.

Module 2

One way to be involved in information systems in your work place is to let the information technologists and program designers know how things are working.

We started a fairly new system for EHR when our clinic opened four years ago.  It was a challenge needless to say.  As we used the system we found things that worked great and things that didn't work so great.  We talked with the IT people and program designers and were able to make changes that made the system work better.  This system is updated frequently, and not always for the better.  We are still able to communicate our concerns and sometimes able to make good changes.

Hi everyone!

Welcome to my blog.  Hopefully I'll have something interesting to say before the semester is over!

I've been a nurse for 25 yrs and have done a little of everything along the way.  People often ask me which area is my favorite - I tell them all of them!  I've learned and grown in each job I've had.  Each job has made me a better nurse and brought me to where I am today (well, maybe not quite here to the blogging stuff!).

I use technology all the time, but this is my first attempt at blogging.  I'm sure I'll learn a lot from everyone else.  See you guys soon!