Information-seeking behavior of nursing students and clinical nurses: implications for health sciences librarians.

OBJECTIVES: This research was conducted to provide new insights on clinical nurses' and nursing students' current use of health resources and libraries and deterrents to their retrieval of electronic clinical information, exploring implications from these findings for health sciences librarians. METHODS: Questionnaires, interviews, and observations were used to collect data from twenty-five nursing students and twenty-five clinical nurses. RESULTS: Nursing students and clinical nurses were most likely to rely on colleagues and books for medical information, while other resources they frequently cited included personal digital assistants, electronic journals and books, and drug representatives. Significantly more nursing students than clinical nurses used online databases, including CINAHL and PubMed, to locate health information, and nursing students were more likely than clinical nurses to report performing a database search at least one to five times a week. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Nursing students made more use of all available resources and were better trained than clinical nurses, but both groups lacked database-searching skills. Participants were eager for more patient care information, more database training, and better computer skills; therefore, health sciences librarians have the opportunity to meet the nurses' information needs and improve nurses' clinical information-seeking behavior.     

The medical matters wiki: building a library Web site 2.0

New and innovative information technologies drive the ever-evolving library profession. From clay tablet to parchment scroll to manufactured paper to computer screen pixel, information storage, retrieval, and delivery methods continue to evolve, and each advance irrevocably affects the way libraries, and librarians, work. The Internet has forever altered information and library science, both in theory and practice, but even within this context the progression continues. Though ambiguously defined, Web 2.0 offers a new outlook and new software, presenting librarians with potentially invaluable new tools and methods. This paper discusses the creation, implementation, and maintenance of a Web 2.0 technology, the wiki, as a resource tool for an academic biomedical library.     

Online drug information resources: free alternatives

There are many online drug information resources available from commercial vendors, but they are often too costly for hospital librarians on a limited budget. Several free Internet options available from a variety of commercial, government, U.S., foreign, professional, and consumer sites are described here.     

Accelerated Decisionmaking via Action Learning at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

Training courses are insufficient to solve the “wicked problems” facing organizations. Lengthy task forces also fail to meet urgent challenges that demand a rapid response. Intrigued by the success of General Electric's innovative WorkOuts, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has adapted this tool into an accelerated decisionmaking process to enhance both managerial and organizational effectiveness. Executives participate in a compressed version of the FDIC's accelerated decisionmaking process during management training, developing solutions for real organizational challenges posed by a corporate officer. Once exposed to this nontraditional problem-solving method, the executives are encouraged to apply the method to problems in their own realms. Emerging business demands compelled an evolution in the methodology, including the addition of tools for conscious reflection on the process, what the participants learn from the experience, and how they can apply that wisdom to their management practices.     

The validity of the commercially-available,low-cost,wrist-worn Movband accelerometer during treadmill exercise and free-living physical activity

Low-cost physical activity monitors may provide a more accurate measure of physical activity than subjective methods (e.g., self-report) while being less costly than research-grade accelerometers. The present study assessed the validity of a low-cost monitor (Movband 2) to estimate physical activity behavior/intensity. Participants (N = 23, n = 16 female, BMI = 22.9 ± 4.0 kg/m², age = 21.9 ± 1.6 years) completed four, five-minute treadmill stages (2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0 MPH) while wearing both the Movband and the previously-validated Actigraph monitor. Oxygen consumption (VO₂) was recorded during each stage (Laboratory assessment). A subset (n = 15, n = 10 female, BMI = 22.2 ± 3.2 kg/m², age = 21.5 ± 0.8 years) of these participants then wore the two accelerometers for three days (Free-living assessment). During the Laboratory assessment there were strong, significant (r = 0.94, p ≤ 0.001) relationships between Movband and Actigraph counts and VO₂. During Free-living assessment there was also a strong, significant (r = 0.97, p < 0.001) correlation between Movband and Actigraph counts. The low-cost, Movband accelerometer appears to provide a valid assessment of physical activity behavior/intensity.     

Relations among child care quality, teacher behavior, children's play activities, emotional security, and cognitive activity in child care

Eight hundred forty children (435 girls) enrolled in full-time, center-based child care participated in the study. Children ranged in age from 10 to 70 months. Sixty-six percent of the children were European American, the remainder African American. Children's play activities and cognitive activities as well as their relationships with caregivers were observed within the child care setting. The study tested the prediction that variation in children's cognitive activities could be directly and indirectly explained by child care quality, positive social interaction with teachers, and children's play activities and attachment security with their child care teachers. The prediction was examined and at least partially supported in eight subsamples of infant-toddler and preschool age European American and African American children in subsidized and nonsubsidized child care. Specifically, in seven of the eight subsamples, 15 to 30% of the variability in children's cognitive activities could be predicted from positive social interaction with teachers, attachment security, and participation in creative play activities.     

The Effects of a Twelve-Week Home Walking Program on Cardiovascular Parameters and Fatigue Perception of Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis: A Pilot Study

Purpose: To investigate the effects of a 12-week home walking program on cardiovascular parameters, fatigue perception, and walking distance in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods: Twelve ambulatory persons with MS, not currently participating in exercise were randomly assigned to control (C) or experimental groups (EX). Pretest data collection included resting HR, BP, fatigue perception (Fatigue Severity Scale), and 6-minute walk test. EX received a home walking program (30 min, 3 × week, × 12 weeks), using a modification of Karvonen''s formula to calculate HR range. A HR monitor was used to adjust walking speed. The C group refrained from any regular exercise. Posttest data were collected at week 12 and analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U Test. Results: No statistically significant differences were noted between groups in any measured parameters; however, walking distance and Physiologic Cost Index did improve in the exercise group. Conclusion: No adverse events or increase in fatigue levels related to the exercise intervention were reported in this study. This home walking program may not be of sufficient intensity to elicit significant cardiovascular changes. Abnormal cardiac responses have been documented in this population, which may have affected the results. Clinicians may need to use alternate measures to assess fitness in this population.Key Words: multiple sclerosis, home walking program, cardiovascular, aerobic