If you want to find an answer, you must first know how to ask the question! The PICO format is a helpful tool for formulating clinical questions. The next step is translating the major elements of the question into searchable terms, and knowing how to combine these terms (e.g. Boolean operators). Without understanding the "language" of the database you are using (e.g. MeSH terms in PubMed), your search may not yield accurate or complete results. Finally, you must be able to narrow down your results (e.g. apply limits, review abstracts) and manage your resources in order to extract meaningful information with appropriate citations. These steps form the basis for literature search and review in clinical research for evidence based practice.
In this module we practiced utilizing clinical databases and reference management software, two essential tools for our education and future careers. I received crash course in both of these programs (PubMed and EndNote) in my first semester of the DNP program last fall, when we jumped in with both feet in N6000 Evidence Based Practice I. It was worthwhile to review the tutorials again and familiarize myself with some additional functionalities of both programs. I continue to use both programs almost daily in most of my courses, as they make literature review simultaneously more thorough and less time-consuming.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Module 2
What is one way you could become involved in designing, selecting, evaluating, or implementing an information system in your workplace?
In my current position, I have been involved over the past three years with the implementation and continuous evaluation of a new electronic charting system designed to facilitate standardized communication of data points related to the appropriate matching of organ donors and recipients. As all of those who have been on the front end of the initiation of such a project can attest, learning a new information system "language" can be an arduous and frustrating process. It has made me truly appreciate the critical importance of trained nurse informaticists being involved in the development of EHRs as they become the primary form of documentation. This interface between clinician and technology is essential for a coherent and usable system to emerge.
As I change career paths and enter a primary care setting, I am grateful for these experiences which have hopefully helped to prepare me for the revolution of EHRs that must happen in order for a more efficient, patient-centered medical home to emerge. I am very interested in the potential of "meaningful use" of EHRs to streamline interdisciplinary communication and transform the current fragmented, error-prone, and inefficient existing system for medical record keeping. I hope to be a leader in refining new generations of these systems through my input as a clinician as they become more universal and patient-centered. The ability for different health care providers and disciplines to speak the same language is a basic right for our patients.
In my current position, I have been involved over the past three years with the implementation and continuous evaluation of a new electronic charting system designed to facilitate standardized communication of data points related to the appropriate matching of organ donors and recipients. As all of those who have been on the front end of the initiation of such a project can attest, learning a new information system "language" can be an arduous and frustrating process. It has made me truly appreciate the critical importance of trained nurse informaticists being involved in the development of EHRs as they become the primary form of documentation. This interface between clinician and technology is essential for a coherent and usable system to emerge.
As I change career paths and enter a primary care setting, I am grateful for these experiences which have hopefully helped to prepare me for the revolution of EHRs that must happen in order for a more efficient, patient-centered medical home to emerge. I am very interested in the potential of "meaningful use" of EHRs to streamline interdisciplinary communication and transform the current fragmented, error-prone, and inefficient existing system for medical record keeping. I hope to be a leader in refining new generations of these systems through my input as a clinician as they become more universal and patient-centered. The ability for different health care providers and disciplines to speak the same language is a basic right for our patients.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Introduction
Hi everyone! My name is Lauren Metcalfe and I am in my 3rd semester of the BS-DNP program for Family Nurse Practitioner and the University of Utah. I have worked in critical care as a bedside nurse and an organ donation coordinator for the past seven years, and have decided to change course and pursue a career in primary care. I especially love working with the older adult population and am also working on the Geriatric Interdisciplinary Program Graduate Certificate offered through the University.
Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google, recently made the statement that we (collectively) now create as much information every two days as we did between the beginning of human civilization through 2003. The volume of health information alone being generated is enormous, and the inefficiencies resulting from an inability to process this data in a timely manner are staggering. If we truly hope to achieve evidence-based, patient-centered care, we must first learn how to harness the power of health information through technology. I see a natural connection between the professional goals of informaticists and DNPs- to speed up the translation of research into practice. I am fascinated by the possibilities of a wide range of health information technologies- from electronic medical records to telemedicine to mobile health applications- and foresee these tools playing a major role in the future of health care. I hope to explore these technologies further this semester and in this blog.
Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google, recently made the statement that we (collectively) now create as much information every two days as we did between the beginning of human civilization through 2003. The volume of health information alone being generated is enormous, and the inefficiencies resulting from an inability to process this data in a timely manner are staggering. If we truly hope to achieve evidence-based, patient-centered care, we must first learn how to harness the power of health information through technology. I see a natural connection between the professional goals of informaticists and DNPs- to speed up the translation of research into practice. I am fascinated by the possibilities of a wide range of health information technologies- from electronic medical records to telemedicine to mobile health applications- and foresee these tools playing a major role in the future of health care. I hope to explore these technologies further this semester and in this blog.
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