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abaqis for Skilled Nursing

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Mitigate risk and elevate your quality of care. Improving both clinical and business outcomes starts with a smarter, more integrated approach to regulatory training, continuing education and quality management.

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The S.T.A.B.L.E. Program Online Course

Improve quality of care for well and sick infants. Learn how it can transform your ability to accurately monitor and care for infants, improving their quality of life.

AACN ECCO Essentials of Critical Care Orientation

Essentials of Critical Care Orientation (ECCO), from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), is an interactive, case-based course designed to orient nurses on critical care basics.

COVID-19 Support Courses

These courses are designed to educate staff on current guidelines for infection control across various care settings and precautions for airborne pathogens.

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22-DM-050-Blog - Importance of Evidence-Based Content - Blog Image-FINAL

The Importance of Evidence-Based Content

August 23, 2022
August 23, 2022

It is somewhat unrealistic to think that nurses can absorb the constant flow of ever-changing information in healthcare, so it is not so surprising that they may feel the need to refer to an online resource for support. In a world where Google and YouTube are more accessible than ever, how can nurse leaders be sure that their nurses are not relying on these and other websites when they need quick access to information on unfamiliar procedures? Providing a reliable alternative to Google and YouTube is the first step in moving nurses toward trusted content.

 

Where Information Comes From Matters

Information for healthcare providers has never been more widely-available. Social networking platforms, blogs, wikis, and media sharing sites all have healthcare-related content. All of these tools have the potential to improve professional networking and some may have the potential to deliver accurate information on patient care. However, organizations are leaving themselves in a very vulnerable position if they are not carefully vetting these sources – a nearly impossible task given the number of sites and the sheer volume of information.             

While these various forms of social media may have the potential to provide good information, there are some serious limitations – primarily around the lack of quality and reliability.1 Relying on these sources makes users and the organizations for whom they work vulnerable in a number of ways.

  • The source of the information is often unknown, making it difficult to ascertain the validity of the information.
  • Medical information from these sites can be unreferenced or incomplete.
  • These sources tend to be overly reliant on anecdotal information rather than evidence.
  • There may be conflicts of interest of which the user is unaware.
  • The information may not have been peer-reviewed.

 

Providing Evidence-based Resources – Improving the Quality of Information

In the absence of reliable and easily-accessible information at the point-of-care, nurses may turn to less reliable sources for information, but there is an alternative in which you and your nursing staff can be confident. EBSCO’s Dynamic Health is a solution that can help your organization to provide clinical staff with fast, accurate answers at the bedside. Dynamic Health provides trusted, evidence-based content that is just as available as less-reliable sources on any device, 24/7, and includes step-by-step instructions and visual learning capabilities.

Dynamic Health includes more than 2,000 evidence-based nursing and allied health skills resources across more than 50 specialties. In addition, there is content that will help nurses to provide care that is sensitive to the cultural needs of patients and families. HealthStream and Dynamic Health promote care that is safe, evidence-based and standardized. It can improve staff competence and confidence as well as patient satisfaction.

 

Accessible Tools for Every Learning Style

Not all adult learners are alike. Dynamic Health supports multiple learning styles. It includes video clips, diagrams, full-color images and an audio-player that will help to improve retention and appeal to all learning styles. In addition, it offers full mobile access through availability in both the Apple and Google app stores. Dynamic Health can be uses as an app on a user’s phone, it can also be accessed on a desktop or through the electronic health record.

1 Ventola CL. Social media and health care professionals: benefits, risks, and best practices. P T. 2014 Jul;39(7):491-520. PMID: 25083128; PMCID: PMC4103576.