bims-librar 2017-10-29 papers

Issue of 2017–10–29
four papers selected by
Thomas Krichel, Open Library Society

Health Info Libr J. 2017 Oct 21.

Health sciences libraries in the United States: new directions.

This article is the third in a series in this regular feature. The intention of the series is to look at important global developments in health science libraries. These articles will serve as a road map, describing the key changes in the field and exploring factors driving these changes. The present article by the current president of the Medical Library Association outlines two important developments in the United States. The topics chosen for consideration are national initiatives in the United States impacting health sciences libraries and librarians and enhanced roles for U.S. health sciences librarians in providing support for research. J.M.

Keywords: United States of America (USA); case studies; competencies; library and information professionals; national strategies

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/hir.12199

Nurs Educ Perspect. 2017 Oct 20.

Use of Service-Learning to Teach Health Literacy with Online Graduate Nursing Students.

Tracy P George, Claire DeCristofaro.

To meet Healthy People 2020 goals, health literacy must be included in health care program curricula. In a fully online graduate nursing course, an innovative service-learning activity asked students to collaborate in the creation of low-literacy patient education pamphlets for practice partners at a community rehabilitation facility. Involvement with community stakeholders such as support groups and interprofessional team members enhanced interdisciplinary educational outcomes. Through this innovative project-based activity, students were able to meet the clinical education and decision support needs of rehabilitation patients while translating academic coursework to support actual community needs.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NEP.0000000000000231

Nurse Educ Today. 2017 Oct 05. pii: S0260-6917(17)30231-9. [Epub ahead of print]60 84-91

The importance of academic literacy for undergraduate nursing students and its relationship to future professional clinical practice: A systematic review.

Diana Jefferies, Stephen McNally, Katriona Roberts, Anna Wallace, Annette Stunden, Suzanne D'Souza, Paul Glew.

OBJECTIVES: This systematic review was designed to assess the importance of academic literacy for undergraduate nursing students and its relationship to future professional clinical practice. It aimed to explore the link between academic literacy and writing in an undergraduate nursing degree and the development of critical thinking skills for their future professional clinical practice.
DESIGN: A systematic review of qualitative studies and expert opinion publications.
DATA SOURCES: A systematic literature search was undertaken of the following databases: ERIC, PubMed, CINAHL, MEDLINE and Scopus. All papers reviewed were from 2000 to 2016 and were written in English.
REVIEW METHODS: We identified 981 studies and expert opinion papers from the selected databases. After reviewing key words and abstracts for the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 48 papers were selected for review. These were read and reread, with 22 papers, including one thesis, selected for quality appraisal. One paper was discarded due to the exclusion criteria.
RESULTS: Three major themes were evident from this study. First, students need assistance to develop tertiary level academic literacy skills when they commence their undergraduate nursing degree. Second, that teaching practices need to be consistent in both designing assessments and in giving feedback to students, in order to assist improvement of academic literacy skills. And finally, academic literacy can facilitate critical thinking when students are assessed using discipline specific genres that relate to their future professional nursing practice.
CONCLUSIONS: This review highlights the importance of critical thinking in clinical nursing practice and its strong relationship with academic writing skills. It has shown critical thinking is discipline specific and nursing students need to be taught discipline specific literacy genres in undergraduate nursing degrees. Nursing has a diverse educational and cultural mix of students, and educators should not assume academic literacy skills upon commencement of an undergraduate nursing programme.

Keywords: Academic literacy; Clinical documentation; Critical thinking; Education; Nursing; Professional practice; Reflective writing

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2017.09.020

Health Commun. 2017 Oct 20. 1-7

Receipt and Perceived Helpfulness of Mental Illness Information: Findings from the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing.

Annette L Graham, Joanne Brooker, Penelope Hasking, David Clarke, Graham Meadows.

The distribution of mental illness information is a crucial element of mental health promotion initiatives. We assessed the receipt and perceived helpfulness of such information in Australia. Data from the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing indicated that, during the year prior to the survey, 33.7% of Australians received mental illness information; of these, 51.2% found it helpful. Among people with a mental disorder, 46.1% received information; of these, 67.4% found it helpful. Non-English speakers and the socially disadvantaged were less likely to receive mental illness information. Older and less educated respondents were less likely to both receive mental illness information and find it helpful. Mental health service users were more likely to receive mental illness information perceived as helpful than those who had not accessed such services. Better targeted information interventions are required to ensure those most likely to benefit receive mental illness-related information.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2017.1384355