MN531 Unit 8 Blog Entry 1: Case Study: Acquiring Previous Knowledge

 

During rounds, Charles encounters a rare condition he personally has never seen and only vaguely remembers hearing about in nursing school. He takes a few moments to prepare himself by searching the internet. That evening, he researches further to learn how to treat, administer, and assess the patient safely. The sources he researches include online clinical databases and his own school textbooks. Most of the information seems consistent, yet some factors vary. Charles wants to provide the highest quality in patient safety. He wonders which resources are best.

What should Charles do when he encounters direct contradictions in information from two sources?

When Charles encounters direct contradictions in formation from the two sources he used, he should first determine how old the information is from both sources. There has been some difficulty reported in locating websites and its content, so when using websites, the user should determine “… is the website findable, useful, usable, valuable, accessible, desirable and/or credible” (Gaitsgory, Burgess, & Mellis, 2013, p. 370)?  By following these guidelines it will help Charles to determine the credibility of the website and information source used.

Which resources are the most trusted, and how do you determine this?

The school textbooks should be considered a trusted source in the context that it is a school textbook, but depending on the year of the textbook, the information could be older and there may be newer up to date information available, especially information retrieved from a credible website.

Which resources are the most accurate, and how do you determine this?

One way Charles can determine if the resources he is using are the most accurate is by using Health on the Net Foundation (HONcode). This site can help Charles identify the authoritative qualities of the authors, whether information is complementarity, the attribution of information, the justifiability of site to back up claims, the transparency of the site, any financial disclosure and the sites advertising policy. The HON was founded to help professionals, patients and the general public to gain access to quality health information via the internet that is relevant and up to date. The HON represents ethical standards and displays the transparency of websites and their intent to offer quality health information (HONcode, 2015).

What criteria should Charles use to identify credible resources to enhance his clinical practice?

Criteria Charles should use to identifying credible resources is to look at the credentials and qualifications of the author in relation to the subject matter. Charles should also ask himself the following questions: is the author associated with an organization or institution and is there a link or contact information, does the author have any peer-reviewed publications on the web or is there a hard copy available, is the author bias, is web content up to date, does the information presented provide references or cited works that are credible and what type of site does the information appear on? If Charles can answer yes to all the questions, then the website is most likely a credible site (Montecino, 1998).

 

References

Gaitsgory, O., Burgess, A., & Mellis, C. (2013). Opinion piece: 'Medical students-learning from textbooks or electronic media?'. Journal Of Paediatrics And Child Health, 49(9), E370-372. doi:10.1111/jpc.12180

HONcode. (2015). Retrieved from Health on the net foundation: http://www.hon.ch/HONcode/Patients/Visitor/visitor.html

Montecino, V. (1998). Guidelines for critiquing www resources. Retrieved from Education & Technology Resources: http://mason.gmu.edu/~montecin/web-eval-sites.htm