Merry Christmas

Worcestershire Health Libraries would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

December Current Awareness Update!

Visit http://worcestershirehealthlibraries.blogspot.com/ to access the December 2011 Worcestershire Health Libraries Mental Health Current Awareness Bulletin.You will find the latest Mental Health research published in the last few months, and available through Worcestershire Health Libraries.

Any queries please contact me.

Bringing health information to the work place

WHL have arranged four health information drop ins available to all NHS staff. Hosted at the Internet Study Points these will at:

15th December 2.30 - 4.30 Pershore Hospital

16th December 11.10 to 3.00 Prospect View, Malvern

20th December 11.30 to 3.00 Upton Health Centre

22nd December 11.30 to 3.oo Malvern Community Hospital

Librarians will be present to promote these sites as places for staff to do e-learning and study. They will also demonstrate health information resources (athens passwords, databases and e-journals) as well as advertise the remote library services such as literature searches, workplace delivery of books/articles and over the phone information queries.

All are welcome and there is no need to book. Just ask at the reception for directions to the room

For further details please contact David Chamberlain, Lead Librarian Community Outreach, 01527 505773

November 2011 Newsletter

Click on the image on the left to access the November 2011 Worcestershire Health Libraries Newsletter.

In this edition you will find...

• -Important news on our new library catalogue
• -Books on Prescription
• -Library impact surveys

Workshops for student nurses on placement

Worcestershire Health Libraries are running a series of Health Information Workshops for student nurses on placement. These workshops are recommended by mentors and clinical facilitators so book now to avoid disapointment!

Content of sessions includes:

• identifying health information resources


• searching clinical databases


• evidence for your assignments and to support patient care

We will help you to improve the skills needed to write better assigments and develop Evidence-Based Practice. Dates and details of how to book your place are below.

• Tuesday 1st & Monday 7th November - Evesham Hospital Training & Development Centre


• Wednesday 2nd & 9th November - Education Centre, Kidderminster Treatment Centre


• Thursday 3rd & 10th November - Education Centre, Alexandra Hospital


• Friday 4th & 11th November - Charles Hastings Education Centre, Worcestershire Royal Hospital

All sessions take place from 1:30 - 3:00 pm. To book your place, please contact:

Rowlands Library, WRH

rowlands.enquiries@worcsacute.nhs.uk

01905-760601 (direct) or x33760 (internal)

Social Media Primer for Healthcare Professionals

Want to know about social media and how to get the most from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+? Then read this article by Edward T Murphy, originally posted on Medscape, for a good introduction to social media and beyond.

Social Media Primer for Healthcare Professionals

The Social Media Explosion
Social media sites have grown in popularity among millions of people around the world. For medical professionals, these sites present new avenues for interaction with family, friends, patients, colleagues, and organizations. This article will provide an introduction to social media and the various networking opportunities they offer. With many choices and designs, these platforms provide healthcare professionals with new ways to support their work. Additionally, advice on how to get started participating in social media will be offered, and the ethical and professional concerns that have been raised about using social media will be discussed.

What Are Social Media?  
Social media are Internet-based platforms that allow people to connect and interact. Mimicking the networks that exist in our personal lives, social media aim to streamline these networks and give people the opportunity to deepen connections and share with each other to a greater extent. 

Facebook
The most popular of all social networking sites, Facebook has roughly 150 million active users in the United States and 750 million worldwide. Nearly half of all Americans actively use Facebook to reconnect with former classmates and keep in contact with friends and family. Each user creates a personal profile, and makes "friend requests" to connect with individuals of their choosing. If a "friend request" is accepted, the user can see the friend's profile and shared information.

Users make "status updates" that consist of articles they are reading, random musings, details about what they are doing, and photographs they have recently uploaded. Other users are able to add comments to the updates to begin or continue a conversation. Private correspondences are possible, as well as live chats with whoever is on Facebook at the time. Use of Facebook is free, with advertisement support. 

YouTube
Although popular for watching adorable kittens play and young people do foolish things, YouTube is also a place for medical professionals to learn. YouTube is different from other social media sites, because it is video-based and its goal is to provide information rather than enable interaction, connection, and discussion. YouTube presents the opportunity for healthcare professionals to share information about their practices. The American Medical Association's (AMA) YouTube page hosts videos ranging from how physicians can advise older drivers to testimony given by Chairwoman Ardis Dee Hoven to the House Judiciary Committee.

Healthcare professionals can use YouTube for patient teaching. For example, the link to a video on how to measure blood glucose levels using different devices can be given to patients as a reminder after they have been taught this skill. New parents could watch a video on how to properly take the temperature of a sick newborn and mothers can learn how to breastfeed. This tool is a supplement, not a replacement, for traditional face-to-face patient education. 

Twitter
Twitter is a much faster and minimalist version of a Facebook status update. Twitter users are limited to 140 characters per update, called a "tweet." Because of its speed, Twitter has become a hub for news and information sharing. When US Special Forces stormed Osama Bin Laden's compound, a neighbor tweeted what he saw from his window as it was happening. With its near real-time nature, Twitter has become a popular way for connecting at conferences. Using a shared "hash tag," people discussing a topic can unite their conversations under a single stream.

Attendees at the Society of General Internal Medicine conference added the hash tag "#sgim2011" to the end of their tweets. Other Twitter users who searched for that hash tag during the conference could follow along from anywhere with an Internet connection. For conference attendees, it was a way to learn about things they might have missed and connect with other colleagues who were attending the conference. Having live tweeted from conferences, I have found it a good way to make initial connections with people who share some of the same ideas and it has led to further contact and opportunities to collaborate. 

LinkedIn
The professional Internet hub, LinkedIn, has transformed the business card from a small piece of paper that can be lost easily into an interactive and living resume. Its 120 million users share their professional profiles with other professional connections. Similar to Facebook, connections must be requested and accepted to be able to see a user's full profile. LinkedIn has become a place for recruiters to find potential job applicants and jobseekers to find job postings and people who might be employed by a particular organization. A person's name and a quick search can lead to a connection that will not be ruined by the dry cleaner. 

Google+

At the end of June 2011, Google introduced an invite-only social network that broke the 10 million user mark in only 2 weeks. A hybrid of Facebook and Twitter, Google+ allows its users to choose the people they want to follow. To organize people, Google+ has created "circles" that allow users to group people in customizable categories, such as colleagues, friends, conference attendees, or sports fans. Users determine which of their updates can be viewed by whom. The most promising feature on Google+ is the "Hangout," where up to 10 people can get together on a video chat.

At the present time, the Google+ Project is in limited field trial and is not inviting new members to join. However, the promise of Google+ is limited only by its youth. It is still growing and lags behind other social networks, but it does not appear that this will be the case for long. 

Social Media and Medical Ethics
With so many new opportunities to interact publically, social media present a challenge to healthcare professionals. The AMA released a set of social media guidelines^[1] that indicate that when using social media, medical professionals should:

• Maintain patient confidentiality and physician-patient ethical guidelines; 
• Utilize privacy settings for personal use;
• Constantly monitor their online presence;
• Notify colleagues when a posting is unprofessional and report it if necessary; and
• Remain aware that actions can have a negative impact and undermine one's career. 

Using social media can affect one's career both positively and negatively. By exercising prudence, healthcare professionals can benefit from social media. Facebook pages permit a healthcare provider to have a public profile for patients to follow that is completely separate from the provider's personal account. On the public Facebook page, providers can make announcements about new offerings at their practices and changes in their schedule, and patients can view this information without a "friend request." 

 

Bradley Crotty, MD, researches the use of social media by medical professionals. He says that it is important to remain aware of how social media affects one's public information. "Patients will search for you on Google," he said, "so being aware of those results is important. You will not be able to get rid of all of the personal information that you share on the Internet, but you can actively push your professional information to the top." This professional information, such as a Facebook fan page, a blog, or a standard web page, is a space that associates the name of the healthcare professional with her or his area of practice that is active and public. Keeping the space updated and professional will put it at the top of search results and leave potential patients with a positive impression of the healthcare professional. 

Looking Forward
One forward-thinking medical practice, Hello Health, is already using social media and new technology to develop an innovative practice. For a small fee each month, patients can access healthcare providers by email, in-person visit, video chats, and instant messaging. Patients can choose from these offerings, each of which has different pricing. The providers can see patients much more efficiently. By making their schedules available on the Website, patients can sign up for an appointment when it is most convenient for them.

Social media present an opportunity for professional advancement. Dr. Crotty notes, "There are times when information is shared on social media before it is formally published. I have seen grant announcements made on social media sites first. Medical professionals who follow those feeds have the advantage of applying earlier than colleagues who were not aware until later." From a public health standpoint, the potential is high. "On Twitter, one can advertise when flu vaccines are available or make announcements for new recommendations and direct patients to trustworthy information," said Dr. Crotty. It also is how I came to write this very article. A global health colleague with whom I connected on Twitter sent me an email saying that Medscape was looking to publish an article on social media. I was put in contact with the editor and this article came to exist, all thanks to a shared interest in social media and the ability of Twitter to connect us. 

Additional Resources 
Lee K-L, Ho M-J. Online social networking versus medical professionalism. Med Educ. 2011;45:523.

Hawn C. Take two aspirin and tweet me in the morning: how Twitter, Facebook, and other social media are reshaping health care. Health Aff. (Millwood) 2009;28:361-368.

Farnan J, Paro J, Higa J, Reddy S, Humphrey H, Arora V. Commentary: the relationship status of digital media and professionalism: it's complicated. Acad Med. 2009;84:1479.

Mostaghimi A, Crotty BH. Professionalism in the digital age. Ann Intern Med. 2011;154:560-562.

Young, Jennifer. How social media transformed a nonprofit medical society. Non Profit Quarterly. 2001 Aug. http://www.nonprofitquarterly.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15476:how-social-media-transformed-a-nonprofit-medical-professional-society&catid=153:features&Itemid=336 Accessed September 6, 2011.  

References 
1.     American Medical Association. Professionalism in the use of social media. http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/meeting/professionalism-social-media.shtml Accessed September 6, 2011.

Library Catalogue Not Working!

Worcestershire Health Libraries regret that our library catalogue is not working at present. For any queries regarding your book loans or stock enquiries then please contact your local health library below.

Rowlands Library

Telephone: 01905 763333 ext 33760

01905 760601 (direct)

Fax: 01905 760866 (direct) 33761 (internal)

Email: Rowlands.enquiries@worcsacute.nhs.uk

Staffed hours: Monday-Friday: 0830-17.00

Redditch Health Library

Telephone: 01527 503030 ext 45770

01527 505770 (direct)

Fax: 01527 505756 (direct) 45756 (internal)

Email: alex.library@worcsacute.nhs.uk

Staffed hours: Monday-Friday: 08.30-17.00

Kidderminster Health Library

Telephone: 01562 823424 ext 55253

01562 512344 (direct)

Fax: 01562 825733

Email: khl@worcsacute.nhs.uk

Staffed hours: Mon-Thurs: 09.30-16.30; Fri: 09.30-14.30

Evesham Health Library

Contact Rowlands Library above

   

August 2011 newsletter

Click on the image on the left to access the August 2011 Worcestershire Health Libraries newsletter.
In this edition you will find:
- Information about changes to NHS Evidence
- A report on events during Health Information Week
- How our document supply service can help you
- And more...

Health Information Week - It's a picnic!

Worcestershire Health Libraries have always supported Health Information Week as we strongly believe in its aim of bringing high quality health information to all. Last year we joined up with the Public Health team to run a very successful stall outside local supermarkets to promote the new public health web-site, the Books on Prescription scheme, and the Change 4 Life campaign.

This year, we're doing something different to appeal to a more specific group.

Combining Health Information Week with Children’s Obesity Week, health librarians have arranged for the Public Libraries’ “Comput@bus” to visit two schools in Redditch (St. Luke’s School on the 5th July and Woodrow First School on the 6th July) as well as the “Fresh” picnic celebration on Saturday 9th July at the Worcester Woods Country Park, which takes place between 11.00 a.m. and 1.00 p.m. “Fresh” is a local family weight management programme aimed at supporting families to eat and live in a more healthy way. Unlike the school events, which are restricted to pupils and their parents or guardians, the picnic is open to all families and will have activities such as a bouncy castle, penalty shoot-out and Space-Hopper races. To join in the fun, just bring along a healthy picnic.

During our Health Information Week school visits, Health Trainers have been invited by the schools to give advice to the children, whilst health librarians will be on hand at both the school visits and the Fresh picnic to demonstrate quality health information web-sites to parents and guardians on the "Comput@bus”.

For more information contact David.Chamberlain@worcsacute.nhs.uk

Document supply leads to more clinical time

Worcestershire Health Libraries: Saving you time as you improve patient care

We have recently conducted an impact study on how our document supply service is utilised.

These are the results:

· 941 Documents supplied in one quarter (Feb - Apr 2011)
131 individuals – 59 replies to survey – 45% return rate
· 98% found the information increased their clinical knowledge
· 89% said the new information would contribute to a higher quality of patient care
· 170 clinical hours saved by library staff supplying documents
(4½ weeks of clinical time)
· 100% of requests reached clinicians in time
· Information received was used for clinical queries, practice development, education and research, guidelines and journal clubs

Below are just a few of the comments we received:

“extending evidence-based treatment”
“better informed decision making”
“I will assess them (patients) rather than waiting for a doctor”
“more knowledge, better understanding”
“ensuring appropriate dose of drug use”
“information on breasting feeding has been used for guidelines”
“very simple request process and timely response”


The results show that if you need information fast, Worcestershire Health Libraries will save you time and effort by delivering documents directly to your workplace whilst you focus on delivering Evidence-Based Care.

New NHS Evidence

NHS Evidence has changed. Find out more about the exciting changes and how NHS Evidence can help you easily access evidence-based information to deliver high quality care.

Amongst the new features are

• An A-Z of topics directing you to topic pages for selcted clinical areas
• Nice Pathways A new online tool provides quick and easy access, topic by topic, to the range of guidance from NICE
• New Journals and Databases section

Visit www.evidence.nhs.uk today to explore and find out more.

WHL May 2011 Newsletter

Click on the image on the left to access the May 2011 Worcestershire Health Libraries Newsletter.

In this edition you will find...

• The latest on our Evesham Health Library move
• News on our literature search impact survey
• Electronic journals update and more...

Behind the Headlines!

Behind the Headlines provides an unbiased and evidence-based analysis of health stories that make the news. The service is intended for both the public and health professionals, and endeavours to:

• explain the facts behind the headlines and give a better understanding of the science that makes the news,
• provide an authoritative resource for GPs which they can rely on when talking to patients, and
• become a trusted resource for journalists and others involved in the dissemination of health news. 

 You can access Behind the Headlines HERE

Univadis - Information source for healthcare professionals

Univadis is a health information portal aimed at healthcare professionals and run by MSD (Merck) pharmaceutical company. It’s currently free to use for health professionals who are registered with a recognised professional organisation (General Medical Council, Nursing and Midwifery Council, Healthcare Professions Council etc.), but you will need to register for access.

The Univadis web-site www.univadis.co.uk mostly provides links to external sources of information rather than creating new content, but some of the resources are well worth using. We particularly recommend that you try the interactive 3D Anatomy and Medical Images sections.  

Univadis also provides access to educational materials such as slide-sets and broadcasts on a wide variety of clinical topics, as well as BMJ learning modules. You can plan your own learning schedule, and gain credits for accredited courses. 

As well as this, you’ll find features that will help you to keep up to date with news and research in your area of interest, including medical news alerts and discussion forums.

In addition, Univadis has a small collection of reference resources such as GP Notebook and Harrison’s Internal Medicine and is a useful adjunct to your main sources of healthcare information, NHS Evidence www.evidence.nhs.uk and Worcestershire Health Libraries’ web-site www.wkp.nhs.uk 

If you’d like any information or advice on using Univadis or other health information resources please contact Richard.Brook@worcsacute.nhs.uk 01527 505771 or ext. 45771.

Evesham Health Library Moves

Evesham Health Library is now at the heart of the new Training and Development Centre in Evesham Community Hospital. We hope this will make it more easily accessible to those attending courses in the centre, and to those working in the hospital.

The opening of the new Library co-incided with the first conference to take place in the Centre, the Provider Services Quality Conference. Those attending were enthusiastic about the new look and new location for the Library.

Like all our libraries, Evesham Health Library offers free membership to all NHS staff working in Worcestershire. If you'd like to borrow books, but aren't yet a member you'll find a registration form and all the information you need to join and get the best from our services are available from our web site at http://www.wkp.nhs.uk/

The library is staffed on Thursdays between 9.30 am and 1.30 pm, so you can drop in then to find out more about how we can help you. Staff from the Rowlands Library at WRH will be happy to help you with enquiries about using Evesham Health Library, or more general enquiries, from 8.30 am to 5.00 pm Monday to Friday (tel. 01905 760601 e-mail Rowlands.enquiries@worcsacute.nhs.uk

As well as a collection of books for members to borrow (use the loans book to check your books out if the library is not staffed), the Library area also has computers for you to use, so it's a good place to come to look for information or to study.

Don't forget that our online catalogue (also available from http://www.wkp.nhs.uk/ ) gives you access to the book collections of all our libraries. You can request books from any site and have them delivered to Evesham using your ID no. from your library card and your PIN, which is available to members on request.

Evesham Library doesn't currently subscribe to any printed journals, but you can access many electronic versions via our A-Z listing on http://www.wkp.nhs.uk/ . If you need help with this, or anything else related to finding information and evidence for your work, study or professional development, please contact the Rowlands library.

Persistent Pain Pathway Smartcard Access

The new care pathway for the Management of Persistent Pain is now available to view on the Map of Medicine using Smartcard access. For those of you using a computer on the WHICTS network, you can use the Map of Medicine link in your Internet Explorer "Favourites" list. Alternatively you can link directly to the Map at
https://neem.mom.nme.ncrs.nhs.uk/display/1/index.html

New Map of Medicine Persistent Pain Pathway

Worcestershire Health Libraries are pleased to announce that a new pathway for ‘Persistent Pain Management’ has been published.

The pathway, aimed at the GP community, has been developed by the Pain Working Group to highlight local policies and practice, to emphasise referral routes, to promote self management and to ingrain best evidence into practice. This will result in better pain management in Primary Care.

The pathway can be accessed via the Map of Medicine. The Map of Medicine is a website that integrates local information (guidelines, contact details, websites, patient information) and policy with national guidelines in a visual flowchart. It is easy to map the entire patient journey from presentation to conclusion and all the appropriate steps in-between.  

The Map of Medicine can be accessed with your Smartcard or via an Athens username and password. A Desktop Icon is also available for quick access. See our presentations on the Worcestershire Health Libraries Website for more details on the Map of Medicine. The presentations are down the left hand side. If you require further information on the Map of Medicine or would like to discuss ideas for new pathways please contact

Nick Smith Nicholas.smith@worcsacute.nhs.uk
Or

Richard Brook Richard.brook@worcsacute.nhs.uk

New Athens resources for social care staff with "gov.uk" email addresses

The SCIE Athens social care service has been developed to provide social care and social work staff with access to a range of evidence-based resources to support their practice and professional development and match the services offered to health care staff by NHS Athens.

A successful pilot project was run by SCIE from 2008-10. Following the conclusion of the pilot, SCIE decided to extend its service to all local authority social care staff across England and manage access centrally through a system based on recognition of a valid local authority "gov.uk" email account.

There is access to 14 e-journal titles specially selected for their relevance to social care workers, and an e-book loans service, as well as the national NHS collection of databases, e-journals and e-books. To register for your SCIE Athens account, and for more information about this, please go to www.scie-socialcareonline.org.uk/help/athens.asp

Please note that you are welcome to retain your NHS Athens account as well if you already have one, however this is only likely to be useful to you if you require access to locally-purchased NHS e-resources.

Electronic access to selected core journals

Electronic access now available to selected core journals

From January 2011 Worcestershire Health Libraries have secured electronic access to 33 journal titles previously held in print in our libraries or only available through inter-library loan from a partner library.

Moving to electronic access gives immediate access to the latest research from these highly-respected journals saving staff valuable time and facilitating quality, evidence-based care.

Core journals such as the New England of Medicine and Nursing Times are included as well as specialty titles such as Circulation, Critical Care Medicine and the American Journal of Occupational Therapy. In all cases the journals include the most current content and archive collections of past issues. The complete list can be viewed here.

A Worcestershire-based Athens account is required but this ensures access from any PC at work, home or from a mobile device. Sign up for an Athens account here.

Accessing the journals
To access any of these new electronic journals (and to see what other journal subscriptions are available to you as a member of NHS staff in Worcestershire) go to our A-Z Journal Listing:

· Search for the journal title. You will see different access links underlined in blue for your particular journal

· Select the Journals@Ovid (Athens Authentication) link

· Login with your Athens account if prompted

· You will be taken directly to the journal content within the Ovid database.

Please be aware that it is only possible to provide access to these journals by subscribing to a very cost-effective model. This allows only one concurrent user per journal at any one time. If another member of staff is already logged in to your journal you will receive the message: “Cannot get full text: The limit for concurrent users of [journal name] has been reached. Please try again later”. We will be monitoring usage of the journals in the first few months to ensure this situation doesn’t happen too often.

We always welcome feedback on the library services we provide. Please contact lucy.vaux-harvey@worcsacute.nhs.uk if you have any queries or comments on the above.

Finding, using and managing information

The drive for evidence-based practice within health care, and the recent trend towards eHealth, is dependent on staff being able to handle information effectively, by maintaining standards in their own practice, and by supporting the informed patient.

In Principles of Nursing Practice, published last year, the RCN highlighted that: ‘Nurses and nursing staff [must] have up to date knowledge and skills, and use these with intelligence, insight and understanding in line with the needs of each individual in their care.’

The RCN’s Integrated core career and competence framework for registered nurses framework brings together dimensions of the Knowledge and Skills Framework (KSF) which are the most relevant to nursing and midwifery. The RCN have recently published 'Finding, using and managing information' which aims to support and develop health service workers  information skills. To access the guideline click on the image to the left.

Worcestershire Health Libraries specialise in the finding, managing and using of information to support practice so get in touch with your nearest Health Library today to see how we can help you reach the below headline competencies.

The headline information literacy competences are:
1. identifying why information is needed
2. identifying what information is needed
3. carrying out a search to find information
4. evaluating how the information meets the identified need
5. using information and knowledge inclusively, legally and ethically
6. managing information
7. creating new information or knowledge.

How does WHL support patient care?

Over the next three months we will be conducting an impact study to answer this question. We have already seen that our literature searches have increased clinical knowledge and saved clinical time. Now we would like to see how you use the articles you request from us.

If you request an article between February and May please take the time to reply to the survey.

The results will be published on this blog later in May.

British Library requests

The British Library is currently unable to access many of its journals because of the discovery of asbestos in some of the buildings. This could mean that we might not be able to fulfil some of your article requests.

Unfortunately we don't know how long this situation is likely to continue, but will keep you updated. In the meantime, please accept our apologies. We will, of course, continue to try to obtain as many articles as possible from our other suppliers.

Things to do in 2011

Why don't you make sure you stay up-to-date with all the latest evidence-based information in the New Year. Here are some tips to get you started.

1. Visit Worcestershire Health Libraries website to find out about all the services we offer
2. Make sure you have an Athens username and password, you will need this to access literature search databases, E-journals and E-books.
3. Book a training session with one of our librarians to brush up on your information skills
4. Have a look at the wealth of information provided by NHS Evidence Health Information Resources
5. Request a literature search to update you on a particular subject area with results delivered straight to your inbox
6. Subscribe to RSS feeds for your favourite journal (Athens required)
7. Pop into your local health library to see what we can do for you!

Happy New Year from Worcestershire Health Libraries.