Mobile Resources for Keeping Up with Pap Guidelines

I know many of you were fans of the free Pap Guide app, created by Joshua Steinberg, M.D. Unfortunately, it is no longer available.






Here are a few alternatives for viewing pap guidelines on your mobile device:

• use the Lexicomp app (if you are a clinical student)
• go to 5-Minute Clinical Consult -> Algorithms -> Search for "pap" 
• add the entry to your favorites for quicker retrieval
• download a PDF copy of the ASCCP Algorithms and save to a mobile app (such as Dropbox, Google Drive, Evernote, etc.)
• purchase the ASCCP Mobile App for $9.99

If you need further instructions on any of these options, keep reading...

Update on Research on Mobile Resources Use

Wow, it's been awhile since our last post. If you didn't read our post about Research on Mobile Resource Use, now's a great time to catch up! The forthcoming article that was mentioned at the end of that post is now available: Mobile Resource Use in a Distance Learning Population: What Are They Really Doing on Those Devices. Read, enjoy, and let us know what you think! While you're thinking about mobile resources, be sure to check out our Mobile Resources Guide. It was created in part due to the results of this research.

[Note: many of the links on older posts are now broken due to a change in our proxy server last year. As always, contact us if you need help finding something.]

Research on Mobile Resources Use

Recently, Zach and I presented at the 16th Distance Library Services Conference in Denver, CO on FNU's mobile project. We examined data from questions on the End of Terms Surveys regarding use of mobile devices for completing school work and referencing clinical information.  We also took a very close look at responses to the survey item asking students to "list up to five apps that assist you with your education at FNU."

Before I go any further, let me take a moment to say "Thank You!" to the students who take the time to respond to these surveys. The information we gather allows us to make evidence based decisions about the services we provide. Sharing the information with colleagues (by presenting at conferences, for example) allows them to help other students across the country. We really do want to know what you think - so when you see a notice about a survey, please consider completing it!

Reviewing the apps that students listed as being helpful for school work was very interesting. We asked students to share this information so that we could be aware of as many apps as possible and share them with other students.

Here are the apps that were mentioned at least 20 times:

• Epocrates
• Lexicomp
• DynaMed
• Email
• AHRQ ePSS
• Medscape
• Blackboard Mobile
• Dropbox
• iGeriatrics
• Sanford Guide
• Skyscape
• Flashcards (ex: gflash, gflash pro, gflash+, flip cards, quizlet, flashcard machine, studyblue, flashcard+)
• Internet browser
• Micromedex
• Pregnancy wheel (ex: perfect wheel, prenatal wheel, the wheel pro, OB wheel, pregnancy calculator, birth wheel)
• Essential Evidence Plus
• Podcasts
• Evernote
• Facebook
• MPR
• Google
• BMI tools (ex: bmi calculator, bmi tool, calculate bmi)
• Lactmed
• Blackboard Collaborate
• Calendar
• Kindle
• Skype

Here are a few other clinical apps that were mentioned:

• STD Meister
• Pap guide
• EFM guide
• DxSaurus
• Qx Calculate
• ATP III
• Shots STFM
• iTriage
• BiliCalc
• GBS guide

(note these are how they were reported on the survey; actual names may vary slightly)

Slides from our presentation are below, and the full paper will be published in a forthcoming issue of  Journal of Library & Information Services in Distance Learning. What apps are you using? We'd love to hear about them!

New Journals for 2014!

Welcome to 2014! I hope the Winter Term is starting out well for everyone. Beginning this month, the following titles have been added to our journal collection:

• Journal of Advanced Nursing
• Journal of Clinical Nursing
• Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics
• Journal of maternal-fetal & neonatal medicine
• Journal of Women's Health
• Health Affairs
• Current Opinion in Obstetrics & Gynecology
• Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

All of these journals can be found in our Electronic Journals list on the Find Articles page of the library web site. Let us know if you have trouble accessing any of these titles.  

If there are other journals you'd like to see added, please let us know!

National Medical Librarians Month 2013

Stop me if you've heard this one before...

There was once a man from the city who was visiting a small farm, and during this visit he saw a farmer feeding pigs in a most extraordinary manner. The farmer would lift a pig up to a nearby apple tree, and the pig would eat the apples off the tree directly. The farmer would move the pig from one apple to another until the pig was satisfied, then he would start again with another pig.

The city man watched this activity for some time with great astonishment. Finally, he could not resist saying to the farmer, "This is the most inefficient method of feeding pigs that I can imagine. Just think of the time that would be saved if you simply shook the apples off the tree and let the pigs eat them from the ground!"

The farmer looked puzzled and replied, "What's time to a pig?"

(There are several versions of this old joke floating around, but this one came from http://www.ahajokes.com/ani017.html)

The theme of this year's National Medical Librarians Month (NMLM) is "Saving You Time So You Can Save Lives." Unlike the pig in the above story, time IS important to most of us. Here at FNU, we know that our students are busy with many things - school, families, jobs, not to mention any other interests or time for yourself. So if we can help you save time when looking for a journal article or other information, we are happy to do so. We hope the tools and resources that we provide are efficient and easy to use for the same reason.

@sk Your Medical Librarian
(859) 899-2953
librarian@frontier.edu

When I began writing about this year's NMLM, I looked back to see what I had written last October. Though last year's theme was "Your Best Return on Investment," I still talked mostly about saving time. Time is money (how most people think of investment), right? I think this year's theme takes the idea of time efficiency another step though. It reminds us that in health care, it's not about the time, or even the money. It's about lives. Saving them and making them better. As librarians, we are somewhat removed from that aspect - we don't see patients or often even hear about clinical encounters. Yet we know that when we teach students how to quickly look up drug information on their mobile device, or how to find a current and evidence-based journal article, that we are ultimately helping them save time, so that they can save lives. We are proud to have even a small part in such an important process.

Help us celebrate National Medical Librarians Month by utilizing us to do what we do best - Saving You Time So You Can Save Lives.

Looking for the Pearson Report?

Unfortunately, we learned earlier this year that the Pearson Report has ceased publication. It has been removed from the WebNPonline site so we don't have historical access either. The best alternative for the state by state advanced practice nursing information that the Pearson Report provided is the National Council of State Boards of Nursing site - www.ncsbn.org. Here the information is not compiled as concisely as in the Pearson Report, so you may have to search a little more. The following links will help you get started:

• APRN Maps - this collection of maps shows the status of each state in various categories such as title, role, certification and education. Use the links on the left to change categories.
• Workforce Data - find information on the future of nursing, job growth, and occupational outlook.
• Licensure Statistics - for RNs and PNs
• Find your Board of Nursing - contact information is available 

Feel free to contact the library if you still have problems finding specific information.

New Year, New Journals

Happy New Year! Okay, we're over a month into 2013 already, but I hope you'll accept my wishes just the same. With the dawning of the new year I wanted to share with you some journals that are new to our library collection.

Last summer we purchased a journal package that includes over 40 titles related to nursing and public health, including:

• American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine
• American Journal of Men's Health
• Clinical Nursing Research
• Health Promotion & Practice
• Journal of Child Health Care
• Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine
• Journal of Family Nursing
• Journal of Research in Nursing
• Journal of Transcultural Nursing
• Nursing Science Quarterly
• Perspectives in Public Health
• Qualitative Health Research
• Western Journal of Nursing Research

In January, we added these two titles to our collection: 

• American Journal of Health Promotion 
• American Journal of Perinatology

All of these journals can be found in our Electronic Journals list on the Find Articles page of the library website. Let us know if you have trouble accessing any of these titles.  

If there are other journals you'd like to see added, please let us know!

Also for the new year we've added a few things to this blog. On the right hand side you'll find a search box and list of labels that have been used to tag posts. Hopefully these features will make it easier for you to find older posts.