Module 6

What did you like or dislike about taking an online course?

Online courses are convenient and I enjoyed being able to do the course work at my own pace. The problem I have with online course work is that I'm more of an auditory learner and I have an easier time remembering things if I've heard them rather then read them. The use of activities in this course have help to mediate this perference.

What topic did you learn the most about and what was your favority topic?

I learned the most from Module 2, Information Retreival and also enojoyed this the most. This module enhanced my ability perform literature search with data basis. As a graduate student and in clinical practice the ability to locate appropitate and informative information is vital and an every day occurance. The skills I learned from Module 2 helped me to do this faster and more efficiently.

If you were the instructor, and this being the first course for all DNP and Master student, what would you fo the same or different?

I'm not sure what I would do differently. My least favorite assignment was the paper evaluating the computer clinical decision support system. I'm not sure that a paper is the best means of learning about CDSS; there wasn't a lot of literature on the CDSS that choice to evaluate and that was frusterating. I do think that CDSS are an important tool, especially in EBP, so I do think that it valuable to learn about them. Maybe a matrix comparing different CDSSs would be a better reenforcement activity.

Module 2 (Comparing Search Methods)

You used an electronic index, a guideline index, and a web search engine to retrieve information relevant to your clinical problem.  Compare and contrast your results. Which resources were useful/ not useful for your information retrieval task, and why? Identify some alternative strategies for retrieving relevant information - would context relevant information retrieval be useful?

Of the three search methods, I felt that the electronic index was the most helpful, then the web search engine, and finally the guideline index. The electronic index provided methods of refining my search that were invaluable and the search results were the most reliable. The web engine provided copious amounts of results, but not all were reliable or even relevant. There was not the capability, with the web engine, to refine my search as there was with the electronic index. I did not find the guideline index helpful in answering my clinical problem, because the index did not contain any guidelines related to my clinical problem. I could see that the site would be beneficial it there were guidelines related to a clinical problem of interest. The ability to compare related guidelines in a matrix format could be extremely helpful in evaluating guidelines.

      Other strategies for finding relevant information would be other electronic indexes, like CHINAL, the Institute for Scientific Information Web of Knowledge and the Cochrane database. These electronic indexes would act as another means of answering clinical questions or solving clinical problems. The use of electronic indexes in a means of utilizing evidence to promote best practices. Professional associates and disease-based organizations my also have website that would provide relevant information. 

Module 2 (Using an Electronic Index)

Describe your clinical problem and choice of electronic index. How did the index facilitate (or impede) your ability to construct an efficient search? How time consuming was your search? Would there be barriers to using the index in daily practice?

The clinical problem I choose to search was related to caring for patients with cystic fibrosis during pulmonary exacerbations.  I wanted to know if hospitalization of patient with cystic fibrosis during pulmonary exacerbations for intravenous antibiotics improved patient outcomes compared to home care. I utilized the PubMed as an electronic index to search for articles related to this topic. I felt that PubMed was easy to use and allowed me to refine my search in ways that saved time. The use of both Boolean operators and limits to the search allowed for more efficient use of time. I think that with more practice the time it would take me to conduct a search would decrease. I think the biggest barrier to using electronic indexes in daily practice is the time it takes to learn to use an index effectively. I now feel comfortable using PubMed as an electronic index, but I don't feel the same level of comfort with other indexes. The Eccles Library website was helpful in becoming more comfortable with PubMed and I could use this as a resource in learning more about other electronic indexes.