Health Literacy
Consumer healthcare resources vary greatly in quality. It is vital that as a nurse you direct patients to trustworthy sources of accurate information that is written in terms non-experts will understand. Additional issues to consider include the availability of resources in multiple languages and whether or not patients have internet access. An excellent source of healthcare information for patient use is MedlinePlus. It is helpful to familiarize yourself with using a database like this so that you can direct patients to appropriate resources.
Patient Safety Resources
Listed below are institutions dedicated to improving patient safety by establishing guidelines, providing professional development, and producing a variety of additional resources for professionals.
Institute for Healthcare Improvement/National Patient Safety Foundation
QSEN Institute (Quality and Safety Education for Nurses)
Clinical Decision Support (CDS)
The broad and rapidly developing field of health information technology (HIT) includes many specific tools that help clinicians deliver the best possible care. Clinical decision support (CDS) systems, or decision-making software, are electronic tools that recommend medical and nursing interventions, aid in diagnoses, and send alerts based on a patient's electronic health record [EHR].