In the fall of 2021, the Patient Education Team invited Nova Scotia Health staff and physicians to participate in a short online survey (13 questions), as part of a service quality improvement initiative. With the approval of the Central Zone Quality Improvement and Safety Council, the survey was released on November 1st and ran until we received submissions from a minimum number of participants in each zone (20).
Survey participation highlights by zone
| Zone | Central | Eastern | Northern | Western | Provincial | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participants | 20 | 88 | 21 | 50 | 4 | 183 |
Key survey results:
*Please note, participants could select more than one response, therefore percentages may not add up to 100.
- Question: In your unit, clinic, or service area, who is responsible for patient teaching?
RESULT The majority of respondents (46%) identified the floor nurse as the role responsible for patient teaching in their unit, clinic, or service area. This was followed by other clinical specialists (such as mental health clinician, lab technician, occupational therapist, or respiratory therapist) (25%), physician (20%), and charge nurse (18%).
- Question: In your unit, clinic, or service area, what type of patient education materials do you use to assist with patient teaching?
RESULT The majority of respondents (75%) stated that they use Nova Scotia Health patient pamphlets to assist with patient teaching in their unit, clinic, or service area. Many staff and physicians also reported that they use additional resources not in the Nova Scotia Health pamphlet collection. These materials include resources created by their team (44%), as well as those created by other health care professionals (43%).
- Question: In your unit, clinic, or service area, how do you share patient education materials with your clients?
RESULT The majority of respondents (89%) reported that they share a printed physical copy with the client. Sharing online links (presumably sent via email) was reported by 27% of respondents, while 22% of respondents reported showing the client a physical poster.
What have we learned so far?
- Survey participants identified many health care roles involved in patient education. Library Services invites all staff to attend a training opportunity on patient education. This online class provides tips on how to access and share resources with patients and families.
- All teaching materials, including posters, can be reviewed for plain language and readability by the Patient Education Team, whether or not the materials are in the Nova Scotia Health pamphlet collection. Readability reviews serve to accommodate the various health literacy levels of our patients and family members.
- Plain language education materials encourage self-care and patient safety at home. These materials support patients who have low health literacy levels, reducing unnecessary Emergency Department visits and avoidable hospital admissions (Imoisili, Levinsohn, Pan, Howell, Streiter & Rosenbaum, 2017).
- Remember to only share links to pamphlets, and not digital copies of potentially outdated pamphlets. This will ensure that patients have continuous access to the most up-to-date version of the material.
- Nova Scotia Health's pamphlet collection contains many patient pamphlets in French, Arabic, and Simplified Chinese. We encourage staff to contact the Patient Education Team with their suggestions for pamphlets needing translation.
Stay tuned for the full survey results report, which Library Services will share in the near future!
Kallen Rutledge
Librarian Educator, Patient Education Pamphlets Lead
Nova Scotia Hospital, Central Zone
The research process is made up of several steps, all of which are important to effectively answer a question. Whether you are carrying out a literature search or a systematic review, the research process can seem overwhelming, even confusing. You may feel confident about your search, but then wonder how to properly evaluate what you have found. This post will help you decide on important factors for screening result sets for inclusion or exclusion.
Screening your search results is the process of weeding out any inadequate articles that you obtain after running your searches (Dalhousie Libraries, 2021). Screening is an evaluation tool that can be applied not only to literature searches and formal reviews, but also when quickly looking for best evidence on a topic. Screening can help evaluate “in the moment” search results, such as those required for patient care.
The screening process can be performed by one reviewer or a team of reviewers, depending on the information need or type of study being conducted. For example, “in the moment” research results may only have one reviewer, while a scoping or systematic review may have a team of reviewers. It is important that all reviewers on a team adhere to the same screening criteria.
When screening your results, whether for a formal research project or to gather evidence "in the moment" to inform patient care, keep these tips in mind:
If you are the only person screening search results to inform a patient care decision, it is useful to know the type of study that will provide evidence-based results to support a therapeutic choice, such as an adult woman deciding what blood thinners will best manage her atrial fibrillation.
Tools that will guide your screening work
The PRISMA Flow Diagram (Moher et al., 2009) is a great tool to help more formal research projects record and summarize the screening process. There are also several other tools to help you manage evidence synthesis and aid in the screening process. The University of Toronto Libraries provide excellent step-by-step instruction on screening search results for those researchers looking to dive deeper into the process.
Screening your results is a vital step in the research process—whether you are gathering evidence for a formal publication or using it to inform a local project or patient care. Our tips and tools will make it easier for you to put the knowledge you find into action.
Reach out to us at AskLibrary@nshealth.ca with any questions you have about screening search results, or the research process in general. You can also book a one-on-one consultation with a Library Services team member. We are always here to help!
References
1. Dalhousie Libraries. (2021). Knowledge Syntheses: A How-To Guide. https://dal.ca.libguides.com/systematicreviews/selectionscreening
2. Fisher, S. (2021). 17 research quotes to inspire and amuse you. Qualtrics. https://www.qualtrics.com/blog/research-quotes/
3. Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., Altman, D. G., & The PRISMA Group. (2009). Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: The PRISMA statement. PLoS Med. 6(6): e1000097. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed1000097
Amanda Andrews
Librarian Educator, Education & Training Lead
Cape Breton Regional Hospital, Eastern Zone