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Dynamic Health June Round-up: Emergency Department Custom Skills + Superuser Training Event + Migraine Awareness Month + Cataract Awareness Month + PTSD Awareness Day
05/30/2023
Library Staff
Nursing, Physicians, Recreation Therapy, Clinical Practice & Policy , Point-of-Care Tools, Paramedicine, Occupational Therapy, Dynamic Health

In last month’s Round-up post we explained the difference between Workplace Notes and Custom Skills. Our first project to create Custom Skills focuses on topics relevant to Nova Scotia Health emergency departments.

We collaborated with a group of Clinical Nurse Educators who support emergency care areas throughout the province to create seven new custom skills. This collaboration involved:

  1. Revising existing Skill content to reflect practice across Nova Scotia Health,
  2. Peer review of each skill draft, and
  3. Final revisions and layout in Dynamic Health.

Finding Custom Skills

You’ll find all our Custom Skills in Dynamic Health by selecting Skills (1) > Your Workplace (2) from the main menu.

Custom Skills will also be identified in your results when you search Dynamic Health. For example, a search for “Rapid Sequence Intubation” (1), returns a list of relevant results. The Emergency Department Custom Skill is labelled with the Topic Section “Your Workplace Skill”(2).

Check our first series of Emergency Department Custom Skills here:

Superuser Training: June 21

We’re adding one more Superuser Training event before summer! This session will provide more information on how to get started using Dynamic Health in your clinical areas, highlighting key features and functionality such as access, navigation, troubleshooting and feedback.

We’ll also explain the difference between Workplace Notes and customized Workplace Skills.

This session will be delivered over Microsoft Teams on June 21 at 10 a.m. Register here.

Health Promotion in June and Dynamic Health Topics

June 2023 marks promotion of:

In recognition of these health promotion events, we encourage you to engage with the curated list of Dynamic Health content below.

If you spot any content under Skills below that you feel needs a Workplace Note, consider being a reviewer! Fill out our Suggestions for Skills form with your notes and we’ll get in touch!

Migraine Awareness Month

Cataract Awareness Month

PTSD Awareness Day

Dynamic Health Project Team

Amanda Revels
Professional Practice Leader
Interprofessional Practice & Learning, Western Zone

Leah MacDonald
Professional Practice Leader
Interprofessional Practice & Learning, COVID-19 Response

Katie McLean
Librarian Educator
Interprofessional Practice & Learning, Library Services

Margaret Meier
Policy Lead
Policy Office

Ann Slaunwhite
Library Technician
Interprofessional Practice & Learning, Library Services

Library Services: Update on mandate, spaces and 2022-23 milestones
05/30/2023
Library Staff
No Subjects

In support of our organization-wide mandate, we continue to expand our digital service model, being conscious of our geographical reach in supporting research, education and learning needs of health care providers. In this time of health transformation and to better support our mandate, the changes outlined below have been implemented or are in progress.

Library Spaces

  • April 1, 2023: Partnered with Virtual Care Nova Scotia and the Yarmouth community at the Watson Caie Amirault Learning Centre
  • Starting July 1, 2023: Library Services is decommissioning the following three library sites to support Interprofessional Practice & Learning training needs as part of their health transformation strategy:
    • Cape Breton Regional Hospital
    • Aberdeen Hospital
    • QEII - Dickson Building
  • September 2023: Refreshing of the Yarmouth Watson Caie Amirault Learning Centre is scheduled to be finalized

Please note that all Library Services team members remain fully available to assist you either remotely or in-person at the remaining library sites.

Library Operations: 2022-2023 Milestones

The Library Services Team looks forward to continuing to serve the needs of Nova Scotia Health staff throughout the province. We will continue to update you on our services, spaces, and successes. If you have any questions or concerns about this update, please send an email to AskLibrary@nshealth.ca.

Library Staff

Nova Scotia Health Library Services

Easy ways to stay current with new research publications
05/15/2023
profile-icon Vinson Li
No Subjects

UPDATED: May 15, 2023. Original Post: May 3, 2018

Do you regularly check for new articles on a specific topic, or review the table of contents in select journals to see what’s new? There are two easy, time-saving ways to do both.

Search Alerts in PubMed®

If you’re interested in a topic, but don’t have time to search for it regularly, you can run a search in PubMed® and then create an alert for it. The alert will send email notifications about new items relevant to your search, so you only have to do the work once.

To create a search alert:

  1. Start at Library Services' Databases A-Z page. Select "P", then select PubMed.
  2. Select the “Log in” button on the top right. If you don’t have a PubMed® account, you can choose one of the other login options. We recommend the ‘Google Account’ option, as it’s easy to set up.
  3. Once you’re logged in, create a search for your topic. For example, if you would like information about heart attacks, enter your search terms and click search. Your search string displays as follows (A):

    ("heart attack"[Title/Abstract] OR "heart attacks"[Title/Abstract] OR "myocardial infarction"[Title/Abstract] OR "myocardial infarctions"[Title/Abstract] OR "cardiovascular stroke"[Title/Abstract]) OR ("Myocardial Infarction"[Mesh])

    If you would like a refresher on creating a search, you can:
  4. Click on 'Create alert' (B) under the 'Search' box at the top. You can specify:
    • The name of your search (C)
    • An email address where alerts should be sent (D)
    • How often email alerts should be sent (E)
    • The maximum number of items you would like included in the alert (F)
    Once you are happy with your selections, select 'Save' (G).

You can also create a search for a specific journal on PubMed®:

  1. From the PubMed® homepage, select ‘Advanced’ (A) under the search box.
  2. Under ‘Add terms to the query box’, select ‘All Fields’, then select ‘Journal’ (B) from the drop-down menu.
  3. In the search box on the right, enter the name of the journal. As you type, suggested titles will pop up below. Select the one you want and click ‘ADD’ to the right. You will see the name of the journal in the “Query box” (C). Select ‘Search’ (D). NOTE The ‘ADD’ button will change into an ‘AND’ button (E).

    If you would like to create one alert for multiple journals, enter the name of the next journal you want, then select the “v” next to the ‘AND’ button (E) and select ‘Add with OR’. Repeat until you have added all the journals you want in your search. When you’re ready, select ‘Search’ (D).
    To create a search alert for a topic, repeat Step 4 from the section above.

Table of Contents Alerts from JournalTOCs

To stay up to date with current papers from your favourite scholarly journal or subject area, you can register for email alerts with JournalTOCs.

  1. Go to JournalTOCs. Select ‘Sign In’ on the top right (A) to log in to your account, or to register for an account if you do not have one.
  2. Once you’ve signed in, you can search for journals by title or ISSN (B). For example, we searched for ‘The Lancet’.
  3. In the search results (C), you may see multiple journals. To follow a journal, select the checkbox next to its title (D).
  4. To turn on your email alerts, select the checkbox next to ‘Email Alerts is Off’ below the journal titles (D).
  5. To change the frequency of your update emails, select your account name in the top-right corner, then select ‘Account Settings’. You can choose the frequency under ‘Email Alerts’.
  6. Select ‘Save’ to confirm your changes.

For more in-depth assistance:

If you have any questions about this information, please reach out to Library Services at AskLibrary@nshealth.ca or book a consultation with a library team member. We will be happy to help you set up alerts specific to your needs.

Vinson Li

Librarian Educator, Patient Education Pamphlets Lead
Yarmouth Regional Hospital, Western Zone

Patient Education Pamphlets updated or created in April 2023
05/08/2023
profile-icon Kendell Fitzgerald
Patient Education, Patient Pamphlets

Writing in plain language matters. In Canada, it’s reported that nine million people have limited literacy skills, with over half of Canadians reading below a high school level. This is just one of the reasons why it is important to offer additional support to patients and families with easy-to-read, straightforward patient pamphlets. For more information about creating or updating patient pamphlets, please visit the Content Creator Toolkit. Please contact Pamphlets@nshealth.ca with any questions. You can search for pamphlets by title, keyword, or four-digit pamphlet number in the pamphlets catalogue, or view the complete listing of active titles in our Print Code Index.

The following pamphlets were updated or created in April 2023. 

Emergency & Public Health 
WA85-1967 Managing Low Back Pain (En français: FF85-2189)

French Translations (en français)
FF85-1682 Frais médicaux pour les visiteurs de l’extérieur du pays: Vallée de l'Annapolis, Rive-Sud, Sud-Ouest (English: WX85-1681)
FF85-1684 Frais médicaux pour les visiteurs de l’extérieur du pays: Cap-Breton, Guysborough, Antigonish (English: WX85-1683)
FF85-1686 Frais médicaux pour les visiteurs de l’extérieur du pays: Colchester-East Hants, Cumberland, Pictou (English: WX85-1685)
FF85-1688 Frais médicaux pour les visiteurs de l’extérieur du pays: Région d'Halifax et West Hants (English: WX85-1687)

Gynecology & Reproductive Health
WP85-2330 NEW Getting Enough Iron During Pregnancy

WP85-2334 NEW Pain Relief Options When Having Your Baby - Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre

Hospitals
WX85-1681 Hospital Fees for Out-of-country Visitors: Annapolis Valley, South Shore, South West (En français: FF85-1682)
WX85-1683 Hospital Fees for Out-of-country Visitors: Cape Breton, Guysborough, Antigonish (En français: FF85-1684)
WX85-1685 Hospital Fees for Out-of-country Visitors: Colchester-East Hants, Cumberland, Pictou (En français: FF85-1686)
WX85-1687 Hospital Fees for Out-of-country Visitors: Halifax Area and West Hants (En français: FF85-1688)

Laboratory Pathology
QY85-1632 Urine Cathecholamines Collection
QY85-1673 Stool Collection for Culture and Sensitivity - Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Halifax Area
QY85-1675 Stool Collection for Ova and Parasites - Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Halifax Area
QY85-1676 Stool Collection for Occult Blood - Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Halifax Area

Mental Health & Addictions
WM85-2331 NEW Dynamic (attachment-focused) Relational Therapy (DaRT) Program - In-person Program Guide

Nephrology
WQ85-1805 Taking Your Medications When You Are Sick After a Kidney Transplant
WQ85-2333 NEW Living Kidney Donation

Nursing Units
WZ85-2329 NEW Unit 5A - Victoria General site

Nutrition & Food
LC85-2049 My Home Parenteral Nutrition Emergency Plan

Physiotherapy & Rehabilitation
WB85-2332 NEW Things to Think About When Going Back to Work

WB85-2335 NEW Things to Think About Before Registering for School (University, Community College, or Private College)

Kendell Fitzgerald

Librarian Educator
Central Zone

CMA membership clinical tools discontinued: Making the switch to Nova Scotia Health’s subscriptions and services
05/04/2023
Library Staff
Physicians, Primary Health Care, Point-of-Care Tools

UPDATED: December 2023. Original Post: May 2023

Now for the good news! Physicians affiliated with Nova Scotia Health, can continue to access the same clinical tools through the provincial Library Services' website, using their Nova Scotia Health username and network password.

When do the CMA tools expire?

Refer to the table below for specific expiry dates per clinical tool. Bookmark the links in the right-hand column of the table so that you can connect with support services and clinical tools available through Nova Scotia Health’s Library Services team.

CMA Clinical
Tool

 CMA Access Ends Available at
Nova Scotia Health?		 Nova Scotia Health's Access points
Ask A Librarian Service Apr 28, 2023 Yes

For Nova Scotia Health staff and physicians:

InfoPratique

 Apr 28, 2023

No

 NOTE Continue to access articles on the Université de Laval Library website: Infopratique Bibliothèque ULaval

CPS

 Jun 28, 2023 Yes Databases A-Z: CPS (formerly RxTx)

DynaMed

 Jun 28, 2023

No

Try Point-of-Care Tools used at Nova Scotia Health such as:

  • BMJ Best Practice
  • Isabel
  • Merative Micromedex®

ClinicalKey

 Dec 4, 2023

Yes

Databases A-Z: ClinicalKey

CPG Infobase

 Dec 4, 2023

No

CPG Infobase is discontinued as of Dec 4, 2023

Essential
Evidence Plus

 Dec 4, 2023

Yes

Databases A-Z: Essential Evidence Plus

POEMs

 Dec 4, 2023

Yes

Access through Essential Evidence Plus, along with AHFS DI® ESSENTIALS™

Still have questions about what all of this means for CMA members?

Read on as we answer basic questions that you may have about accessing clinical tools through Nova Scotia Health’s Library Services:

Q: Is everything available remotely?

A: Just about!

  • Access online resources through the library website using your Nova Scotia Health username and password. Refer to our handy Access from Anywhere tip sheet for guidance.
  • Search for resources (articles, journals, books) using our Discover Search.
  • Find an item in your Discover search results that you need? Use our Document Delivery form to send us your request.

Q: Can I access everything with one login?

A: Yes! Log in with your Nova Scotia Health username and password. From there, you may need to create a free personal account to access some resources (such as ClinicalKey).

Q: What if I need help? Who can I contact? Do you offer in-person help and/or help by phone or virtually?

A: The Library Services team is here to help you!

  • Contact us at AskLibrary@nshealth.ca with questions about the library’s services and resources. Library staff are available Monday to Friday from 8:30am – 4:30pm.
  • Book a consultation with a library team member. We can assist with project development, literature searching, citation support, subject guide production, publishing, patient education and more.
  • Contact library team members by phone or email.
  • Find a library site near you.
  • Subscribe to our blog to learn about research skills and key library resources.

We look forward to connecting with you to support your research and clinical support needs.

Library Staff

Nova Scotia Health Library Services

Dynamic Health May Round-up: Updates from Feedback + Custom Skills + Celiac Disease Awareness Month + Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month + Melanoma and Skin Cancer Awareness Month
05/01/2023
Library Staff
Nursing, Physicians, Recreation Therapy, Clinical Practice & Policy , Point-of-Care Tools, Paramedicine, Occupational Therapy, Dynamic Health

We've heard from several health care professionals since launch about the interesting ways they are working with Dynamic Health Skills in their area of care. For example, one Clinical Nurse Educator reported using entries about the Mini Mental Health Exam to provide frontline nurses with a refresher.

We’ve also had useful feedback submitted through the Suggestions for Skills form. As a result of this feedback, we’re happy to highlight updated workplace notes on three skills:

We've also added new workplace notes to seven additional skills, based on user feedback received through our first round of reviews:

NOTE Updated content for workplace notes will be shared periodically through these blog posts for your awareness.

Custom Skills: An Introduction

In addition to adding Workplace Notes at the top of skills, Dynamic Health also has the functionality to create standalone custom skills.

The initial goal of our skill review process is to create a Workplace Note that highlights relevant policies, additional support resources (subject guide, patient education, etc.) and any local variations (if needed). If the reviewer reports excessive variations in practice, resulting in a lengthy Workplace Note, the skill is flagged and considered for a Custom Skill. Using the existing skill as a template, the Dynamic Health team collaborates with health care professionals in the relevant area to create a new skill that aligns with the Nova Scotia Health policy and procedure. The new Custom Skill has the same layout and elements as an original Dynamic Health Skill.

Our first project to create Custom Skills is under way, focusing on topics relevant to our emergency departments. Collaborating with a group of Clinical Nurse Educators who support emergency care areas throughout the province, we have drafted seven new Custom Skills. These drafts are currently being reviewed by peers for feedback and will be laid out in Dynamic Health later in May. Check back for our June Round-up to stay up to date on this project and keep an eye out for links to these new Custom Emergency Department Skills. Coming soon!

Health Promotion in May and Dynamic Health Topics

May 2023 marks promotion of:

In recognition of these health promotion events, we encourage you to engage with the curated list of Dynamic Health content below.

If you spot any content under Skills below that doesn’t have a Workplace Note, consider being a reviewer! Fill out our Suggestions for Skills form with your notes and we’ll get in touch!

Celiac Disease Awareness Month

Cystic Fibrosis Month

Melanoma and Skin Cancer Awareness Month

Dynamic Health Project Team

Amanda Revels
Professional Practice Leader
Interprofessional Practice & Learning, Western Zone

Leah MacDonald
Professional Practice Leader
Interprofessional Practice & Learning, COVID-19 Response

Katie McLean
Librarian Educator
Interprofessional Practice & Learning, Library Services

Margaret Meier
Policy Lead
Policy Office

Ann Slaunwhite
Library Technician
Interprofessional Practice & Learning, Library Services

Field is required.