Library News

Dynamic Health round-up posts keep you informed about implementation and use of Dynamic Health at Nova Scotia Health. They highlight any new priority projects and events, as well as updates to our Workplace Notes and Custom Workplace Skills.

Updates: Reviewed Skills and Workplace Notes

We receive feedback submissions about Dynamic Health skills on an ongoing basis through the Suggest an Edit form and through partnerships with departments and teams.

Reviewed: New Workplace Note

• Managing an Indwelling Pleural Catheter
• Assisting With Posterior Nasal Packing for Nosebleed
• Assessing for Postpartum Depression
• Assisting With Intra-aortic Balloon Pump Insertion
• Assisting With Chest Tube Insertion in Adults
• Changing Chest Tube Dressing in Adults
• Inserting and Verifying Placement/Positioning of Small Bore Feeding Tubes
• Deaccessing Implanted Ports
• Changing a Midline Catheter Dressing in Adults
• Communicating With Patients Who Are Non-English Speaking
• Assisting With Initiating Temporary Transvenous Pacing in Adults

Reviewed: No Workplace Note

• Replacing a Wet Suction Closed Chest Drainage System in Adults
• Replacing a Dry Suction Closed Chest Drainage System in Adults
• Assisting With Anterior Nasal Packing for Nosebleed
• Assessing Delirium in Pediatric Patients
• Assessing Extrapyramidal Symptoms
• Assisting With Pericardiocentesis
• Staging and Managing Phlebitis

New Custom Skills

• Alternate Level of Care (ALC) Designation and Status Change Process
• Performing Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD) or Twin Bag Exchange in Adults

Patient Handouts in More Languages, Including French (Canada)

226 Patient Handout titles are now available in multiple languages including French (Canada), Arabic, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Russian and Tagalog. More titles are expected to be available in multiple translations over time. Click on the hyperlinked language after  Get PDF: to access a specific translation.

Example:

• English: Abnormal Pap Test Results
• French: Résultats anormaux du test Pap

Dynamic Health’s Patient Handouts can be used at the point of care (e.g., printed and shared with a patient) when there is nothing applicable within the Nova Scotia Health patient education pamphlet collection or when creating or updating site/unit specific material by putting the information in your own words and citing Dynamic Health.

Find more information about creating patient education pamphlets by visiting: https://library.nshealth.ca/CreatingContent/Pamphlets.

Health Promotion in April and Dynamic Health Topics

April 2024 marks the promotion of:

• Advance Care Planning Day, April 16th
• National Immunization Awareness Week, April 23rd to 30th
• Rosacea Awareness Month

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 Skills below that you feel need a Workplace Note, consider being a reviewer! Fill out our Suggestions for Skills form with your notes and we will get in touch!

Advance Care Planning Day

• Skills/Procedures
  • Assisting With Advance Care Planning for Adults
  • Assisting With Advance Care Planning for Clients With Chronic Illness: Social Work
  • Assisting With Advance Care Planning for Pediatric Patients
  • Managing Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
• Patient Handouts
  • Dementia: Know the Warning Signs
  • Alzheimer Disease: Tips for Caregivers
  • Advanced Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
• Related Disease Overviews
  • Alzheimer Disease
  • Dementia, Adult
  • Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

National Immunization Awareness Week

• Skills/Procedures
  • Vaccinating Adults
  • Vaccinating Children
  • Taking a Past Illness History
• Signs and Symptoms
  • Arm Pain
  • Urticaria, Adult
  • Urticaria, Pediatric 
• Related Disease Overviews
  • Chickenpox
  • Measles
  • Rubella, Adult
  • Rubella, Pediatric  

Rosacea Awareness Month

• Signs & Symptoms
  • Papular Rash, Adults
  • Erythema, Adult
  • Pustular Rash, Adult
  • Erythema, Pediatric
• Patient Handouts
  • Rosacea
• Related Disease Overviews
  • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Pediatric
  • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus During Pregnancy
  • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Adult
  • Seborrheic Dermatitis, Adult 

Dynamic Health Project Team

Gloria Connolly, RN, BScN, NCA, WOCC(c), GNC(c)
Clinical Nurse Educator, (CNE)
Interprofessional Practice & Learning

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

Dynamic Health round-up posts keep you informed about the implementation and use of Dynamic Health at Nova Scotia Health. They highlight any new priority projects and events as well as updates to our Workplace Notes and Custom Workplace Skills.

• Implementing Special Observation for Patients Who Are Depressed and Hostile
• Managing Chemotherapy-Induced Diarrhea
• Preparing the OR Environment

Skill Reviews Due by January 31, 2024

Our second skill review push is underway. A huge “Thank you!” to all of our volunteer reviewers! Reviewers received their assigned skill(s) to review earlier in December. All reviews must be submitted through the skill review form by January 31, 2024. If you have any questions about the process or would like assistance completing a review, reach out to us at DynamicHealth@nshealth.ca. We’re available by email or Teams to talk things through and provide guidance. Learn more about the Skill Review process on the Dynamic Health Support subject guide.

Health Promotion in January and Dynamic Health Topics

January 2024 marks the promotion of:

• Alzheimer's Awareness Month
• Let's Talk Day - January 25th

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 Skills below that you feel need a Workplace Note, consider being a reviewer! Fill out our Suggest an Edit form with your notes and we will get in touch!

Alzheimer's Awareness Month

• Disease & Condition Overviews
  • Alzheimer Disease
  • Dementia, Adult
• Signs & Symptoms
  • Cognitive Impairment
  • Confusion
  • Disorientation
• Skills
  • Providing Support to Caregivers of Patients with Dementia
  • Recognizing Signs of Pain and Discomfort in Patients with Dementia in Long-Term Care
  • Administering the Mini-Mental State Exam
• Patient Handouts
  • Alzheimer Disease
  • Alzheimer Disease: Tips for Caregivers
  • Dementia: Know the Warning Signs

Let's Talk Day

• Disease & Condition Overviews
  • Major Depressive Disorder, Adult
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Adult
  • Substance Use Disorder, Adult
• Signs & Symptoms
  • Anxiety, Adult
  • Depression, Adult
• Skills
  • Assessing Mental Health Status in Adults
  • Collecting a Mental Health History in Adults
  • Providing Support to Patients and Families in Grief
  • Communicating With and Counseling Clients Who Are Anxious: Social Work
  • Mental Health and Addictions: Self Care Education in the Emergency Department
• Patient Handouts
  • Anxiety Disorders
  • Depression and Chronic Illness

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

UPDATED: July 17, 2019. Original Post: February 1, 2017.

If you’ve ever tried to loosen a screw with a nail file or pop a wine bottle cork using a screwdriver, you know it’s easier when you have the right tool for the job. It’s the same when looking for information. It helps to search in a database that is built for your specific subject and/or discipline. If your research and/or practice area is nursing, rehabilitation, social work, dietetics or another allied health discipline, consider using CINAHL® Complete. 

CINAHL® retrieves information about articles from more than 5,000 journals, from 1937 to the present. Since the focus of the database is nursing and allied health literature, articles are tagged with preferred terms that reflect the language used in these disciplines. These tags, a form of controlled vocabulary, are called CINAHL® Subject Headings. Searching with CINAHL® subject headings will return more relevant results.

This short tutorial will help you get started using CINAHL® subject headings:

For more guidance on searching in CINAHL® Complete, view the tutorials on EBSCO’s CINAHL® Databases Training site or contact Library Services. 

Lana MacEachern

Library Technician
Aberdeen Regional Hospital, Northern Zone

Katie McLean

Librarian Educator, Education & Outreach
Dickson Building, Central Zone