CiteULike is a free online bibliography manager. Register and you can start organising your references online.

Sources of information used by nurses to inform practice: An integrative review. Export

International journal of nursing studies, Vol. 45, No. 6. (June 2008), pp. 954-970.

Citation Format

[Posts]

View FullText article


e-research en ciencias médicas y biológicas's tags for this article

informatics medical

X Reviews [Write a review of this article]

X Find related articles from these CiteULike users

X Find related articles with these CiteULike tags

X Posting History

X Abstract

BACKGROUND: We present an integrative review of the literature about sources of information nurses use to inform practice. The demand for access to more and better information has been fueled by the evidence-based healthcare movement. Although the expectations for evidence-based practice have never been higher, the demands on care environments have never been greater. The goals of professional nursing are served by using the best available information to inform practice. To influence such activity, we must understand what sources of information nurses rely on for guidance. DATA SOURCES: We examined studies of any research design published between 1985 and 2006, as well as research dissertations in the same time frame. Databases searched included the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Medline, the Educational Resources Information Center, the Library and Information Science Abstracts and the Library Literature and Information Science databases. REVIEW METHODS: The review question: what information sources do registered nurses turn to, to support direct patient care? Analysis included an overview of study design and practice setting, and an examination of sources accessed most frequently by nurses to guide practice. RESULTS: We present, in ranked order, the sources nurses accessed in order to guide practice. We note the high reliance on informal, interactive sources. An unexpected finding of high reliance on journals is explored in greater detail and found to be equivocal at best. We conclude with a critical discussion of what we see as embedded assumptions and expectations about how information-seeking supports nursing practice. CONCLUSION: Expectations embedded in the scope and context of nursing practice have influenced knowledge development in the area of information-seeking to support practice. It is important that future research in this area takes into account the expectations and information needs arising in emerging roles for nurses within evolving healthcare systems.


X BibTeX record

X RIS record


Privacy Statement | Terms & Conditions
CiteULike organises scholarly (or academic) papers or literature and provides bibliographic (which means it makes bibliographies) for universities and higher education establishments. It helps undergraduates and postgraduates. People studying for PhDs or in postdoctoral (postdoc) positions. The service is similar in scope to EndNote or RefWorks or any other reference manager like BibTeX, but it is a social bookmarking service for scientists and humanities researchers.