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INTERNET RESOURCES
Internet resources for nurses and nursing students: A sampling of sites
C&RL News, April 2006
Vol. 67, No. 4
by Miriam Laskin and Elisabeth Tappeiner
Contemporary nursing practice has changed tremendously over the last decade. Professional competencies for new nurses now include informatics, case management, health care policy, cultural sensitivity, and disaster preparedness. The study of nursing involves life sciences, psychology, social services, patient education, and ethics, in addition to the traditional medical knowledge base. Not surprisingly, students of nursing are faced with a rich but sometimes confusing array of health-related resources on the Web. In fact, hundreds of new Web sites for health consumers, nurses, and other medical professionals are being added weekly, and this article represents the authors’ best efforts to include only the most useful and highest quality resources from among a rich array of choices.
Much of the best and most comprehensive health and biomedical information available is generated by the U.S. government, and many of the nongovernmental sites provide links to government health and biomedical sites. Thus, we describe the governmental resources first (divided by resources directed toward professionals and health consumers), followed by nongovernmental health information portals, nursing specialties and disease-specific resources, free study aids for students, nursing associations, online forums, and discussion lists.
We also link to biomedical research depositories, and sites with quality patient and consumer health information in both English and Spanish. Although we included only a sampling of major nursing organizations, these organizations offer essential professional information-from licensure to finding a job-and links to professional discussion forums and electronic lists. This combination of practical, professional, and research resources provides a good starting point for nursing students looking for quality study aids and information on the Internet.
U.S. government medical and health information resources
The U.S. federal government provides some of the most important sources of online information for medical professionals as well as health consumers (nursing students find consumer-oriented sites helpful because they avoid overwhelming the layperson with highly technical vocabulary). The Internet resources described here are published by agencies within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). NIH is the parent body of the National Library of Medicine; it is a vital clearinghouse for full-text and bibliographic health information produced by government agencies and medical researchers. DHHS is the agency in charge of the Centers for Disease Control, the agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the Food and Drug Administration, among others. It also publishes valuable resources for public and consumer health.
• NLM Gateway. This site is a handy entry point for searching the many valuable resources at the National Library of Medicine. It provides a global search function for Pubmed, Pubmed Central, and Medline Plus, all of which are discussed below. Search results are divided into the following categories: bibliographic, consumer health, and other information resources. The NLM Gateway is an excellent place to begin a search of health-related government information. Access: http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov/gw/Cmd.
Resources for medical professionals and researchers
• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). This federal agency both conducts and sponsors research on healthcare quality, safety, and cost-effectiveness. Its "Consumers & Patients" links provide information on specific conditions, health insurance plans, prescriptions, health, and wellness. Some consumer information is available in Spanish. It also provides information for practitioners on such areas as disaster preparedness, quality and patient safety, datasets, and research findings. It has a research section devoted to nursing (http://www.ahrq.gov/about/nursing/), which outlines the roles of AHRQ nurses, provides a listing of Web tools and resources for nurses, and includes information on funding for research. Access: http://www.ahrq.gov/ .
• National Institute of Nursing Research. One of the National Institutes of Health, this organization’s mission is to support research in nursing in clinical and community settings through grants and other funding programs. It provides information on its own funding initiatives, including diversity programs and resources, links to nursing organizations for various specialties, and publications from national conferences and meetings. Access: http://ninr.nih.gov/ninr/index.html.
• Pubmed. A service of the National Library of Medicine, this resource offers an index to more than 15 million citations from Medline for biomedical articles, including nursing, dating back to the 1950s. It also links to the full text of articles and nongovernmental Web resources. Choose “Books” from the search box menu and search the NCBI Bookshelf—a free, full-text collection of biomedical books. Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/.
• Pubmed Central. A free “digital archive of life sciences journal literature,” the site offers access to the full text of more than 160 high-quality, open access life sciences journals from various publishers. Access: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/.
Resources for health consumers
• Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention. The CDC’s mission is to monitor public health, put forth prevention initiatives, investigate health problems, and promote healthy behaviors. Its Web site provides information on specific health and safety topics, a public health image library, and state and national data sets on health and disease. Its A to Z index is a convenient way to find statistical and other information on specific conditions. Access: http://www.cdc.gov/.
 • Healthfinder. This consumer health information site is maintained by the National Health Information Center of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is a hand-selected directory of the health related Web sites of more than 1,500 organizations—government, nonprofit, and educational. Also available in Spanish. Access: http://healthfinder.gov.
• MedlinePlus. A consumer health resource that brings together information from various government agencies, including the National Library of Medicine, the National Institutes for Health, and others, MedlinePlus provides simple but accurate health-related information for the general public. Its medical encyclopedia, drug and herbal supplement information, current health news, and superior interactive tutorials (www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorial.html) are excellent resources for nursing students. It is also available in Spanish. Access: http://medlineplus.gov/.
• National Institutes of Health—Health Information. Another directory of consumer health information, this site has a simple design, and is organized by conditions, body systems, type of patient, etc. It also provides links to MedlinePlus and to specific institutes within NIH. Access: http://health.nih.gov/.
Nongovernmental portals
• BioMed Central. This resource publishes more than 140 open access journals covering all areas of biology and medicine. Most of its publications are freely available to the public, although some require a paid subscription. Included are journals on nutrition, public and international health, and BMC nursing, specifically for nurses (http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcnurs/). Access: http://www.biomedcentral.com/home/.
• Hardin MD. The “MD” stands for “Meta Directory” and the University of Iowa’s Hardin Library for the Health Sciences is one of the best and most complete directories for medical and health-related links. Searchable by keyword or “Subject Clusters,” Hardin MD offers a huge, up-to-date collection of medical images and information. Some examples of subject clusters are AIDS; cancer; children’s diseases; flu (including bird flu); heart disease; infectious diseases; the nervous, respiratory, and skeletal systems; skin diseases; and women’s health. Access: http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/hardin/md/index.html.
• HealthWeb. This well-organized collection of evaluated, noncommercial resources is a collaborative project of health sciences libraries at more than 20 leading academic medical centers in the Midwest. Easy to use, it offers basic and guided searching or browsing by categories from AIDS and HIV to Women’s Health. Each category is further divided into subcategories of annotated links. For example, under “Nursing” are Academic Institutions, Associations, Career Resources, Databases, Discussion Groups, Electronic Journals, and Grants & Funding. Additional special topics links are offered for each category; in “Nursing,” these are Clinical Resources and Reference Resources. Especially helpful is the ability to search by keyword either within a category (i.e., “Nursing”) or throughout HealthWeb. Access: http://healthweb.org/index.cfm.
• Mayo Clinic: Tools for Healthier Lives. Though aimed at the layperson, nurses and students will welcome the plethora of information and tools provided by Mayo Clinic. Users can choose “Diseases & Conditions,” “Drugs & Supplements,” “Treatment Decisions,” “Healthy Living,” “Ask a Specialist,” and “Health Tools.” The medical information is high quality and comprehensive, but the “Tools” section sets this resource apart. Among the tools are online calculators (including BMI, calorie, heart disease risk), self-assessments (including depression, prostate, stress, obesity), a symptom checker, and quizzes. Access: http://www.mayoclinic.com.
• Onlilne Journal of Issues in Nursing (OJIN). OJIN is a free, peer-reviewed, international journal addressing topics affecting nursing practice, research, education, and the wider health care sector. Both Medline and CINAHL index the journal. OJIN presents timely information required by nurses and other health care professionals to provide current and informed patient care, to be socially responsive health care professionals, and to meet professional development needs. OJIN was first published in June 1996, making it the first totally electronic journal in nursing, and one of the few sustained totally electronic nursing journals. Access: http://www.nursingworld.org/ojin/.
• Public Library of Science (PLoS). PLoS is an initiative by scientists and doctors to publish quality, peer-reviewed literature and make it freely available to the public and other researchers. It publishes journals in biology, medicine, clinical trials, and genetics. PLoS Medicine publishes articles on public health and international health issues as well as clinical research. Access: http://www.plos.org/.
• World Health Organization (WHO). An excellent source of global health information, including statistics and country-by-country health overviews.This site is well indexed and easy to navigate. Search WHOLIS to find full-text WHO health information. Access: http://www.who.int/en/.
Nursing Specialties and disease – specific sites
• Alzheimer's Association. The Alzheimer's Association provides information and support to family members, caregivers, and health professionals on Alzheimer's disease. It is updated daily and includes news, resources and information (such as causes, warning signs, diagnosis, treatments, stages, brain tour, myths, statistics, and related disorders).There are fact sheets and a diversity toolbox (information aimed at specific ethnic groups). Also included are a useful glossary, chat and other online forums, a clinical trials index, funded studies (by state), papers and presentations, research theories, and much more. The site is keyword searchable (and there is a useful site map) and information for caregivers is also available in Spanish. Access: http://www.alz.org/.
• HIV InSite: Gateway to AIDS Knowledge. San Francisco School of Medicine gives comprehensive, up-to-date information on HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention, and policy at this site. The site is divided into five sections: a Knowledge Base, University of California-San Francisco and San Francisco General Hospital’s complete online textbook; medical treatment information, commentary, and resources; prevention; policy analysis; and countries and regions. Access: http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/.
• Oncolink. University of Pennsylvania cancer specialists launched this site in 1994 to "help cancer patients, families, health care professionals and the general public get accurate cancer-related information at no charge." This excellent resource is updated daily and offers information from basic to in-depth in English and Spanish on specific types of cancer, updates on cancer treatment, and news about research advances. The site is searchable by keyword or advanced searches, or by user-friendly menus, including "Types of Cancer," "Treatment Options," "Coping with Cancer," "Clinical Trials," "Cancer Resources," "Ask the Expert," and "Oncolink Library." The library includes access to many full-text articles from peer-reviewed journals. Access: http://www.oncolink.com.
• Public Health Nursing Section of the American Public Health Association. This site provides current health-related news, links to information about public health advocacy, articles of concern to public health nurses, general links on health and nursing, links to images, ask-an-expert sites, and a discussion forum on public health nursing. A good all-purpose resource for nurses, with an emphasis on public health. Access: http://www.csuchico.edu/~horst/index.html.
Study aids for nursing students
• AMA Medical Ethics Web pages. The American Medical Association (AMA) offers resources and information about medical ethics. One especially helpful resource for nursing students is their "Virtual Mentor, an interactive, Web-based forum for analysis and discussion of ethical and professional issues." Access: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2416.html.
• Geriatric Assessment-Case Studies. The Virtual Health Care Team Web site is sponsored by the School of Health Professions and the School of Medicine at University of Missouri. Among other resources, it offers four "interdisciplinary geriatric assessment" case studies. The approach, as explained authors, is an integrated team approach in which "team members actively coordinate care and services across disciplines in a process resembling problem-based learning." Access: http://www.vhct.org/index.shtml.
• Gray’s Anatomy of the Human Body. The Bartleby.com edition of Gray’s Anatomy features 1,247 pictures from the classic 1918 publication, as well as a subject index with 13,000 entries. Access: http://www.bartleby.com/107/.
• Human Anatomy Online. Easy to navigate, the user begins by choosing among ten systems: skeletal, digestive, muscular, lymphatic, endocrine, nervous, cardiovascular, male or female reproductive, and urinary. Graphics are interactive and users can view animations of the system, tutorials, and descriptions. Two caveats: users must have a java-enabled browser, and there is no search capability within the site. Access: http://www.innerbody.com/htm/body.html.
• McGill University Virtual Stethoscope. This is surely a unique Internet resource for medical and nursing students. As its name suggests, it is a multimedia tutorial featuring a virtual stethoscope (Real Player needed) to assess both respiratory and cardiovascular conditions. Also included is a review of selected cardiac and pulmonary physiology and pathophysiology topics. This tutorial is one of more than 50 created by McGill medical students under faculty supervision; all are accessible by clicking on “MMI Student Project Main Page.” Each tutorial has a cover page listing names of the students and their supervisors, intended audience, any plugins required, a synopsis of the tutorial’s focus, and date completed. Some examples are Biomedical Ethics & Law in Clinical Practice, Clinical Nutrition, Histology, EKG Tutorial, Gastroenterology, Endoscopic Pathology, Immunology, and Virtual CPR. Access: http://sprojects.mmi.mcgill.ca/mvs/mvsteth.htm.
• Medical Images on the Web. University of Nebraska Medical Center offers this excellent portal with evaluated, annotated links to online image collections organized into the following categories: General, Anatomy and Histology, Cardiology, Dermatology, Embriology, Endoscopy, Neurology, Pathology, Pediatrics, and ENT. Access: http://www.unmc.edu/library/reference/medimage.html.
Note: Librarians and students have discovered that Google Images provides excellent access to images, including anatomical pictures, diagrams, charts, illustrations, and disease pathologies. We have included medical image Web sites but want to remind researchers that Google Images is also a good resource.
• Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy. The Merck Manual’s 17th, Centennial Edition is available free, searchable by keyword or the table of contents. Merck also offers two other complete manuals through this site: The Merck Manual of Geriatrics and The Merck Manual of Health & Aging. Access: http://www.merck.com/mrkshared/mmanual/sections.jsp.
• Physical Exam Study Guides. Created by the University of Florida Medical program, these guides are thorough and clear. The exams offered are: Vital Signs, Back and Extremity, Chest and Lung, Cardiology, Head and Neck, Eye, Abdominal, Breast, Pelvic, Neurologic, and Mental Status. Access: http://medinfo.ufl.edu/year1/bcs/clist/index.html.
• RN Central. Created by nurses for nurses and students, this site offers good resource links, but the highlight is its “Careplan Corner,” with predefined nursing care plans under three categories: “Altered/Alterations,” “Impaired/Impairment,” and “General.” Some examples of care plans that nursing students can use as examples for their own plans are “Comfort: Chest Pain,” “Sexuality Patterns,” “Physical Mobility,” “Skin Integrity,” and “Anxiety and Ineffective Airway Clearance.” Users can copy, save, or print and modify any of the plans, and there is also a blank plan template to print out and fill in. Access: http://www.rncentral.com/.
• RxList. Information provided for each drug includes the description, clinical pharmacology, indications and dosage, side effects and drug interactions, warnings and precautions, drug overdosage contraindications, and patient information. Words in the articles and descriptions that may need to be defined for the layperson or student are hyperlinked to Taber’s online medical dictionary. Access: http://www.rxlist.com.
Nursing associations, online forums, and discussion lists
• American Nurses Association (ANA). The ANA represents American registered nurses (RNs). The site provides information on current issues in nursing (workplace rights, patient safety, and ethics) and a sophisticated career center with a searchable jobs database, space for posting résumés, and advice for job-seekers. Some content is limited to members only, but there is plenty of quality free information. Access: http://www.ana.org or http://nursingworld.org.
• International Council of Nurses. "A federation of national nurses’associations (NNAs), representing nurses in more than 128 countries," that focuses on quality in nursing internationally and global health policy. Access: http://www.icn.ch/index.html.
• Links to nursing organizations at the National Institute of Nursing Research. The National Institute for Nursing Research, described earlier, offers an excellent list of links to scores of organizations representing nursing specialties and issues in nursing. Access: http://ninr.nih.gov/ninr/links/organizations.html.
• National Council of State Boards of Nursing. This nonprofit membership organization is comprised of State Boards of Nursing from the United States and its territories. It is also the body that develops and administers the National Council Licensure Examination. Access: http://www.ncsbn.org.
• National League for Nursing (NLN). NLN is a membership organization whose mission is to advance "excellence in nursing education" and prepare the workforce to "meet the needs of a diverse population in an ever-changing healthcare environment." It provides continuing education for its members, information on careers in nursing, and an "eCareer Center," where jobseekers and post a résumé or search listings. It provides recent political and health news that affects nurses. It also provides grants and funding for research in nursing education. Access: http://www.nln.org.
• National Coalition of Ethnic and Minority Nurse Associations (NCEMNA). NCEMNA offers information and links to American nurses’ associations representing major U.S. ethnic groups, including Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPINA), Alaska Native American (NANAINA), Hispanic (NAHN), Black (NBNA), and Philippine (PNAA). Access: http://www.ncemna.org/.
• National Federation of Licensed Practical Nurses (NFLPN). NFLPN, the organization for LPNs, vocational nurses and nursing students, fosters competence through continuing education and professionalism. Information on scholarships, links to state affiliates, and an online discussion forum are all available here. Access: http://www.nflpn.org/.
Online forums and discussion lists
• Nursing Discussion Forums. http://nursing.buffalo.edu/mccartny/nursing_discussion_forums.html.
• Nursing Email Discussion Lists. http://nursing.buffalo.edu/mccartny/nursing_discussion_forums.html#1.
• Skepticism in Nursing Discussion forum. http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/skepticrn/.
About the Authors
Miriam Laskin is coordinator of instructional services, e-mail: mlaskin@hostos.cuny.edu and Elisabeth Tappeiner is head of technical services and collection management, e-mail: etappeiner@hostos.cuny.edu, at Eugenio Maria de Hostos Community College, City University of New York
© 2006 Miriam Laskin and Elisabeth Tappeiner
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