Every day, nurse practitioners (NPs) are bombarded with the very latest in research and technologic advances in the healthcare field. The constant flow of studies, tests, drug approvals, and guideline updates saturate professional journals, television news stories, the Internet, and e-mail. With our minds forced into overdrive to keep up with the evolving information, how can we discern between critical breakthroughs and less important, yet interesting tidbits of data?
Striking a Balance
Personally, I try to strike a balance between "quick reads" and more in-depth reading. Many times, I try to read quick blurbs about practice populations that I do not often see. For instance, I don't see many young children in my practice, but I often read news briefs highlighting the growing problem of childhood obesity. I've absorbed several facts that relate to culture, physical inactivity, and diet.
The United States is populated by people from countries all over the world who bring with them established values, beliefs, and customs. Some of these beliefs may be that a fat baby is healthy. Lifelong eating habits and taste preferences begin in infancy and continue into adulthood. One of the first activities eliminated in school budget cuts is the physical education program. Children, who are already less active than previous generations, are no longer allowed a few hours a week of movement in gym.
What can I do with this information gleaned from all those news blurbs? The best I can think of is to translate what I've read into practice. Although children are not my usual patient population, I do see their parents, who are often obese themselves, suffering from hypertension and other obesity-related conditions. Using what I've read from articles such as this month's "A Physical Activity Rx for Hypertensive Patients," I not only educate the adults about their condition, but I can use the knowledge I've gained from quick reads to teach them how to prevent obesity and encourage physical activity in their children.
Choosing a Format
In many ways, we are fortunate to have so many resources that help us enhance our practice. Although the sheer volume of material forces us to be selective, using several different formats to uncover the latest information can significantly improve the number of articles you read and can apply to practice. For example, e-newsletters make it easy to scan the headlines and quickly read a synopsis of a longer article. You can always click on the link provided if you are interested in reading further. Check out The Nurse Practitioner 's free e-newsletter by e-mailing [email protected] and asking for a subscription.
Although more time-consuming, information found in professional journals is well-researched, peer-reviewed, and fact-checked for clinical accuracy. In short, the articles are much more reliable. Print journals usually have more topics geared toward specific practice settings than e-newsletters. This month's The Nurse Practitioner contains articles focused on pain and palliative care, cardiovascular care, women's health, and neurologic care.
In addition, a new column makes its first appearance this month. Lab Logic, coordinated by well-known speaker and author Margaret Fitzgerald, MS, APRN, BC, NP-C, FAANP, CSP, focuses on unusual cases in laboratory diagnostics and will aid the NP in making clinical decisions based on test results. This "quick-read" is only 2 pages long, but is packed with useful information that will come in handy in your practice. I encourage you to read through this issue of The Nurse Practitioner, and let us know what articles improved your practice, as well as what we can do to improve our practice of publishing the most informative clinical articles available.