Health Information Use After Graduation
Are We Preparing Our Students for Professional Practice?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29173/istl20Abstract
This study aimed to determine which information resources Grand Valley State University (GVSU) alumni from four health science programs utilize in clinical practice. It also explored alumni opinions of their educational experiences at GVSU in relation to information literacy and library resources. A survey was administered to alumni who had graduated with a degree in athletic training (BS), nursing (BS, MS, DNP), physical therapy (MPT and DPT), or physician assistant studies (MPAS). We received 451 valid responses (12.8% response rate). The survey focused on specific resources used in the professional workplace, GVSU preparation for information literacy in the workplace, alumni confidence in information literacy skills, and additional preparation that could have been helpful after graduation. Survey responses are reported by discipline and degree earned. Insights from this study will inform liaison librarian conversations with faculty members and decisions regarding resource acquisition to help students transition from the academic environment to professional practice.
Downloads
References
American Nurses Association. 2015. Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice. 3rd ed. Silver Spring (MD): American Nurses Association.
Association of College & Research Libraries. 2013. Information literacy competency standards for nursing [Internet]. Chicago (IL): American Library Association. [Cited 2017 Dec 13]. Available from http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/nursing.
Association of College & Research Libraries. 2015. Framework for information literacy for higher education [Internet]. Chicago (IL): American Library Association. [Cited 2017 Dec 13]. Available from http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework.
Beaubien, S., Frigo, E., O’Kelly, M. & Waggoner, K. 2013. Information literacy core competencies [Internet]. Allendale (MI): Grand Valley State University. [Cited 2019 Aug 08]. Available from https://www.gvsu.edu/library/information-literacy-core-competencies-59.htm.
Beke-Harrigan, H., Hess, R. & Weinland, J.A. 2008. A survey of registered nurses’ readiness for evidence-based practice: A multidisciplinary project. Journal of Hospital Librarianship 8(4): 440-448. DOI: 10.1080/15323260802382802.
Berg, B.L. 2007. Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences. 6th ed. Boston (MA): Pearson.
Childers, W.A. 2010. Engendering clinical competencies in physician assistant programs: A mixed study of Marietta College's student assessment of learning and professional practice [dissertation]. Morgantown (WV): West Virginia University Libraries.
Clarke, M.A., Belden, J.L., Koopman, R.J., Steege, L.M., Moore, J.L., Canfield, S.M. & Kim, M.S. 2013. Information needs and information-seeking behaviour analysis of primary care physicians and nurses: A literature review. Health Information and Libraries Journal 30(3): 178-190. DOI: 10.1111/hir.12036.
Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education. 2017. CAPTE accreditation handbook [Internet]. Alexandria (VA): American Physical Therapy Association. [Cited 2018 Jan 5]. Available from http://www.capteonline.org/AccreditationHandbook/.
Forster, M. 2013. A phenomenographic investigation into information literacy in nursing practice — Preliminary findings and methodological issues. Nurse Education Today 33(10): 1237-1241. DOI: 10.1016/j.nedt.2012.05.027.
Forster, M. 2015. Six ways of experiencing information literacy in nursing: The findings of a phenomenographic study. Nurse Education Today 35(1): 195-200. DOI: 10.1016/j.nedt.2014.06.005.
Gilmour, J., Strong, A., Chan, H., Hanna, S. & Huntington, A. 2016. Primary health-care nurses and internet health information-seeking: Access, barriers and quality checks. International Journal of Nursing Practice 22(1): 53-60. DOI: 10.1111/ijn.12361.
Hardigan, P.C., Succar, C.T. & Fleisher, J.M. 2012. An analysis of response rate and economic costs between mail and web-based surveys among practicing dentists: A randomized trial. Journal of Community Health 37(2): 383-394. DOI: 10.1007/s10900-011-9455-6.
Head, A.J. 2017. Posing the million-dollar question: What happens after graduation? Journal of Information Literacy 11(1): 80-90. DOI: 10.11645/11.1.2186.
Head, A.J., Van Hoeck, M., Eschler, J. & Fullerton, S. 2013. What information competencies matter in today’s workplace? Library and Information Research 37(114): 74-104. DOI: 10.29173/lirg557.
National Athletic Trainers’ Association. 2015. Education overview [Internet]. Carrollton (TX): National Athletic Trainers’ Association. [Cited 2017 Dec 18]. Available from https://www.nata.org/about/athletic-training/education-overview.
Powell, C.A. & Case-Smith, J. 2003. Information literacy skills of occupational therapy graduates: A survey of learning outcomes. Journal of the Medical Library Association 91(4): 468-477. Available from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC209513/pdf/i0025-7338-091-04-0468.pdf.
Powell, C.A. & Case-Smith, J. 2010. Information literacy skills of occupational therapy graduates: Promoting evidence-based practice in the MOT curriculum. Medical Reference Services Quarterly 29(4): 363-380. DOI: 10.1080/02763869.2010.518923.
Robertson, D.S. & Felicilda-Reynaldo, R.F.D. 2015. Evaluation of graduate nursing students’ information literacy self-efficacy and applied skills. Journal of Nursing Education 54(3 Suppl): S26-S30. DOI: 10.3928/01484834-20150218-03.
Spievak, E.R. & Hayes-Bohanan, P. 2013. Just enough of a good thing: Indications of long-term efficacy in one-shot library instruction. Journal of Academic Librarianship 39(6): 488-499. DOI: 10.1016/j.acalib.2013.08.013.
Strauss, A.L. 1987. Qualitative Analysis for Social Scientists. New York (NY): Cambridge University Press.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2019 Betsy Williams, Barbara Harvey, Christopher Kierkus
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.