Going Mobile: Librarians Supporting Distance Learning Students with Mobile Resources

Billi A G bb MSLS Z h Y MSLSBillie Anne Gebb, MSLS; Zach Young, MSLSFrontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing

Introduction Methods (continued) Results Results (continued)

Objective: To demonstrate how medical librarians can support an institution’s overarching goal to graduate technologically competent practitioners to provide quality health care by increasing availability of electronic resources to better match those available to clinicians and providing training and support for

For four of these sessions in early 2011, students were surveyed about their level of comfort and the efficacy of the training. Students were asked to rate their level of comfort with using their mobile device for school related activities on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being very comfortable and 1 being very uncomfortable. The mean response was 3.73. Students were also asked the question below:

The following criteria were considered when evaluating clinical resources:

• Content - clinical content needed to be evidence-based as well as applicable and appropriate for nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners. Depth of coverage, frequency of updates, and ability to link to other resources was also considered.

• Platform - cross-compatibility with mobile platforms is somewhat dependent on the mobile device requirement for

Selected comments in response to the question, “How often did you use your mobile device to access information to assist you in clinical?”

and providing training and support for those resources.

somewhat dependent on the mobile device requirement for students. A resource that can be used via the web with a downloadable component is ideal.

• Usability - ease of use was a very important consideration as students would be using the resources at the point of care.

• Sustainability (cost) - though grant funds were available for initial subscriptions, in order to continue the subscriptions past the term of the grant, the resource needed to be affordable.

The small library staff of a distance-based graduate nursing school selected resources and provided training and support for those resources as part of a grant funded emerging media project. The institution received funding to initiate a proposal to incorporate new technologies for enhancing delivery of distance education. One objective of the grant was to increase the electronic resources available to students to better match what

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Methods

ConclusionsClinical students (n=228) were also surveyed over the course of the academic year to determine how often they used a mobile device to access information to assist them in clinical. Percentage of students responding “very often” is shown below:

The resources chosen were:

• Epocrates Essentials - drug and disease reference

• DynaMed - clinical reference

• Essential Evidence Plus - clinical reference

• Natural Standard - complementary and alternative therapy reference •Point of care clinical reference resources are an important tool for

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will be available to them as clinicians. Because the grant also provided for a mobile initiative, the resources selected were all available on mobile platforms. The library staff was integrally involved in choosing the resources, providing support and training, and by extension, providing support and training on mobile devices. Various student surveys reveal that students feel comfortable and confident using these resources and consider them essential for practice.

MethodsBefore beginning their clinical rotations, students attend an on-campus skills intensive. During this time, librarians lead a session demonstrating these clinical reference resources. A document camera is used so that the students can see the resource on a mobile device. Students are encouraged to follow along on their own devices, and they have the opportunity to ask questions. Examples are taken from their clinical scenarios to increase the relevance to real-life situations. One challenge with these sessions is that students have varying levels of comfort with using mobile

FSMFN received a Nurse Education, Practice and Retention (NEPR) grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to implement an emerging media project. The overarching goal of the grant was to graduate technologically competent advanced practice nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners to provide quality health care throughout the country with a focus on rural and medically underserved areas. One objective was to increase the electronic resources available to students to better match what

clinical students.

•Librarians and faculty should collaborate in choosing clinical resources for purchase.

•Students are becoming more comfortable with using mobile devices.

•Librarian led software specific training is well received by all students no matter their comfort level with using mobile devices.

Librarians providing training on mobile resources must also be30%

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Percentage of Clinical Students' Using their Device “Very Often”

is that students have varying levels of comfort with using mobile devices in general and often seek technical support. Students who have technical difficulties such as problems downloading the resources are offered one on one assistance.

electronic resources available to students to better match what will be available as clinicians. Since another objective of the grant called for students to begin using mobile devices, and due to the introduction of clinical reporting software on handheld devices, it was decided that the clinical reference resources should be available on mobile platforms as well. While specific resources were mentioned in the grant application, the library staff was charged with vetting those resources and proposing alternatives where necessary.

•Librarians providing training on mobile resources must also be experts in using mobile devices.

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Winter 2010 Spring 2010 Summer 2010 Fall 2010