Project lets nurses access 3,000 medical algorithms

By Carol Lindsay, RN
March 19, 2002

To find the Neonatal Infant Pain Score on the Internet, visit the Medical Algorithms Project at www.medal.org. The site contains more than 3,000 algorithms and 44 different chapters covering all major medical topics. They range from "Performance Measure" and "Quality of Life" to "Body Dimension" and "Blood Volumes."

Chapters on body systems such as hepatobiliary, immunology, oncology and algorithms for critical care, trauma medicine, environmental toxicology and disability assessment are included, and each chapter has been compressed into a self-extracting file containing all the algorithms in a chapter. The site receives more than 500 visitors per day and is updated every six months.

One of the developers, John Svirbely, MD, said his goal is to "list 10,000 algorithms without going mad!" If you need any sort of computation, formula, survey or look-up table, make this site your first stop.

Childbirth solutions

The Association of Nurse Advocates for Childbirth Solutions (www.anacs.org/html/index.php) is a group of nurses, doulas, midwives and childbirth educators who "believe that hospital birth can be a much more positive experience than it usually is. We believe nurses have a great deal of autonomy and through our individual practices can make an amazing difference in the hospital birth experience," according to Carolyn Rafferty, RN, executive director of the association.

The Web site provides a forum to collect news, stories and ideas; share frustration with the system of maternity care; and provide a sense of mentorship, advocacy and encouragement to nurses who want to make a difference. The well-organized site covers a variety of topics including news, legislative issues, parent speak, practice issues, research and a student corner. A discussion corner allows you to post comments and join discussions.

Emergency education

The American College of Emergency Physicians Web site at www.acep.org has reference information for nurses and patients. Numerous informational fact sheets include topics such as emergency department technology, costs of emergency care, automatic external defibrillators and illegal drug use.

Printable brochures and handouts cover a variety of topics that include "When Your Child has an Emergency," "Sun Safety" and "Elderly Safety." In addition, the site posts monthly health columns suitable for the public. One particularly relevant topic for patients visiting emergency departments is a public education flyer, "Evaluating Access to Emergency Care Through Your Health Plan: A Checklist for Consumers." This site is a useful resource for ER nurses, geriatric nurses and everyone involved in patient education.

Stop the shortage

Our nation is facing a nursing shortage and Nurses for a Healthier Tomorrow (www.nursesource.org) is trying to heighten public awareness about the potential shortage. This coalition of nursing and health care organizations is working to attract people to the nursing profession.

The group has launched a communications campaign that includes print, radio and television public service announcements. The ads are intended to improve the image of nursing and encourage young people to enter the profession.

The Web site offers information about the campaigns and asks nurses to be part of a grass-roots campaign to spread the word about nursing as a career to their communities. A link lists specialty nursing career profiles and gives specific information about educational requirements, average salaries and background.

Infection control

Noscomial infections affect more than 2 million patients annually with an economic toll of more than $4.5 billion. It is no wonder that the role of the infection control nurse is so important today.

The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (www.apic.org) is an organization dedicated to influencing, supporting and improving the quality of health care through the practice and management of infection control. The site highlights patient safety, annual conferences, bioterroism news, bioterror readiness, infection control news and e-learning.

Guidelines from the association and the CDC are available to download. The guidelines include hand washing, isolation precautions, surgical site infection and prevention of catheter infections.