Integrating Information Literacy Across a BSN Curriculum

Abstract

(41st Biennial Convention) Although research regarding effective informatics teaching strategies is sparse, nurse educators are challenged to include informatics into an already burgeoning curriculum. This presentation offers a systematic approach to incorporating information literacy, a vital component of informatics, across a BSN curriculum. Motivated by the IOM reports, the TIGER competency framework, and the QSEN informatics competencies, five assignments have been developed to emphasize clinical application. The assignments are designed to incrementally: (a) increase students' abilities to recognize the need for information (knowledge); (b) advance students' abilities to locate, evaluate, and use information (skills); and (c) foster a positive appreciation for information literacy (attitudes) in planning safe, effective patient care (Cronenwett, et al., 2007). In the first semester, students are assigned to access and evaluate a current article reflecting safe, client-centered nursing care. During the second and third semesters, the focus is on implementation of information through assignments such as designing a teaching brochure and evaluating a nursing procedure. Assignments during the fourth and fifth semesters focus on the use of health information to support clinical decisions, promote safety, and improve patient care. For one assignment, students work collaboratively in teams to search for relevant information to plan care related to a specific health concern from various perspectives. For the final assignment, students identify examples of how informatics and health care information are used within their respective practice settings to make clinical and organizational decisions.