Developing information literacy: a key to evidence-based nursing

• Published in: International nursing review 2001-06, Vol.48 (2), p.86-92
• Main Authors: Shorten, A., Wallace, . C., Crookes, P. A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Australia; Education; Education, Nursing; Educational Measurement; Evidence-Based Medicine; Evidence-Based Practice; Humans; Information; Information Literacy; New South Wales; Nursing; Program Evaluation; Programme Evaluation; Self-Assessment; Skills training; Students; Teaching - methods; Universities
• ISSN: 0020-8132; 1466-7657
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1466-7657.2001.00045.x

This report describes the evaluation of a curriculum‐integrated programme designed to help students develop an awareness of the nursing literature, the skills to locate and retrieve it, and skills required in its evaluation; in other words ‘information literacy’. Positive changes in student performance on objective measures of information‐literacy skills were revealed as well as a significant increase in the levels of confidence of the student in performing those skills. Students who had undertaken the information‐literacy programme (‘programme’ students) performed better on a range of objective measures of information literacy, as well as reporting higher levels of confidence in these skills, than students who had not participated in the programme (‘non‐programme’ students). Evaluation of this programme provides evidence of the potential usefulness of a curriculum‐integrated approach for the development of information‐literacy skills within nursing education. With these underlying skills, students will be better equipped to consolidate and extend their key information‐literacy skills to include research appreciation and application. These are vital for effective lifelong learning and a prerequisite to evidence‐based practice.