Medical Terminology Textbooks and Free Online Classes

Looking for a FREE online class to brush up on your medical terminology skills? 

Try one of the following  courses from reputable institutions :

Introduction to Medical Terminology - Absolutely Free Courses 

"Our free Introduction To Medical Terminology course is entirely online. This course will help you understand Medical Terminology by explaining how to break down medical terms. Extensive coverage of medical prefixes, suffixes, and root words. We then cover basic human anatomy and physiology in chapters on the human body, the skeletal system and the nervous system. 

This course includes invaluable resource materials such as printable lists of prefixes, suffixes, root words, and bones in the human body."

How to Learn Medical Terminology Online for Free  
This article lists a number of free online medical terminology courses from respectable institutions such as :

• Des Moines Univeristy

• The National Library of Medicine

• The National Cancer Institute 

Additionally, the following PRINT books on Medical Terminology are available at the MMC Library :

If you are interested in checking any of these out, please contact Your Librarian, Michele Matucheski via Outlook.  If you are an Ascension Wisconsin Associate, I'll send them anywhere within legacy Affinity or Ministry Health Care regions.  

These and other Medical Terminology titles are available at Ascension Wisconsin Libraries.  Check our respective Library Catalogs for specifics :

              CSM Catalog -  Ministry Catalog - WFHC Catalog 

Comments, questions, requests or suggestions,  please contact your favorite Ascension Wisconsin Librarian :  

Michele Matucheski        Mary Pat Gage         Elissa Kinzelman-Vesely      Kellee Selden

Online Medical Dictionaries

Looking for a reliable online medical dictionary?  We have several available through Ascension Wisconsin –  Library Services.   (Ministry/Affinity - CSM - WFHC).  

Dorland’s Dictionary of Medical Acronyms & Abbreviations (via Clinical Key)

/ c2016     Affinity / Ministry / WFHC Access provided by Library subscription. 

        

There are also links through the E-Books Tab of our A-Z List and through our Library Catalogs  : 

              CSM Catalog -  Ministry Catalog - WFHC Catalog 

Look for the online versions with live links.

If you are looking for reliable medical dictionaries that are freely available on the web, we also recommend the following :

The Free Medical Dictionary - by Farlex

Medical Dictionary – MedlinePlus

Merriam-Webster’s Medical Dictionary

Medical Terminology : Prefixes, Roots, Suffixes - Global RPh

MediLexicon Medical Dictionary

 Do you have a favorite online medical dictionary?  Leave a comment below …

Other comments, questions or suggestions,  please contact your favorite Ascension Wisconsin Librarian :  

Michele Matucheski        Mary Pat Gage         Elissa Kinzelman-Vesely      Kellee Selden

Nursing Reference Center (NRC) Contract Will Expire Dec 31, 2017 : NEW Nursing Point of Care Tool to be Chosen for Ascension Wisconsin

Ascension Ministry Health Care’s current subscription for

 Nursing Reference Center (NRC)  will expire on December 31, 2017.

Why are we dropping the subscription to NRC?  

·         Since 2014, Nursing Reference Center (NRC) has been a very popular and well-used point-of-care tool for our nurses.  At present, NRC is only available for legacy Ministry and Affinity regions.  The Milwaukee and Racine areas do not currently have access to this or any similar reference package.

·         It is cost-prohibitive to add the Metro (Milwaukee) and South hospital sites under the current Ascension Resource Group pricing model. 

·         Nursing leaders at Ascension Wisconsin and national Ascension are in the process of evaluating the nursing point-of-care tools currently available on the market.  These include NRC, Lippincott and Clinical Key for Nursing (Elsevier).

·         We hope to choose a NEW nursing point-of-care tool that will be available statewide throughout Ascension Wisconsin, thereby helping to standardize nursing care resources and contributing to high reliability nursing care.

What you need to do in preparation :

·         Use NRC while we have access!  Get the most out of it while it is still available.

o   See the NRC Search Tips page for more information, including remote access and tutorials.

·         Be aware that links to NRC documents and competencies will NOT be available after December 31, 2017.  This change may impact policies and other internal documents.

·         CEUs

o   If you have CEUs logged in Cinahl Education (CEUs through NRC), be sure to log in and print out your records and documentation, as we may not have access to this information after the Ministry Health Care Subscription to NRC expires. 

While legacy Ministry / Affinity may be losing access to NRC in the short-term, we have full intentions of providing a nursing point-of-care tool for ALL of Ascension Wisconsin in the very near future.  Please be patient as we make this transition.

For questions or comments, please contact :

Jill Berg, PhD, RN, FAHA, FAAN, Vice President of Clinical Education for Ascension Wisconsin

Michele Matucheski,  MLS, AHIP – Librarian for Ascension Wisconsin

Kellee Selden, MLIS – Manager of Learning and Knowledge Management for Ascension Wisconsin  

What to do when patients don't heed your advice ...

What to do when patients don't heed your advice - Medscape
by Gregory A. Hood, MD

Recently, I came across the above 2-page article on Medscape, and thought it might ring true for some of you, too--or maybe that's just my own confirmation bias?   The author does a good job of explaining the current environment that we live in in terms of the internet and conformation bias where Google searches are replacing wisdom.  They also address the sticky issue of  no one liking to be told they are wrong, even when facts and evidence prove otherwise.  

Finally, it offers a list of suggestions for how to handle patients who ignore you're best professional advice.   Kind of a Serenity Prayer for practice.   I hope it offers something to make your work life better.  

Questions and comments welcome!

Your Librarian,
Michele Matucheski, MLS, AHIP

Hospital Libraries Matter

This blog post was listed on The Director’s Blog from The National Library of Medicine this week.  I wanted to share it with our Library Supporters because it helps explain why Hospital Libraries are still relevant and needed in a world where people have the misguided perception that everything is free on Google …  

This article also helps explain what Medical Librarians do every day--in case you were wondering. 

  

Hospital Libraries Matter : Libraries Impact Clinical Decision-Making and Support hospital Functions

by Basia Delawska-Elliott and Donna Belcinsk

Questions and comments welcome!

Feel free to contact your favorite Ascension Wisconsin Librarian :  

Michele Matucheski        Mary Pat Gage         Elissa Kinzelman-Vesely      Kellee Selden

LexiComp Clinical Drug Reference

Lexicomp is our Ascension-wide clinical drug reference look-up tool. LexiComp is most often used by Pharmacy, Physicians & Providers, Clinicians and Nurses.  A link to Lexicomp has been added to the legacy Intranets and Library pages.

LexiComp offers:

·         Full access to the LexiComp clinical drug reference tool, patient education, calculators and toxicology information

·         Orientation/training videos and quick reference guide

·         A link to install the LexiComp mobile app

Lexicomp was chosen as the Ascension national standard after a thorough selection process by The Resource Group Pharmacy Team and Ascension Information Systems. Lexicomp was selected based on its ease of use, accessibility, cost, and concise information. It also supports our goals of offering high-quality care, better patient and provider experiences, and lower overall cost of care.

Ascension Library Services has put together a Lexicomp Search Tips page to help our Staff and Providers learn to use Lexicomp quickly and efficiently.  

The LexiComp Mobile App is also available.  

Nurses Choice Recommended Reading - August 2017

August, 2017

The Effectiveness of EMLA as a Primary Dressing on Painful Chronic Leg Ulcers: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
Advances in Skin & Wound Care, August 2017

Palliative Care in Home Health: A Review of the Literature
Home Healthcare Now, July/August 2017

Nurse-to-patient etiquette: It's more than good manners
Nursing, July 2017

Pneumocephalus assessment and management
Nursing Critical Care, July 2017

Risk reduction: Intimate partner violence
Nursing Made Incredibly Easy!, July/August 2017

Ethical Nursing Care When the Terminally Ill Patient Seeks Death
AJN, American Journal of Nursing, July 2017

An update on type 2 diabetes management in primary care
Nurse Practitioner, August 2017

Dramatic Changes in Health Care Professions in the Past 40 Years
Journal of Ambulatory Care Management, July/September 2017

Decreasing Stress and Burnout in Nurses: Efficacy of Blended Learning With Stress Management and Resilience Training Program
Journal of Nursing Administration, July/August 2017

Reducing Length of Stay, Direct Cost, and Readmissions in Total Joint Arthroplasty Patients With an Outcomes Manager-Led Interprofessional Team
Orthopaedic Nursing, July/August 2017

* List and links courtesy of Anne Chaney at Wolters-Kluwer/Ovid.

* Questions about access, contact Your Ascension Wisconsin Librarians : 

Michele Matucheski        Mary Pat Gage         Elissa Kinzelman-Vesely      Kellee Selden