Thursday, September 20, 2018

Nursing Reference Center Plus : CPD in Action : Eliminating Education Disparity at the Point-of-Care


Prior to the alignment of Ascension’s clinical education function under the national CPD department, each Ministry independently supported clinical education causing significant variability in access to education resources and learning quality across our national ministry. One of the benefits of the national alignment of CPD is the reduction education disparity. Through a recent Master Agreement and national enterprise license awarded to EBSCO Health, Ascension clinicians will now have instant access to the most current evidence-based answers to clinical questions, at the point of care. This agreement now provides a solution for 84 sites of care that previously had no access to a point of care tool, and ensures access for all acute and ambulatory sites of care.
Historically, about 68% of Ascension’s acute care facilities - 75 of 110 measured - enjoyed access to a clinical reference point of care tool for nursing, with unknown usage available to ambulatory facilities. The implementation of the new EBSCO enterprise license to Nursing Reference CenterPlus, an evidence-based information resource designed by nurses for nurses, expands access to 100% of Ascension’s acute and ambulatory facilities.
The Clinical Professional Development team is currently working with EBSCO and Ascension Technologies to implement intuitive access to the tool with an aim to provide caregivers with improved access to clinical reference resources at the point of care, and to reduce healthcare disparities. Incumbent users of Nursing Reference Center may continue to use their products under the new enterprise license. New users are encouraged to explore Nursing Reference Center Plus with respect for current workflow as they await national implementation.
  • Access the tool here and save the link as a favorite in your web browser.
    • Support – Comprehensive health ministry support such as training, product communications, or workflow conversion is forthcoming and will be scheduled by the CPD team. For immediate support, please contact Tom Kalla of The Resource Group Implementation Team.
The CPD national team, in collaboration with The Resource Group, is now working to identify standard resources for automated management of behavior based competencies through suppliers and products that compliment EBSCO’s Nursing Reference CenterPlus. The team is also aware of the need for point of care references focused on Allied Health and will continue to discover the capabilities of Nursing Reference CenterPlus and develop new solutions for these needs.

[This article originally appeared in The Ascension Clinical Professional Development Today Newsletter, September 2018 edition.]




Link to Nursing Reference Center-Plus.

More details to come as implementation progresses. We are working diligently to get this point-of-care tool integrated into the local intranets, library pages, and EHRs.  Training will also be part of the roll-out.  If you can't wait, go ahead and start exploring NRC-Plus.

For Ascension Wisconsin, see the NRC-Plus Search Tips page.  



Friday, September 7, 2018

Nurses Choice Recommended Reading - September 2018

September 2018

Osteoarthritis treatment: Decreasing pain, improving mobility
The Nurse Practitioner, September 2018

Portrait of an epidemic: acute opioid intoxication in adults
Nursing, September 2018

Exploring the Relationship Between Nursing Specialty Certification and Surgical Site Infections
JONA: Journal of Nursing Administration, July/August 2018

Coloring the Truth: Color Additives in Nutrition and Health
Nutrition Today, July/August 2018

The FRAIL Questionnaire: A Useful Tool for Bedside Screening of Geriatric Trauma Patients
Journal of Trauma Nursing, July/August 2018

Making Sense of Hypertension Guidelines
The Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, September/October 2018

Managing Stable COPD An Evidence-Based Approach
AJN, American Journal of Nursing, September 2018

Preparing Clinicians for Transitioning Patients Across Care Settings and Into the Home Through Simulation
Home Healthcare Now, July/August 2018

Early recognition of cardiogenic shock
Nursing Made Incredibly Easy!, July/August 2018

Think Kratom Is a Safe Opioid Substitute? Think Again!: History, Evidence, and Possible Future for Mitragyna speciosa
Clinical Nurse Specialist, September/October 2018


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

* Questions about access, contact Your Ascension Wisconsin Librarians : 


Michele Matucheski        Elissa Kinzelman-Vesely      Kellee Selden