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The "Nursing Documentation Management project" has been created to face an emergent uneasiness in the studies connected to nursing fields and medical profession in his complex. This uneasiness is the contrast between elaboration and diffusion, of knowledge and experience which is a limit to the possibility of growth and development of nursing profession.
The contrast between having a rich documentation about nursing and the impossibility for nurses, doctors and students to consult these documents is becoming more and more wide.
The difficulty in consulting these documents concern at first in the ignorance of the existance of available magazines, of file of newspapers, and of time and places where to find them.
The problem is the inability to organize a systematic nursing documentation which allows a real and easy access to the existing heritage whether for a brief consultation or for study and analysis, beyond each single will.
Within the overall nursing documentation our attention is on magazines. Even if some magazines and sometime books lack in theoretical and methodological bases, magazines are the most important vehicle to widespread the nursing knowledge which generally takes long time before being published in books.
Magazines are an important mean to develop nursing profession, thank to the richness and articulation of subjects, the immediacy, the numerous materials at disposition, the updating and stimulation toward new orientations, etc...
In this contest, the suggestion to manage and file the different sources, in order to let this heritage become easy to find and consult. At the beginning the proposal was reduced to the MAGAZINES MENAGEMENT form, but it will be extended to new forms (now in establishment) about essaies (organized in typology), legislation, other media, etc...
The proposal, built up on a project of a group of nurses was organized in:
a stable group of collaborators engaged on reading and filing the articles;
the establishment of a peculiar database;
the easy consultation and widespread of the material;
the athwartship analysis of the filed material in order to point out, on one hand
the fields about nursing production (articles of technical, clinical, legislative
updating, about the results on nursing research, experiences of groups of job, etc.), on the other
hand the theoretical orientations to which the material is about
(as to nursing theory, how to study the nursing problematic, for instance for pathology,
disciplines, apparatuses, functions etc.).
In the months of May and June 1992 the proposal was presented to a group of nurses known during a computer training course and to a group of nurse teachers who in the past had shown interest in the widespread of documentation.
It was the beginning of an opening which has allowed to test the awareness of the problem related to the contrast between elaboration and diffusion of nursing knowledge and the importance to overcome it with concrete proposals.
The presentation of the project and its computer program was welcomed with curiosity, interest and open-mindness to establish a stable group of work.
The answer was immediate and firm. This has been an hint to break the formal boundaries between these people (collegues, nurses known directly...) and widespread the proposal to the Region through direct and formal relations with the Headmasters of the Schools for Professional Nurses and whit the services of origin of the already involved nurses.
A group of on average 40 nurses coming from the School for Executives and Teachers of Nursing Sciences at the University of Turin, from Schools for Professional Nurses, from Nefrology, Hemodialysis and Oncology departments, and from Health Management (nurses employed in the control of hospital infections) has joined constantly to the group of job.
The beginning of this activity has been organized on four preliminary moments:
1. The organization of data about the heritage of nursing magazines available in the 13 services of origin of the participants, in order to have a precise idea of the material available. Every member had to fill in a form about magazines. The result was the census of 80 magazines. As to every magazine received in the Service, the availability for the year 1992 and the past years was determined even with the indication of the lacking numbers.
These information allowed to define a map about available magazines and their collocation in order to guarantee an easy way to find articles through the computer program.
In the perspective of a substantial development of the plan, the constant updating and widespread of this map could establish an articulated net of relationship between the Services for the exchange of nursing documentation; more transparency and widespread of information will be necessary to the aim.
2. To attend some practical classes to know how to manage the different skills of computer program especially the indications concerning the articles database. The articles forms must be catalogued in a way which allows a coherent and complete management of information.
Some rules that concern the database of important part of the article such as author, headline, head the magazine, number and volume of the magazine have allowed to define how to procede: the best letter to use, how to write notes when there is more then one author or when there is an headline and a subhead etc...
Problems concerning how to synthetize the article in its complexity were faced. Common directions were established in order to control this proceeding:
Do not use technical or specific terms which could complicate consultation and comprehension of the database for the outsiders. A shor description of possible specific or difficult terms which must be part of the synthesis, the transcription of acronyms and abbreviations will be offered.
To present the author basic subjects without expecting to exaust them, but trying to stimulate people to read the article;
To avoid personal judgments;
To use a maximum of 254 characters (around three and half lines) to synthetize the article, either to prevent people to get bored or to to take to much space in the database.
3. Each member has to database a nursing magazine individually and manage the data.
4. Correction is a moment of comparison and discussion within the group to offer explanations and to widen the directions concerning every kind of article such as leading articles, review of essaies, presentation of refresher courses and conferences.
Starting from the first results, a program of work for the years 1992/ 93 has been planned. It concerns:
a) To read and database articles of 20 head magazines published in 1992 (Chart 1) chosen for:
Interest of the databaser;
The availability of magazines;
To have a miscellaneous of nursing magazines, either for place of origin (France, Switzerland, USA beyond Italy) or for subjects (the I.P.A.S.V.I. College and some sectional and unsectional nursing associations are part of it, apart from magazines concerning the nursing world for the similarity of thei subjects);
b)To attend the meeting of the members of the net to share the database , to express problems concerning to database and manage the data.
c)To widespread this knowledge through the exchange of floppy disk;
d)To attend theoretical meeting about how to database, manage, use this documents. Analysis and discussion on the choice of key words and then the establishment of a thesaurus (a list of words or expressions important to database, organize and find articles) are part of it.
The idea to establish a "personal" computer program was part of our desire to realize more creative approach to the computer through the experience of computer programmming. It was very important to have a product:
of public knowledge and therefore delivered without problems of copyright and available for whoever makes a request to improve the widespread, diffusion, exchange of information and database to transform it in a common heritage;
Provided with feature that, sophisticated software,cannot always guarantee.
The program:
1. it is possible to have it in DOS (Disk Operating System) without the use of other programs to read and understand the directions; 2. it fills a limited memory because it does not use other programs;
3.it is easy to transport because there is only a disk which can be used in every computer and situation;
4. it has a friendly interface, directed by menu and help hints to manage the different options;
5.it is completely self-sufficient, of a more general PROGRAM, for the management of the whole nursing documentation ;
6.there is big place for the introduction of article forms because it can manage, in a file only, till a billion of article forms.
7. it has a compatible database.
to the principal programs for the management of the data
(database, electronic notice-boards etc.), in order to enable different opportunity of
information mamagement according to different requests and applications.
According to these characteristics the opportunity to use the program inside the different professional reality is definitly wide, either for the enrichment of information or for the rescue of information through principle of selectivness, unity and management and to develop a mutual and detailed widespread of the database.
Difficulties are not related to database but to adquire a different OUTLOOK TO READ the articles.
A more constant and systematic reading, less inattentive and accidental in order to seek for key words and to go on with abstract of the text.
The use of this program has been an occasion to change from an isolated and time-wasting approach to a conscious, shared and studied one able to point out the knowledge of users (students, nurses, theachers) and their creativity in the selection, put together and management of information.
Besides the acquisition of a different mental approach on reading the articles, to contrast problems of self-managementhas been necessary. Besides the organization of meetings to present and describe the main use of norms concerning the charactheristics of each article, a strong revision and discussion of the forms (in group or individually) has been necessary. Possible change were discussed to force the group to develop a good sense of team and master the database.
One of the most important thing we are going to overcome is to establish an articulated thesaurus to database, to index and to search for specific information within the article.
This thing required a national and international research for other experiences in the establishment of nursing thesauri . According to the first information only the USA has a nursing thesaurus . In Italy the only thesauri available are the ones related to health peculiar areas.
The lack of national articulated nursing and scientifically proved thesauri means a
slow down toward this aim.
Considering the need to establish cross-disciplinary paths of study and analysis,
the contribution of different and complementary professions will be necessary.
Think for example at the importance of the disciplines related to the organization of
the books heritage in order to reorganize the documents databased by the
members.
The widespread of COMPUTER SCIENCE CULTURE involves on one hand the revision of method, use and approch, on the other allows TO REDISCOVER the gist for curiosity, research and exploration.
In this perspective it is important to underline that computer science and the choices of
organization available have improved cooperation and teamwork between nurses and
between insitutions interested in the development of nursing knowledge.
We want to say again that the program is available for whoever interested in teamwork so that documents could become a real heritage for the profession and the aim of the group could become concrete. The proposal provides:
1) the widespread of the heritage in this background;
2) the constant enrichment of this computer source, which at December '92 was formed on average of 300 article forms plus abstract;
3) the constant, distinguished, effective use of database to develop and
update the knowledge. To improve the comparison of experiences of other realities, new
method and approaches etc...
Essential Bibliography
BONIOLO, Bruno (edited by), Banche dati per le scienze umane, Celid. Torino 1992.
GALLINO, Luciano, L'attore sociale. Biologia, cultura e intelligenza
artificiale , Einaudi Editore, Torino 1987
GALLINO, Luciano, L'incerta alleanza. Modelli di relazione tra scienze umane
e scienze naturali , Einaudi Editore, Torino 1992
SANTORO, Marco, DE MAGISTRIS, Raffaele, Lettura scuola biblioteca ,
Bulzoni Editore, Roma 1992
