Disaster planning

Yes, it's a big deal in IT, and some people can't get enough of it. I found a great article at techsoup recently about this very subject. It's geared to non-profits, but the concepts are important nevertheless, and some of the tools can be used at home, and best of all, some are free. CSO Online has a great general section on disaster planning called Business Continuity and Disaster Planning Also, if you're interested in disaster planning in general, don't forget to check www.ready.gov.

Second, for individuals, disaster planning is a big deal, too, and not just with computers. If you own a Sidekick phone, you may be interested in this article. One server goes down and takes all your info with it...ouch!

And finally, while it's not a natural disaster, phishing and social engineering can cause lots of other disasters. This article called 9 Dirty Tricks discusses just a few of the latest scams out there.

IT items of note

Here are a few interesting articles of note from the internet.

Nurse reflects on decades of caring (from www.citizen.com in Lavonia, NH)
A unique perspective on nursing and technology in today's environment

Nurses face a digital divide (from www.nursezone.com)

And for something a little different...
Cadets trade the trenches for firewalls (from www.nytimes.com)

More on Twitter

Lo and behold, I get a great bunch of links from my listservs. Here are a few of the gems noted below.

How to Safely Blend Personal and Professional from www.cio.com

How to Search Twitter Smarter also from www.cio.com

A new technology/nursing article

This one arrived in my mailbox this morning courtesy of http://www.nursinglink.com/

Technology and nursing

A good iPhone read

If you love your iPhone, but wonder about what they left out, check out this article, Ten Features Still Missing from iPhone at www.informit.com.

InformIT is a great information technology resource that delves into security, certification and other business issues related to IT.

Technology in the news

Hospitals and Health Networks magazine has an article about the implementation of IT on nursing in a rural hospital setting. Another article, also in this same magazine discusses wireless technology.

Since I carry a PalmPilot wherever I go, I'd be happy if there were more publicly accessible wireless access points in hospitals. It's very handy especially if your cell phone doesn't work well in the hospital.

Articles of note

It was a busy end of the year for me, both personally and professionally. My resolution this year is to work further on this blog and point the way to some of the better articles out there.

As I mentioned before, I find a lot of good things in my mailbox via listservs. Here's one from the nrsing-l listserv

Infection control and mobile devices
Time savers or harbors for infection? This article brings up some pretty valid points about infection control and IT collaboration.

Where to look -- information on the web

My first inclination when looking for technology articles of interest to me as a nurse is to turn the web and poke around in the search engines. My personal favorite is Google (also the parent company of blogger.com) Google, like many other search engines, uses proprietary algorithms to find articles based on your searches. This is quick and easy, but depending on the search term, it can be a bit overwhelming. The University of Berkeley offers this page called Googling to the Max with information on how to get the most out of your Google searches.


From my university days not so long ago, we learned about the subscription databases, such as Medline and the greatest nursing database ever, CINAHL. These tend to be very expensive, and unless you're enrolled in a class with library access or your facility provides this access to you, you may have to seek alternative resources.


Searching the web for cogent articles for you as a nurse can be challenging, but there are a variety of free resources that are decent and referenced to quality research. Here are some of my favorites below:

Medscape Nursing
This section of the http://www.medscape.com/ site discusses news, industry information and has sections on specialty areas of nursing, as well as opportunities for continuing education.



eMedicine
This site's entry paragraph says it all:


The original open access comprehensive medical textbook for all clinical fields
10,000 Contributors 6,500 Articles


I have found it to be very useful for a quick study on a disease process and its treatments. It was invaluable for me as a student because it allowed me to learn information quickly about a disease or disorder. I still use it today. I found it most helpful recently when I had a patient with Fournier's gangrene.



Finally, the National Institutes of Health also has a wide variety of information for both nurses and patients, as well as links to research topics, grant information, and links to specialty centers of the NIH such as National Cancer Institute and other centers.

Drug information abounds on the web. It is available from specific manufacturers or from sites such as NIH at MedlinePlus drug information, http://www.rxlist.com/, or at http://www.drugs.com/. Please note that some sites may require purchasing a subscription to access further data.