Israeli E-patients' Informational Needs

Searched and found? The association between use of health information sources and success in getting the desired information

BACKGROUND

Although many health information seeking studies are concerned with longer range outcomes (e.g. patient-provider communication) the immediate outcomes for the searchers are whether they found the desired information, for whom and how successfully.

OBJECTIVES

To examine the association between health information seeking via various sources and the reported extent of success in getting the desired information the information needs perspective.

METHODS

Data were obtained from the 2017 Israel Social Survey and analysed using multinomial regression models. The sample included individuals who reported engaging in seeking health information prior to the survey and mentioned the extent of success in obtaining the desired health information (fully, partially, or not-at-all) (N = 2197). Multinominal regression technique served for the multivariable analysis.

DISCUSSION

Engagement in health information seeking via friends, family and using various websites (excluding those by Ministry of Health and Health Funds) was associated with the increased likelihood of partial success in getting the desired information. Education level and population group, affected level of success.

CONCLUSIONS

The (partial) success in meeting health consumers' information needs is associated with the turn to particular sources. Public health professionals and health provider institutions should improve provision and delivery of health information to meet consumer health information needs.

Nursing students' emotional work and its consequences following encounters with e-patients who present reliable or unreliable information; a scenario based cross sectional survey

BACKGROUND

Hochschild's theory of emotional work explains how people evoke or suppress emotions in order to adhere to social norms. An encounter with an e-patient who presents potentially unreliable medical information from the internet can lead to caregivers undergoing emotional work. This may have a negative impact on caregivers, such as mental exhaustion or professional dissatisfaction.

OBJECTIVES

To examine nursing students' emotional work and its consequences following an encounter with e-patients who present new information from reliable or unreliable internet websites.

DESIGN

A cross sectional study.

SETTINGS

A large university in the center of Israel.

PARTICIPANTS

376 nursing students (230 Jewish, 146 Arab) of a 4-year BA program.

METHODS

The study was scenario based describing an e-patient that presents information from a reliable/unreliable website. The students were asked about the emotions the situation evokes in them based on the Emotional Work Questionnaire. In addition, the questionnaire examined the emotional work techniques (surface versus deep acting) and the impact of emotional work on the students.

RESULTS

Deep acting emotional work was the most used emotional work technique. Arab students performed more deep acting emotional work compared to Jewish students (F(1,360) = 12.57, p < 0.001). Deep acting emotion work mediated the relationship between ethnicity and the impact of emotion work ((LLCI (-0.1018), ULCI (-0.0199)).

CONCLUSIONS

The training of nursing students should allow and encourage students' legitimacy to feel and express various emotions, even when they are contrary to expectations. Sharing others' (students', clinical instructors') feelings that arise in clinical situations is an essential aspect of clinical training. This training may lead to effective emotional management in different situations and allow students to receive help and support that will enable them to develop good coping skills during their studies which will benefit them later in their professional career.

Nursing Informatics in Israel From a Historical Perspective

The field of nursing informatics is expanding in Israel, which is known as a start-up nation. This study is a systematic literature review aimed to obtain a historical perspective of the Israel's nursing informatics development. To study how nursing informatics has evolved in Israel over the past 20 years, we analyzed two major issues: (1) the development of the nursing informatics field over these years; and (2) nursing informatics studies that were carried out by nurses. The main criteria for choosing these studies were: (1) nursing informatics research conducted in Israel; (2) investigated by nurses; and (3) published in academic international journals, including PhD dissertations. Thirty studies were located, and two main issues were identified: nurse managers who were engaged in health information technology were not recognized as nursing informatics practitioners, and a minority of nurses performed nursing informatics researches. Although many health information technology projects were and are performed in Israel, the nursing informatics field is not fully recognized by Israeli nurses. Therefore, it is essential for Israeli nurses to understand the importance of advancing the nursing informatics body of knowledge, which will give nurses the authorization to become influential as health information technology professionals in areas such as health education, practice, and research-for the benefit of patients.