1. NORDIC BALTIC EAHIL WORKSHOP June 25-28, OSLO 2003 Evidence-based nursing and libraries: do we find what we are searching? Liisa Salmi Kuopio University Library Kuopio University Hospital Library Kuopio, Finland

2. HOW IS EVIDENCE PRODUCED? impact safety efficiency finances social, legal, ethical, political issues usability Evaluation of research methods and operational processes

3. EVIDENCE IN MEDICINE research is not necessarily based on theories expert group evaluates research results systematically agreed upon criteria systematic reviews, practice guidelines, technology assessment application to clinical practice Cochrane Collaboration, practice guidelines, regional guidelines to write a systematic review takes several years mostly quantitative despite efforts

4. EVIDENCE IN NURSING strong (philosophical) theories more qualitative – patients are human beings – patient – centred thinking – knowledge through common experience – quality assurance

5. EVIDENCE IN NURSING research not evaluated systematically evidence = research carried out; empirical research no evaluation of research no agreed upon criteria no definition of concepts – what does evidence-based mean? – what does systematic review mean?

6. EVIDENCE IN NURSING who is qualified to evaluate research and degree of evidence in nursing?

7. SEARCHES IN EVIDENCE-BASED NURSING Familiarity with database – structure – coverage familiarity with search software familiarity with thesaurus how is evidence indexed ?

8. LIMITING SEARCHES TO EVIDENCE- BASED RESEARCH * publication type – randomized controlled trial – practice guideline – multicenter study * thesaurus terms – double-blind method – evidence-based nursing – placebos * free text words denoting evidence * search filters Cinahl: research PubMed: clinical queries

9. SEARCHING EVIDENCE-BASED NURSING PubMed – publication types – MeSH terms – Clinical Queries – usable except Clinical Queries, incl. Systematic Reviews Cinahl – publication types

10. SEARCHING EVIDENCE-BASED NURSING – Cinahl Thesaurus terms – Research filter – not reliable * indexing inconsistent * basic concepts not clear, definitions missing * concentrating in technical gimmicks

11. WHAT DO WE DO IN OUR OWN COUNTRIES ? DENMARK Science Database, no thesaurus FINLAND FinMeSH, Finnish Nursing Thesaurus ebn terms exist, not used ICELAND No database, no thesaurus NORWAY No database, no thesaurus SWEDEN Svemed+, Svenska MeSH