This guide serves as a starting point for all students in Health Studies programs including: Addictions Counselling, Child and Youth Care Counsellor, Health Care Aide, Nursing, Paramedic, Therapist Assistant, Social Work, Practical Nurse.
Provides content on nursing best practices and skills. Material offered includes videos and images to aid in patient care, care plans, robust drug information, patient handouts, and more. Features a mobile app available for iOS and Android.
This database provides a point-of-care resource intended for staff nurses, nurse administrators, nursing students, nurse faculty, and hospital librarians. It delivers the most recent clinical evidence and knowledge on conditions and diseases. Includes medical dictionary, drug guide, patient education guides, and care planning information.
This Government of Alberta website provides information about accessing health care services in the province. Information on health topics and services is available to health professionals and consumers. Content and services from the former Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission (AADAC) are now available through Alberta Health Services.
This Canadian government website is the starting point for information relating to health in Canada. From this site, you will find information on the health care system and policies in Canada, health promotion, as well as statistics, survey results and research reports.
The Health on the Net website provides access to reliable health information on the internet. The search engine HONSearch will help you find useful websites for health information, images and news for your research topic. This is a non-government, non-profit website.
This association website provides information on becoming a registered nurse, professional resources and legislation in Canada. The association’s publication, Alberta RN, is available online.
Criteria to consider when assessing the quality of a website:
Authority
You should be able to determine the author(s) or reputable organization or association responsible for the content
The author should be qualified to write about the topic (a nurse, doctor, researcher, or other expert)
Currency
For health information, currency or age of the information is essential. For most medical topics, the most recent information will be the most accurate
Be cautious when a website does not list any date for when the information was posted or last updated
Accuracy
For health information, accuracy is crucial
Watch for proper grammar, spelling, typos, and information that does not have supporting evidence or references
Purpose
The intention of the website should be clear
A website selling a product or displaying ads may have a bias
The website might be personal or satirical and not intended to provide educational advice
Relevance
The website should be relevant to your research purposes
The website should provide comparable information to other websites on the topic
Helpful Guides:
National Network of Libraries of Medicine's guide "Evaluating Health Websites" is a detailed guide for assessing the accuracy of online health information.
