Clinical librarians as facilitators of nurses' evidence-based practice.

AIM: The aim of this study was to explore nurses' and ward-based clinical librarians' reflections on ward-based clinical librarians as facilitators for nurses' use of evidences-based practice. BACKGROUND: Nurses' use of evidence-based practice is reported to be weak. Studies have suggested that clinical librarians may promote evidence-based practice. To date, little is known about clinical librarians participating nurses in the wards. DESIGN: A descriptive, qualitative design was adopted for the study. METHOD: In 2007, 16 nurses who had been attended by a clinical librarian in the wards were interviewed in focus groups. Two clinical librarians were interviewed by individual interviews. In the analysis, a content analysis was used. RESULTS: Three themes were generated from the interviews with nurses: 'The grip of everyday work', 'To articulate clinical nursing issues' and 'The clinical librarians at a catalyst'. The nurses experienced the grip of everyday work as a hindrance and had difficulties to articulate and formulate relevant nursing issues. In such a state, the nurses found the clinical librarian presence in the ward as enhancing the awareness of and the use of evidence-based practice. Three themes emerged from the analysis with the librarians. They felt as outsiders, had new knowledge and acquired a new role as ward-based clinical librarians. CONCLUSIONS: Facilitation is needed if nurses' evidence-based practice is going to increase. The combined use of nurses and clinical librarians' knowledge and skills can be optimised. To achieve this, nurses' skills in consuming and implementing evidence ought to be strengthened. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The fusion of the information and knowledge management skill of the ward-based clinical librarian and the clinical expertise of the nurses can be of value. With such a collaborative model, nurse and ward-based clinical librarian might join forces to increase the use of evidence-based practice.

Young people, pornography, and sexuality: sources and attitudes.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of and attitudes among young people toward pornography and their sources of information about sexuality. Eight hundred and seventy-six young people ages 15-25 years (555 females and 321 males) who visited a youth center in Sweden for a period of 1 year answered a questionnaire about their use of pornography, their attitudes toward pornography, and sources of information about sexuality. Although most had seen pornographic movies, the youngest boys reported viewing the most pornography. The male participants reported that the most common reason they viewed pornography was to get aroused and to masturbate, whereas the female participants stated that they viewed pornography out of curiosity. The most frequent source of information about sexuality was peers. These results illustrate the importance of sex education to give factual information about sexuality and to counteract the messages about sexuality presented in pornography.