Here are some additional resources that nurses may find useful for their competency maintenance and professional development.

Anxiety and Depression

The Australian National University (ANU) has a couple of free, self-help websites designed to manage anxiety and depression. Although these sites are designed more for consumer use, they nevertheless can provide useful information and strategies for the nurse practitioner.

• E-couch provides evidence-based information about emotional problems (including depression and anxiety disorders) and teaches strategies that helps prevent problems and increases understanding of self.  


• The MoodGYM Training Program – delivering cognitive behaviour therapy for preventing depression. 

Food and Nutrition 

Health Canada's current information on food and nutrition including the Food Guide and also links to publications, resources for education and for client / patient handouts.

Food and Nutrition Information Center (FNIC) from the National Agricultural Library for USDA, provides a directory to credible, accurate, and practical resources for nutrition and health professionals, educators and government personnel.

The American Dietetic Association provides timely and objective food and nutrition information for consumers, health professionals and ADA members. The website has disease-specific information and evaluation, printable patient handouts, calculators that compute BMI/weight range, customization tools and much more.
 

Hypertension 

The Canadian Hypertension Education Program (CHEP) is an innovative knowledge translation program designed to reduce the disease burden of the leading risk for death in Canada. CHEP provides practical, trustworthy, up-to-date knowledge to health care professionals. 

The American Society of Hypertension, Inc. (ASH) is the largest US professional organization of scientific investigators and health care professionals committed to eliminating hypertension and its consequences. The Society serves as a scientific forum that bridges current hypertension research with effective clinical treatment strategies for patients. 

Infection Prevention and Control  

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website contains a wealth of information, news and tools related to this topic. 

The Community and Hospital Infection Control Association (CHICA - Canada) is a national, multi-disciplinary, voluntary association of Infection Control Professionals (ICPs) dedicated to the health of Canadians by promoting excellence in the practice of infection prevention and control. The CHICA website has many useful resources and links on this topic.

Alberta Health Services has on its website some very good information about its Infection Prevention & Control Program including a number of  excellent videos.

Safe Medication Practices

The Institute of Safe Medication Practices – www.ismp.org – has a number of excellent resources on safe medication practices. These include:

• High Alert Medications List – High-alert medications are drugs that bear a heightened risk of causing significant patient harm when they are used in error.
• Confused Drug Name List – This list contains look-alike and sound-alike drugs that have been involved in medication errors.
• Error-Prone Abbreviations List – These are abbreviations, symbols and dose designations that have been reported to be frequently misinterpreted and involved in harmful medication errors.
• "Do Not Crush" Medications List – A list of oral dosage forms that should not be crushed and some of the risks in doing so.
• FDA Patient Safety News Videos – These are a series of medication-related patient safety videos provided in co-operation with ISMP.

The College of Nursing at South Dakota State University has a useful Medication Module that includes lists of drugs and antibiotics that require frequent monitoring, and drugs that require an antidote.

The U.S. National Library of Medicine has comprehensive information on prescription drugs, supplements and herbal remedies.

Information on Canadian prescription drugs is available through MediResource.

RxList – the Internet Drug Index for prescription drugs and medications. This website contains information on prescription drugs, pill identifier, supplements, diseases and conditions and a drug medical dictionary.