A literature review on the information needs of urology nurses Introduction and Objectives Librarians need to know the information needs of their client group so that they can “plan and deliver appropriate information and educational services” (Spiller, 2000, p.197). gy Eli Bastin: Bodleian Health Care Libraries services Urology nursing is a specialty which involves preventative care, screening, check-ups, and understanding therapeutic options (http://tinyurl.com/2w9fb4r). Conditions seen by urology nurses include erectile dysfunction, incontinence, urinary tract infections, loin pain and stones (http://tinyurl.com/34h7xpc). The aim of this literature review was to find out what the information needs of urology nurses are; and how best an outreach librarian can meet those needs.

1. A literature review on the information needs of
urology nurses
gy
Eli Bastin: Bodleian Health Care Libraries
Introduction and Objectives
Librarians need to know the information needs of their client group so that they can “plan and deliver
appropriate information and educational services” (Spiller, 2000, p.197).
services
Urology nursing is a specialty which involves preventative care, screening, check-ups, and understanding
therapeutic options (http://tinyurl.com/2w9fb4r). Conditions seen by urology nurses include erectile
dysfunction, incontinence, urinary tract infections, loin pain and stones (http://tinyurl.com/34h7xpc).
The aim of this literature review was to find out what the information needs of urology nurses are; and how
best an outreach librarian can meet those needs
needs.
Methods of data collection
Five medical and library science databases (Medline, Embase, BNI, Cinahl and Library and Information
Science Abstracts) were searched for literature on urology, nursing, and information needs or education or
research. After deduplication, 225 abstracts were sifted for relevance.
Results
Twenty articles, published between 1978 and 2009, were reviewed in full text. Of these, eight articles
provided continuing education activities for urology nurses on topics such as prostatitis (Lovejoy, 2001),
male infertility (Graf, 2004), urinary calculi (Yancey, 2005), and bladder training (Lajiness et al., 2007). Five
articles addressed the issue of educating and training nurses to specialize in the care of urology patients,
the
th most recent of which used a D l hi study t d t
t t f hi h d Delphi t d to determine th procedure competencies and j b f
i the d t i d job functions
ti
these nurses specialists require, such as removing sutures/staples and bladder irrigation (Ream et al.,
2009).
The other articles included a case study to identify the education and training needs of nurses in a pilot
patient-focused care hospital in the UK (Jenner, 1998), and two articles about educating urology nurses to
be aware of bias in journal articles and to think critically about what they learn (Russell, 2006), and to be
competent when working with patients of different cultures (Broome and McGuinness, 2007).
The results of an experiment by Gettman et al. (2008) demonstrate that communication skills are useful for
urology. The article by Kleier (2009) and the editorial by Karlowicz (2006) argue in turn that nurses provide
vital health information and education to patients.
None of the articles directly address the issue of urology nurses’ information needs.
Conclusion
The literature suggests that urology nurses have training needs such as the ability to think and read critically.
This is a skill that an outreach librarian can help them to develop. There is a gap in the research literature for
a good-quality study into the specific information needs of urology nurses in the UK.
Contact: References
Contact the author for a full reference list.
eli.bastin@bodleian.ox.ac.uk j

2. References
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