Catherine Ebenezer

Nurse-delivered collaborative care for depression and long-term physical conditions: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND Depression will be the second largest cause of disease burden by 2020. It is commonly associated with long term physical health conditions resulting in worsened clinical outcome and increased costs. Nurses would appear ideally placed to facilitate depression management in those people with long term health problems within health care clinics. This article reviews the evidence to support such a clinical approach. METHOD A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised trials of nurse led management of depression in patients with long term health problems. Databases were searched between December 2011 and May 2012, data were extracted and analysed using Comprehensive Meta Analysis software. Subgroup analysis and meta-regression were used to explore the impact of study level moderators of effect. RESULTS Nurse delivered collaborative care was compared to usual care in 14 studies including 4440 participants. The mean effect size at follow-up was d=0.43 95% CI 0.34 to 0.52 p<0.001 NNT 4.23, representing a moderate impact on depression severity. Results were consistent across studies and maintained at longer term follow up. LIMITATIONS Data were only available on depression outcomes and with most studies being USA based generalizability is somewhat limited. To date only one study reported cost effectiveness outcomes. CONCLUSIONS Based upon the research literature nurse led depression management provides effective treatment across a range of long term health conditions. Nurses are ideally placed to deliver such interventions and further research is required to examine the cost utility of the approach and its durability outside of the USA.

Trends in integrated library systems

Provides an overview of the present state of development of integrated library systems and identifies, describes and evaluates significant trends in the industry in relation to their context within the overall development of library services. Notes that the library systems market, and developments in library systems, are driven by Internet trends and by the software Industry rather than by the library and information community and that they are subject to global economic imperatives.

Nurses’ and midwives’ information behaviour: a review of literature from 1998 to 2014

Purpose – This paper aims to provide an overview of recent literature on nurses’ and midwives’ information behaviour, with a particular focus on sources used and barriers encountered. Design/methodology/approach – Comprehensive searching was undertaken and an analysis of the appropriate literature carried out. Findings – Practitioners within the nursing profession have a marked preference for interactive and human sources of information. They habitually associate information seeking with professional development rather than with clinical practice. Lack of time is the most frequently reported problem; also, they frequently lack confidence in searching and appraising the professional literature and in applying research in practice. Cultural factors may inhibit information seeking in the workplace, and access to appropriate information technology may be limited. Practical implications – As a group, nurses and midwives present significant challenges to health library and information professionals seeking to d...