The impact of keeping published nursing journals within clinical settings on nurses' knowledge

Abstract

The aims of this study were: i) to measure the impact of nursing journals on nurses' knowledge ii) to identify advantages and disadvantages of having journals placed within the clinical settings. To achieve these aims a questionnaire was administered to qualified nurses working in the acute wards in the Gozo General Hospital before and after the provision of written information. The results from the pretest and post-test questionnaires were compared. The overall picture given by the results show that there was a positive impact of written information on nurse's knowledge and there was a general agreement among the nurses working in the acute wards of the Gozo General Hospital that having journals within the clinical area would be an asset. Recommendations include: •fostering a culture amongst undergraduate nurses so that they keep up to date with research when they qualify. •more support for further education among qualified staff •more support in applying evidence- based research •an increase in hospital funding for nursing journal subscriptions •improvement of the hospital library •further research