Search

Purpose – This study aimed to acquire knowledge about Singapore secondary school (ages 13 to 16 years old) students' skills in searching, evaluating and using information. Design/methodology/approach – A comprehensive instrument encompassing the basic information literacy (IL) skills, as well as a new dimension of ethical usage of information and collaborative information seeking was used for data collection. From August to November 2010, a total of eight schools comprising 3,164 students participated in this study. Findings – It was a matter of concern that various kinds of libraries, including school libraries, were found to be under-utilized. From the test that was administered to assess the IL skills of students, the results were found to be generally unsatisfactory as each of the major categories of IL skills recorded a score that is below 50 (out of a maximum of 100) except for “task definition”. For skills related to “information seeking strategies”, “location & access” and “information use”, the types of schools, academic streams of study, and students' family background seemed to have significant influences. Originality/value – This study is the first large-scale survey conducted in Singapore that sought to test the IL skills of secondary school students. The findings are useful in assessing the current effectiveness of IL integration, and the need for a more planned approach towards IL competency training within the school curriculum in Singapore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The success of tourism firms relies heavily on their ability to adapt to the changing external environments. Environmental scanning, as the acquisition and use of information about external events and trends, has received greater attention in the tourism management literature. This study investigated the environmental scanning initiatives of travel agent companies in Singapore through a questionnaire survey. In total, 42 completed forms were returned from 319 invited firms. The findings discovered a positive relationship between the scanning frequency and the perceived strategic uncertainty of task environment. It was also found that human information sources were used most frequently for collecting environmental information due to their highest reliability, while electronic sources were under-utilized probably due to lack of computer-based information system and awareness toward the importance of online information. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: A study was conducted at Singapore's National University Hospital to elicit registered nurses' attitudes, knowledge, barriers, facilitating factors, education, and training regarding evidence-based practice. Methods: A 13-question survey that was administered to all registered nurses yielded 1,114 (75.4%) usable returns for analysis. Results: Findings showed that Singapore nurses had a positive and supportive attitude toward evidence-based practice but lacked the competence and knowledge to conduct it. Time constraints were identified as the main barrier to implementing evidence-based practice. There is a need for proper training, mentoring by senior nurses, and adequate time for evidence-based practice. Nurses with a higher level of nursing education who indicated the greatest perceived barriers tended to have less difficulty applying evidence-based practice but identified a need for more training in information skills. Conclusion: Evidence-based practice is still in its infancy in Singapore compared with hospitals in other developed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients in Singapore with chronic conditions such as diabetes are encouraged to participate in patient-professional partnership activities because of rising health care costs and a shortage of infrastructure and human resources. This study explores the self-care and health information seeking behaviors of diabetic patients in Singapore, as well as factors related to health and information carriers that might influence those behaviors. A pilot-tested online survey was developed based on the Comprehensive Model of Information Seeking (CMIS) and notified to the members of the Diabetic Society of Singapore (DSS) through their newsletter in January 2016. In total, 60 usable responses from the DSS members were collected. The survey revealed that more than 30% of the patients did not strictly follow doctors' instructions to regularly exercise, self-monitor blood sugar, and pay attention to type of food prepared at home. However, it was found that the majority of them had consciously limited their sugar intake. It was also revealed that respondents' most frequently used sources of health information were authoritative sources such as doctors/nurses and pamphlets/leaflets from hospitals/clinics. Understandably, respondents experiencing less distress caused by diabetes tended to report better health status, less worries, and stronger beliefs in the efficacy of their methods for diabetes control.

Increased demand for medical or healthcare services has meant that nurses are to take on a more proactive and independent role intending to patients, providing basic treatment and deciding relevant clinical practice. This, in turn, translates into the need for nurses to be able to translate research and evidence into their practice more efficiently and effectively. Hence, competencies in looking for, evaluating, synthesizing and applying documented information or evidence-based practice becomes crucial. This article presents a quantitative study that involved more than 300 nurses from a large government hospital in Singapore. A self-reporting questionnaire was developed to collect data pertaining to evidence-based practice and activities, including those that demonstrate information literacy competencies. Results seem to suggest that the nurses preferred to use print and human information sources compared to electronic information sources; were not proactive in looking up research or evidence-based information and, instead, preferred such information to be fed to them; and that they perceived they lacked the ability to evaluate research papers or effectively search electronic information related to nursing or evidence-based practice. It was also found that more than 80% of the nurses have not had any training related to evidence-based practice.

Objective: Evidence-based practice (EBP) provides nurses with a method to use critically appraised and scientifically proven evidence for delivering quality health care to a specific population. The objective of this study was to explore nurses' awareness of, knowledge of, and attitude toward EBP and factors likely to encourage or create barriers to adoption. In addition, information sources used by nurses and their literature searching skills were also investigated., Method: A total of 2,100 copies of the questionnaire were distributed to registered nurses in 2 public hospitals in Singapore, and 1,486 completed forms were returned, resulting in a response rate of 70.8%., Results: More than 64% of the nurses expressed a positive attitude toward EBP. However, they pointed out that due to heavy workload, they cannot keep up to date with new evidence. Regarding self-efficacy of EBP-related abilities, the nurses perceived themselves to possess moderate levels of skills. The nurses also felt that EBP training, time availability, and mentoring by nurses with EBP experience would encourage them to implement EBP. The top three barriers to adopting EBP were lack of time, inability to understand statistical terms, and inadequate understanding of the jargon used in research articles. For literature searching, nurses were using basic search features and less than one-quarter of them were familiar with Boolean and proximity operators., Conclusion: Although nurses showed a positive attitude toward EBP, certain barriers were hindering their smooth adoption. It is, therefore, desirable that hospital management in Southeast Asia, particularly in Singapore, develop a comprehensive strategy for building EBP competencies through proper training. Moreover, hospital libraries should also play an active role in developing adequate information literacy skills among the nurses.