Noun Project - Access to Symbols & Icons

The Noun Project (http://www.thenounproject.com/) provides free (no fee) access to symbols & icons using the Creative Commons license. You can search by category:

• Animals
• Food & Beverage
• Healthcare & Wellness
• People
• Safety & Warnings
• Science & Math
• Sports & Recreation
• Tech & Communication
• Transportation
• Travel & Wayfinding
• Weather & Nature

The site works with Safari, Opera, Chrome, but not Internet Explorer. It is a site worth exploring. 

Humanitarian Efforts in the Light of Crisis

My thoughts and prayers go to all of the people affected by the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear plant malfunctions in Japan!   I am impressed with the humanitarian responses by Google and Skype.  Google has a crisis response website at http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/japanquake2011.html  It includes amazing resources ranging from how to make a donation, how to find people, and the planned blackout times.  Skype (http://www.skype.com/) is offering free wifi access for Japan using Skype Access.  While it will take years for the areas that were hardest hit to recover, hopefully, the acts of kindness will help heal some of the pain and suffering of individuals who were impacted from the tragedy.

Wikis for Educational Purposes

Wikis continue to be popular in the educational setting.  A couple of weeks ago I received an email noting that Wikispaces is now available for higher education without advertising.  Of course, Wikispaces has had that feature for K-12 for a long time.  I signed up and received approval about 24 hours later. 
There are other wiki alternatives available.  This morning I found PBWorks.  It is available free (just one site) for non-commercial uses.  It allows up to 100 users with 2 GB storage.  I did not have to apply for use in higher education.  It looks like a great alternative for the educational setting. 

Wordle and Cloud Tags

I am doing a review of papers for a conference and ran across a new app that allows the user to create tags - Wordle (http://www.wordle.net/).  What I especially like is that the site allows the user to "own" the image that is created with the words.  The app is worth exploring.

PowerPoint 2010

I have written about PowerPoint 2010, but just got it installed on my work computers this past week.  I am looking forward to using the video editing features that are built into the program.  I have been slowly learning new video skills to use in planning teaching/learning lessons.  Although I don't use PowerPoint often, it can be effective.  To learn more, go to http://blogs.office.com/b/microsoft-powerpoint/archive/2011/03/03/ready-to-test-your-hollywood-skills-create-impressive-video-presentations-in-powerpoint-video.aspx

Markle Foundation - HIT Report

The Markly Foundation released a report comparing the views on health information technology by physicians and patients.  To view the 9 page report click here

Reducing Catheter Associated Bloodstream Infections

The CDC Vital Signs (http://www.cdc.gov/VitalSigns/HAI/index.htmlpublication ) noted that there was a 58% reduction in bloodstream associated catheter infections from 2001-2009. A detailed report of the progress is available from MMWR at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6008a4.htm?s_cid=mm6008a4_w

Students in the NCLEX prep class read discussed several articles pertinent to care this past week.  One of the articles was "Walk the Walk to Reduce Catheter-Related BloodStream Infections" in The American Nurse (http://www.nursingworld.org/mods/mod492/Bloodstream-Infections.pdf ).  The article detailed the evidence-based procedure for cleansing the port of a central line.  Some of the students noted that the procedure was followed in clinical sites where they were working, but not all.  It all relates back to standards of care issues that we discuss in the Legal and Ethical Nursing class.  As professional nurses, we must stay current with literature and not blindly follow hospital procedures.  Differences should be reported to hospital management. Our patients' lives depend upon us.