“We call the workshop we offer to practitioners ‘How to find the best evidence in 5 minutes or less’,” laughs Deborah Collette, the Research and Evaluation Coordinator for Nursing at Northern Health Authority (NH). “Of course, finding good information often takes much longer than that.”

During this workshop and in one-on-one interactions with staff, Collette and her colleagues in the NH Research and Evaluation Program work with practitioners to educate and support the use of evidence-based decision making, to facilitate knowledge translation, and to assist in quality assurance projects. “There are a lot of staff out there who want to engage in evidence based practice but don’t know where to start,” Collette explains. “I’m here to teach them those essential skills and support them.”

Collette herself knows how valuable having access to up to date health research through e-HLbc is to practitioners since prior to joining the Research and Evaluation Department, Collette was a public health nurse with the Children and Families Team in Prince George.

Collette recalls one instance where a team of dietitians in NH’s Renal Unit were seeking more information on an off label drug they wanted to use in to treat a patient suffering from an end stage renal disease. “There were no randomized controlled trials, so we worked together looking through databases and journals to identify information on the drug.” Using e-HLbc resources the team of dietitians located critical information to help them identify a treatment regimen. Not stopping there, they leveraged their research into a poster. They’ll also be presenting their work at a conference.

Having access to licensed information through e-HLbc makes it possible for staff like these at NH to take available research, implement findings in their practice setting, and create new exciting research to help other practitioners in the province and around the world.  “Research like that provided by e-HLbc,” Collette says, “Where would we be without it?”

Deborah Collette BScN RN
Research and Evaluation Coordinator, Nursing
Northern Health Authority