Health sciences librarians' instructional engagement in continuing education: a scoping review.

Objective: Healthcare professionals (HCPs) have an ongoing need for continuing education (CE) while Health Science Librarians (HSLs), accustomed to supporting a range of learning needs in a variety of contexts, are well situated to provide CE that addresses information retrieval, literacy, management, and more. To better understand the extent of HSL delivered CE activities, we undertook a scoping review to determine how HSLs instruct practicing HCPs in support of their CE. Methods: We searched for published and unpublished literature sources including PubMed (NCBI), Embase (Elsevier); Dissertations and Theses Global (ProQuest); CINAHL (EBSCO); Library, Information Science and Technology Abstracts (EBSCO); and Library Literature and Information Science Full Text (EBSCO). To identify unpublished sources, we searched the internet using Google and contacted two health sciences library listservs. We also performed backwards and forwards searching of our included sources. Results: Our database searches yielded 4842 sources, and we retrieved an additional 579 sources through supplementary retrieval methods. After duplicate removal and screening, we included 105 sources in this review. The included sources were published between 1970 to 2021 and covered a range of topics such as searching methods and tools, critical appraisal, and many more. Those related to evidence-based practice (EBP) appeared around 2001 and bibliometrics and bioinformatics arose after 2016. Publications depicting HSLs teaching CE most commonly occurred in academic settings. The most common population taught was nurses, followed by physicians. Most sources did not report using an information literacy framework or instructional design model, undertaking needs assessments, or reporting formal objectives or assessment. Conclusion: While HSLs are active supporters of EBP, we need to apply the same principles to our own professional practice. Formal structure of programming and program assessment combined with clear, detailed reporting can help to build a more robust evidence base to support future CE provision.

Paramedic supportive discharge programmes to improve health system efficiency and patient outcomes: a scoping review protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Discharging older adults with frailty home from the emergency department (ED) poses unique challenges due to multiple interacting physical and social problems. Paramedic supportive discharge services help overcome these challenges by adding in-home assessment and/or interventions. Our objective is to describe existing paramedic programmes designed to support discharge from the ED or hospital to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions. A comprehensive description of paramedic supportive discharge services will be conducted by mapping the literature to describe: (1) why such programmes are needed; (2) who is being targeted, making referrals and delivering the services and (3) what assessments and interventions are offered. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will include studies that focus on expanded paramedic roles (community paramedicine) and extended scope postdischarge from the ED or hospital. All study designs will be included with no limit by language. We will include peer-reviewed articles and preprints and a targeted search of grey literature from January 2000 to June 2022. The proposed scoping review will be conducted in accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology. We will use a search strategy designed by a health science librarian to search MEDLINE All (Ovid), CINAHL Full Text (EBSCO), Embase (Elsevier) and Scopus (Elsevier) for eligible studies from 2000 to present. Two independent reviewers will conduct screening and full-text review. Data extraction will be conducted by one reviewer and verified by another. We will report our findings descriptively by charting trends in the research. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Research ethics review is not required as this is a scoping review comprised published studies. The results of this research will be published in a manuscript and presented at national and international geriatric and emergency medicine conferences. This research will inform future implementation studies on community paramedic supportive discharge services. REGISTRATION: This scoping review protocol was registered in Open Science Framework and can be found here: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/X52P7.

Medical Intervention Alone vs Surgical Drainage for Treatment of Peritonsillar Abscess: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Peritonsillar abscesses (PTAs) are common emergency consultations for otolaryngologists. Medical management alone may offer satisfactory treatment without the risk associated with surgical drainage. Therefore, we performed a systematic review of medical treatment alone compared to surgical drainage for the treatment of PTA. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane CENTRAL, and ClinicalTrials.gov. REVIEW METHODS: Studies comparing the outcomes of medically treated to surgically treated patients were included. Risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. All screening and data extraction were completed by 2 independent reviewers. Meta-analysis was performed using a random-effects model. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were performed. RESULTS: Ten cohort studies and 2 randomized studies were included (ntotal = 33,468). Study quality was low, with only 1 study providing multivariable analysis. The combined rate of treatment failure in patients initially treated with medical management alone was 5.7% compared to 5.5% in the surgical group. There was no statistically significant difference in the odds of treatment failure between interventions through random-effects meta-analysis (odds ratio [OR], 1.10; 95% CI, 0.53-2.26; I 2 = 41%; P = .13). Subgroup analysis excluding pediatric-specific studies revealed similar odds of treatment failure when initially managed with medical intervention (OR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.56-1.50; P = .39; I 2 = 0%). CONCLUSION: Meta-analysis of available studies demonstrated no difference in odds of treatment failure for patients with PTA managed through medical intervention alone compared to surgical intervention. These findings should be interpreted with caution due to high probability of bias and overall low quality of studies.