dc.description.abstract | Background As health has direct and indirect bearings upon many other issues like
economy, environment, social progress etc., information literacy in health sector is one of
the very important aspects, which has emerged as an area to be paying attention. Health
information professionals (HIP)s have been playing a vital role in promoting health
information literacy (HIL) with changing dimension in health care sectors. Nurses’ make
up the largest group of health care practitioners who have been practicing in a widest
variety of health care and health related positions. By integrating HIL in nursing
educational curriculum and, creating scopes and opportunities to become more health
information literate, nurses’ can bring sustainable qualitative changes in health care
sector. HIP is one of the key stakeholders to seize the opportunity to play with their roles
in promoting HIL among nurses.
Research aim The research has an aim to figure out the existing roles and newly arisen
roles of HIPs in promoting HIL among nurses from Norwegian perspective through a
systematic way of understanding. The study has also a focus on the changing perspectives
of HIL, or in other sense, the continuum regarding HIL from which the new roles have
been arisen.
Research approach To figure out these roles in relation to the promotion of HIL among
nurses, the study follows deductive research approach where a model underpinned by
Gidden’s Structuration Theory is developed to guide the case study. Two types of
method, i.e. survey and interview, are embedded in the case study design to gather
information from two groups: nurses and HIPs. As the concept of the agency is the
pivotal of the model, the main aim of gathering information is to come up with the
constraints of the agency and possibilities of change that agency enables.
Findings The key findings of the study are presented from two perspectives: the
awareness status of nurses and the role of HIPs. The roles are viewed from five
categories: service provider, administrative/managerial, educator, researcher, and
student/learner where four aspects are embedded in each role i.e. prototype roles, roles
beyond prototype, newly arisen roles, and roles coming from socio-political context.
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Conclusion Then study draws conclusion summing up with findings as per objectives of
the research where each objective fits with the proposed model underpinned by Gidden’s
Structuration Theory. Finally, the study shows the justification of the proposed model
through figuring out different agencies from both domains along with agency’s
constraints and abilities for possible changes in the structuration process. | en_US |