STAY INFORMED - INFORMATIONAL RESOURCES FOR THE COMMUNITY-HEALTH NURSE

Ever since the days of Lillian Wald, the community health nurse has ne eded to be a jack-of-all-trades in providing nursing care across the l ifespan and to aggregates at risk. The American Nurses Association's C ode for Nurses (1985) recommends all nurses stay informed and current in their specialty. Susan Weaver (1993) stated in her article on infor mation literacy ''Information...is everywhere, and those who know how to obtain, evaluate and apply it will be empowered to be the problem s olvers of the future.'' For the community health nurse this can be a r eal challenge. What does the nurse need to know and where does the nur se go to find this information? Nurses can begin by being familiar wit h professional standards of practice and staying abreast of current li terature in the field.