Free MedicineNet and PubMed Health Essay Sample

The nursing discipline requires a planner and a visionary since it is one of the most challenging fields. In nursing, one is required to be compassionate and inclined to helping needy people in general and the patients in particular. The books and classwork associated with nursing are not always an attractive way of learning about the discipline. Another prevalent issue that makes nursing a sensitive and crucial field of work is caring for the mentally ill. There are very many mental illnesses that nurses have to deal with on daily basis, including schizophrenia.

 
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Schizophrenia is characterized by hallucinations, psychotic beliefs, unintelligibility and physical unrest. About 1% of the world's population suffers from schizophrenia. Sources prove that various factors contribute to the development of schizophrenia although there are other unidentified causes that contribute to this condition. Authors have used different avenues to inform people about the prevalence of schizophrenia and among those avenues are magazines, medical journal and online publications. Two such websites that discuss schizophrenia in detail are, MedicineNet and PubMed Health by the US National Center for Biotechnology Information.

This is a consumer health website created and maintained by a division of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), hence the domain name www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. After browsing several webpages on PubMed Health website, one cannot fail to learn that the site provides nouveau information and data on diseases and conditions, injuries and drugs, treatment options and healthy living, and takes special focus on relative efficiency research from institutions across the world, including NLM, USA.gov and DHHS. Based on the content and context of articles on the site, it is obvious that nursing students and professionals are among the intended audience. The copyright of the site content is held by A.D.A.M., Inc. This information about the site gives it credit to provide accurate information about such psychological conditions as schizophrenia, hence appealing to its audience.

MedicineNet is created and maintained by a company called WebMD, which is one of the leading providers of nursing information and data services. The information on WebMD's MedicineNet serves several people in the health sector, including consumers and medical doctors, among other healthcare professionals, proprietors and health plans. Relevant to this assignment, MedicineNet makes it easier for nursing professionals and scholars to access clinical allusion sources, stay apace of the most current clinical information, learn about novel and advanced treatment options, earn lasting medical education credits and communicate with peers more reliably. By the fact that MedicineNet complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information, the information the site provides about schizophrenia is very likely to be credible, and it is therefore appealing to the audience. While PubMed Health is associated with numerous health organizations and government agencies, HONcode certification makes the information on MedicineNet more reliable and appealing.

The PubMed Health article on schizophrenia draws on two external sources to present relatively concise but comprehensive information and data that is relevant to the nursing field. PubMed Health uses Leucht S, Corves C, Arbter D, Engel RR, Li C, Davis JM's (2008) "Second-Generation Versus First-Generation Antipsychotic Drugs For Schizophrenia: A Meta-Analysis" and Freudenreich O, Weiss AP, Goff DC's (2008) "Psychosis and schizophrenia", to support the main issues on the publication. The PubMed Health's article looks at schizophrenia from various aspects that would be very appealing to the nursing audience: the condition's definition, causes, incidence, risk factors, symptoms, signs and tests, medications, support programs and therapies, prognosis, complications, and prevention. Unlike MedicineNet that covers the topic in 11 pages, PubMed Health sums it up in only one page, making it more appealing to the nursing professional or student who wants quick facts in relation to time confinement. Although MedicineNet's 11 pages can be assumed to provide more detailed and comprehensive content, PubMed Health's one page is comparatively informative.

Unlike PubMed Health that uses two external sources, MedicineNet uses its own Medical Author-Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, MD- and Medical Editor- Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD-to create an article about schizophrenia. Dryden-Edwards and Stöppler write an 11-page Question-Answer article about schizophrenia, which attempts to comprehensively describe and explain various aspects. Remarkably, MedicineNet's definition of schizophrenia is much elaborate and wide-ranging as compared to PubMed Health's. MedicineNet's Dryden-Edwards and Stöppler touch on all the aspects written in the PubMed Health in addition to giving the condition's different types, history, in children, current research, highly susceptible people, and connection with substance use. Besides, the articles provides links to where a reader can get more information or get involved in containing this serious medical condition. The MedicineNet websites provides much more information-it can be used almost independently to get sufficient knowledge about schizophrenia.

Both PubMed Health and MedicineNet are the last time that the PubMed Health editors reviewed the article on schizophrenia was on February 7, 2010, while HONcode verified MedicineNet's content in December 2009. Even from the information derived from the two websites about common subsections indicate that both sites are current given that they contain similar information. Since the two articles on the two sites were published or reviewed within the past two years, they can be said to be current and thence, the information reliable. However, PubMed Health would be more reliable in terms of currency because it indicates the exact date when the article was reviewed while MedicineNet gives a duration range.

For someone looking for information about schizophrenia, the two sources are equally informative, appealing and important-they give a good coverage of the basic aspects of schizophrenia, including definitions, causes, incidences, risk factors, symptoms, signs and tests, medications, support programs and therapies, prognosis, complications, and prevention. However, MedicineNet goes more steps ahead to cover more areas such as history, preference, and the condition's responsible management. The two sources use unique media to appeal to the audience differently. For instance, PubMed Health associates itself with U.S. National Library of Medicine among other four very credible healthcare entities while MedicineNet is certified by HONcode standard for trustworthy. However, to reach more people, MedicineNet uses WebMD print magazine, which can be read even with nursing professionals without Internet connection.

Both MedicineNet and PubMed Health are interesting to read and use averagely easy language. The breaking down of the topic into subsections in both sources enhances distinction, understanding and retention of the learned information. However, someone starting to read scientific articles may MedicineNet to PubMed Health since the former gives deeper explanations and more illustrations that the latter. The two sources are not only free of careless errors, misspelled words, and poor grammar, but also insightful and informative. Unless based on a few differences already highlighted, both sources are recommended because they are current, credible, accurate, and provide facts by drawing from external articles written by area experts.

 

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