Stay informed: Informational resources for the community health nurse

Ever since the days of Lillian Wald, the community health nurse has needed to be a jack-of-all-trades in providing nursing care across the lifespan and to aggregates at risk. The American Nurses Association's Code for Nurses (1985) recommends all nurses stay informed and current in their specialty. Susan Weaver (1993) stated in her article on information literacy ''Information...is everywhere, and those who know how to obtain, evaluate and apply it will be empowered to be the problem solvers of the future.'' For the community health nurse this can be a real challenge. What does the nurse need to know and where does the nurse go to find this information? Nurses can begin by being familiar with professional standards of practice and staying abreast of current literature in the field.