For this discussion, I selected a peer-reviewed journal article by Poghosyan et al., (2017) titled Nurse Practitioners as Primary Care Providers with their Own Patient Panels and Organizational Structures: A Cross-Sectional Study. The article was of particular interest to me as it pertains to my practice area as a future Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP).  It identifies the challenges likely to be faced in today’s rapidly transforming healthcare system and the impact of an overall shortage in primary care physicians. At the core of this study are suggestions on how best to improve the primary care capacity of FNPs operating in the United States to bolster the continuous provision of care. 

 My article search was conducted on EBSCOhost; a leading online repository for peer-reviewed journal articles. The database’s reputation as an intuitive research platform informed by detailed resources was a major reason that informed my choice. However, one of the main difficulties experienced during this endeavor encompassed authentication problems. After logging in, starting my search, and skimming through the result, I was routinely taken off-site by the server for re-authentication as standard procedure. This was problematic and cumbersome since it meant that I had to conduct my search again from scratch and with a significant impact on my workflow. Furthermore, I had to make a considerable amount of clicks in the search engine since the results returned numerous articles; with others being unrelated to my initial search with significant impact on my end-user experience. I also experienced great difficulty viewing the articles with Google Chrome and had to switch to Safari. After troubleshooting, I soon realized that the problem was as a direct consequence of an inherent incompatibility between the EBCOhost database and the Chrome PDF viewer plugin.

 Moreover, the EBCOhost database would also be useful to my colleagues. It is based on a responsive and user-friendly design which allows users to conduct searches easily while following a highly systematized path. The website is also well-maintained by a dedicated technical support team, always ready to resolve user concerns. Furthermore, my user experience was improved by the fact that the website also provided instructional information to guide users in configuring the initial search. This optimal experience enabled me to search the database with limited challenges and was finally able to pinpoint the most suitable resource for this particular assignment. Additionally, the website also provided full-text access to the article resources and consistently worked to ensure that impediments to accessing the resources were removed.  A functional link to full-text access was always available which improved my experience searching for the most reliable sources in an exclusive access database. 

 I would also recommend EBCOhost to my colleagues. It is accessible and contains high-quality peer-reviewed journal articles often supported by academics globally. The information contained in the website is also reliable since it stems from accredited experts. Search results are also unfiltered and also feature a brief article summary to inform user’s choice in the long run. Furthermore, the website also contains a dedicated citation generator which makes it possible for users to catalogue resources to suit individual preferences. With EBCOhost, I was eventually able to narrow down my results and identify my area of interest without having to worry about distractions by pop-up ads.

References

Poghosyan, L., Liu, J., & Norful, A. A. (2017). Nurse practitioners as primary care providers with their own patient panels and organizational structures: A cross-sectional study. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 74, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2017.05.004