The Worldwide Web: a panacea or a nuisance for nurses?

This report describes the use of the Web in many arenas as new venture e-health companies are being created. There is much controversy over whether these companies provide appropriate access to health care information. There also are many debates on how these e-health companies alter the patient-provider relationship. Nurses are frontline caregivers who must understand this new market and the shift in how information is increasingly available to the patient. This information transference change is more apparent daily. How nurses handle this paradigm shift and their attitude toward these changes will result in them viewing the web as a panacea or a nuisance in their practice.