Clinical guidelines: a study of staff awareness of Internet resources

Clinical guidelines (CGs) are widely used in community hospitals. The advantages and limitations of CGs are well understood by nurses and therapists. There are effective human dissemination routes using local training of link nurses and cascade learning. Practice development nurses are a useful resource for locating CGs. However there is a universal lack of awareness of Internet based national CGs in this sample of ward nurses and therapists. Access to these national CGs via the Internet would make local adaptation of CGs more effective and efficient. Access to Internet PCs on the wards backed up with staff training was recommended, and is ongoing.