Reference Resource Usage Among Nurse Anesthetists: A Survey

The National Board of Certification and Recertification for Nurse Anesthetists (NBCRNA) references all questions on its examinations. Because examination questions should be clinically applicable, the NBCRNA is interested in knowing what reference resources clinicians rely on in their work, so that questions can be based on those or similar resources. In October 2016, the NBCRNA sent an email blast for a survey on reference usage to a weighted random selection of 14,993 student and Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists from its database. The final response rate to the survey was 21.0% (3,155). Important findings included a greater percentage acknowledging usage of web-based references (90.7%, 95% CI = 89.6%-91.8%) than of textbooks (61.4%, 95% CI =59.7%-63.1%) or journals (62.3%, 95% CI = 60.5%-64.1%), as well as more frequent reported usage of web-based resources than textbooks. The survey also queried overall usage of journals, handbooks, and mobile apps, and of specific subcategories and titles. Characteristics of references that respondents reported as very important included easily accessible, portable, and reputable. Most findings indicated that practicing nurse anesthetists prefer webbased resources to printed textbooks or journals. With some exceptions, that preference held true across age groups and job duties.