| This study investigated the information seeking behavior of nurses working at six hospital sites in Botswana. Seven research questions were explored: (1) What are the work-related information needs of Botswana's hospital nurses? (2) Do hospital nurses in Botswana use all sources and/or providers of information available to fill their work-related information needs? (3) Does the library play a role in the provision of information to meet the needs of hospital nurses related to their most important work activity/situation? (4) Do hospital nurses use the information they receive to make changes in decisions pertaining to their work-related situation(s)? (5) Is the use of information sources and/or providers among hospital nurses independent of demographic variables? (6) Do hospital nurses encounter any barriers when they seek information in connection with their work-related situation(s)? (7) Do hospital nurses perceive a distinct need for improvement in the quality of their access to health information?; To answer these questions, a thirty-item questionnaire and focus groups were used to collect data. The response rate recorded was 53 percent as 180 out of the 340 questionnaires sent out were completed and returned. Of this number, 177 or 52 percent were used to compile data for this study. The focus groups were used among a group of 107 nurses drawn from the six sites that participated in this study.; The findings revealed that information was most often sought in relation to patient care. However, nurses were also interested in using information to resolve management, research, and continuing education issues. Informal information sources were determined to be the most frequently relied on for satisfying information needs that were perceived as urgent. By contrast, libraries were rarely used in part because they were perceived as being not readily available or conveniently accessible.; Frequently, nurses were frustrated in their search for information by factors such as fragmented information systems; lack of knowledge of available information sources; practice demands; and lack of information retrieval skills. Recommendations to promote information access include: development of information systems; information retrieval education; and national information policies to facilitate better organization of the indigenous health information. |
