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Nursing: UpToDate & Point of care

Point of Care

Below are some tools to support nursing practice at the point of care. These tools are regularly updated with information from the latest research, reviews, and guidelines.

UpToDate

Up-to-Date navigation with Patient Education, Topics by Specialty, Calculators, and Drug Interactions highlighted.

UpToDate provides:

A. Patient Education - Frequently asked questions and information on conditions and treatments that you can print and give to patients in English or Spanish. 

B. Topics - Large topic coverage, over 11600 Topic Reviews across 25 Specialties. These articles are written by clinical experts, reviewed by peers, cite high-quality evidence, and are updated frequently.

Search for a health topic, or go to Content > Browse by Specialty. 

C. Calculators - Advanced and specialized conversion and treatment calculators. 

D. Drug Interactions - Lexicomp drug interactions tool. Add multiple drug names to analyze how they might interact with each other. 

Training:

**You do not need to create a user account to search UpToDate, only if you want to download the App.

Note: You will be asked to confirm your BCIT affiliation every 90 days.  To re-authenticate your BCIT affiliation, go to UpToDate from a desktop and log-in to your personal account.

4 steps to download the UpToDate app for free:

  1. Connect to UpToDate through the Library web site. This initial step is critical for UpToDate to link your account with access granted through BCIT. 
  2. Click 'Log In/Register' link in top right corner to register a personal account with UpToDate. 
  3. Complete all fields and create an UpToDate username & password.
  4. Download the *Free* UpToDate app onto your device from your app store. It is available for both iOS® and Android™ devices.
    • Open the UpToDate App and log in using your personal account information.

Available on the App Store     Available on Google Play     QR code to download UpToDate mobile app

UpToDate does not have a built-in citation generator. You may use the following template for citing articles found using this database:

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year of last update). Title of article. UpToDate. Retrieved Month Day, Year, from https://www-uptodate-com/contents/xxxx

APA 7th edition provides an example for citing articles in UpToDate.

The article references are covered in the Publication Manual Section 10.1 and the Concise Guide Section 10.1

Examples:

Bordeaux, B., & Lieberman, H. R. (2020). Benefits and risks of caffeine and caffeinated beverages. UpToDate. Retrieved February 26, 2020, from https://www.uptodate.com/contents/benefits-and-risks-of-caffeine-and-caffeinated-beverages

  • Parenthetical citation: (Bordeaux & Lieberman, 2020)
  • Narrative citation: Bordeaux and Lieberman (2020)

Graber, E. (2022). Patient education: Acne (Beyond the basics). UpToDate. Retrieved May 31, 2023, from https://www.uptodate.com/contents/acne-beyond-the-basics

  • In-text Citation (Paraphrase): (Graber, 2022).

Brosch, J. R., & Farlow, M. R. (2018). Early-onset dementia in adults. UpToDate. Retrieved July 22, 2020, from https://www-uptodate-com/contents/early-onset-dementia-in-adults

  • Parenthetical citation: (Brosch & Farlow, 2020) 
Caughey, A. B. (2023). Gestational diabetes mellitus: Obstetric issues and management. UpToDate. Retrieved April 8, 2024, from https://www.uptodate.com/contents/gestational-diabetes-mellitus-obstetric-issues-and-management
  • How to cite this work in-text:
  • Parenthetical: (Caughey, 2023)
  • Narrative: Caughey (2023)
  • Direct quote: (Caughey, 2023, Consequences of GDM section, para. 1)

Notes:

  • Use the year of last update as the year element; 
  • Only include Retrieved from date in your reference list if the source you are using is designed to change regularly (e.g. UpToDate, Facebook, Twitter, online dictionary or encyclopedia entry).  

 

UpToDate Drug Interactions entry.

Note:

  • when there is no individual as author, use organization name.
  • specific drug interaction entries do not have unique urls, so include the general one to access.
  • Include date of retrieval because content is designed to change & versions of the page are not archived.

UpToDate. (2025). Eliquis: Drug interactions. UpToDate. Retrieved January 3, 2025, from https://www.uptodate.com/drug-interactions/#di-analyze

  • How to cite this work in-text:
  • Parenthetical: (UpToDate, 2025)
  • Narrative: UpToDate (2025)
  • Direct quote: (UpToDate, 2025, Anticoagulants / Apixaban section, para. 3)

UpToDate Policies and Legal Notices

Choosing Wisely

Choosing Wisely is a free point of care tool meant to further discussion between patients and clinicians on what care, tests, or procedures are best supported by evidence.

 

Patient Education