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09/11/2025
profile-icon Carrie Levinson

Wondering where to go for answers to quick clinical nursing questions since Nursing Reference Center Plus is being discontinued? We suggest using Dynamic Health, a database made by nurses, for nurses and allied health professionals. Designed to support evidence-based practice and clinical decision-making, it includes many of the great features of Nursing Reference Center Plus with some new additions. You can see our previous blog post introducing Dynamic Health here (https://libguides.mssm.edu/blog/Dynamic-Health), but in this post, we’ll look more closely at a few of its features.

How to Access Dynamic Health

First, how do you get there? There are a few ways!  

Access Dynamic Health on the Levy Library website under Databases: https://libguides.mssm.edu/dynamichealth; by clicking on the Dynamic Health: Nursing Resources icon on the Mount Sinai launcher, which replaces the Nursing Reference Center Plus icon;

dynamic health icon on mount sinai desktop launcher box

or by going to the Nursing Resources Guide (https://libguides.mssm.edu/nursing):

dynamic health link and description on guide

All of the features discussed below can be found either on the top ribbon or under the Explore Resources section in the middle of the main Dynamic Health page. You can browse the categories or utilize the search bar at the top if you have a specific topic in mind.

Patient Handouts 

Patient handouts have four categories: Diseases & Conditions, Procedures & Tests, Health & Wellness, and Discharge Instructions. If you’d like to browse them, handouts are arranged alphabetically (with a find feature at the top to easily filter down) and are available to print out in English and Spanish. Many have accompanying images. There are two options for saving as a PDF or printing; when choosing the print icon, you can choose which of these sections you’d like to include in the handout if you do not want to include them all.  

Examples of patient handout topics include:

  • Acute Pancreatitis
  • Intubation and Mechanical Ventilation
  • Diabetes and Footcare 
  • How to Care for a Surgical Wound

Skills

dynamic health nursing skills menu

Skills guides have several categories as well: Nursing Skills, Health Profession Skills, Clinical Assistant Skills, Cultural Care Skills, and Patient Instruction Skills. These range from basic to specialty-specific skills, and also include information for allied health professions. A useful feature of these summaries is that they have accompanying checklists, which can be printed out and used for evaluation. When printing, you can choose to select all steps: Preprocedure, Procedure, and Postprocedure Steps, or just one or two.

Examples of skills guides include:

  • Assessing False Labor Braxton Hicks Contractions 
  • Preventing Pressure Injuries in Adults
  • Culturally Sensitive Care for Patients of Cuban Heritage With Mental Health Concerns
  • Educating About Asthma in Pediatric Patients
  • Performing Point-of-Care HbA1c Testing in Ambulatory Care: Clinical Assistant

Cultural Overviews

dynamic health cultural overviews faith and heritage menus

Cultural Overviews provide information on providing care to diverse faith and heritage groups. Guides go into special health considerations, communication dietary practices, decision-making with regard to relationships, and traditional health beliefs and medicines. Related Skills content is also linked on the right side of the page.

Examples of cultural overviews:

  • Amish Faith Overview
  • Buddhist Faith Overview 
  • American Indian and Alaska Native Heritages Overview 
  • Black American Heritage Overview 
  • Indian Heritage Overview

Earning CE Credit  

dynamic health continuing education credit box

Dynamic Health does offer continuing education credits, but in a different way than Nursing Reference Center Plus did (to access your previous credits from Nursing Reference Center Plus, please go to this link: https://ceu.cinahl.com/login). To obtain contact hours in Dynamic Health, register for a personal account (pictured). When you answer a knowledge-based question on the topic and another on the topic’s applicability to your practice, you earn 0.1 contact hours. The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) is the approving credentialing organization for the professional development offered in Dynamic Health.

There are several other categories available through Dynamic Health, ranging from leadership topics to drug monographs from Davis’s Drug Guide for Nurses. You can view an introductory video to Dynamic Health here:  https://www.ebsco.com/resources/dynamic-health-practice and a user guide here: https://connect.ebsco.com/s/article/Dynamic-Health-User-Guide?language=en_US.  

If you’d like to share links from Dynamic Health with other Mount Sinai colleagues, please add this prefix in front of the link you’re sharing so they authenticate on the way into the resource: https://go.openathens.net/redirector/mssm.edu?url=

Questions?  Contact us: RefDesk@mssm.edu 

09/17/2023
profile-icon Carrie Levinson

cover of the sum of us with child jumping off a diving boardChats for Change is an important part of Mount Sinai's dedication to addressing diversity, racism and bias. It is a series of dialogues "built on the notion that in order to respond to racism and be anti-racist we must engage in dialogue, learning, and action." For several upcoming Fall/Winter 2023-24 sessions, Chats for Change is discussing the book The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGee. Several of our library staff have attended previous Chats for Change sessions, and we are committed to supporting learning in these series. When we saw that this book was going to be featured, we acquired an e-copy for the wider Mount Sinai community to read and learn from.

To access this e-book, click on this link, scroll down to "View Online", and click the "Ebook Central Perpetual, DDA, and Subscription Titles" link. You may be prompted to enter your Mount Sinai network ID and password to access it. Please note that due to licensing restrictions, only one user can read or download the e-book at a time.

This book, in print, e-book, and audiobook formats, is also available to request at NYC library branches. Clicking on these links will send you to that respective library's catalog: 

Want more? The Levy Library also has a Special Topics Collection on Race & Society.

Do you know of a book that would be a good addition to this collection? Suggest a purchase here.

09/07/2023
profile-icon Carrie Levinson

cross section of a brain and head with circuitry surrounding itWe've recently launched a guide to Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Learning and Discovery, and within it, a new blog dedicated to AI in teaching and learning. Head on over to https://libguides.mssm.edu/ai/blog to take a look at our recent posts on new literature and happenings in the world of AI, and subscribe to the AI blog to be alerted when we post new entries there!

Have questions about the AI guide or the blog? Feel free to reach out to us at refdesk@mssm.edu.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay.

04/16/2023
profile-icon Katherine Santana

Image is a screenshot of the IACUC and animal welfare resources guide

Image Source: Animal Welfare and IACUC Resources guide

We are excited to announce a new guide to help you locate useful library resources!

The IACUC and Animal Welfare Resources Guide supports Mount Sinai's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) and researchers with information resources about conducting, facilitating and overseeing the use of animals in research. This guide introduces books available through the library on animal research administration and care relevant to IACUC members and applicants. 

If you are a researcher, trainee or staff member involved or learning about the use of animals in research, this guide also walks you through a step by step process of how to conduct an effective search of the literature for alternatives. 

This guide links to the video recording from our recent workshop on how to conduct an alternatives literature search - "Searching and Applying Literature to Improve Animal Welfare and Fulfill IACUC Requirements" which is also on our YouTube channel along with other workshops relevant to the research community. 

We hope this guide is useful to IACUC members, researchers and anyone who is interested in laboratory animal medicine. 

This new addition comes as we continue our efforts to hear and amplify your information needs by delivering resources that are accessible to all. 

To learn more about the guide, please visit the IACUC and Animal Welfare Resources guide

If you have questions or want to schedule a consultation with a librarian for a literature search, please contact us via Ask-A-Librarian.
 

04/18/2022
profile-icon Kerry McKee

April is Stress Awareness Month. Everyone experiences stress from time to time, though our experiences and coping strategies differ. Learning to handle our stress and finding healthy ways to deal with these situations can go a long way in living a healthy and positive life.

 

 

 

Special Topics Collection: Wellness and Mindfulness

This collection of titles available through the library features a variety of reading options based on mindfulness, meditation, and emotional intelligence. 

 

 

 

The Levy Library's Wellness Guide

This guide was created in collaboration with IcahnBeWell, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Student Wellness program. It serves to connect ISMMS community members with wellness related resources such as reading lists, podcasts, apps, and more. 

 

 

 

The Office of Well-Being and Resilience

Mount Sinai's Office of Well-being and Resilience is dedicated to the health and well-being of students, trainees, researchers, and faculty across the health system. The center connects health system communities with resources for spiritual, emotional, physical, professional, and financial well-being.

 

 

 

Center for Stress, Resilience, and Personal Growth

 

Mount Sinai Center for Stress, Resilience, and Personal Growth provides services designed to promote recovery and resilience including resilience workshops, behavioral health treatment, and a mobile app. Additionally, the center studies resilience, traumatic stress, and depression and collaborate with the Depression and Anxiety Center for Discovery and Treatment.

 

 

 

Mount Sinai Calm

Mount Sinai Calm focuses on the importance of self-care to experience calming and healing effects. Each week the team offers yoga, meditation, and other types of live virtual classes. You can also enjoy Mount Sinai Calm videos any time you want through the Calm YouTube Playlist.

 

04/07/2022
profile-icon Kerry McKee

Women's History Month, as an official observance, may have come to an end but the recognition of women's achievements is year-round! Recently in March, the Levy Library team curated the Women in Medicine Special Topics Collection

 

While women have traditionally held caregiver roles within their families, it was not until relatively recently that women began practicing in mainstream modern medicine. Groundbreaking women have pushed forward in the face of gender bias and discrimination to advance the field and to work towards equity in both representation and quality of care. This collection was created to put a spotlight on pioneering women in medicine both past and present, many of whom are responsible for breakthrough contributions and discoveries.

 

 

Explore the full collection in the Research Discovery catalog. 

03/22/2022
profile-icon Kerry McKee

 

In honor of National LGBTQ Health Awareness Week, we want to spotlight the ways in which the Mount Sinai Health System is committed to meeting the needs of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and gender non-binary communities with respect and compassion.


The Levy Library Special Topic Collection: LGBTQIA+

  • The library's LGBTQIA+ collection of print and electronic books covers a range of interests including historical research, LGBTQ parenting and family, mental health, graphic fiction, and more. 

 

 

The Levy Library LGBTQIA+ Resource Guide

  • This librarian-curated guide connects visitors with a variety of organizations and sources geared toward the faceted communities of LGBTQIA+. Resources include local directories, featured video reports, legal resources, books and journals, youth organizations, and more.

 

 

 

Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery

  • The Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery (CTMS) delivers advanced care for transgender and non-binary people. We provide caring, compassionate services to meet your individual needs—including medical care, gender-affirming surgeries, behavioral health services, and other support services.

 

 

Health and Wellness Resources

 

 

LGB/TGNB Health and Training Resources

  • The Office for Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) provides a variety of educational opportunities in LGB/TGNB cultural and clinically competent care for Mount Sinai Health System (MSHS) faculty and staff.
03/15/2022
profile-icon Kerry McKee

In honor of National Nutrition Month, we thought it would be a great idea to round up some of our favorite library resources that support the research and education of nutrition.

 
Databases

Alt- Health Watch

Alt HealthWatch focuses on the perspectives of alternative, complementary, holistic and integrated approaches to health care and wellness. It contains more than 140 international, and often peer-reviewed journals, reports, proceedings and association and consumer newsletters.

Natural Medicines and Supplements Database

Natural Medicines database is the most authoritative resource available on dietary supplements, herbal medicines, and complementary and integrative therapies. This database also contains interactive tools for safety, effectiveness and interactions as well as over 1,400 natural medicine monographs.

FoodData Central (U.S. Department of Agriculture)

FoodData Central is an integrated data system that provides expanded nutrient profile data and links to related agricultural and experimental research.

World Health Organization - Nutrition and Food Safety Department Databases

The World Health Organization (WHO) Nutrition and Food Safety Department (NFS) has developed and maintained several nutrition-related databases. The Nutrition and Food Safety Department address the burden of disease from physical, chemical and microbial hazards in food and unhealthy diets, maternal and child malnutrition, overweight and obesity.

 
Core Nutrition Journals
  • American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
  • Annual Review of Nutrition
  • Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition
  • Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care
  • International Journal of Eating Disorders
  • International Journal of Obesity
  • Obesity Research
  • Progress in Lipid Research
  • The Journal of Nutrition
View the Levy Library Nutrition Journal Bookshelf on BrowZine 

Specialty Topics within BrowZine

 
 
Selected Nutrition Books 

 

Helpful Nutrition-related Websites
 
 
Need help finding a nutrition-related resource? Just Ask A Librarian and we can help you you!

 

02/07/2022
profile-icon Kerry McKee

February is American Heart Month, a time when the nation raises awareness of the risks of heart disease and we focus on our cardiovascular health. As healthcare professionals, we know that you understand first hand the dangers of hypertension, heart disease, stroke and other ailments can negatively affect one's health outcomes, so in honor of this month, we are spotlighting the various cardiology and vascular medicine related resources from our collection and beyond that are available to the Mount Sinai community.
 
Databases
  • ClinicalKey This link opens in a new window: Clinical Key has a number of test and procedure videos including intravascular ultrasound, implantation of cardioverter-defibrillators, and contrast echocardiography.
  • McGraw-Hill Medical:  From books like Hurst's the Heart to patient education handouts on managing cholesterol, the Access Cardiology specialty from McGraw Hill Medicine, is a great online database for patient education and clinical tools for heart health and cardiology.

Journals

The Levy Library subscribes to hundreds of journals. Below are some of the major cardiology and vascular medicine titles available to read online right now, but you can search for more titles that we carry through our Browzine platform or our Discovery catalog

 


Textbooks

The Levy Library collection of cardiology and vascular medicine textbooks are available online to view through our Discovery catalog. Here are some of the core and popular titles available to read online right now. 

 

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Having trouble finding that one cardiology resource in our collection? A librarian can help! Contact our Ask A Librarian team who can help you find what you need or maybe we can request to add to add the item to our collection!
Ask A Librarian
 

 

 

 

12/30/2021
profile-icon Kerry McKee

 

 

2021 was a powerhouse year for medical research! Many of the authors paving the way with their publications came from our very own Mount Sinai Health System. Here are the top 10 articles, sorted by captures, as reported in Plum Analytics:

 

 

#1 - Immunological memory to SARS-CoV-2 assessed for up to 8 months after infection

"Understanding immune memory to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is critical for improving diagnostics and vaccines and for assessing the likely future course of the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyzed multiple compartments of circulating immune memory to SARS-CoV-2 in 254 samples from 188 COVID-19 cases, including 43 samples at ≥6 months after infection. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) to the spike protein was relatively stable over 6+ months. Spike-specific memory B cells were more abundant at 6 months than at 1 month after symptom onset. SARS-CoV-2- specific CD4T cells and CD8T cells declined with a half-life of 3 to 5 months. By studying antibody, memory B cell, CD4T cell, and CD8T cell memory to SARS-CoV-2 in an integrated manner, we observed that each component of SARS-CoV-2 immune memory exhibited distinct kinetics."

 

#2 - Evolution of antibody immunity to SARS-CoV-2

 

 

"Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has infected 78 million individuals and is responsible for over 1.7 million deaths to date. Infection is associated with the development of variable levels of antibodies with neutralizing activity, which can protect against infection in animal models. Antibody levels decrease with time, but, to our knowledge, the nature and quality of the memory B cells that would be required to produce antibodies upon reinfection has not been examined. Here we report on the humoral memory response in a cohort of 87 individuals assessed at 1.3 and 6.2 months after infection with SARS-CoV-2. We find that titres of IgM and IgG antibodies against the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 decrease significantly over this time period, with IgA being less affected. Concurrently, neutralizing activity in plasma decreases by fivefold in pseudotype virus assays. By contrast, the number of RBD-specific memory B cells remains unchanged at 6.2 months after infection. Memory B cells display clonal turnover after 6.2 months, and the antibodies that they express have greater somatic hypermutation, resistance to RBD mutations and increased potency, indicative of continued evolution of the humoral response. Immunofluorescence and PCR analyses of intestinal biopsies obtained from asymptomatic individuals at 4 months after the onset of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) revealed the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acids and immunoreactivity in the small bowel of 7 out of 14 individuals. We conclude that the memory B cell response to SARS-CoV-2 evolves between 1.3 and 6.2 months after infection in a manner that is consistent with antigen persistence."

 

#3 - Tocilizumab in patients hospitalized with Covid-19 pneumonia

"Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pneumonia is often associated with hyperinflammation. Despite the disproportionate incidence of Covid-19 among underserved and racial and ethnic minority populations, the safety and efficacy of the anti-interleukin- 6 receptor antibody tocilizumab in patients from these populations who are hospitalized with Covid-19 pneumonia are unclear. In hospitalized patients with Covid-19 pneumonia who were not receiving mechanical ventilation, tocilizumab reduced the likelihood of progression to the composite outcome of mechanical ventilation or death, but it did not improve survival. No new safety signals were identified."

 

#4 - Causes of blindness and vision impairment in 2020 and trends over 30 years, and prevalence of avoidable blindness in relation to VISION 2020: the Right to Sight: an analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study

"Many causes of vision impairment can be prevented or treated. With an ageing global population, the demands for eye health services are increasing. We estimated the prevalence and relative contribution of avoidable causes of blindness and vision impairment globally from 1990 to 2020. We aimed to compare the results with the World Health Assembly Global Action Plan (WHA GAP) target of a 25% global reduction from 2010 to 2019 in avoidable vision impairment, defined as cataract and undercorrected refractive error. We did a systematic review and meta-analysis of population-based surveys of eye disease from January, 1980, to October, 2018."

 

#5 - Tocilizumab in hospitalized patients with severe Covid-19 pneumonia

"Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) is associated with immune dysregulation and hyperinflammation, including elevated interleukin-6 levels. The use of tocilizumab, a monoclonal antibody against the interleukin-6 receptor, has resulted in better outcomes in patients with severe Covid-19 pneumonia in case reports and retrospective observational cohort studies. Data are needed from randomized, placebo-controlled trials. Of the 452 patients who underwent randomization, 438 (294 in the tocilizumab group and 144 in the placebo group) were included in the primary and secondary analyses. The median value for clinical status on the ordinal scale at day 28 was 1.0 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.0 to 1.0) in the tocilizumab group and 2.0 (non-ICU hospitalization without supplemental oxygen) (95% CI, 1.0 to 4.0) in the placebo group (between-group difference, −1.0; 95% CI, −2.5 to 0; P=0.31 by the van Elteren test). In the safety population, serious adverse events occurred in 103 of 295 patients (34.9%) in the tocilizumab group and in 55 of 143 patients (38.5%) in the placebo group. Mortality at day 28 was 19.7% in the tocilizumab group and 19.4% in the placebo group (weighted difference, 0.3 percentage points; 95% CI, -7.6 to 8.2; nominal P=0.94)."

 

#6 - Functional SARS-CoV-2-Specific Immune Memory Persists after Mild COVID-19

"The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus is causing a global pandemic, and cases continue to rise. Most infected individuals experience mildly symptomatic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but it is unknown whether this can induce persistent immune memory that could contribute to immunity. We performed a longitudinal assessment of individuals recovered from mild COVID-19 to determine whether they develop and sustain multifaceted SARS-CoV-2-specific immunological memory. Recovered individuals developed SARS-CoV-2-specific immunoglobulin (IgG) antibodies, neutralizing plasma, and memory B and memory T cells that persisted for at least 3 months. Our data further reveal that SARS-CoV-2-specific IgG memory B cells increased over time. Additionally, SARS-CoV-2-specific memory lymphocytes exhibited characteristics associated with potent antiviral function: memory T cells secreted cytokines and expanded upon antigen re-encounter, whereas memory B cells expressed receptors capable of neutralizing virus when expressed as monoclonal antibodies. Therefore, mild COVID-19 elicits memory lymphocytes that persist and display functional hallmarks of antiviral immunity."

 

#7 - Identification of Required Host Factors for SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Human Cells

"To better understand host-virus genetic dependencies and find potential therapeutic targets for COVID-19, we performed a genome-scale CRISPR loss-of-function screen to identify host factors required for SARS-CoV-2 viral infection of human alveolar epithelial cells. Top-ranked genes cluster into distinct pathways, including the vacuolar ATPase proton pump, Retromer, and Commander complexes. We validate these gene targets using several orthogonal methods such as CRISPR knockout, RNA interference knockdown, and small-molecule inhibitors. Using single-cell RNA-sequencing, we identify shared transcriptional changes in cholesterol biosynthesis upon loss of top-ranked genes. In addition, given the key role of the ACE2 receptor in the early stages of viral entry, we show that loss of RAB7A reduces viral entry by sequestering the ACE2 receptor inside cells. Overall, this work provides a genome-scale, quantitative resource of the impact of the loss of each host gene on fitness/response to viral infection."

 

#8 - Association between Early Treatment with Tocilizumab and Mortality among Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19

"Therapies that improve survival in critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are needed. Tocilizumab, a monoclonal antibody against the interleukin 6 receptor, may counteract the inflammatory cytokine release syndrome in patients with severe COVID-19 illness. The data for this study were derived from a multicenter cohort study of 4485 adults with COVID-19 admitted to participating intensive care units (ICUs) at 68 hospitals across the US from March 4 to May 10, 2020. Critically ill adults with COVID-19 were categorized according to whether they received or did not receive tocilizumab in the first 2 days of admission to the ICU. Data were collected retrospectively until June 12, 2020. Among critically ill patients with COVID-19 in this cohort study, the risk of in-hospital mortality in this study was lower in patients treated with tocilizumab in the first 2 days of ICU admission compared with patients whose treatment did not include early use of tocilizumab. However, the findings may be susceptible to unmeasured confounding, and further research from randomized clinical trials is needed."

 

#9 - Sequencing of 53,831 diverse genomes from the NHLBI TOPMed Program

"The Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) programme seeks to elucidate the genetic architecture and biology of heart, lung, blood and sleep disorders, with the ultimate goal of improving diagnosis, treatment and prevention of these diseases. The initial phases of the programme focused on whole-genome sequencing of individuals with rich phenotypic data and diverse backgrounds. Here we describe the TOPMed goals and design as well as the available resources and early insights obtained from the sequence data. The resources include a variant browser, a genotype imputation server, and genomic and phenotypic data that are available through dbGaP (Database of Genotypes and Phenotypes). In the first 53,831 TOPMed samples, we detected more than 400 million single-nucleotide and insertion or deletion variants after alignment with the reference genome. Additional previously undescribed variants were detected through assembly of unmapped reads and customized analysis in highly variable loci. Among the more than 400 million detected variants, 97% have frequencies of less than 1% and 46% are singletons that are present in only one individual (53% among unrelated individuals). These rare variants provide insights into mutational processes and recent human evolutionary history. The extensive catalogue of genetic variation in TOPMed studies provides unique opportunities for exploring the contributions of rare and noncoding sequence variants to phenotypic variation. Furthermore, combining TOPMed haplotypes with modern imputation methods improves the power and reach of genome-wide association studies to include variants down to a frequency of approximately 0.01%."

 

#10 - Worldwide trends in hypertension prevalence and progress in treatment and control from 1990 to 2019: a pooled analysis of 1201 population-representative studies with 104 million participants

"Hypertension can be detected at the primary health-care level and low-cost treatments can effectively control hypertension. We aimed to measure the prevalence of hypertension and progress in its detection, treatment, and control from 1990 to 2019 for 200 countries and territories. We used data from 1990 to 2019 on people aged 30–79 years from population-representative studies with measurement of blood pressure and data on blood pressure treatment. We defined hypertension as having systolic blood pressure 140 mm Hg or greater, diastolic blood pressure 90 mm Hg or greater, or taking medication for hypertension..."

 

Here's to the progress that our MSHS researchers make in 2022!

 

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