Wikipedia

lpnadmin · May 17, 2006

In my opinion, Wikipedia should not be used as a firm nursing reference tool. It can be good to get a general idea, but I would get definitive information from other sources.

There was a controversy a few months back about someone posting patently false information in a Wikipedia entry. This is not to say that every article in WP is false, I'm just saying be careful.

lpnadmin

labcat01, BSN, RN · May 17, 2006

In my opinion, Wikipedia should not be used as a firm nursing reference tool. It can be good to get a general idea, but I would get definitive information from other sources.
There was a controversy a few months back about someone posting patently false information in a Wikipedia entry. This is not to say that every article in WP is false, I'm just saying be careful.
lpnadmin

:yeahthat:

If I want to look up health problems for my own interest I usually try

http://medlineplus.gov/ or http://www.emedicine.com

I think anything on the internet is suspect unless it comes from a peer-reviwed journal.

EricJRN, MSN, RN · May 17, 2006

There was a controversy a few months back about someone posting patently false information in a Wikipedia entry.

There are actually numerous ongoing controversies that can be viewed on the Wikipedia site itself. Users (just like any of us) can contribute to a Wikipedia article. Although others can suggest corrections, there's no team of experts standing by on each topic to ensure accuracy.

It's a great resource to learn more about a variety of topics, but with all of the refereed resources for medical information available on the web these days, it's probably not our best bet when it comes to healthcare.

JaneyW · May 17, 2006

emedicine.com is great. The articles are written by MDs and they are dated and reviewed. I would never use Wikipedia.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · May 17, 2006

I absolutely enjoy using Wikipedia.com as an online encyclopedia reference. However, I avoid gathering nursing or medical information from that site because anyone can write or edit articles, even lay people.