Accessing Resources
- Journal articles
A simple google-esque search to find articles and other materials. Search for exact article titles or keywords to find articles on your topic of interest. Easily access or request full-text articles.
Search a selection of sophisticated databases for health and social care. Useful for in-depth searching.
Makes accessing articles as you browse the web easy.
Browse available journals. Set up alerts to be notified when new issues of your favourite journals are published.
Simple search for articles using Google’s familiar interface. Useful for rough and ready searches and finding related articles. Use alongside LibKey Nomad for the easiest access to full-text articles.
Search for clinical evidence with results based around the hierarchy of evidence.
- Books and ebooks
A simple google-esque search for books, ebook and other materials. Search for exact titles or use keywords to find books on your topic of interest. Easily request books not held by this library and access the full-text of ebooks.
Search for books and ebooks. Manage your library account, renew your books, see your loan history and create reading lists. Please not that it is only possible to reserve books online through the Knowledge and Library Hub.
- Clinical decision support tools
This is a point-of-care clinical decision-making tool. It offers a step-by-step approach to help manage patient diagnosis, prognosis, treatment and prevention. It has a useful comorbidities section, providing tailored advice for treatment for those with common comorbidities. It also provides links to patient information leaflets, calculators, videos and much more. The data is fully evidenced-based, reviewed and updated.
This is an online platform that covers the ‘gold standard’ latest evidence-based clinical nursing procedures relating to every aspect of patient care.
- Critical appraisal
Critical appraisal is an important element of the evidence-based practice process. It involves examining research to judge its validity and relevance. Critically appraising the evidence ensures that only reliable and trustworthy research informs your decisions and practice.
Critical appraisal checklists
Checklists can help guide your thinking as you appraise research. A selection are linked below.
Joanne Briggs Institute checklists
Centre for Evidence Based Medicine worksheets
Books and EBooks
The library also has a collection of books and ebooks covering critical appraisal and the evidence based practice process.
- Other useful websites
BNF – drug monographs describe the uses, doses, safety issues, medicinal forms and other considerations involved in the use of a drug.
BNFC – important information on the selection, prescribing, dispensing and administration of medicines used for children.
BNF Interactions – check drug interactions including severity of interaction and details of available evidence.
Clinical Knowledge Summaries – the latest evidence relevant to primary care and presented in a summarised and easy-to-digest format.
NICE Guidelines – evidence-based recommendations to guide decision-making in healthcare.
Cochrane Library – premier evidence-based database. Includes systematic reviews and references for randomised controlled trials.
Maudsley Prescribing Guidelines in Psychiatry – evidence-based handbook which covers aspects relating to the safe prescribing of psychotropic agents. Covers both frequently encountered and complex prescribing situations encountered in day-to-day practice.
- Clinical board games
We have a number of loanable clinical board games that have been designed to be both fun and educational. Perfect for groups and team bonding.
- The communication game – will help you understand communication support needs and improve communication skills
- The hydration game – designed to help you recognise and minimise dehydration for patients, residents and staff
- The nutrition game – helps to develop understanding of malnutrition and improves how players of the game support people to eat and drink
- The priorities game – getting your ward in order – helps you with decision making and judging priorities on the ward
- The sepsis game – spot it, treat it, beat it – designed to help players recognise and manage sepsis
- Health and wellbeing
Find out about the library’s health and wellbeing resources here.
- Dyslexia support
The following items are available to borrow from the library:
OrCam Read
This is a small handheld device that reads text aloud and is helpful for people who experience difficulty with reading. It can be used on any text from newspapers and emails to printed books and digital content. The device is small enough to be easily portable and no WiFi is required.
More detailed information about OrCam Read can be found on their website.
You can check whether the OrCam Read is currently available to borrow here.
Coloured Reading Overlays
These are thin pieces of transparent, coloured plastic that can be placed over text to help reduce visual stress and help improve reading.
They are available in various colours as not all colours are beneficial to all people. Therefore if you are new to using coloured overlays it is worth experimenting with different colours to see which work best for you.
The overlays are available in the library’s quiet study area and can be borrowed.
- Resources for non-TSDFT staff
Children & Family Health Devon
As part of Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust you are eligible to join the library and borrow/request books, request articles, use the library space and book training. You should have a TSDFT staff login that will enable you to access all our online resources. If you do not have a login or experience any issues accessing resources then please contact us.
Primary care staff in Devon
Information about library resources available to primary care staff can be found on the Devon Training Hub website.
DPT, SWASFT and Rowcroft staff
All DPT, SWASFT and Rowcroft staff are eligible to join the library and borrow/request books, request articles, use the library space and book training. To access online resources (articles, ebooks, databases etc.) you will need an NHS OpenAthens login which you can register for online. Once you have your NHS OpenAthens account please visit the Library and Knowledge Hub in order to search for and access online resources.
Some library services for DPT and SWASFT staff are provided by other NHS libraries. Please see the following websites for more information:
DPT staff: NHS Royal Devon | Devon Partnership Trust
SWASFT staff: Library services & resources for SWASFT | Discovery Library
- Resources for students
Looking for resources for students? Great news we have a student resources page!
You can find library resources available to you as well as useful links to your university library resources.
Logging in
Many of our resources are online. To access them simply log in with your Trust username and password (the same one that you use to log in to a trust computer and the Hive).
Help guides
Contact us
01803 656700 tsdft.library@nhs.net