Providing the option for on-line training would allow nurses and physicians to complete this on their own time, avoiding travel costs and the need for time off from work. NaTHNaC, while currently offering only training in YF, has added continuing education credits to its course from the Royal College of Nursing, and is developing on-line training capability as well as additional modules in TM. Higher qualifications such as postgraduate degrees or higher education diplomas and certificates in TM were not obtained by many health professionals working in YFVCs. Whether higher levels of
training and recognition of knowledge in TM translate to improved practice in the clinical setting remains to be determined. Practitioners are also looking for reliable, up-to-date information for country recommendations and for Selleck C59 wnt outbreaks
of disease occurring at their Dabrafenib travelers’ destinations. Several commercial and authoritative national, international, and independent sources provide this. Examples of independent, open access disease outbreak information sources are the CDC Travel Notices,27 the WHO Disease Outbreak News,28 HealthMap’s global health information website,29 the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (ProMED),30 and the NaTHNaC Outbreak Surveillance Database.31 These are all web-based resources, emphasizing the need for those practicing TM to have access Epothilone B (EPO906, Patupilone) to the internet for each consultation, something that most (85%) of the YFVCs in EWNI did. This is nearly double the number that reported using the internet for each consultation in the 2005 survey (44%) indicating the growth of point of care information technology. NaTHNaC has developed a combination of resources for TM practitioners that include a website with country-specific and outbreak information (rolled out in 2007), a national telephone advice line (since 2003) dedicated to health professionals, and a definitive TM text: the 2010 edition of Health Information for Overseas Travel. This book complements NaTHNaC’s website information and provides support for the TM consultation. Compared with 2005, in 2009 YFVCs most
frequently accessed the NaTHNaC website and called its national advice line compared with other resources. In addition, more authoritative print resources were used, eg, the Department of Health immunization book and the British National Formulary, compared with the use of the less comprehensive vaccine charts. As a measure of practice improvement, YFVCs were asked about adherence to standards. Since initiation of the NaTHNaC program, adherence to standards of immunization practice has improved and confidence levels of health professionals in YF vaccination have increased.32 There was improvement in proper vaccine storage, recording of fridge temperature records, and maintenance of patient vaccination records.