Highlights
- •Medical misinformation influences health care outcomes.
- •“Infodemic” during COVID-19 created challenges in pandemic management.
- •Creating a healthy information environment is a health care priority.
- •Nurse practitioners have a vital role in combating medical misinformation.
Abstract
Medical misinformation existed even before the digital era. However, with the surge
in Internet use, misinformation spreads faster to a broader audience. Easy access
to misinformation and the lack of trustworthy resources increase people’s vulnerability
to misinformation. As a result, medical misinformation became a global public health
threat. The US Surgeon General’s call to create a “healthy information environment”
highlights the responsibility to address health-related misinformation and minimize
its impact on health care outcomes.
Keywords
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Biography
Letha Joseph, DNP, AGPCNP-BC, is the Geriatric and Extended Care NP Residency Program Director at Durham VA Healthcare System, Durham, NC, and Vaccine Confidence Advisory member for National Nurse-led Care Consortium, and may be contacted at [email protected]
Biography
Alphonsa Rahman, DNP, CNS, CCRN, is a clinical nurse specialist at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD.
Biography
Reenu Varghese, DNP, FNP-C, is a nurse practitioner at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, TX.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 27, 2023
Footnotes
In compliance with standard ethical guidelines, the authors report no relationships with business or industry that would pose a conflict of interest.
Identification
Copyright
Published by Elsevier Inc.
