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Our Standard of Excellence
Originally developed November 6, 2002
Last updated June 2, 2004
The purpose of AllergyNursing.com is to respond to questions people are asking about allergies with information you can trust.
We created a list of goals to help us carry out this purpose. In order to enable these goals, we developed our Standard of Excellence.
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Our goals are:
- To maintain a current website that provides trustworthy health information about allergies within the scope of our qualifications
- To carefully research the information shared on AllergyNursing.com, and to refer you to only the most well-respected resources
- To encourage you to work closely with your physician in making choices that affect your health
- To strive for excellence and work to meet the emerging standards for health information on the web, as qualified organizations unite to develop those standards.
- To be honest and open with you about our sponsors and how we are compensated for the time it takes to provide this service for you.
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How we developed our Standards of Excellence
AllergyNursing.com was created in the early months of 2001. From the beginning, we sought to comply with or exceed legal and ethical standards as they were being developed for medical websites. In September of 2001, we were was honored with the privilege of placing the Health On the Net (HONCode) identification active logo on the AllergyNursing.com website. This is only offered to those who meet the quality standards in the HON Code of Conduct. I am proud and honored to meet these standards and to display the HONCode active logo on AllergyNursing.com.
In 2001 and 2002, Consumers International, Consumer WebWatch, and other qualified groups conducted studies and published reports evaluating websites that provide health information. I was amazed to see that in one report, evaluating more than 460 websites, at least half of those evaluated failed to meet the quality criteria by which they were evaluated. Current Guidelines proposed by Consumer WebWatch can be found on their website.
In November of 2002, I selected the HON Code of Conduct as well as the guidelines that were emerging from these consumer groups as the basis for my own Standard of Excellence for which I hold myself accountable. The information that follows shows how AllergyNursing.com is working to meet those standards.
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Clear information about qualifications
I've shared openly with you my credentials and experience. (See "About 'Your Allergy Nurse'" in the left menu under "Who we are" or click here). I've tried hard not to step beyond my qualifications in offering insights to you.
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Qualified references
I've shared references from reputable sources for all of the clinical content. As a general rule, I try not to use commercial sites or small physician groups who are not well known, as references.
Rather, I've chosen unbiased and respected sources such as experts from medical university websites, national or international allergy or relevant medical organizations, government organizations, or material written by physicians who have been recognized by their peers as having expertise in their field.
I spend a great deal of time evaluating the resources I point you to. I hold them accountable for the same standard of excellence I hold myself to. I cannot be accountable for information you find on sites we link to, as the web is constantly changing. But I am very careful to qualify all references I offer at AllergyNursing.com.
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Physician consultation
I've offered help and suggestions to try to equip you to better understand the processes of allergies and related conditions. I've tried to make them specific as to how they may affect you. But I've always told you that your physician is the one best qualified to care for your health needs. You should always consult your physician when making choices regarding your health.
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Dated material
Our newsletters are dated, and those dates are included as each item from the newsletter is placed on the website. When I update clinical material at the website, I note the date the material was updated.
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Our sponsors
I've made it clear to you that AllergyNursing.com is funded by our sponsors. It is an expensive investment of time and money to provide this service for you, and your supporting our sponsors helps to reimburse us for this expenditure.
POLICY
The Allergy Relief section of the website is reserved for solutions from our sponsors, and is clearly labeled as such at the top of each page in that section. Banner ads, graphics or sponsored links may rotate throughout the website. However, they are in areas labeled as advertisements or sponsored items. In the event I do feel one of our sponsor's products would be especially helpful for a need I am addressing in a clinical area, I am careful to point out that I am referring you to one of our sponsors.
NATIONAL ALLERGY SUPPLY
I communicate directly with National Allergy Supply to find the best solutions for your needs. When someone asks me about the suitability of a product for allergy sufferers, I often ask National Allergy Supply about the product. That's because I've discovered that National Allergy Supply does not offer products that have failed in qualified research studies or are not backed up by top experts in the field.
National Allergy Supply lists at the top of their values the same high standard to which I hold my own self accountable in bringing AllergyNursing.com to you: "To conduct our business with uncompromising honesty and integrity, and honor God in everything we do." I was impressed from the beginning with what they stand for, and they continue to be an inspiration to me in setting my own standards for AllergyNursing.com.
I handed out their brochures in medical offices where I worked years before I ever developed my own website. I've heard many great comments about National Allergy Supply, but I've never heard a negative word about their products or service. I do not have any financial asset in the company. I receive a small percentage commission on items purchased when someone reaches their website through my links.
ADS BY GOOGLE
Ads by Google appear on many of our pages. They are clearly marked as such. These ads served through Google may include items that change frequently. I can not necessarily recommend these items. It is possible that some may even contradict what we are recommending on our pages.
AMAZON
We participate in the Amazon.com Associates program which provides a small referral fee for items purchased after clicking our links to Amazon.com. I personally select the books I recommend or reference in the content areas of AllergyNursing.com. Books or other items in areas clearly labeled as advertisements or sponsored items are sometimes served through Amazon's rotating ads. These ads may include constantly changing items, so I can not necessarily recommend these items.
COMMITMENT
I personally monitor all the advertisements at AllergyNursing.com to be sure we always uphold these high standards that I have set for us.
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Contact info
On every page in the menus of AllergyNursing.com, there is a link to a form where I can be contacted and where questions can be submitted for possible inclusion in the newsletter or for any other comments. The one thing we don't do that was recommended is to provide a phone number and physical address. I will share my reasons for that below:
I offer answers to allergy questions via a public email newsletter (which is later added to the website), not privately. I have made that clear at the bottom of the submission form for questions. I've also made it clear that I can't answer all questions but answer as many as I can in the newsletters.
I feel as a nursing professional it is dangerous and also out of the limits of my license to enter into a private nurse/patient relationship via the internet. The form allows anyone to correspond with me, with the safeguard that I am not obliged to respond privately to medical questions. By keeping my responses public, they are open to scrutiny by the medical community.
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Privacy statement
We've always been careful to protect your privacy. I placed our Privacy Statement online at AllergyNursing.com soon after the site was created, and we add to it to assure your privacy even more as needs arise. You can read it here.
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High standards of excellence
We have tried hard to provide a quality service for you. We recognize that we have areas we can impove. But we are reaching toward excellence. I welcome evaluation by qualified groups. I also welcome your comments and suggestions.
Thank you for your support that has enabled us to make AllergyNursing.com the great resource that it is.
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Working to help you,
Lois Turley, R.N.
References:
- Code of Conduct for medical and health web sites, Health On the Net Foundation (HONCode.)
- Consumer WebWatch Guideliines, Consumer WebWatch is a project of Consumers Union, the non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports magazine and ConsumerReports.org.
- eHealth Code of Ethics, Internet Healthcare Coalition, 2003. On Wednesday, May 24, 2000 the eHealth Ethics Initiative introduced this International Code of Ethics for health care sites and services on the Internet.
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