Evaluating the Credibility of Websites for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Pregnancy

Scenario

Mrs. Anderson is a 28-year-old female recently diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Mrs. Anderson graduated high school with honors and attended her local community college for 2 ½ years. Mrs. Anderson has been married for 4 months and is zealously awaiting the opportunity to expand her family and have a child even though it would be a high-risk pregnancy (she currently has no children). Mrs. Anderson is extremely interested in all of her available options regarding treatment for MS. Mrs. Anderson has asked the nurse to assist her in identifying the credibility of websites so she can assure the information acquired is both credible and reliable.

Criteria to Evaluate the Credibility of Websites

Currency: Since new information continuously emerges, material can be outdated rather quickly. The date the page was created in addition to the date it was updated should be easily identified and is usually located at the bottom of the page (Stolley & Weida, 2013, p. 1).

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