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Health Care Assistant

The Health Care Assistant provides person-centered care to adults and people with disabilities who have individual, diverse and often complex, health care needs. The Library supports learning in the certificate program.

The Library's Best Drug Information Resources

Best Best: CPS Database

CPS (Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties) was created by the Canadian Pharmacists Association and includes detailed information on commonly prescribed drugs and over the counter medication in Canada.

You will also find information about conditions commonly treated with drugs, as well as drug interaction and identification tools, among other resources. 

New to the CPS? You may want to watch this Basic Search video.

Please note: the video calls the database RxTx. Though the database name has recently changed, the search and other features in the video remain the same.

CPS Database: Advanced Search video

This video assumes you've watched the Basic Search video, and focuses on:

  • search tips
  • product identification tool
  • drug interaction tool
  • body calculation tool

Which format do you use to cite CPS material in APA style?

Because the information in the CPS database is only available in that database and has information that changes over time you need to include a retrieval date and cite it as an article from a database. There are no DOIs or unique URLs associated with articles in this database, so the URL at the end is the database homepage.

Reference Format: Author. (year, Month date). Title of the entry. Database Name. Retrieved Month date, year from URL of the database homepage

Reference Example: Canadian Pharmacists Association. (2020, May 5). Viagra. CPS database. Retrieved February 8, 2024, from https://cps.pharmacists.ca

In Text Citation Example: (Canadian Pharmacists Association, 2020).

Best Bet: Davis's Canadian drug guide for nurses

  • The print version is Canadian
  • The ebook is the American version, but it also includes Canadian content ("..an appendix comparing Canadian and US pharmaceutical practices, more Canada-only items in the Combination Drugs appendix and you will see a Maple Leaf icon beside Canadian brand name entries")

The Library also carries both print & ebook versions of Mosby's Canadian Nursing Drug Reference

  • For ebooks enter your KPU login to read them off campus
  • For print books login through the Place Hold button to request an item & the Library will email you when it is ready for pick up

See more options below for other nursing related drug books in the Library collection.

Not finding what you need?   

From our Ask Us page you can:

  • Visit the one of the Library's Research Help desks in person
  • Email a Librarian
  • Text a Librarian
  • Chat Live with a Librarian
  • Book a virtual or in-person appointment with a subject specialist librarian (like me! :-) 
  • Phone the Library

Library employees are monitoring the queues above and will respond to you as soon as possible.

Go to the Ask Us page