Bridging the Health Information Gap for Hospital Nurses
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Date
2008
Authors
Shaw-Daigle, Christine
Demczuk, Lisa
Cohen Baker, Analyn
Raynard, Melissa
Giles-Smith, Lori
Barrett, Patricia
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Objectives: To develop library services that support nurses in meeting their new professional continuing competency requirement and to connect nurses directly to quality information for practice and lifelong learning. Description: Licensed practicing nurses must document their continuing competency on an annual basis. Recognizing an emerging information need, we developed several onsite and virtual library programs and services to help community hospital nurses meet their new professional requirements. Our goals were to provide in-person research and library consultation services to front-line staff and to develop creative and innovative ways to deliver
evidence-based information directly to nurses at the unit level. Simultaneously, the Regional Health Authority Nursing Leadership Council (RHANLC) recognized a growing gap in nurses taking leadership roles in the health region. Partnering with other health sciences librarians, we expanded our online resource guides into an online learning support tool to bring leadership literature to potential nurse leaders. Results: The following personalized library services to support the continuing competency goals of nurses were developed.• On the Unit is a scheduled in-person visit to consult with nurses about their information needs. • Webliographies are a series of online resource guides for nursing-specifi c topics. Cooperating with the RHANLC, we enhanced the webliography format into an online and interactive learning support tool for leadership development. • Competency Collection: Information Pathfi nders are customized information packages designed for nurses. Print packages of information are readily available on units throughout the health care facilities. • Info-RN is an electronic newsletter highlighting nursing resources, library services, and information literacy concepts. We identified the unique information needs of nurses and created innovative ways to deliver evidence-based information directly to them. These new services provided an opportunity for librarians to contribute to the development of effective nurse clinicians and future nurse leaders.
Description
Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Medical Library Association, Chicago, IL. May 18, 2008.
Keywords
libraries, health libraries, hospital libraries, nursing, library services, continuing education, continuing competencies