An online nursing leadership literature centre at the University of Manitoba Health Sciences Libraries

Abstract

Background: Decades of hospital restructuring in Canada resulted in significant reductions of nursing leadership positions and altered a nursing infrastructure important for guiding patient care. The importance of acquiring nursing leadership skills to address the negative effects of restructuring is advocated by Canadian nursing bodies. Objectives: To describe a service innovation for a nursing community. The librarians of the University of Manitoba Health Sciences Libraries (UMHSL) created an online nursing leadership literature centre to support a leadership programme launched by the Nursing Leadership Council (NLC) of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. The article will contribute to the body of literature about health library services for nurses. Methods: The creation of the service is described. A literature search was undertaken to determine what services have been implemented by librarians for nursing leadership programmes, as well as to review the literature with regard to contributions made by librarians for nursing communities. Results: The literature service, comprised of 19 webliographies based on the NLC's leadership topics, is available on the UMHSL website. A webliography, by definition, is a list of electronic works relating to a particular topic. The NLC created its own website that provides nurses with a means to identify, enhance and evaluate leadership competencies, and which is linked to the UMHSL website. Conclusion: The contributions of the UMHSL librarians to this project support the goals of instilling leadership skills in nurses, encouraging evidencebased nursing practice, and transforming a practice environment to meet the ultimate goal of effective patient care. Key Messages Implications for Practice• Partnerships between nursing bodies and librarians are a means by which to foster the development of an evidence-based nursing culture.• Librarian commitment to clinical groups enhances the value of health libraries.• Health librarians should, in partnership with the client groups it serves, pursue evaluation of their services. • support the development of a nursing culture that is aware of, informed by, and applies current best evidence to practice; • support efforts to ameliorate a nursing leadership deficit and expertise gap that arose as a result of funding decrements and hospital restructuring. The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) has an affiliation agreement with the University of Manitoba to obtain access to library resources and services for the Health Sciences Centre, the city's largest teaching hospital, five community hospitals, two long-term care centres, the WRHA corporate office, personal care homes, and community health access centres. UMHSL librarians support WRHA staff through a variety of services that include library education programmes, literature searching and delivery, individual and departmental training, participation on clinical committees, involvement in curricula, and publication of two library newsletters. WRHA nurses are one of the libr...

The State of Clinical Librarianship in Canada: a Review of the Literature, 1970–2013

“…At the University of Manitoba Health Sciences Libraries in 2009, Patricia Barrett [7] profiled the creation of an online literature centre by the librarians to serve and support an initiative by the Nursing Leadership Council of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. This service specifically targeted the information needs of nurses, and Barret believed the development of such a centre for a nursing leadership program was the first of its kind in the context of Canadian health science libraries or among other commonwealth countries and the United States.…”

“…The lack of definition is only one obstacle towards true professional recognition in medicine [6] despite the value clinical librarians bring to the clinical team. Moreover, ''the establishment of a national clinical librarian profile'' [7] is difficult when funding is so unpredictable not just in Canada and the UK, but elsewhere. Professional responsibilities also vary and may change over time, and thus the job title of practicing librarians may not accurately reflect or account for their clinical outreach.…”