HSLS Update

HSLS Librarians Help Build Skills in Evidence-Based Nursing Practice

Evidence-based nursing practice (EBP) is the conscientious use of best evidence, clinical expertise, and patient values to make clinical care decisions that lead to improved outcomes for patients and their families.¹ HSLS librarians are helping UPMC nursing administrators and faculty at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing to train nurses and nursing students in the implementation of EBP.  Training initiatives offered or assisted by HSLS librarians include:

WPIC Nursing Research Council

The WPIC Nursing Research Council meets on a monthly basis to strengthen nurses’ research skills, and to discuss design and implementation of quality assurance and research projects.  Librarians have provided the group with orientations to HSLS resources, and training in information literacy skills and basic literature search strategies.  Librarians also participate in the early stages of research design discussions by conducting comprehensive literature searches for members of this group.

School of Nursing

The School of Nursing is preparing to introduce EBP into the curricula of all undergraduate and graduate degree programs.  As part of this initiative, the liaison librarian to the School of Nursing has helped faculty to prepare EBP literature search assignments for students, and has also provided students with instructional sessions on basic searching in the MEDLINE and CINAHL databases.  In addition, the librarian serves on an internal taskforce that is developing an online “toolbox” for instructors to use as they teach students the fundamentals of EBP.

UPMC EBP Council 

Librarians serving on this UPMC system-wide council are working with nurse administrators to find ways to improve the quality and effectiveness of healthcare through translation of evidence-based research findings into clinical practice and policy.

Individualized Instruction

Librarians have provided instruction sessions to clinical nurses from UPMC Shadyside, UPMC Presbyterian, and UPMC Montefiore hospitals, among others.  Sessions focused on topics such as formulation of concise literature search questions, and basic and advanced literature search skills in CINAHL and MEDLINE, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and drug information databases.

Would you like to learn more about how HSLS librarians can assist in the development of EBP training initiatives? If so, contact the reference department at (412) 648- 8796 or medlibq@pitt.edu.

--Mary Lou Klem

¹ Fineout-Overholt E, Melnyk BM, and Schultz A. (2005). Transforming health care from the inside out: Advancing evidence-based practice in the 21st century.  Journal of Professional Nursing, 21(6), 335-44.