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How Librarians Can Assist Clinicians with EBP

Roy Brown MLIS, AHIPResearch and Education Librarian

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How many of you have a medical librarian in your organization? 

Opening Question #1

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What activities does a medical librarian take on or could take on to support EBP in your 

organization? 

Opening Question #2

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Objectives 

• Participants will be able to:

• Identify opportunities librarians can leverage to support clinicians with evidence based practice. 

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Healthcare Today:Moving to  Clinical Decision Making Based on 

Evidence 

• Opinions (Own & Colleagues)

• Past Experiences 

• Precedents 

Previous Healthcare Practice 

• Science • Research • Evidence 

Present Healthcare Practice 

Greiner, A.C. et al. (2003). Health Professionals Education: A Bridge to Quality

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Roles and Strategies for Librarians Supporting EBP

Setting the Stage

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VCU Health▪ 779 Bed Urban Academic Medical

Center

▪ 3 Time Designated Magnet Facility

▪ 11,000 Employees (3500+ Nurses)

▪ Approximately – 40 PhD & DNP Trained

▪ Active Beacon Award Units – 11

VCU Libraries:

Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health

Sciences

▪ VCU Libraries: Two Libraries • James Branch Cabell Library: Academic

Campus

• Tompkins-McCaw Library: Medical Library

▪ Liaison Program • 7 Librarians - Research and Education

Department

• Nursing, Medicine, Allied Health, Dentistry, Pharmacy & Consumer Health

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Librarians and EBP:Roles at Various Stages of EBP Process 

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1 Add stuff about the libraryRoy Brown, 9/15/2019

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Librarians and EBP:Practice Question 

• Assist with Question Formulation – Moving from Background Question to Foreground Question (PICO) 

• Access the Literature

• Internal and External Data 

• Identifying Hospital Resources ‐ Experts/Teams 

• Identifying Hospital Goal Alignment & Potential ROI 

• Identifying Stakeholders – Who is Affected and Needs to Be Involved 

– Potential Team Members 

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The Librarian and EBP:Serve as a Connecting Agent – People and Resources 

Institutional Memory: Past EBP Projects / Initiatives

Librarian

Sources of Data

Practice Councils

Nursing Units

External Experts

Hospital Experts

Evidence/ Literature

Past EBP Projects

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Librarians and EBP:Roles at Various Stages of EBP Process 

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Librarians and EBP:Acquiring Evidence 

• Searching and Accessing Evidence 

– Education:  Search Skills & Information Resources 

– Performing Requested Searches 

– Consulting with Nurses Doing Their Own Searches

– Attending Clinical Rounds  

• Setting Up Search Alerts on Topics of Interest 

– Passing along articles of interest to identified members of the nursing staff 

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Librarians and EBP:Acquiring Evidence 

• How to Help the Librarian Help You:• Bring PICO Question

• Provide a List of Potential Keywords – Synonyms 

• Do an Independent Search of the Literature 

• Which Database(s) were searched 

• Share Articles Related to Question or Problem 

• Share Who You Have Spoken To

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Librarians and EBP:Appraising Evidence 

• Assist and provide education on how to appraise evidence 

– Level and Quality of Evidence • Pyramid of Evidence 

– Connect individuals for 

complex appraisals 

Clinical Practice

Guideline

Systematic Review or Meta-

Analysis of RCT's

Controlled Trial without Randomization

Case-Control and Cohort Study

Systematic Review or Meta-Synthesis of Descriptive or Qualitative Studies

Descriptive or Qualitative Study, Literature Review, QI or EBP Project

Expert Opinion

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Librarians and EBP:Roles at Various Stages of EBP Process 

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Librarians and EBP:Translation 

• Assist with Identifying  Nursing and Interdisciplinary Team Members 

• Identify practice council(s) who may need to be involved 

• Assist with identifying hospital resources 

• Project Management – Educate on Basic Principles– Planning with a goal in mind 

– Milestones, Timelines 

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Librarians and EBP:Dissemination

• Assisting with Identifying Conferences or Publications Appropriate for Work 

• Instructional and Consultation Opportunities (Partner) – How to Write a Good Abstract

– Principles of Putting Together a Quality Poster 

– How to Effectively Write for Publication 

– Effective Presentations 

• Establish an Institutional Repository and Assist with Work Being Deposited 

Librarians and EBP:Roles at Various Stages of EBP Process 

System Wide Involvement

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• Education in Partnership with Nursing Education and Professional Development Department

• Assist with classes addressing various aspects of EBP 

• Serve on Hospital Councils or Committees • Nursing EBP and Research Council 

• Magnet Champions Committee 

• Practice Councils 

Librarians and EBP:System Wide Involvement 

Formulating a Good Clinical Question How to Effectively Write for Publication

Moving from Constructing a Clinical Question to Finding the Evidence

Principles of Putting Together a Quality Poster

Effectively Appraising Evidence Effective Presentations

How to Write a Good Abstract

Clinical Inquiry Process Diagram 

• Serves as the framework for how research, EBP and PI support is planned out. 

• Breaks down difference between EBP, Research, and PI/QI 

• Further enhanced with an online portfolio with just‐in‐time instruction. 

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Getting Started in Your Own OrganizationTips for Librarians & Others

● Nursing Administration & Leadership○ Chief Nursing Officer ○ Department/Division Nursing Directors

● Magnet Coordinator or Magnet Program Director

● Nurse Residency Programs ○ Meeting with the new graduate nurse but also

working with the resident facilitators

● Interns and Scholars Program ● Education and Professional Development

Department o Nurse Educators

● Research and Innovation Department

Partnerships and Opportunities

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Wrapping Up 

• Identify Partners in Your Organization – EPD/ Nurse Educators , Nursing Administrators, Chief Nursing Officer 

• Presence and Showing Initiative is Key for Librarians – Must give reason to recognize value 

• Supporting EBP is a Way to Show Value of Librarian– Return on Investment ($) 

• EBP Provides Ample Opportunities for Librarians – Be Sure to Seek Out and Provide Training

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Resources Nursing Research Guide: https://guides.library.vcu.edu/nursing

Evidence‐Based Practice Question Development & Search Checklist (2020) : https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/libraries_pubs/63/

The Basic Rules of Doing a Good Search and Search Tips (2020): https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/libraries_pubs/64/

The Clinical Inquiry Process Diagram (2020): https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/libraries_pubs/62/

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Thank You 

Roy Brown MLIS, AHIPAssociate Professor 

Research and Education LibrarianEmail:  rebrown2@vcu.eduPhone: (804) 828‐1592 

Nursing Research Guide: http://guides.library.vcu.edu/nursing