Happy World Evidence-Based Healthcare Day everyone from Rayanne and Lisa, your Clinical Librarian Team.
This annual event highlights the importance of using the best available research evidence to inform clinical decision making and provide the highest quality patient care. In the UK, Clinical Librarians play a key role in promoting evidence-based healthcare by supporting clinicians and providing managers with information to make informed decisions. As Clinical Librarians based at GEH and SWFT it’s a perfect opportunity to talk about the role we love and how in practice we promote and facilitate evidence-based healthcare within our Trusts. It’s a busy and varied role but here’s just some of the ways we help colleagues and teams:
Searching the literature to find the latest high-quality evidence
Whether you need evidence to guide the care of a specific patient, to inform the writing of a guideline, for a service improvement project or just a few articles for a last-minute presentation we can make your life that little bit easier and save you time in the process too! We search on a wide variety of topics (not just clinical) for many different purposes. Use the online request form to request a search or get in touch with Lisa or Rayanne to discuss your requirements.
“I am so grateful to the teams that provide the ‘search’ facility. Not enough people are aware of this valuable resource, particularly from a nursing perspective. Thank you for providing this service” (Clinical Nurse Specialist)
Information skills training
Searching databases can be daunting but we provide training to help you to build or refresh your searching skills. If you are doing research we can also provide advice to help refine a search strategy and guide you towards the most appropriate sources. Most of the sessions we deliver are 1:1 but sessions tailored for staff groups or teams can also be arranged – visit our Training pages for more information.
“I use the literature searching skills gained in my routine clinical practice for the management of patients, particularly for complicated cases where there may not be guidance” (Clinical Education Fellow)
Critical appraisal training and journal clubs
Finding relevant evidence is just one aspect of evidence-based practice. Developing the skills to appropriately evaluate the research you’re reading is a key skill. Our Critical Appraisal sessions are designed to enable you to identify the highest quality evidence to guide your practice, detect bias and determine if the evidence or recommendations are applicable to a local setting or population. We can also help you organise a team journal club to help hone and practise your critical appraisal skills.
Helping colleagues stay up to date
Many colleagues find regular current awareness updates tailored to their personal clinical or professional interests a helpful and painless way to keep up to date. We may also be able to recommend a current awareness bulletin produced by librarians in other NHS trusts – for NHS Librarians sharing = caring :). Contact Rayanne or Lisa to discuss your current awareness needs.
Attending meetings to provide support to clinical teams and workstreams
We attend Grand Rounds to support teaching and respond to questions which may arise. We also attend other clinical and non-clinical trust meetings to help support Quality Improvement, EDI and staff wellbeing. We may be asked to provide evidence on initiatives to support staff or projects which have been undertaken in other hospitals or to identify books and other resources which colleagues may find helpful. The development of trust policies, guidelines and procedures prior to their approval is a major part of our role and we both attend governance meetings where documents are approved. Get in touch if it would be helpful to have a Clinical Librarian supporting your team’s evidence needs.
So that’s just a snapshot of how your Clinical Librarians can get you closer to the evidence. As information specialists we can take the heavy lifting out of finding the evidence you need to deliver safe and effective patient care and develop in your role. We also love to pass on our skills so whether you are a beginner at searching or need some tips appraising the research you’ve found please contact us.
Rayanne and Lisa
Rayanne.Byatt@swft.nhs.uk Lisa.Mason@geh.nhs.uk