Continuing Education as a Catalyst for Inter-Professional Collaboration

Abstract

Do nurses have access to the tools and resources they need for evidence-based practice? Are librarians prepared to work with nurses to provide access to appropriate resources and services, and teach the needed information literacy skills? The authors work with professional library and nursing organizations to present interdisciplinary continuing education to improve the information literacy of nurses and the ability of librarians to provide resources and services that meet nurses' information needs. This article reviews behavioral and practice changes reported by nurses and librarian participants in symposia on evidence-based nursing in March 2001 and May 2003.

Making evidence‐based decisions when organising information retrieval training for nurses and head nurses

“…As Allen et al . state, collaboration with nurses and librarians in planning continuing education programmes allows for the two professions to better share their knowledge and expertise, and design training that is fit for purpose.…”

NExT: creating an interdisciplinary alliance to diminish informational barriers for public health nursing

“…The World Health Organization (WHO) recognises interdisciplinary or interprofessional collaboration in education and practice ‘…as an innovative strategy that will play an important role in mitigating the global health workforce crisis’ . The need for continuing education (CE) can serve as an impetus for successful collaboration between nurses who need access to evidence and librarians who have developed strategies to meet these needs . Krom et al .…”

“…found that nurse/librarian collaborations not only increase nurses' knowledge of EBP, but also effectively eliminate barriers to EBP access . These partnerships have been used effectively in past efforts in nursing education and in CE opportunities for licensed staff nurses working in the hospital …”

“…19 The need for continuing education (CE) can serve as an impetus for successful collaboration between nurses who need access to evidence and librarians who have developed strategies to meet these needs. 20,21 Krom et al and Miller et al found that nurse/ librarian collaborations not only increase nurses' knowledge of EBP, but also effectively eliminate barriers to EBP access. 17,22 These partnerships have been used effectively in past efforts in nursing education [23][24][25][26] and in CE opportunities for licensed staff nurses working in the hospital.…”

“…17,22 These partnerships have been used effectively in past efforts in nursing education [23][24][25][26] and in CE opportunities for licensed staff nurses working in the hospital. 17,20,[27][28][29] Discussion of outreach to PHNs has been limited within the literature. In 1994, Self et al…”