Vital pathways for hospital librarians: present and future roles

The research objectives were to (1) describe the current and future roles of hospital librarians and the challenges they face and (2) find evidence supporting the hypothesis that librarians are essential to hospitals in achieving the organizations' mission-critical goals. The authors used resul...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the Medical Library Association 2009-10, Vol.97 (4), p.285-292
Main Authors: Holst, Ruth, Funk, Carla J, Adams, Heidi Sue, Bandy, Margaret, Boss, Catherine Mary, Hill, Beth, Joseph, Claire B, Lett, Rosalind K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic libraries
Care and treatment
Colleges & universities
Education, Medical
Health care
Hospital Administration
Hospital libraries
Hospitals
Librarians
Libraries, Hospital - trends
Library Services - trends
Medical care
Medical librarians
Organizational Objectives
Patients
Practice
Quality management
Role
Symposium
United States
User services
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The research objectives were to (1) describe the current and future roles of hospital librarians and the challenges they face and (2) find evidence supporting the hypothesis that librarians are essential to hospitals in achieving the organizations' mission-critical goals. The authors used results from a previous research study that identified the five organizational mission-critical goals important to hospital administrators and then searched the literature and solicited examples from hospital librarians to describe the librarian's role in helping hospitals achieve these goals. The literature supports the hypothesis that hospital librarians play important roles in the success of the hospital. Librarians support quality clinical care, efficient and effective hospital operations, continuing education for staff, research and innovation, and patient, family, and community health information needs. Hospital librarians fulfill many mission-critical roles in today's hospital, providing the right information at the right time in a variety of ways to enhance hospital and medical staff effectiveness, optimize patient care, improve patient outcomes, and increase patient and family satisfaction with the hospital and its services. Because hospital librarians and their services provide an excellent return on investment for the hospital and help the hospital keep its competitive edge, hospital staff should have access to the services of a professional librarian.
ISSN:1536-5050
1558-9439
DOI:10.3163/1536-5050.97.4.013