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Partners
in Patient Education
At 9 a.m. on a Monday,
a call comes into the Hopwood Library at UPMC
Shadyside. A cardiac care nurse has a patient with atrial fibrillation
who is being discharged at 1 p.m., and she wants to send him home with
a packet of materials explaining his condition.
Within two hours, consumer health librarian Michelle Burda has searched
the online medical databases and journals, prepared a packet of information
about atrial fibrillation, and delivered it to the nurse on her unit.
The nurse reviews the material with the patient prior to his discharge
and sends it with him - all without leaving her unit.
At UPMC Shadyside, the
Hopwood Library - A Health Resource Center for Patients and Families,
and James
Frazer Hillman Health Sciences Library aren’t just where the
books are kept. The libraries, which are two of the many health sciences
libraries at hospitals across UPMC,
offer innovative, professional resources to help nurses care for patients
through education. Library staff are available not only to help patrons
search for information in the library, but also to conduct searches and
gather material for staff who don’t have time to do it themselves.
“Nurses don’t have to come to the library if time is a factor,”
says library manager Michele Klein-Fedyshin. “They can
call or fax a patient education request, and we will research
the material and either send it by tube or walk it up to them.”
Library staff are proactively involved in bringing the libraries’
resources to nursing staff. Every month, Ms. Burda participates in the
UPMC Shadyside Patient Education Committee, bringing a cart of materials
focused on a different disease or condition to acquaint committee members
with the materials the libraries have on that topic. In addition, both
Ms. Burda and Ms. Klein-Fedyshin offer special classes showing nurses
how to search for patient education materials themselves, using the libraries’
extensive online resources.
“We’re constantly looking at ways that we can help make the
nurses’ jobs easier, so that they can spend their time doing what
they do best - caring for patients,” says Ms. Klein-Fedyshin.
Creating best practices for patient education
Staff at the Hopwood Library not only provide access to high-quality patient
education materials, but they also work with departments and staff to
find the best ways to get the information to patients.
Last year, the library teamed with Cardiology to find an education method
for angioplasty patients who were being discharged that would be easy
for them to understand and cost efficient.
A videotape, After Your Angioplasty, offered the best presentation
of the material. However, sending every patient home with a copy of the
tape would have been costly. So the library offered another solution -
lend the tape to patients upon discharge, then provide an easy way for
it to be returned.
Cardiology puts together an informational handout to accompany the videotape,
and the library staff enters new patients in the library’s circulation
system. Then, the library loans the video to the patient and provides
a self-addressed stamped envelope. Patients can keep the video for several
weeks and return it to the library after they have finished watching it.
“It’s been a win-win situation for everyone involved,”
says
Ms. Klein-Fedyshin. “Cardiology can offer a professional patient
education packet, patients have the time to review the information at
their leisure, and the library is able to offer its resources while keeping
costs low.” The success of the program has led to its expansion:
Cardiology will be using the videotape circulation process for pre- and
post-cardiac surgery patients in the future.
Offering professional resources for nurses
Besides patient education, the Health Sciences Library also offers extensive
online resources to support nursing practice and research, including specialized
guides for nurses. Library staff can assist a nurse who is writing a paper
for a bachelor of science in nursing degree program in conducting research.
Or, they can run searches about clinical protocols or statistics on a
new procedure.
“We’re here to support our nurses by offering both professional
and patient education services,” says Ms. Klein-Fedyshin.
“Our goal is to be a resource for nursing staff and a partner in
patient care.”
For more information about the services available visit the University
of Pittsburgh-UPMC Health Sciences Library System's Web
site.
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