Season’s greetings and salutations to you as we present the latest issue of HLG Nursing Bulletin. As usual, we have a varied mix of articles relating to the profession intended to inform and, we hope, entertain.
Like Christmas, the CILIP Conference comes but once a year for every girl and boy, and the opportunity to attend is not to be sneezed at. It provides those of us in the world of health libraries an opportunity to get out and see what the wider profession is doing, get to know our comrades working in other sectors, and see what things they’re doing that we can use to make what we do better. And of course, vice versa. Here, Lisa Burscheidt, winner of one of HLG’s bursaries, goes into her trip to the 2017 CILIP Conference.
We’re big fans of videos here at HLG Nursing Towers, and like to see how they are being used by libraries. We know that we’ve produced them to promote ourselves, our services and our training, but how else can we use them in the wider context of helping directly with patients and the public? Nicola Forgham-Healey and Hannah Wood tell us how their library service was approached to help produce an information video intended for use by patients directly.
The CILIP/HEE Leadership Program is now in full swing, with the first face-to-face sessions having now taken place. Our regular columnists Sam Burgess and Heather Steele describe the events of Sessions 1 and 2, what they have learned up to now, and what will be coming next.
Communication is an important part of the evidence needed for portfolios for trainees in nursing, with each other and, most importantly, with patients. Good communication skills can make a world of difference in how well a patient responds to the treatment and care they receive. Here, Paula Elliott discusses how the library service at her NHS Trust used the ‘Human Book Club’ concept to help healthcare learners gain an understanding of the different people they will come across, and how the make-up – culture, identity, beliefs – of the individual impacts on their treatment choices.
2018 is a big year for conferences, with both the European Association for Health Information and Libraries (EAHIL) Conference and the Health Libraries Group (HLG) Conference taking place in the summer. We have updates from the organisers of both, together with details of how to register to attend and, if you’re feeling brave, how to submit an abstract to present.
We’re always on the lookout for articles, so if you have an idea and would like to get it down on paper (not that we’re on paper anymore) and into print (not that we do that either), but are a bit nervous about the process, then drop us a line. If you’ve been to a study day or event, have a new system or process like you’d to shout about, or even if you have an opinion of something you’ve seen published elsewhere, let us know. Details on how to contribute to what is YOUR bulletin can be found at the end of the issue, or on our website.
Phillip Barlow
HLG Nursing Bulletin editor
Health Libraries Group 