Objective: To describe and evaluate the process by which a librarian became embedded into the nursing community on an academic health sciences center campus. These efforts will be evaluated through qualitative and quantitative measures to determine the success of serving the nurses on campus and to address potential improvements. Setting/Participants/Resources: An urban academic health sciences library serving the schools of allied health professions, dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacy as well as a magnet designated health system. The nursing population on campus is made up 900 students and 142 faculty/staff in the school of nursing, and approximately 1900 nurses in the health system. Method: The library’s goal is to transition from library-based liaisons to an embedded model of librarianship. Initial steps included engaging faculty, staff and students in discussions about their research and clinical practice needs. A model for becoming embedded was developed from these discussions. New services include customized bibliographic instruction sessions, onsite office hours in the school of nursing, virtual and face-to-face consultations, individualized journal citation alerts and subject alerts, and creating a social media presence on twitter and a blog. Service on School of Nursing and Health System committees provides greater insight and further contributions. Being proactive in addressing the research needs of the faculty and staff has led to assisting with literature reviews, grant proposals, quality improvement projects, magnet reacreditation in the hospital, and other endeavors.

1. Embedding into the Nursing Community on an
Academic Health Center Campus
Roy Brown, MLIS, AHIP
Research & Education Librarian
Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences

2. Objective
To describe and evaluate the process by which a
librarian became embedded into the nursing
community on an academic health sciences center
campus.

3. Virginia Commonwealth University
• Located in Richmond, VA
• Urban/Research University
– $262 million in sponsored research
(FY ‘14)
– VCU Center for Clinical & Translational
Research
• ~ 31,000 Students
• Composed of Two Campuses
– Monroe Park
– Medical College of Virginia
(MCV)

4. MCV Campus
VCU Health System (VCUHS)
o 1,125 Bed Hospital
o Level 1 Trauma Center
o ANCC Magnet Designated Facility
o ~ 1900 nurses
5 Professional Schools
o Medicine
o Nursing
o Dentistry
o Pharmacy
o Allied Health
~ 4000 Students

5. VCU School of Nursing
• ~ 900 Students
• ~ 100 Faculty and Staff
• BSN, MSN & PhD. Degrees Offered
• Online & On-Campus Courses
• Bio-behavioral Research Focus
– Top Tier of NIH Funded Nursing Schools
• Faculty involved with Interprofessional
Education/Collaboration Grants & Activities

6. Liaison / Being Embedded
• Embedded Librarian
– Liaison who not only is
the point of contact for
members of a school or
department, but also
becomes a part of the
workflow.
• Liaison
– Librarian who is the primary
point of contact for faculty,
staff and students for a
particular school or
department.
– VCU: Liaison Program since
1994
Liaison Transition Embedded

7. SON: Number Served & Sessions
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
657
508
754
44
80 71
2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010
Number Served (SON) Number of Sessions (SON)

8. VCUHS: Number Served & Sessions
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
105
158
276
12
19
2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010
37
Number Served (VCUHS - Nurses) Number of Sessions (VCUHS - Nurses)

9. Key Methods Taken to Become
Embedded
• Adjusted my work schedule to match the group I was
serving
• Responded to questions quickly and demonstrated
reliability
• Identified gatekeepers and key stakeholders
• Identified needs and responded without being asked
• Set up citation alerts and alerted faculty when their
work is cited

10. Other Methods Taken to Become
Embedded
• Kept regular office hours in the School of Nursing
• Served on curriculum and other committees
• Sent welcome letters to new faculty with follow
up
• Established a blog for the school
• Sent out regular emails about Library news,
resources and articles of interest
• Stayed current with nursing literature and trends

11. Difference In Approaches
Difference – Focus of Effort
VCUHS Nurses
Focus on the Bedside Needs Focus on the Student Needs
• Evidence Based Practice
• Performance Improvement
• Research
VCU School of Nursing
• Information Literacy
• Database Searching
• Evidence Based Practice
• Research

12. SON: Number Served & Sessions
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
657
508
754
1729
2096
1723
44 80 71
233
392 355
2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013
Number Served Number of Sessions

13. SON: Faculty/Staff & Students Served
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
44
80
71
233
392
355
4
4
6
63
157
168
14
61
50
146
257
157
2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013
Number of Sessions Fac/Staff Students

14. VCUHS: Number Served & Sessions
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
105
158
276
396 393
572
12 19 37
76
97
163
2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013
Number Served Number of Sessions

15. School of Nursing – Signs of Success
• Appointed as Affiliate Faculty Member of VCU SON
• Teach section in nursing class with grading responsibilities
• Worked on Applications for Grants
– 1 P30 Grant
– 3 RO1 Grants
– 1 AHRQ Grant
• Co-Authored Paper with Faculty Member
• Co-Authored Paper Presentation at Nursing Conference
• Participated in 3 Systematic Reviews (All in Process) with Faculty

16. VCUHS – Signs of Success
• Asked to be a member of three hospital committees
• Involved with Magnet Reaccreditation
• Part of hospital task force that is creating EBP
competencies for nurses
• Hospital adopted “Search Process Checklist” as part of
EBP tools
• Teaching faculty in the VCUHS Nurse Residency Program
• Teaching Faculty for the Virginia Nursing Leadership
Institute

17. Deb Zimmermann, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN
Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President Patient Care Services
VCU Health System

18. Challenges / Questions
• Challenges to sustainability?
– Liaison Work is Relationship Based
– Time Commitments
– Teams: How do you divide up work?
• To what degree is the success a product of my
efforts or something else?
– Environment of VCU
– Management (Library & Outside of Library)

19. Time Spent
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
87.75 116.5 123.85
420.75
662.45
622
62.25 89.5 95.35
298
483.6
385.6
25.5 27 28.5
122.75
178.85 236.4
2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013
Total Time Time Spent (Hrs.) - SON Time Spent (Hrs)- VCUHS

20. Thank You
Roy Brown
Research & Education Librarian
Tompkins-McCaw Library for
the Health Sciences
Email: rebrown2@vcu.edu