Program-Integrated Information Literacy (PIIL) in a Hospital's Nursing Department: A Practical Model

Abstract

This article provides a systematic description of a strategy to integrate information literacy into programs that support professional development in hospitals' nursing departments. Four phases are explained: preparatory, planning, implementation, and evaluation. It suggests that librarians must go beyond the basic one-time instruction workshops to a collaborative model working with nursing management so that nurses and nursing students will use information resources as part of their learning process and obtain the needed skills to be information literate, users of evidence-based information, and life-long learners. The literature reviews the concept of informatics in nursing practice and some of the different programs set up to acquire information literacy competencies.

Keywords:

• evidence-based practice
• hospitals
• information literacy
• librarians
• nursing programs

Acknowledgments

The author acknowledges the support, vision, and guidance of his loving wife Adriana.