Implementing an evidence-based breast cancer support and communication tool to newly diagnosed patients as standard care in two institutions.

While many women turn to the Internet to obtain health information, it is unlikely that unstructured Internet use provides optimal benefit to women newly diagnosed with breast cancer, due to uneven quality, conflicting claims, redundancy, and search engine idiosyncrasies, which may make finding information and assessing its accuracy and applicability difficult. To answer the need for information and support, the Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System (CHESS) was developed to provide access to integrated information for decision-making, behavior change, and emotional support, and has been validated in randomized trials. This observational study of real-world implementation focuses on the process of integrating CHESS into standard care in two Denver healthcare systems.

Invite yourself to the table: librarian contributions to the electronic medical record.

Librarians from Exempla Healthcare hospitals initiated contact with the chief medical information officer regarding evidence-based medicine activities related to the development of the system's Electronic Medical Record (EMR). This column reviews the librarians' involvement in specific initiatives that included providing comparative information on point-of-care resources to integrate into the EMR, providing evidence as needed for the order sets being developed, and participating with clinicians on an evidence-based advisory committee.

The nurse liaison in perioperative services: a family-centered approach.

Surgery is a stressful time for patients, their family members, and their significant others. A perioperative nurse liaison can offer support, reinforce preoperative teaching, answer questions, and provide information during the surgical procedure that may help family members manage stress and view the process more positively. To provide the best possible care to patients and their family members, perioperative leaders at the Exempla Good Samaritan Hospital, Lafayette, Colorado, started a nurse liaison program when the facility opened in 2004.

Experience and outcomes of medical librarian rounding.

This article highlights the positive results that can be achieved when a medical librarian rounds with a community hospital's Multidisciplinary Rounds (MDR) team. Background is provided on the rounding process on the hospital's Intensive Care Unit, and case studies report outcomes of the librarian's research. Noteworthy are changes in protocols and changes in patient care which were implemented based, in part, on studies supplied by the librarian.