Collaborating with Patient Care Units to Provide Consumer Health Information

Providing access to information for patients and families is one of the primary knowledge-based functions of a hospital library. To meet this goal, the OSF Saint Francis Medical Center Library and Resource Center has developed a variety of consumer health information services, including a full-time staffed consumer health Resource Library with companion Web sites, as well as developing and supporting two departmental patient libraries. Combining the information resources of both the Resource Library and the Web sites for the Pediatric and Oncology nursing units has enhanced the information available on the overall site and provided an opportunity for collaboration with nursing staff to meet the health information needs of patients and families. (C) 2005 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.