Beyond the Shelves: fresh eyes and new insights from an Enhancement Placement
When Emma’s enhancement placement request landed in my inbox, I’ll admit, surprise was my initial reaction: “Why on earth would a nursing student want to spend two weeks in a library?” Yet, that surprise quickly morphed into genuine enthusiasm as I got to know Emma.
Looking back now, after two enriching weeks with Emma embedded within our library team, I can say it was one of the most rewarding decisions I’ve made. Her fresh perspective has been invaluable, prompting us to reassess long-held routines and challenge the often-misunderstood perception of what a modern library truly represents in the NHS (often perceived as quiet repositories of books, a world away from the fast-paced, hands-on environment of nursing).
Honestly, Emma’s input was gold and it made us take a good look at how we’re running activities in the library.
by Federica Bianchini, Library and Knowledge Services at Bradford District Care NHS Trust
In Emma’s words
Let me introduce myself. My name is Emma and I’m a trainee nursing associate based at North Community Mental Health Team. As part of my course, I am encouraged to do something called an enrichment placement. This must be somewhere that isn’t on the usual placement circuit and is an area of interest that we feel would benefit us in our future roles within the Trust. For my placement I chose The Library and Health Promotion Resource team and I would like to share my experience with you.
In my 18 years of working for the Trust, I have spent a lot of time in the library. Whether it was completing course work, looking for books, catching up on patient notes or generally passing through, the library has been a consistent part of my career. That said, despite this I never truly knew what the service did or the extent of what it had to offer other than what I had seen or accessed in the past; therefore, I wanted to use the opportunity of my enrichment placement to find out more.
Being a mature student and out of education for a while, I wasn’t under the illusion things would be easy, but I had underestimated the academic value of my course. Everyone had frequently mentioned seeking support from the library, and when I finally did the support was impeccable, so when the library accepted my request for a placement, I was excited to find out more about what was going on behind those “closed doors”. As you can imagine, the doors were in fact not closed but wide open, welcoming and happy to help.
Because of this, it meant that I have been able to experience as much as possible in the 2 weeks I was allocated for my placement and with the staff being as keen to learn from me as I was from them, it meant that we were able to make the whole experience as interactive and fruitful as possible, providing me with the opportunity to experience all that is available from the service and team. Even with the challenge of snow, they were able to adapt the schedule to make sure I was still gaining insight, knowledge and experience from the placement.
Just like the resources available are unique, so are the staff, everyone I have worked with has had their own specialist areas and a vast amount of experience and knowledge to share. I have found that the health promotions and resources service we have access to is incredible, it can be accessed by anyone registered with the library including outside agencies. No ask is too big and what isn’t available can always be noted as a suggestion. Academic support is vast, they are always happy to help students and staff that may struggle in this area. This includes 1-1 support but also access to training courses which provide skills around citing, referencing and literature searches, how to access journals and eBooks and how to navigate webpages and online literature. Alongside all of this you have amazing resources such as the garden library that encourages patients from the acute hospital settings to read, relax and if the story’s good possibly escape from life’s troubles for a little while, there is also the seed exchange that encourages individuals to share, grow and reap the benefits of trying something new and in the process giving to others. There is of course so much more to offer, the key is to just ask.
Artificial Intelligence Book Clubs Collaboration Conferences CPD Day in the life E-Resources and Tools Evidence Based Practice Health and Wellbeing Health Information Health Literacy Information Literacy Knowledge Management and Mobilisation Library Staff LIHNN Literature Searching Marketing and Promotion New Starter Partnerships Reflective Practice Research Students Sustainability Training
