Paving the road to success: leadership skills in an interprofessional landscape

Introduction

Academic medical libraries often sit at the crossroads of the complex landscape of the health sciences. Medical librarians in these environments must navigate and lead endeavors and services that may cross many professions. In one day, for example, a medical librarian could meet with a department head of medicine, a director of nursing education, a chief information officer, and a patient safety director, each of whom are held to the leadership standards of their fields. In addition to being excellent leaders in their own professions, how can medical librarians lead in an interprofessional context? In this study, the authors set out to understand leadership principles from three professions closely affiliated with medical librarianship in order to identify a core interdisciplinary leadership skill set.

Aim

To review the existing literature from the last 5 years around leadership in academic medicine, nursing, hospital administration, and medical librarianship in order to identify core leadership skills across the disciplines and identify potential differences.

Methods

We searched the literature published from 2014 – February 2019 on leadership skills in each of four professional domains: 1) academic medicine, 2) academic nursing, 3) hospital administration, 4) medical librarianship. Medline/PubMed, Scopus, and Business Source Complete were searched, and articles discussing leadership skills or competencies written in English with full-text availability were included. Skills mentioned were extracted using text analysis and trends were identified using descriptive analysis.

Results

Three hundred-fourteen citations were retrieved. After deduplication, 169 unique citations were screened for inclusion based on predefined criteria. The two authors independently screened articles using predefined inclusion/exclusion criteria and, after applying said criteria, 44 articles were included in the study. Skills in each of the four identified domains were collected. A full analysis of skills, common themes, and perceived differences is presented in the poster presentation.

Conclusion

Modern medical librarians must more often lead, not only internally, in the library setting, but externally, as they are more involved with connecting and collaborating with leaders across disciplines. Having the skills and vocabulary to lead and identify necessary leadership characteristics across fields is important to successfully navigating this landscape and enhancing impact of the library. By reviewing the leadership literature in the fields that most often intersect with medical librarianship, we can better understand, learn, and enhance our own skills in these areas so as to better navigate the complex landscape of the health sciences.

Keywords: professional competencies, leadership, interprofessional collaboration, library impact, educational needs