Mohammadreza Hashemian

Background: ICU nurses work in high-stakes environments where competence, defined as the integration of knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, and experience, is essential for ensuring patient safety, reducing mortality rates, and providing effective critical care. Methods: Following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, we searched critical care and nursing education journals in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, and CINAHL from 2015 to June 2025 for qualitative and quantitative studies on ICU nurse competence. The search strategy incorporated terms such as “educational frameworks for critical care education,” “critical care nursing orientation,” and “competency-based critical care nurse education.” JBI tools were used to assess quality, and narrative synthesis was applied. Results: Of the 1800 studies that were identified, 15 were included in the analysis. This analysis involved 2500 ICU nurses from 9 different countries. Competence is multidimensional. Facilitators such as simulation-based learning improve clinical decision-making, and ethical attitudes promote holistic care. Barriers include workloads that cause burnout and post-COVID infection gaps that lead to errors. Competence levels are high for clinical skills but low for research and family-centered care. Novices struggle in complex ICUs. Conclusions: This review suggests that combining the adoption of standardized, competency-based frameworks, particularly the AACN Synergy Model and the 2021 AACN Essentials, with objective, simulation-enhanced assessment tools can effectively address identified gaps and improve the competence of ICU nurses worldwide.

Introduction: The selection of appropriate resources for bibliotherapy interventions is critical to ensure their therapeutic effectiveness. However, despite continued academic efforts to introduce appropriate resources or criteria for selecting resources, there remains a lack of clearly defined and documented criteria for selecting appropriate resources for bibliotherapy. The study aims to identify ...

The services of medical libraries and information centers has changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to identify the innovative services of medical libraries and information centers during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this scoping review, PubMed, Web of Science (WOS), Scopus, ProQuest, Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts (LISTA) databases were searched to identify case studies and case series. After screening the identified studies, 18 studies were selected. The results showed that the main users of medical libraries and information centers during COVID-19 were health care providers and recipients, researchers, organizational staff, and ordinary library users. Innovative services during the COVID-19 were also provided in these libraries, including distance education services, virtual information services, virtual guidelines, providing information resources, and evidence-based response to treatment teams. To provide these new services, medical libraries used traditional, semi-traditional, and modern information and communication technologies such as telephone, email, online library platforms, e-learning, and social networks. Medical libraries and information centers changed the way they provide services in the face of the COVID-19 crisis. Analyzing the services provided during this period can provide a model for policymakers, and medical librarians and information professionals to improve their services. The information presented here can be used to inform library services during future, similarly critical situations.

The competencies required by clinical informationists are acquired through training. This study aimed to develop a competency-based curriculum for clinical informationists. The focus group method w...

Objectives: Access to high-quality information improves the quality of patient care, but lack of time and sufficient skills in information seeking can prevent access to information by clinicians. To solve this problem, clinical informationists can provide high-quality, filtered information for clinical team members. This study identified the core competencies that clinical informationists need to effectively fulfill their roles on clinical teams. Methods: Participants were selected purposefully from clinicians and medical librarians. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results: The authors identified six competencies—communication, research, education and training, domain knowledge, information services, and technology—which together were used to develop a “CREDIT” model of core competencies for clinical informationists. Conclusions: The CREDIT model can be used as criteria for evaluating the performance of clinical informationists as well as for developing and assessing clinical informationist educational programs and curriculums. This article has been approved for the Medical Library Association’s Independent Reading Program.