Committing to Committees: Proactive Outreach through Committee Participation and Involvement

Hospital committees play a critical role in the effective functioning and management of hospitals. Committees are assembled for hospital goals materialization, help planning, organizing, and harmonizing hospital activities and creating active participation ground for all personnel (1). Committees are typically composed of medical professionals, hospital administrators, and community representatives, among other applicable team members. They are responsible for overseeing various aspects of the hospital’s operations and ensuring that the facility provides high-quality care to patients. Hospital committees focus on quality improvement, patient safety, resource management, and community involvement (2). An integral member of many hospital committees can be the clinical, medical, or hospital librarian. Librarians add a high level of specialized expertise that can enhance committee effectiveness in all areas of focus. Participation on hospital committees can provide countless opportunities for librarians to gain hands-on involvement in the direction, development, and application of patient care. Participation on hospital committees can be a mutually beneficial relationship between the librarian and committee team members. But how can librarians get their foot in the door of hospital committees? Where do librarians fit in? How can librarians collaborate within committees? What benefits does a committee gain from having a librarian as a member? And what can a librarian gain from participating on a committee? As a virtual librarian joining a hospital community, the author of this column contemplated these questions as well as how she could exemplify the value of the library to hospital stakeholders.