When I accepted a job at my current organization, I was hired as an embedded research librarian. My job was to do extensive literature reviews on designated topics to identify gaps in the research and to support the information needs of the PhDs, MDs, and research nurses in my department. My department is unique in that there is no bench or clinical research. It is really focused on behavioral research on whole-person health (mind/body/spirit/social connections) of patients, the healthcare workforce, and the greater community. You can read more about my department and original job experience here: Embedded Librarianship in a Unique Setting: Hospital-Based Whole-Person Health Research: Journal of Hospital Librarianship: Vol 19, No 1 (tandfonline.com) 

And then came the restructuring.  

My position was going to be eliminated, but my leadership was (thankfully) eager to keep me around and they transitioned me into the role of novice research scientist. Though my professional career has always been focused on healthcare, starting in medical publishing and concentrating in medical librarianship, I was an English and journalism student in undergrad, and felt entirely unprepared to take on a role as a researcher. 

I immediately delved into the online world of research support and tried to learn research statistics by Googling and taking online courses (which is not the best way to learn statistics, by the way). I learned all I could from my generous colleagues. But truly, I found I knew more than I thought I did based on my experience critically appraising articles. I knew what contributed to a good study design. I knew how to recognize limitations. I was aware of how science is conducted and what I would need to be able to write up my study results. 

My first study was a survey study of nurses’ religious beliefs to see if there were any correlations with well-being and burnout within our faith-based organization. I wrote the protocol and the informed consent, used my skills with survey software to electronically capture the data, and with the support of nursing administration, launched my study in Central Florida. With the help of my mentors and staff statisticians, I navigated the data output, did my best to analyze what I was seeing, and drew conclusions. I authored two papers based on my small survey study and after many revisions and feedback from Reviewer #2 that almost made me cry, both were accepted for publication (see citations below). 

I have used my experience as a librarian to be able to find literature to support studies, to write well-referenced and organized papers, and to engage as an author on my first (still underway) scoping review. I find my strengths in being able to skillfully navigate the online environment, use technology, and quickly gauge relevance of articles have all been assets to me in my job. I’ve also realized that years of skimming through thousands of articles actually made an impression in my brain of what constitutes a good research paper. 

I have truly benefitted from knowledgeable and collaborative colleagues who have mentored me through my fledgling research career. I think that is a skill that librarians have as well: learning from each other. Although not technically a librarian anymore, I still engage in continuing education and professional organizations like FHSLA because I value what I learn from my librarian colleagues and I’m able to leverage that knowledge and those skills in my current career. 

Papers: 
Harris, S., & Tao, H. (2021). The Impact of US Nurses’ Personal Religious and Spiritual Beliefs on Their Mental Well-Being   
     and Burnout: A Path Analysis. Journal of Religion and Health, 61, 1772-91. 
Harris, S. L., Green, J. F., Tao, H., & Robinson, P. S. (2021). Examining Associations with Mental, Well-Being and Faith in
​     Nurses (LIFT). JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 51(2), 106-113. ​

FHSLA welcomes members to participate on the newly formed- Blog committee. Members of the blog committee are charged with providing content for the FHSLA Alert blog.

Specific duties include:
           -Produce minimum of 5 blog posts per calendar year.

Topic suggestions include developments in information management (such as new technologies and roles, marketing strategies, inter-consortia communication), information services (such as new resources or products), instruction or instructional design initiatives, leadership and management (topics could be funding opportunities or marketing strategies), patient/consumer health, evidence based practice and research in library science, and general information related to the medical/health sciences library profession. Topics will be agreed upon by committee member and committee chair/co-chairs. 

Committee members are eligible for 5 AHIP points per year. 

Please contact Janet Chan if you are interested in becoming a member. janetchan@usf.edu

Dear Readers, 

     Each year FHSLA awards Honorary Membership to members who have made significant and consistent contributions to FHSLA. This award is given to FHSLA members who are retiring or have retired during the year since the last annual meeting. Candidates must have been members of FHSLA for three years, and hold current membership in FHSLA at the time of the award or at the time of retirement. The purpose of honorary membership is to help those members who have served to continue to contribute their experience and wisdom to FHSLA.
    This year our honorary member is Nancy Schaefer. Nancy has served as president of FHSLA and was a member of the nominating committee. Nancy spent several years of her library career at the University of Florida as a liaison to the College of Public Health.  Her passion for public health did not stop at the library doors and she frequently attended the American Public Health Association's annual meeting with support from the Grace and Harold Sewell Memorial Fund. We were lucky enough to catch up with Nancy and learn a little more about her career and future plans. 

Hi Nancy, ​How did you get started in Health Sciences Librarianship? 
     The many settings (hospital, corporate, govt/nonprofit. academia) seemed to offer the greatest range of employment options for librarians. My Health Sciences Reference course assignments promoted learning both the sources and the culture. My MLIS internship mentor-- Terry Jankowski--though known for her search expertise, guided rather than judged my early searches. This allowed me to focus on experimenting, exploring, and learning rather than worrying about criticism. 
​


​What was one thing that you saw change in a positive way during your time as a health sciences librarian? 
     Complex Evidence Syntheses have brought librarians back into the education and research mission of academic health science centers and possibly into hospital settings as well--teaching the next generation of researchers and practitioners to wisely consume publications that claim to be evidence syntheses--even if they never work on or produce one themselves--and therefore, hopefully, making sure sloppy research isn't carried forward to bad clinical decisions.

What did you love about being a health sciences librarian?   
     I adored the intellectual stimulation of the various topics students and faculty wanted to research, gathering possible search terms, learning requestor reasons for rejecting terms, and exploring functions and contents of the various databases. Four years was my max "length of stay" in any previous job, so 22 1/4 years in this job attests to the "lifelong learning" possible for health science librarians. 

What advice would you give to an early career health sciences librarian? 
     You can learn from everyone that you work with no matter their position or status. Keep your eyes open for strategies and techniques that help you get tasks done. Read voraciously and attend workshops and classes. Then, be confident that you almost certainly know more about sources, search techniques and functions, and possibly about publication processes and secondary source research than your health science clients do and stand your ground calmly but respectfully (since they almost certainly know more about the content side like physiology or electrocardiology than you do.) 

What are your plans for retirement?  
          Sew, travel, exercise, read books, and spend time with friends and family.

Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us. FHSLA thanks you for your contributions to our organization and the field of health sciences librarianship. We wish you a wonderful retirement!

     Have you ever wondered what graphic medicine is or how it can be used in your library? The FHSLA Graphic Medicine (GM) Panel is here to help! As graphic medicine has become an increasingly popular topic in libraries, FHSLA created the Graphic Medicine (GM) Panel to provide resources for members interested in this subject. FHSLA members: Mary-Katherine Haver, Angie Novak, Ardis Hanson, Janet Chan, and Jorge Perez created the Graphic Medicine webpage. This resource guide provides information on what graphic medicine is, programming and collection resources, funding opportunities, research initiatives, and more! This guide can be found at https://fhsla.org/graphic-medicine.html

     To launch the guide, the Graphic Medicine Panel introduced their initiative at the FHSLA Annual Meeting during the Graphic Novels in Medicine session. Panelists Dr. Ardis Hanson, Ariel Pomputius, Dr. Peter Cannon, and Courtney Wombles discussed different uses of graphic medicine in their practices as health science librarians. Attendees were also able to create their own comic during the session.

     With the launch of the webpage and following her presentation during the Graphic Novels in Medicine session, we would like to share that Ariel Pomputius has joined the FHSLA GM Panel. As a newly formed team, the GM Panel members are focusing upon the following key elements:

1. Vetting and adding resources to the webpage
2. Sharing examples of utilizing graphic medicine in library programs
3. Promoting this webpage to library colleagues throughout the state

     If you would like to explore Graphic Medicine and help build this resource, please join the panel. You will have the opportunity to:

1. Collaborate with colleagues experienced in incorporating Graphic Medicine
2. Develop a resource that adds value for all community members
3. Earn points to apply towards MLA’s Academy of Health Information Professionals (AHIP)


Your time and skills will be greatly appreciated!
To volunteer or for additional information, please contact: Janet Chan at  janetchan@usf.edu

We look forward to working with you!

Did you know:
-Over 55 million people worldwide are living with Alzheimer's or dementia
-Over 6.5 million of those are living in the United States
-More than 11 million people in the U.S. are unpaid caregivers for someone with Alzheimer's

FHSLA is proud to share the below resources from the Alzheimer' Association and the CDC.
These resources can assist researchers and health science librarians interested promoting brain health or learning more about the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. 

CDC provides a new data analysis and the Washington State Department of Health describes how they are embracing a whole agency approach to promote healthy aging and address brain health in this webinar.
Credit: Alzheimer's Association

This webinar provided an overview of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), focusing on descriptions of both the Cognitive Decline and Caregiver modules, and examples of previous analyses and analytic tools.
​Credit: Healthy Aging and Alzheimer's Disease Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.