PSR was invited to participate at the California School Nurses Organization Conference in early February in San Diego. Kay Deeney taught an extensive workshop focusing on MedlinePlus and other NLM resources. She covered the NLM Drug Portal, the Pillbox, DailyMed and Genetics Home Reference. Topics on evaluating health websites and writing easy to read materials were also covered. The school nurses who attended appreciated learning about these resources. (more…)

by Connie Schardt
Associate Director for Research & Education
Medical Center Library
Duke University

Evidence-Based Practice is all about information management for providing quality patient care. Understanding the principles and concepts behind Evidence-Based Practice can help us enhance the services and resources we provide to our health care workers. There are lots of ways to do this within the constraints of budgets and staffing. (more…)

by Nancy Crossfield
Library Services Manager, William O. Owen Medical Library
Saint Agnes Medical Center
Fresno, CA

A five-week online class titled “Patient Safety Resource Seminar: Librarians on the Front Line” was taught in November-December 2012, with instructor Holly Burt, NN/LM Greater Midwest Region Outreach & Exhibits Coordinator. The course is based on a variety of materials freely available from the National Library of Medicine. I participated with librarians from around the country, including several from our region; Heidi Mortensen, Peggy Makie, Beverly McLeod, Lisa Olson, Carol Attwood, and Billie White. Following is a brief overview of the class content, including some useful links. (more…)

by Yamila El-Khayat, MALS
Outreach Services Librarian, Arizona Health Sciences Library
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ

Kay Deeney and I recently had the opportunity to attend the 10th Annual Promotoras and Community Health Workers Conference, held December 7-8, 2012, in Los Angeles. This annual meeting is sponsored by the National Network to Eliminate Disparities in Behavioral Health (NNED). (more…)

by Erica Bass, BS, MLS, Library Director
Jerry L. Pettis VA Memorial Medical Center
Loma Linda, CA

On November 15, I attended the six-hour Medical Library Association Continuing Education class Diagnostic Error: Team Up and Tackle It! The course was offered in conjunction with the Diagnostic Error in Medicine: 5th International Conference held in Baltimore, MD, November 12-14, and sponosored by the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Instructors for the course were Lorri Zipperer, Elaine Alligood, Linda Williams, and NN/LM MidContinental Region Library Advocacy Coordinator, Barb Jones. The overall goal of the course is to cover how multidisciplinary teams contribute to the reduction of diagnostic error, with a focus on evidence-based processes, and the impact of librarians. The course breaks down the diagnostic process into components, to reveal how medical misdiagnosis occurs. (more…)

by Yamila El-Khayat, Outreach Services Librarian, Arizona Health Sciences Library, University of Arizona and
Lori Tagawa, Community Outreach Coordinator, NN/LM Pacific Southwest Region

Having the opportunity to attend the 2nd National Joint Conference of Librarians of Color (JCLC) in Kansas City, MO, was an amazing experience. It was different; we were surrounded by a large diverse group, but with one similarity: librarianship! (more…)

by Yamila El-Khayat, MALS
Outreach Services Librarian,
Arizona Health Sciences Library
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ

NN/LM Pacific Southwest Region exhibited National Library of Medicine resources at the 69th Annual Convention & Marketplace of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) in Sacramento, CA, October 23-25, 2012. Staffing was provided by Kay Deeney, NN/LM PSR Educational Services Coordinator, and Yamila El-Khayat, Outreach Services Librarian at the Arizona Health Sciences Library. They were ably assisted by several local Network volunteers; including Suzanne Beattie, Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Roseville; Alison Clement, Marshall Medical Center Community Health Library, Placerville; Ana Macias, Kaiser Permanente Sacramento Valley Area; and Margaret (Peggy) Makie, Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Sacramento. All volunteers did a wonderful job to disseminate the information about NLM’s health resources! The NCAI meeting was an important event, bringing together a large group of people, representing many different American Indian tribes from across the nation, along with Alaska Native tribes. (more…)

by Yamila El-Khayat, MALS
Outreach Services Librarian, Arizona Health Sciences Library
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ

Tucson hosted its seventh annual “Vida” Conference on October 6, 2012, at Apollo Middle School, located in the southern part of Tucson, with a population consisting of roughly 83% Mexican-American and 10% Native American residents. This conference was held in this area because its primary goal is to provide bilingual breast cancer education to the minority community of southern Arizona. (more…)

October is National Medical Librarians Month (NMLM)! Highlighting the fact that medical librarians are the best and most cost effective way to obtain quality health information, this year’s NMLM theme is “Medical Librarians: Your Best Return on Investment!” In honor of this event, we are recognizing the contributions of medical librarians by promoting Network member outreach projects. (more…)

by Paula Maez, Youth Services Librarian & Paulina Aguirre-Clinch, Librarian
Pima County Public Library
Tucson, Arizona

In January 2012, Pima County Public Library (PCPL) partnered with the Pima County Health Department, to become the first public library in the nation to have a public health nurse permanently assigned to its staff. Because the pilot program proved successful, PCPL was able to expand it to additional branches in the summer of 2012. (more…)