National Medical Librarians Month Impact Story: Kristin Chapman
Submitted by: Kristin Chapman
Working behind the scenes, it’s easy to be overlooked, but health information professionals play a pivotal role in healthcare, research, and education. Collaborating with medical librarians directly influences the quality of patient care and the advancement of medical knowledge.
This week we have a story from Kristin Chapman, medical librarian at Nuvance Health, Danbury Hospital.
I absolutely adore being a medical librarian, and my passion is best exemplified by the tattoo of the library symbol on my wrist, colored in blue as a nod to the hospital setting. Whenever there is an opportunity to discuss the wealth of resources and knowledge at our disposal, librarians eagerly dive in with unwavering enthusiasm and determination.
My initial task was to gain a solid understanding of the resources required and to anticipate how the public would engage with the materials. I went to the patient education handouts on Clinical Key and to MedlinePlus, and grabbed, not only the topics in English that were relevant to our patient population, but in the languages our community speaks. I set up my little station within the community hall, and started to answer questions from the public, and what surprised me the most was the increasing demand from both our staff, and the community partners collaborating with our hospital system. This experience yielded at least two literature searches, an invitation to come in to teach a new, reinvigorated service line, and heartfelt expressions of gratitude from the public, all of which were immensely rewarding. The partnership initiated over that weekend is bound to grow stronger with our annual participation, and our ability to adapt swiftly when unanticipated requests arise will undoubtedly further cement our collaboration. We as librarians are always going to be able to answer the questions given to us in creative ways, but taking the first step to grab the opportunities, like Mission Health Day, to be there, is the first step. All of us in the field can be that positive impact of showing our value to any organization or community by being there as partners in healthcare excellence.
In honor of National Medical Librarian’s Month, we will share stories about how the work you do has made an impact.