Thursday, September 26, 2019

Your Medical Library and Professional Journal Access: An Employee Benefit

keywords: research literacy, professional practice, employee benefits for healthcare professionals, workplace, new hospital employee




As A Hospital-Based Healthcare Professional, You Have Medical Library and Professional Journal Access as an Employee Benefit


Did you know? 
You can look up journal citations at your healthcare institution’s online library.

Today's mission: Learn how to access your healthcare facility’s library and how to request an article or journal related to your work


At the Hospital Practice Handbook Project, we encourage practitioners to cultivate mentor-relationships and practice research literacy.

Contributors: Megan Kingsley Gale, Helen Ye

CINAHL = the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature. Its focus is on nursing and allied health and has a broad range of topics. A product of EBSCO.
EBSCO = a private company that is the largest provider of research databases, e-journals, and more to libraries.
MedlinePlus = focus is on answering health questions. It is a service of the National Library of Medicine. Has information from the National Institutes of Health, other government agencies and health-related organizations.
National Cancer Institute = The National Cancer Institute is the U.S. federal government’s lead agency for cancer research.[i]
PubMed® = a government site. PubMed is a service through the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.[ii]

Hospital-based clinicians! Does your system or facility have one of these?
1.       Graduate studies department
2.       A teaching hospital or hosts graduate school residents
3.       A library

Did you know a common hospital employee benefit is access to healthcare journals?
If your workplace does not have #1-3 above, you likely still have access to an online professional journal databases like EBSCO, CINAHL, or PubMed through your work.
Learn About Your Facility’s Library Benefits
Whether you are a new employee or have been there a few years, if library access is news to you, here’s a basic outline to learn more.
(1)    Look up your local medical library. Take a visit at your next break and learn more about it, what journals they have, and ask the librarian about online access to journals and how to access it. Sometimes these libraries are also called "reference libraries". Or, if the library is large and at an academic center, you will want to talk to the reference librarian.
(2)    If you can’t find a medical library on your workplace map but you do have a graduate studies department, you probably have some version of a medical library. Start with the graduate studies department. You can call or email them or stop by on your break and casually ask them about their medical library or online access to journals.
(3)    If you are in a satellite clinic that is associated with a larger medical center, your medical library may be a long drive away. In that case, it is more likely you have easiest access to journals via an online access point.
a.      Ask your supervisor how to access your system’s medical library, stating you need to review some journal articles for work-related study.
b.     If your supervisor doesn’t know, ask the physicians in your team. Ask the physicians how they access journal articles for work-related study. If the physicians are buying all their own subscriptions (none through work or an academic medical library), ask your hospital workers’ union about this. It should be a common question.


Requesting Access to a Journal or Article Your Library Doesn’t Have
Keeping up on literature in your field
How reference libraries and medical libraries work
As a clinician, you can go to your library (physical or just online) and request they subscribe to a peer-reviewed journal(s) in your field. Or, if there is a specific article that the library doesn’t have access to and you only need that article, not the full journal access, request to order a copy of that specific item.  You will need the full citation and to give the reason for the request. Examples: “necessary for a presentation I am working on” or “directly related to my professional practice.”

Before making a request for a new item, verify your item isn't accessible
Check to see if they (the library or your online reference system, depending on how your workplace is organized) already have a subscription to the journal you want. Verify what type of subscription it is. For example, subscription types may be physical, electronic, or both.

If they have it, learn how you can access it from work. Is it online through your web browser? Do you need to set up a username/account for access? Do you log in to a specific employee site? Or do you contact your library and order a print copy or pdf to be sent to you? 

If they don’t have access, you can request it.

If your clinical work is part of an academic institution, sometimes the medical library is connected to the medical school or the graduate studies building while your clinical space may be a long distance from the physical building. In that case, some institutions will do a modified “interlibrary loan” for a physical item request or (more likely) you will have electronic access.

Examples
"At Madigan Army Medical Center, I could go down the library, which was next to the graduate studies department, and review print journals and check some types of books or journals out. At my workspace, I had access through my computer to the library, a login, and the databases of journals the library subscribed to. I could also request journal access for journals in my field, as an employee benefit. It was up to the library’s process to decide if that subscription was electronic-only or electronic and print, etc.
"At Portsmouth Naval Medical Center, I could go to the library that had books and journals and many other items for perusal or check out. I could also work with the librarian to request items not available at that location or any other research help I may need." -Megan Kingsley Gale, MSAOM
 At the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), there are multiple library locations, as well as online access to journals.  The medical librarians are very helpful in providing support for specific requests you may have.  As a clinician you may be able to request full articles online through our access points with a username and password. If you are new to the [UCSF healthcare system] library, there are several classes to orient you to its resources and how to use them. These classes are extremely helpful and specific times and locations are posted.  Some classes are walk-ins, while others require registration ahead of time.  The library has its own mailing list, so you may also sign-up for this to receive its newsletter with updates of services and classes.” -Helen Ye, LAc, clinician at UCSF

Benefits

  • You and your colleagues get access to it as an employee benefit
  • Easier to find references for your presentations or stay updated in current evidence-based practices in your field
  • Easier to quote citations and find the full article
  • Easier to share favorite articles with your hospital sponsors/advocates in your facility who also have access

Peer-reviewed journals unique to integrative health programs in hospitals


Research Resource Websites & Journals
JACM
For more on the topic of research
Research Review posts
More about Professional Practice and Basics of Being a Healthcare Professional Employee



[i] The National Cancer Institute’s Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine coordinates and enhances the National Cancer Institute’s activities in research on complementary health approaches. Contact information is 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237)

[ii] It contains publication information and brief summaries of articles from scientific and medical journals. NCCIH has a guidance article on tips for searching PubMed® for articles on integrative health, “How To Find Information About Complementary Health Approaches on PubMed”.


Did you find this information useful or interesting?
You can request a pdf copy of this blogpost via the website for the cost of a cup of coffee. All proceeds go toward basic operating costs to keep this HH Project work going. Thank you.

Subscribe to our email list for the latest updates and follow us on the public Facebook Page.

You can support this community-wisdom-sharing work:
 buy me a coffee or sponsor a small Project via our website.  Thank you.

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Resources for The New Hospital Employee (Acupuncturist)

keywords: hospital-based practice, hospital-based acupuncture practice, employment in a hospital or other medium to large healthcare organization, employee, new employee, hospital practice 0-5 years, lead acupuncturist, program lead
https://blog01.thehospitalhandbook.com/


Are you a new hospital employee with a background and degree in integrative health as an acupuncturist/east Asian medicine practitioner?


It's a big world and getting connected to other hospital-based practitioners in your field is essential to help you avoid repeating their mistakes, avoid re-inventing the wheel, and having that connection to the community to help you grow in your professional practice.

Have you already read and downloaded our beginner hospital practice resource, the First Steps resources?

If so, then you are probably looking for the next practical boots-on-the-ground guide, the New Hospital Employee resource.

Who is the New Hospital Employee resource for?

The New Hospital Employee resource is for acupuncturists just getting hired into hospital practice and employees within their first 5 years at a hospital or related organized healthcare system. It is also recommended as a background resource for any acupuncturists in a leadership position (lead acupuncturist, program lead, or department head) at a hospital or healthcare system.

This resource is a work in progress and I am re-organizing the content in fall and winter 2019. To be notified when the consolidated resource is published, sign up on this form for the email newsletter.

What you can do while you are waiting for the publication
Many of the resources are already available on the blog, website, and community. They are just not consolidated in one location yet.
So, to access the content you may need now:
  1. Sign up to the newsletter through this landing page
  2. Read the First Steps resources--the New Employee resource will assume you have already had that information and will just build upon it.
  3. Connect to the community via social media here
  4. Subscribe and follow the blog and the website
  5. If you don't find what you need on the blog and website, please contact me with your query via the website contact page and I will endeavor to help.
Review
So, if you want to pre-order it the New Hospital Employee resource, please sign up here, through this form, and I will send you a notice when the resource packet is published.

In the meantime, keep an eye on the blog, website, and newsletters for posts and articles tagged with "teamwork", "leadership", "employee", "research literacy", and the "leadership and workplace Monday" series.

Welcome to the Hospital Practice Handbook Project community!
Megan Kingsley Gale, MSAOM
Founder and Facilitator, The Hospital-based Practice Handbook Project for Acupuncturists and Their Hospital Sponsors (Admin)


Related Blogposts



Did you find this information useful or interesting?
You can request a pdf copy of this blogpost via the website for the cost of a cup of coffee. All proceeds go toward basic operating costs to keep this HH Project work going. Thank you.

Subscribe to our email list for the latest updates and follow us on the public Facebook Page.

You can support this community-wisdom-sharing work:
 buy me a coffee or sponsor a small Project via our website.  Thank you.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

The Massage Therapy Foundation's Research Webinar Series 2019

keywords: research literacy, massage therapy and bodywork, research basics, lunchtime listen recommendation

Research Thursday Spotlight: The Massage Therapy Foundation Research Webinar Series in 2019


http://massagetherapyfoundation.org
The Massage Therapy Foundation (research) and the NCBTMB (national massage therapy and bodywork association) have collaborated to create a webinar series on the basics of research in 2019. The first webinar aired in February 2019 with the episode, "Why Research?"

Go to their landing page to learn more about this Research Webinar Series.

There will be 3 parts to the series in 2019

  1. Part 1 was "Why Research?" (Feb 2019)
  2. Part 2 was "What is Research?" (July 2019)
  3. Part 3 will be "How to Find Quality Resources" (to be sometime in fall 2019)


The Massage Therapy Foundation is offering continuing education credit for watching these seminars. To take the quiz and get the credit, go to their website.

Part 1: "Why Research?" February 2019

Part 2: "What is Research?" July 2019


Related blogposts on Massage Therapy



For more on the topic of research

Other monthly research summary blogposts
Research Review posts
Research Resource Websites & Journals



Did you find this information useful or interesting?
Subscribe to our email list for the latest updates and follow us
for "research and metrics Thursdays" on the public Facebook Page.

You can support this community-wisdom-sharing work:
 buy me a coffee or sponsor a small Project via our website.  Thank you.

Thursday, September 5, 2019

Leadership and Workplace Mondays: August

keywords:  leadership, workplace, workplace culture, being an employee

Inspiration for Employees and their Leaders 

Review of the "Leadership and Workplace Mondays" theme from the public HHP Facebook Page

Would you like a pdf copy of this article?
You can request a pdf copy of this blogpost via the website for the cost of a cup of coffee. All proceeds go toward basic operating costs to keep this HH Project work going. Thank you. 

6 Project Management Tips: Useful for the Doctoral Student
Also useful for anyone working on a project, whether a research paper or setting up a program 

For those of you working on your Ph.D. or other doctorates, 6 project management tips from the journal Nature: International Journal of Science, "Six Project Management Tips for your Ph.D." 
  1. Define a timeline
  2. Prepare for hiccups
  3. Define your project scope
  4. Add value vs. fluff—focus
  5. Define metrics of success—what does success look like and how will you measure it?
  6. Make progress by failing early
There are more articles in this series on the Nature website:

The National Academy of Medicine Makes the Case for the Chief Wellness Officer

Want to see more resources related to the workplace for hospital-based integrative health practitioners?



If you enjoyed this, check out our public Facebook Page and subscribe to our email list. 

For more recommended reading (books and audiobooks) on leadership, see our Reflecting on Leadership post.

More posts on Leadership

If this was useful, please support this community work.  
You can buy me a coffee, sponsor a newsletter, or sponsor a project via the website.
www.thehospitalhandbook.com

August Research Roundup

keywords:  research literacy

Topics: 
Would you like a pdf copy of this article?
You can request a pdf copy of this blogpost via the website for the cost of a cup of coffee☕. All proceeds go toward basic operating costs to keep this HH Project work going. Thank you. 

The August Research Roundup

Review of the "Research and Metrics Thursdays" theme from the public Facebook Page and newsletter

At the Hospital Practice Handbook Project, we encourage practitioners to cultivate mentor-relationships and practice research literacy.


Community Survey: What Does Success Look Like in an Integrative Oncology Program?
Please share your wisdom and experience in the survey form. Thank you.

Research-related job postings (NCCIH)
  1. “Dr. Lauren Atlas’s laboratory is recruiting postdoctoral researchers with expertise in fMRI and affective science to join the Section on Affective Neuroscience and Pain to lead new projects on the psychological modulation of pain and emotional experience using high field imaging (7-Tesla MRI). Dr. Atlas’s lab is part of NCCIH’s new intramural program, and affiliated with the Intramural Research Programs of the National Institute on Mental Health (NIMH) and National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)." NCCIH job posting.
  2. Interested in working at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine? They have been posting job openings this summer. I haven't seen any specific to "acupuncturist", but if you have extra skills and training in research, writing, or program management and want to work there, here is their job listing board.

Research Articles
Three Special Focus Issues from JACM in 2019 to Review as related to Hospital-Based Practice
JACM, a peer-reviewed scientific journal focused on integrative health care models, published special issue editions this past year (highlighted in this letter from the editor). If you missed them, the issues were on integrative oncology, whole-systems approach healthcare, and group delivered services.

Call out for Submissions on Palliative Care & Integrative Health
  • “In February 2020, JACM: Paradigm, Practice, and Policy Advancing Integrative Health (The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine) will publish a Special Focus Issue on Integrative Palliative Care. The goal will be to enhance the natural synergy between integrative health and palliative medicine by drawing research and commentary that examine integrative palliative care."
  • Related articles to read for background on integrative health and palliative care synergy, JACM recommends this article from March 2019: 
  • Deadline for submissions: October 31st, 2019
  • Guidelines for submissions:
    • 1. Type of work.
      • original research and research reviews in the areas of integrative palliative methods, examinations of multimodal approaches, implementation-related studies including exploration of cost and business models issues, and education research. Other submissions related to this list may be considered, but send JACM your query before officially submitting your work.
    • 2. When submitting, select the "special issue on integrative palliative care" manuscript category
    • 3. Word limits. For original manuscripts 3,000 words or less. For systematic reviews 4,500 words or less. However, title, abstract, acknowledgments, disclosures, references, and figure legends don't count toward the word limit.
    • 4. Commentaries accepted. 500 words or less. topic: reflecting on the next steps for integrative palliative care. Such as controversies in the field, unusual experiences (not case reports), models of care, educational models, etc. Focus on what the challenges and opportunities are for this field at this moment in history.
  • Read the announcement here and submit your work soon!


Metrics: Patient Outcomes
Are you tracking your patient outcomes?
UH Connor integrative health programs are tracking theirs!
If you are working in an integrative health program you are tracking some metrics, right? Which metrics are you tracking? If this is news to you, read this article about UH Connor's integrative health program and find more resources in this blog by following the tags "metrics" and "research literacy".  Happy reading!
"The Science Behind Integrative Health"
excerpt: "Meet Jeffery A. Dusek, PhD, Director of Research, UH Connor Integrative Health Network. When integrative health is offered within an academic medical center as the UH Connor Integrative Health Network (CIHN) is at UH, understanding the data and science behind its treatments and therapies is crucial. As Francoise Adan, MD, Medical Director of CIHN says, 'While we have hundreds of outstanding patient testimonials from the past several years, those don't gain you reimbursement, or credibility with doubting physicians.' " Read more in this UH article.
Metrics: Clinician Employee Burnout & Employee Well-Being
Are you interested in measuring burnout or well-being?
There are validated metrics for this.  The National Academy of Medicine has created a resource page with all the validated tools for measuring clinician burnout and clinician well-being.
Interested in Measuring Your Work?
  • Learn more about the importance of metrics in your work by following the Hospital Handbook Project. We are currently tagging blog posts related to metrics with "metrics". You can use the search feature in the blog and type in "metrics" to find related posts.
  • If the term "metrics" and/or "performance management metrics" are new to you, sign up for our new series, Basics of Being an Employee in a Healthcare System: Performance Metrics. We have finished recording the series. Just doing the slow work of video editing and note-taking. If you sign up, you will be notified when any of it is next published. More information about that here.

Reviewing Research Basics and Their Practical Application for the Healthcare Clinician


Humanism in Healthcare: Patient-Centered-ness and Clinician Resilience

Research Conferences



NCCIH at 20: A Catalyst for Integrative Health Research,
a One Day Conference with the NCCIH Stephen E. Straus lecture
"NCCIH at 20" conference agenda, Sept.2019
  • Date: 9.23.2019
  • You can register for the webcast of this conference at the NCCIH event page
  • This year’s Stephen E. Straus lecture in the science of complementary therapies is: “Why We Need a Pain Revolution: From Science to Practice” with Lorimer Moseley, PhD, professor of clinical neurosciences and chair in physiotherapy at the University of South Australia.
“Dr. Moseley will present the…underlying six target concepts…at the heart of the Pain Revolution, a community pain education and capacity-building program focusing on rural and regional Australia.”
Funding Announcements
  • The Society of Acupuncture Research (SAR) posted an easy-to-read blog post on all the current NIH acupuncture research funding announcements.  

    For more on the topic of research

    Other monthly research summary blogposts
    Research Review posts
    Research Resource Websites & Journals



    Did you find this information useful or interesting?
    You can request a pdf copy of this blogpost via the website for the cost of a cup of coffee. All proceeds go toward basic operating costs to keep this HH Project work going. Thank you.

    Subscribe to our email list for the latest updates and follow us
    for "research and metrics Thursdays" on the public Facebook Page.

    You can support this community-wisdom-sharing work by buying me a coffee or sponsoring a newsletter via our website.  Thank you.

    Research Literacy Basics: Practical Applications for the Hospital-Based Practitioner

    keywords: research literacy, reviewing the basics, poster presentations, grand rounds, basics of submitting a piece to a peer-reviewed journal


    Would you like a pdf copy of this article?

    You can request a pdf copy of this blogpost via the website for the cost of a cup of coffee. All proceeds go toward basic operating costs to keep this HH Project work going.
    www.thehospitalhandbook.com


    Review of Research Basics and the Practical Applications (at your job) as a Healthcare Clinician

    A Resource Page for the Acupuncturist in Hospital-Based Practice 

    Also useful information for any acupuncturist interested in presenting their professional work at a conference, in a peer-reviewed journal, or to other healthcare providers working in a healthcare system


    Interested in research or in submitting your hard work to a peer-reviewed journal but haven't been successful yet or not sure where to start?

    • Here are some resources for reviewing some important research literacy basics in the field of integrative health and especially in the field of acupuncture and East Asian medicine
    • You can find more resources by following these keywords or tags in the blog: research literacy and metrics


    Are you looking to connect with a mentor to guide you through becoming a clinician-researcher? 



    Reviewing the Basics

      What is Well-Designed Research?
      On Writing a Scientific Paper
      Posters and Poster Presentations
      For more on the topic of research

      Other monthly research summary blogposts
      Research Review posts
      Related Subjects
      • Grand Rounds
      • Project ECHO of the University of New Mexico, a unique telehealth/teleseminar wisdom-share program for hospital-based practitioners in specialty care (IPMCs, any specialty on the ECHO lineup) and rural primary care health centers
      • Shadowing Physicians
      Research Resource Websites & Journals


      Did you find this information useful or interesting?
      You can request a pdf copy of this blogpost via the website for the cost of a cup of coffee. All proceeds go toward basic operating costs to keep this HH Project work going. Thank you.

      Subscribe to our email list for the latest updates and follow us
      for "research and metrics Thursdays" on the public Facebook Page.

      You can support this community-wisdom-sharing work by
       buying me a coffee or sponsoring a newsletter via our website.  Thank you.