In the Spotlight - Jennie Roe
People are at the centre of everything we do. Those who work at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board make a difference to people’s lives every single day.
Each month, the In The Spotlight campaign shines a light on the different people who make up Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, from those who support behind the scenes, to those who have passions that led them to work in their role.
As an organisation with over 17,000 colleagues, the campaign will highlight the variety of roles, teams and individuals across the health board. Working in the NHS can be life-changing, both for colleagues and for the patients they help.
This month Jennie Roe is 'In the Spotlight'. Jennie Roe is a librarian at the Health Library at the University Hospital of Wales and the Archie Cochrane Library at University Hospital Llandough.
“I've been a librarian of one sort or another since before the turn of the century. My first role in libraries was as a volunteer at a public library and that's where I anticipated staying, however once I got a taste of working within the NHS, I knew that was what I wanted to do.
“The Cardiff and Vale University Health Board Library Service is there to support staff to provide patient care based on a trustworthy evidence-base.”
When describing her role as a Librarian, Jennie said: “We carry out searches on behalf of a wide range of staff, from nurses and pharmacists to doctors, administrators and managers. Staff can ask us to find evidence for complex patient care, new services or pathways.
“It takes time to sift through the vast amount of research that's out there to find things that are pertinent and trustworthy, particularly given the breath-taking pace of advances in today's healthcare research - and that's where we can help.
“We have helped find evidence for patient information leaflets, for articles that have been published in professional and academic journals as systematic reviews, case studies and sharing best practice and new ways of working.
“Some of the searches we have carried out so far this year has found information for finding effective models for use in dementia care for people with challenging behaviours, successful time management and prioritisation skills for new nurses, and best practice end of life care for people with chronic liver disease.”
What Jennie enjoys most about her role is the people she gets to interact with on a daily basis and the variety of topics she learns about. “I absolutely love working with NHS staff, and my role covers all of Cardiff and Vale so I can pop up at pretty much any of the health board sites.
“Everyone employed by Cardiff and Vale University Health Board can use the Library Services, so I get to meet and provide support to a lot of different people. It's such a big health board with so many different specialities that even after 25 years of working in healthcare, I'm still finding out what different roles entail.
“It's also the kind of job that covers a lot of different things so no two days are the same. As a core library service we prioritise carrying out literature searches, but we also help with answering enquiries on all manner of things - from information about AI, to how to get published."
When Jennie isn’t at her day job, she can mostly be found at the beach. “When I’m out of work I’m either at the beach surfing or walking the dogs.”
https://cavuhb.nhs.wales/news/latest-news/in-the-spotlight-jennie-roe/