Richard James

Richard provides services to the School of Nursing, including research assistance, instruction, and library support to student nurses and faculty, and to UPHS nursing staff and leadership. As the bibliographer for nursing, he also develops the Libraries' print and online resources in this area. Richard is also the library's liaison to PSOM's Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy  Richard came to Penn from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, where he held the dual roles of Electronic Resources Librarian and Institutional Repository Manager, and has previously worked at Holy Family University and the Community College of Philadelphia, mostly serving nursing and allied health programs. 

Richard currently serves on the Family Advisory Council of the duPont Hospital for Children and on its Ethics Committee, on project leadership teams of the National Pediatric Cardiology Quality Improvement Collaborative, the Fontan Outcomes Network, and on the publications committee of the Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Outcome Collaborative. He is a member of AEREO: The Consortium to Advance Effective Research Ethics Oversight, and contributes to that organization's research on institutional review board quality and outcomes. Richard is also an associate editor with the Directory of Open Access Journals

Prior to his library career, Richard studied nursing at the Queen Alexandria Hospital School of Nursing in Portsmouth, U.K.  He then worked in hospitals and long-term care in the U.K. for about 5 years, then came to the U.S. and worked for housing and homelessness organizations. Richard received his Master's degree in Library Science from Clarion University in 2010, and a B.A. in History from the University of Delaware in 2007.

Richard is interested in advancing research about treatment and care of children and families with Congenital Heart Defects, and in health care and support needs of at-risk, chronically ill, and Queer children and youth, and in increasing awareness of Adverse Childhood Experiences, toxic stress, and compassionate practices in health and social services professions. He is a student in Penn's Master of Bioethics program, and possibly, the biggest Gritty fan among the Penn Libraries staff.