MEET THE PROFESSIONAL
January 2018
Dr. Rana Halabi Najjar
Dr. Rana Halabi Najjar is an Assistant Professor of Nursing at Oregon Health & Science University School of Nursing. Rana’s research focus is on obesity, weight bias, and disordered eating. Currently, she is examining the effectiveness and feasibility of an obesity sensitivity training intervention among nurses and other healthcare providers. The purpose of this intervention is to increase awareness of weight bias, enhance the health care provider-client interaction, and maximize opportunity for adoption of healthy behaviors.
Rana is a supporter of professional networking and our mentoring program within our community. We are very excited to feature her as our professional in this month’s installment of our “Meet the Professional” series.
Below are a few questions to help facilitate this interactive connection. At the end of the page you will have an opportunity to post your own questions to Dr. Rana Halabi Najjar.
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Describe your current Occupation & Degree/s and Universities.
- Bachelors of Science in Nursing from American University of Beirut
- Masters of Science in Nursing/Pediatric Nurse Practitioner from University of Texas Houston Health Science Center
- PhD in Nursing from University of California Los Angeles
A list of any awards/recognitions:
- Nurse Leaders Award
- Deloras Jones Scholarship Award
- Leahy Scholarship Award
- UCLA Auxillary Award
- Watanbae Scholarship Award
- Star Recognition Award
Discuss a moment or turning point in your life that led you to your career path:
I’m not sure it was one moment that led me to my career but rather a series of events. When I was ten years old, my mom was injured in the Lebanese civil war. I witnessed the medical care my mom received in Lebanon and subsequently the care she received here in the United States at Methodist Hospital in Houston. My mom went through a number of surgeries and procedures and what left an indelible mark on me was the care and compassion we encountered from the staff at Methodist, especially the nurses.
Discuss a role model or mentor who influenced your career choice:
I have had several mentors who impacted me professionally. The late Dr. Raja Ataya had a great deal of influence on my career choice. His kindness and willingness to share aspects of his professional life helped set me on my nursing career path. Dr. Celeste Garbarino was also a great mentor. She was the first pediatrician I worked with and she taught me a lot about pediatrics. She also told me I will go far in nursing and her encouragement and support have been invaluable to me along my journey.
Do you recall any specific challenges you encountered and overcame?
I did not have a strong foundation in school. Because of the war in Lebanon, The only grade I remember completing in elementary school is 1st grade. I missed several weeks to months from 2 – 4th grade. According to my parents, I was given a placement exam when we emigrated to the states and I was placed in the 6th grade (never attended 5th grade at all). I do not recall struggling in any subjects except English. I had difficulty with both reading comprehension and writing. I had a great English teacher in my first year at Baylor University where I did my pre-nursing courses. She helped me improve my writing skills and taught me another valuable lesson which is to never be too afraid or embarrassed to ask for help. I remember being terrified when I had to take my GREs for graduate school. The person that helped me at that time was my husband, Malek. He told me to practice writing 1 – 2 essays every day for 30 days. After that experience, I realized for me writing is about confidence and practice. I’m not sure I will ever be 100% comfortable with writing but I chose to a career that requires me to publish manuscripts on a regular basis….go figure!
Where do you see yourself in the next 10 years?
Currently, I am a nurse educator at Oregon Health & Science University in the School of Nursing. I am also a nurse scientist. My research focus is in nursing education, specifically using simulation as a learning and testing medium. My other research track is in weight bias, which means discriminating against, victimizating, and/or stereotyping individuals based on their weight. My goal is to continue working in academia and my ultimate hope is to be able to raise awareness and educate others about weight bias.
What advice would you give to someone starting out in your field?
Nursing is an amazing career for both men and women because of the possibilities available within the field. In nursing, you can be a bedside nurse or a researcher or a chief nursing officer of a hospital or the head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Nursing allows you to be part of a person/family’s life during some of the most challenging and vulnerable times. Nursing has taught me about humility, courage and grace. Even after 22 years in nursing, I learn and I’m inspired every day…before it was my patients that taught me and now, ironically enough, it’s my students.
I have two pieces of advice for those entering nursing: First, always be open to an opportunity and do not pass up opportunities because of self-doubt; second, make sure you take care of yourself first and foremost. In order to care for others you have to know how to care for yourself. This is a good segue into the next question…..
Tell us a little bit about your hobbies outside of your field:
I love spending time with my family. They have always been a source of strength and support for me. The ‘additions’ to our family in the last few years- my 4-year-old daughter, Malak, 3-year-old nephew, Daniel, and 1-year-old niece, Alexa-Grace -bring me pure joy and happiness.
I love gardening, and living in Oregon gives me ability to have a beautiful garden during summer. Every spring, I spend a weekend planting vegetables and fruits and then I wait for the rain and sun (yes we have sun in the Northwest) to nurture the plants and help them grow. It’s wonderful to be able to provide my family with healthy fruits and vegetables through-out the summer. Watching Malak and Danny pick and eat tomatoes and blueberries right off the vine is very gratifying.
Oregon also enables to me to have another outdoor hobby I thoroughly enjoy which is racing. My sister, Julie and I trained for a sprint triathlon a couple of years ago, which was one of the items on my bucket list. I have been hooked since we did our first race together in July of 2016 in Portland, Oregon. I had never even done a 5k before that race but since then, I’ve completed 3 sprint triathlons and a number of 5k runs.
Another joy I found in the last year is knitting. Research has shown that creative art forms, such as knitting, have a powerful impact on health and wellbeing. People make fun of me because they think knitting is for older women, but I don’t let their comments bother me since it’s part of my self-care. Besides, Malak now has an assortment of hats, scarfs, and mittens (not my favorite thing to knit) to wear and I’ve overheard her say to her friends and teachers, with pride, “my mom knit this for me”.
A Q&A form will be uploaded shortly. In the meantime feel free to send any questions you would like to ask Dr. Rana Halabi Najjar to admin@network1017.com
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