Volume 11, Issues 20 September 24, 2004
Women's Health Night 2004
The annual Women's Health Night at the hospital was enjoyed by an estimated 200 visitors September 23rd. The night included a gourmet cooking demonstration from Mary Smiley operator of "To Dine For", an traveling chef service and caterer. Dr. Marc Meininger gave a presentation on Women's Health Issues. There were blood pressure screens, cholesterol checks, health and fitness vendors and many other things to see and do.
Thanks to all who attended, helped, and to organizer Sandra Linde, the hospital special projects coordinator. Many of our Senior Project Students from Sunnyside High School also volunteered to help and worked very hard at Women's Health Night.
The plan right now, is to return Women's Health Night to May in 2005.
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1. Nancy Hultberg (left) conducts a blood test. 2. Mary Smiley & Sheila Viereck chats with visitors following her gourmet cooking demonstration. 3. Dr. Marc Meininger talks with visitors to Women's Health Night. 4. Dr. Francesco Vinci, one of the newest members of the hospital medical staff visited with patients and assisted with diabetes education and other questions from those receiving health screenings. 5. Editor Tom Lathen was convinced to have his cholesterol numbers checked. (Photo by Dr. Vinci.)
Click on image for larger picture. May take a few seconds to load.
In This Corner by Jon D. Smiley, C.E.O.
What do we mean when we say the world has really changed? Whether you are 20, 40 or 60 you have probably said to yourself something to the effect of, "boy things sure have changed since I was a kid."
Now for some of us there is more evidence than others. But, I think we all have a tendency to long for the "good old days" - even if it was the 1990s.
So what can we do about it? Can we change too? Or should we fight change - kicking and screaming - all the way to retirement?
I would like to think that no matter how the landscape of healthcare has changed we have never lost a commitment to giving quality patient care. Even if you know in your heart that you are primarily on the job because it pays more than other jobs, isn't it true the best way to keep a paycheck coming in is to do a good job?
Whether your commitment is to yourself, your family, or you believe in the altruistic nature of working in healthcare, the same basic fact is true. The best way to ensure your personal goal is met is to do a quality job and provide excellent customer service.
Its like the old story of how do you eat an elephant. (One bite at a time.) There are many different and credible views possible of, why we are here. But the only consistent answer to each personal quest is that we do a good job one patient, one family at a time.
So whatever your motivation for coming to work - you need the money, you really care about our patients, or you want to support your coworkers - the best way to do that, is to do it well. Don't worry about the motivation of the person next to you. Or if your own motivation shuffles a bit now and then. Just know that the journey to quality patient care is a similar one for all of us. And the destination is the same: satisfied patients, happy employees and a successful hospital long into the future.
Getting
Ready for the Flu
compiled from various sources
Qualis Health reports, nationally, only 36 percent of nurses, physicians, technicians, and other healthcare practitioners who have direct contact with vulnerable patients are immunized against influenza-a highly contagious disease that each year kills an average of 36,000 Americans and hospitalizes another 114,000.
SCH is again offering flu shots to hospital employees & volunteers. The vaccine is due in October. Sheila Robinson, Infection Control, will send a memo to each department when it is available. This year we are also taking advantage of an offer from MedImmune for 50 free doses of intranasal flu vaccine. This can't be given to some people depending on health status, pregnancy, etc.
The hospital had 43% of healthcare workers and volunteers get flue shots last season. So, even though we are still several points above the national average we can go a long way toward protecting our patients and protecting ourselves by getting a flu shot.
Watch the newsletter, and other internal communication points for a schedule of when flu shots will be available to employees, doctors and volunteers. Family members will need to contact public health or your primary care provider to arrange for their flu shots.
The Benton Franklin Health District has also posted information about flu shots and a clinic they plan for October. To find out more go here.
Critical Incident Stress Debriefing - October 7-8, Good Shepard Hospital in Hermiston. Registration Deadline is September 30th. This is a 14 hour seminar with CEU available. Instructor is Michael Cobb a police officer with 22 years experience and a faculty member with the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation International Advisory Committee.
New
Web-Based Training Course from
CDC Smallpox Vaccine
Storage and Handling. The class is free of charge. Click on the
link for more information or contact Gabriella
Barker.
Help Out an Ill Co-worker. The Nurses in ACU are organizing an effort to take evening meals to a co-worker and her husband. This nurse has been very ill for sometime as many of you know, and continues on the road to recovery. If you would like to help out please see Judy in Ambulatory Care.
Pediatric Emergency Class. Free class open to first 50 registrants. At Tri Tech Skills Center in Kennewick. Saturday, October 9th at 9:00 a.m. Pre-registration is required. Email your name, hospital, phone number and email to ackermb@nwmedstar.org. A confirmation email will be sent back.
AORN Perioperative Nursing. Linda Monroe and Debby Amos just returned from an AORN training class in Washington D.C. The class was a train the trainers program for the AORN Nursing Course 101. The hospital has purchased this program to teach new perioperative nurses.
Monthly MedStar Classes in 2005. Free monthly classes via TeleHealth. 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on the 4th Monday of each month starting in January. All the classes offer CEUs from the AACN. You must register at least one week in advance to obtain CEUs. Contact Gabriella Barker or MedStar's Michael Day for more information.
New Physician Assistant Joins Lincoln Ave.
Lincoln Avenue Family Medicine will have a new practitioner on staff starting October 11th. Rachel Mattern, PA-C is a recent graduate of the Rocky Mountain College Physician Assistant Program in Helena, Montana.
Rachel is a northwest native. She worked as a phlebotomist and clinical research assistant in Seattle before entering school in Montana. She and her husband Brian have friends and relatives in the Tri Cities area.
She lists needlepoint, piano and fine wines as special interests and hobbies.
West Nile Virus
Note: The following is a news release from Sunnyside Community Hospital.
Sunnyside
Community Hospital Internal Medicine Specialist Dr. Francesco Vinci says close
examination of the facts about West Nile Virus show it is highly unlikely that
anyone in Washington State will be seriously impacted.
The
State of Washington this week noted that Washington is the only state in the
country where a human case of West Nile has not been diagnosed and reported.
Vinci
said the Centers for Disease Control tracks all cases of West Nile Virus, and
only one human case has been reported in Oregon and two more in Idaho.
These contrast to southern tier states were incidence of the disease are
much higher.
So
far this year, according to the CDC, 1386 human cases have been confirmed.
In those cases 36 have been fatal.
Dr.
Vinci said most people infected with West Nile Virus have a mild flu like
illness – though in the elderly or immune-compromised the symptoms can be more
serious.
The
virus is spread by mosquitoes that bite infected birds and then transmit the
disease by biting a person. It is
not transmitted from one person to another.
It is also important to note that not every mosquito is infected with
West Nile, the local physician explained.
“Right now the West Nile Virus
is not a serious threat, especially to us in Washington, though the future is
unknown,” Vinci said. “The
best precaution anyone can use is to limit exposure to mosquitoes, but to take
extraordinary precautions is probably not necessary.”
“Because the symptoms appear
like flu and are mild in the vast majority of people it is possible that some
cases are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed as the flu.
While
the CDC recommends caution in picking up any dead birds that might be found on
your property, Dr. Vinci also noted that the disease is spread by mosquitoes who
have bitten an animal first, and human transmission from a dead bird is
unlikely.
Washington
had no positive test results for West Nile virus in 2003 — in horses or dead
birds, although two dead birds tested positive in our state in 2002 — one in
Pend Oreille County, and one in Snohomish County; and there were two horse cases
in Washington that year.
The
Department of Health West Nile virus information line 1-866-78-VIRUS
(1-866-788-4787) has the latest state information in both English and Spanish.
More information is also available on the Department
of Health West Nile virus Web site.
Diabetes Walk
If you like to walk, join in with others from the hospital supporting the Diabetes Walk October 2nd in Richland. You are invited to make a contribution to local Diabetes education and patient care and walk through Howard Amon Park in Richland. Contact Sandra Linde for more information and to sign up to walk. The hospital is a corporate sponsor of the Diabetes walk.
Yummy Help!
The Cafeteria will begin selling Yoplait yogurt in October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The lids on the yogurt are worth 10-cents each toward the Susan B Koman Breast Cancer Research Fund. There will be a box in the cafeteria to drop off lids (regardless of where you purchase them). We will be collecting the lids until December 15th.
Please help out if you are a yogurt purchaser - it is an easy way to get involved in a very good cause.
Gift Shop News
The Auxiliary Gift Shop has lots of new items for shoppers to check out. The "Red Hat Society" has invaded the Gift Shop. Halloween items are already in stock too.
Many of the Auxiliary members are also involved in the "Red Hat Society" and pictures from the Sunshine Days Parade are included below. They also have some cute nursing ,red hat and breast cancer socks (for your feet) on sale in the gift shop.
Click on any image for a larger picture.
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1. Coleen Goulet and her boys represented Women's Health Night in the Parade. 2 & 3 Nancy Hultberg's little Ford was part of the Red Hat Society Entry. 4. Coleen and crew!
Christmas Care Packages for Troops in Iraq
Ruth Hagensicker (Food Services) is gathering items for a Christmas Care Package to send to troops in Iraq. (Her brother is one of many guard members called back into fulltime duty and serving overseas.)
The package will be shipped out of the hospital November 1st. If you would like to contribute to the cause here are a few ways you can help:
1. Donate small toiletries such as soaps, shampoo, lotion, toothpaste, mouthwash, deodorant and disposable razors.
2. Donate small bags of snacks such as crackers and cheese, jerky, hard candy, packaged drink mix, trail mix, gum and mints.
3. Donate magazines, paperback books, music CDs, stamps (to send mail home).
4. Donate money for postage to mail to the package.
5. Donate small wrapped Christmas gifts, and mark "male" or "female" on each gift.
After October 1st, there will be Christmas cards posted on the bulletin board across from the Cafe. Please sign all the cards, as they will be sent with the gifts and packages.