AdventHealth Hendersonville 2021 Nursing Annual Report
We are making a change to a new standard of care for our team.
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Be part of the shift.
The world’s not the same as it was. Work isn’t, either. It’s time for a shift. One that allows you to unlock your potential, use your skills and build a better future. So, we’re extending our resources to support you physically, mentally and spiritually. Opening doors so you can dream bigger. Growing your talents so you can take the next step. Supporting your goals with debt-free education. This is our new standard of care. For you.
Kiran Assistant Nurse Manager
Maureen Dzialo, MS, RN Vice President of Clinical Services | Chief Nursing Officer AdventHealth Hendersonville
As the new Chief Nursing Officer at AdventHealth Hendersonville, I am very proud to be a nurse leader, supporting nurses who provide lifesaving care to the people of our community. Even during these days of increased volumes and acuity, our teams have continued to look at ways to improve quality and safety. Because of this dedication, AdventHealth Hendersonville continues to earn local and national recognition including the CMS Five-Star in Quality Rating and The Leapfrog Group “A” grade for the 11th straight survey. And in the midst of the demands of pandemic, for the first time in our hospital’s history we earned The Leapfrog Group Top Hospital honor for 2021.
I think you can agree that 2021 has been a very challenging year. In 2020, when the COVID-19 virus spread across the United States, the outpouring of compassion for health care employees battling the virus was all over the news and felt across the community. We remember seeing people in New York City clapping for health care workers from their high-rises. In Denver, Colorado people would “howl” out their front door at 7 pm for health care workers. Having lived there at that time, I would open my door to listen, being so proud of my profession.
There are two quotes that I think represent my image of nursing, especially at this time in our history. The first is from the founder of Johns Hopkins University, Dr. William Osler, who said, “The trained nurse has become one of the greatest blessings to humanity, taking a place beside the physician and the priest.” The other quote was by Ralph Waldo Emerson, who said, “To know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” Not only are nurses a blessing to humanity, but the reason why so many people have survived their COVID-19 illness. It is because of the efforts of these amazing nurses that people breathe easier.
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One of the biggest compliments is when patients ask EMS to drive past several other hospitals so that they can come to AdventHealth Hendersonville. That is an honor we should be proud of.
In 2021, the mood changed. People grew tired of COVID-19 and the ways in which our world has changed since it arrived. The mood for many has gone away from appreciation to agitation. Yet, despite what happens in the world around us, nurses continue to show up, to bring compassion to those who are suffering and afraid.
I am so proud of our team of nurses and nursing assistants/techs. I hope you join me in thanking them for their amazing work in 2021 and enjoy these examples of how they are Extending the Healing Ministry of Christ to our community. Please enjoy the AdventHealth Hendersonville 2021 Annual Nursing Report.
Sincerely,
Dear Reader,
Because we want to love all people we encounter like Christ loved us, we have adopted a ‘Love Me’ Service Standard. This ‘Love Me’ Service Standard encompasses treating others with uncommon compassion, nurturing whole-person care through CREATION Life, treating others with fairness and respect, and listening and communicating effectively.
One of AdventHealth Hendersonville’s Behavioral Health providers, Gergana Dimitrova, MD went above and beyond to provide this extra layer of loving care to our patients. Dr. Dimitrova was able to obtain beautiful, hand-made quilts for the AdventHealth Behavioral Health Geriatric Unit. Each bed on the unit received a quilt, making the unit feel homier for our behavioral health patients. The geriatric patients love the quilts. The comforting touch puts smiles on their faces!
Thank you, Dr. Dimitrova, for taking the extra steps to live out our ‘Love Me’ service standard by providing our patients with comfort and a sense of security.
The “Love Me” Service Standard in Action in Behavioral Health Units
At AdventHealth Hendersonville our Service Standards portray the Christ-centered approach to health care that we strive to maintain across our care system.
By Kristy Ellison, MSN, RN, Director of Behavioral Health
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By Bryan Devinney, RN, MSN, NRP, CEN, CHEP Nursing Educator | ER Clinical Education AdventHealth Hendersonville
In December 2020, AdventHealth Hendersonville received official recognition as an Approved Provider of Continuing Nursing Education (CNE) by the North Carolina Nurses Association (NCNA). This allows our Clinical Education team to provide Approved CNE hours not only to RNs and LPNs, but also any other discipline that recognizes these educational hours.
*A hospital department of AdventHealth Hendersonville.
When the three classes were completed, the Clinical Education Department filed an application with the NCNA for an ongoing provider status. The application took hours of work and required several revisions. On December 5, 2020, we received the designation of an Approved Provider of Continuing Nursing Education by the NCNA. This designation will come due for renewal on December 4, 2022.
The commitment to provide the highest quality nursing care to our community goes beyond the hiring step. AdventHealth Hendersonville is committed to simplify the process for our nurses to maintain their education and training requirements.
Approved CNE hours are used for renewal of licensure as well as maintenance of specialty certifications. While most of our nurses are licensed in North Carolina, we also attract nurses from South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia. Approved CNE is one of the methods for license renewal in those states. Nurses are also encouraged to obtain professional certifications in their practice specialty. With this certification comes an additional need for Approved CNE, which can range as high as 100 hours for Certified Emergency Nurses or Critical Care Certified
To achieve this recognition, the NCNA required AdventHealth’s Clinical Education Department to create three individual continuing education events. In 2019, we created the Behavioral Health Education Blitz and Emergency Department Education Blitz. Both events awarded three hours of nursing continuing education to participants. The team created the third event in conjunction with the AdventHealth Hematology Oncology Infusion Services* center’s educator. This event provided each participant with 10 hours in the Chemotherapy/Biotherapy course. We then evaluated each of these courses and identified opportunities for improvement.
Education Department is always looking for continuing education topics. Any nurse with an idea of a useful topic is invited to contact one of our team members.
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While the AdventHealth Learning Network provides a significant amount of approved continuing education, we also have created a significant number of local educational offerings that our team members must complete. These offerings include our annual educational blitzes for the nursing units, education on new equipment, changes in policies and procedures, and many other options.
Continuing the Journey to Excellence: AdventHealth Hendersonville CNE Recognition
to hear that I was chosen,” admits Beth. “It is an honor to be recognized among so many incredible nurses across our state. To have this happen because members of my nursing family here at AdventHealth nominated me is humbling. I work with the absolute best nurses in the business. Their commitment to compassionate, safe, high-quality care inspires me every day. I am truly blessed.”
● Displays commitment to patients, families and colleagues
● Radiates energy and enthusiasm, and contributes to overall outcomes in their practice setting
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● Demonstrates caring and assists others to grow and develop
● Promotes and advances the profession of nursing in their practice setting and/or community
● Demonstrates integrity, honesty and accountability
Beth has been an integral part of the team at AdventHealth and has made it her mission to help other nurses succeed in the health care field. She brings her talents for leadership, and her ability to implement strategic and creative ways to extend the healing ministry of Christ to her roles at AdventHealth “IHendersonville. wasoverwhelmed
“Beth’s history of care covers nearly every sector of nursing. She brings that expertise to every opportunity she and her nursing team experience,” shares Maureen Dzialo, MS, RN, AdventHealth Hendersonville VP of Clinical Services and Chief Nursing Officer, “We see the impact of her willingness to lead and mentor the incredible nurses on her team and across our health
At AdventHealth Hendersonville all of our nurses are committed to providing compassionate, whole-person care. This dedication is evident not only to all who come to us for care, but also to our teammates. In 2021, one nurse in particular was recognized for going above and beyond in her nursing career. We are proud to share that Beth Cassidy, DNP, MSN, RN, NE-BC, RNC-OB was named one of the 2021 Great 100 Nurses of North Carolina. Beth is the Director of Clinical Services for AdventHealth Hendersonville’s Emergency Department and Clinical Education.
Congratulationssystem” to Dr. Beth Cassidy on this exciting recognition!
Celebrating AdventHealth Nursing Leader –Named Great 100 Nurses of North Carolina
THE GREAT 100, INC. recognizes and honors registered nurses in North Carolina for their commitment to excellence and to promote a positive image of the nursing profession. Each year, the Great 100 Nurses of North Carolina Board of Directors asks patients, coworkers, friends and family members to nominate an outstanding nurse practicing in North Carolina for recognition. Nominations are scored based on how the nominee:
By Kelly Wine, RN, BSN Radiology AdventHealthNurseHendersonville Imaging
Actions by nurses in our Imaging Department are making it easier for patients requiring prolonged intravenous treatments to receive the care when and where they want it.
We are excited to be part of the endeavor to help advance exceptional health care at AdventHealth Hendersonville!
The radiology nurses partnered with and trained at Cone Health in Greensboro, NC. The nurses learned how to use the Bard Ultrasound, which can be used to help with the placement of needles and catheters, reducing the risk of arterial punctures or hematoma. They also learned how to use the Sherlock ECG tip confirmation system. This system uses ECG to for magnetic tracking of the PICC tip during insertion and confirmation of the final location. This new technology allows for immediate confirmation and can be used without any additional radiation for the patient and medical team. Also, these procedures can now be done at the bedside for the comfort and convenience of the patient and team members.
The AdventHealth Hendersonville radiology nurses are building the first-ever Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) and Vascular Access Team here at AdventHealth Hendersonville. With the overwhelming support of administration, we will now be at the Gold-Standard level of patient care when it comes to PICC placement and ultrasoundguided vascular access.
AdventHealth Hendersonville is Moving Health Care Forward through Specialized Training for Radiology Nurses
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Keep Me
The importance of PPID is significant. It can reduce medication errors by up to 93% by electronically verifying the ‘5 rights’ of medication administration – right patient, right dose, right drug, right time, right route – all at the patient’s bedside.
As you can see in the final graph below, we have consistently scored above goal in both patient and medication scanning since February 2021.
While our scores have consistently hovered just below goal, finding ways to raise our scores and corporate ranking were challenging. As part of a process improvement effort, AdventHealth Hendersonville brought together a team of subject matter experts and representatives from clinical areas. We applied Transformation principles of problem solving and root cause analysis. With each opportunity identified, our team went to work to solve the issues, educate team members and provide a renewed sense of awareness of the importance of medication scanning.
To put the results of this work into perspective, in July 2020 our corporate ranking placed us at 37th out of 42 and 36th out of 42 in patient and medication
Our team is committed to meet regularly to review our data so we can identify and eliminate any barriers that may get in the way of safe medication administration.
Safe: Improving the Process for Ensuring Accurate Patient Identification
scanning respectively. As of October 2021 AdventHealth Hendersonville ranked 18th out of 42 and 19th out of 42 in patient and medication scanning respectively.
By Holly McCrary, CLSSGB, CPCM
● Holly McCrary, CLSSGB, CPCM, Improvement Facilitator ● Karissa Khamsouk, BS, CG, Improvement Facilitator ● Melissa Clark, RHIA ● Blake Hill, RN, OCN ● Shannon Shelton, RN ● Beth Cassidy DNP MSN RN NE-BC RNC-OB ● Vivienne Lendway, RN ● Chloe Harden, BSN, RNC-OB ● Lisa Gundersen, BSN, RN, OCN ● Lori Fisher, RN ● Larissa Bright, BSN, RN ● Staci Jackson, BSN, RN ● Brittany Hughes, BSN, RN ● Beth Buckner, BSN, RN ● Tracy Wilson, RPh ● Cindy Passarelli, RPh ● Tara Richardson, BSN, RN ● Stephen Wilson, MSN, RN, CCRN-K ● Teresa Heatherly, RCP, RRT, RPFT. Team Members Involved in this Transformation:
We are very proud of the clinical teams for this improvement while navigating the challenging times during the COVID-19 pandemic.
AdventHealth’s service standards begin with the Keep Me Safe promise. Positive Patient Identification or PPID processes are vital to keeping that promise to every patient in our care. PPID is part of The Leapfrog Group Safety measures as well as an important process to prevent medication errors.
9 Medication Scanning - July 2020 Patient Scanning - July, 2020 Medication Scanning - October 2021 Patient Scanning, October 2021
The Peer Support Team is free, confidential and available 24/7 whenever you want or need it. Any team member, from any department can call 828-290-9193 or email at HVL.PeerSupport@AdventHealth.com. For additional assistance, they may also call Employee Assistance at 1-888-802-5821. Folow-up Needs
By Emily Lynes, AdventHealth Contributing Writer
an ethical dilemma during patient care are just a few of the ways that health care providers can experience the second-victim phenomenon.
The Peer Support Team is a group of volunteers from a variety of disciplines across our system that have been trained in peer support/critical incident stress management. They were selected because of their compassion for others. These volunteers provide increased institutional awareness of the second-victim phenomenon, guidance and support for each second victim, and resources for the management team to effectively support second victims.
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Total-Peer Support Responses and
The Impact of AdventHealth Hendersonville’s Peer Support Team
A second victim is a team member who experiences a critical incident during the course of their work that causes them to feel personally traumatized or emotionally distressed. There are many ways health care providers may experience a trauma or emotionally distressing situation during an average shift. An unexpected loss of a patient, being yelled at or threatened by a patient or family member, or facing
Even Superheroes Need Support
At AdventHealth Hendersonville all our nurses are superheroes. They give compassionate whole-person care to their patients, and they show up for their teammates. But sometimes even the strongest of heroes need some support throughout their career.
During this past year, the Peer Support Team was able to meet the support needs and provide follow-up support for team members that found themselves in sensitive situations. Patient Safety Specialist Micki Kidd, MSN, RN, remembers a specific incident this past year when their team provided crucial care. “An ICU patient assaulted a team member,” Micki explains, “Peer Support was deployed. The director arranged for the team member to take a break and then offered a change in assignment to allow the team member time to process the event and regroup. The team member declined the change of assignment but was grateful for the support and ability to take a break.”
Serenity Rhodes, RN
to This Year’s Awards Winners 2021 Sunflower Winners 2021 DAISY Winners 2021 Sunshine Winners
Hannah Bell, RN
Cindy Ledford, CNA
Congratulations
Bradley, CNA
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TiffanyOCN
Tiffany Tolleson, BSN, Jenkins, CNA
Ashley Moore
Melissa Metcalf, CMA
Meredith Barten, RN,
Danny Sherrill, RCP, RRT
Stephen McGrady, CNA
Purvi Patel
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Caring for our Community: Clearing Up Confusion over Advanced Directives
All current COVID-19 precautions were followed including safe distancing and masking.
The AdventHealth Nursing Team understands the power of knowledge, especially when it comes to helping patients experience the care they want and need.
One of these events took on the often confusing but always crucial topic of Advanced Directives. AdventHealth Director of Clinical Services: Emergency Department and Clinical Education, Beth Cassidy DNP MSN RN NE-BC RNC-OB and Float Pool Nurse, Katherine (Kasey) Caldwell, RN, BSN developed and led these free, bi-monthly classes for our community.
This understanding led the team to develop programs to keep our community up to date with vital information through community education events.
To make it easy for participants, we gave each person two copies of our Advanced Directives that also included an option for designation of Healthcare Power of Attorney. One copy was for note taking during the class and the other to take home for review and to fill out after making informed decisions.
The class consisted of step-by-step explanations of Advanced Directives and Healthcare Power of Attorney.
Beth and Kasey walked the class through the forms, line by line, to clarify all confusing verbiage and dispel any possible misconceptions or concerns. The participants were very enthusiastic and interactive and shared how much they appreciated AdventHealth helping meet this need in our community.
We continued offering the classes until the COVID-19 Delta surge forced us to stop due to safety concerns. We are excited to share that we will be resuming these classes as soon as it is safe to do so once again.
Every other month Beth and Kasey held a total of four sessions of this class on Mondays and Thursday from 6:30 to 8 pm. These took place in the AdventHealth building at 1151 Naples Road, across from the main hospital campus. Classes were limited to 24 participants.
In our clinics, Shawn manages patients on oral anticancer treatment plans, assists with financial concerns, educates, and performs adherence and toxicity checks when a patient starts a new oral regimen. She works with nurses in our AdventHealth Hematology Oncology Infusion Services offices across Western North Carolina to care for our cancer patients.
Her commitment to care excellence earned Shawn a place on Oncology Nursing Society and Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation (ONS-ONCC) Hackathon. The Hackathon is a team-based competition designed to identify methods to address challenging issues in the delivery of quality cancer care.
We are proud to share that Shawn is far from over with her efforts to expand her nursing expertise and patient care skills. She has received the Oncology Nursing Society Foundation Scholarship for Master of Science Nursing degree. She is currently pursuing her MSN in patient quality and safety.
Shawn uses her experience in this role to support educational opportunities for other oncology nurses through participation in various nursing committees and programs. She is the co-chair of the National Community Oncology Dispensing Association (NCODA) Nursing Committee. The nursing committee has developed standardized forms for use at oncology clinics and nurses across the country. Some of our initiatives include an Oral oncolytic informational brochure for patients, a Plan of Care for patients, and tracking sheets.
Sharing Expertise to Change Patient Lives
Shawn Costanzo, BSN, RN, OCN is the oral oncolytic nurse navigator for AdventHealth Hendersonville Cancer Services. She has a passion, not only to make sure her patients understand and follow their care plans, but to make sure others in her role can benefit from what she has seen work.
Patient and teammate education is just the beginning for Shawn, who had an article on managing adherence to oral chemotherapy in patients published in the Fall 2021 issue of Oncolytics Today (an NCODA Publication).
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AdventHealth Nurse Navigator’s Commitment to Care has Far-Reaching Impact
The ED daily census climbed to record numbers and so did the acuity of the patients. Our team maintained their humor and humanity during the long and difficult shifts. There is nothing worse than being in need of emergency services and having no one who smiles, understands you or remembers you don’t want to be there. This team is compassionate, patient, and unafraid to be human.
As the director of the department, I remain in awe of these health care professionals. It is a great sign of well-being in a department on a busy day to hear chatter and some laughter from the team members on duty. They are an enduring and dedicated team, and I am proud to be their director.
The situations our ED team members have faced since the early months of 2020 and throughout 2021 have been particularly challenging. COVID-19 has touched each and every one of us in some way. Our ICU and Med/Surg team members have been challenged as never before. All of our nurses worked while worrying about their families and their potential well-being.
The ED team became front-line for the patients coming to our hospital with the symptoms associated with COVID-19. The nursing and medical teams collaborated to provide the highest quality care for these patients while maintaining personal safety considerations, at all times. The teams ran cardiac arrest drills under isolation conditions to prepare for those situations, so that the codes would run as well as they do under normal conditions. They looked for ways to maintain throughput while protecting the traditional ED patients from the patients coming in with COVID-19 symptoms. They clustered care to preserve PPE. They wrote on the glass doors to communicate equipment or medication needs while in isolation rooms to eliminate going in and out and wasting PPE.
Beth Cassidy DNP MSN RN NE-BC RNC-OB Director | Clinical Services: Emergency Department and Clinical Education
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While all of this was ongoing, the team members continued their work preparing for Primary Stroke Certification, Sepsis, Geriatric Certification- Silver Level, performed EKGs, and other projects.
Emergency Nursing is a challenging and very rewarding discipline. It doesn’t have a specific set of qualities required if you want to be an ER nurse, but having certain characteristics might make you more suited for the job. Emergency nurses must be able to remain calm in high-stress and high-pressure situations, and that includes exuding confidence in the midst of uncertainty. The ability to handle a situation with care and confidence can make a big difference in a patient’s level of comfort and calm. The ED nurse must be able to deal with situations that have no warning and roll with whatever happens. Working in crisis situations, they must quickly identify the best way to stabilize patients and minimize pain. You need to be committed to lifelong learning, because you can see almost anything in the emergency department during the course of your career.
Nursing Experience in Emergency Care
By Beth Cassidy, DNP, MSN, RN, NE-BC, RNC-OB
Whole-Person Care Collaboration:
AdventHealth Hendersonville Emergency Department STEMI Program Review
Emergency Department STEMI Program with Mission Heart Services
When the unexpected happens, patients need expert, specialized emergency care, advanced imaging and fast admission to a hospital. At AdventHealth Hendersonville we are committed to providing that specialized emergency care in a compassionate, patient-centered environment. With stream-lined processes, and our board-certified physicians offering comprehensive, whole-person care, the patients are able to get back to the moments that matter the most.
In 2021, one of the ways we demonstrated that commitment to our patients was our partnership with Mission Heart Services at Mission Health. Our Emergency Department transfers our ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients to the Mission Cardiac Catheter Labs for treatment. We also transfer our symptomatic non-STEMI patients there for cardiac catheter intervention prescriptively. Our Emergency Department Nursing Leadership met with Angela Solesbee, RN, CCCC, the Code STEMI Coordinator with Mission Heart Services at Mission Health, and her team, for our annual review. During the meeting, our team received glowing reviews for our transfer times and response times from the Mission team, along with updates on resources available to us from their facility and their education department. Each year the Emergency Department at AdventHealth is happy to maintain this strong and collegial collaboration that so richly benefits our patients and the local community.
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Hendersonville Hematology Oncology Infusion Services Supports Teamwork Amid Pandemic
As for myself, COVID-19 created an opportunity for me to bring some balance back to my life. As an oral oncolytic nurse navigator, I am charged with managing our patients that have been prescribed an oral treatment regimen. The decision to become home-based created a challenge for me to see if I could continue to be productive and to develop novel ways to educate my patients and their families.
While working from home, I not only maintained my productivity, but increased it. I developed new and easier to read treatment education plans and established working relationships with colleagues across the country.“
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Health care never stops, and cancer patients undoubtedly do not have the luxury of waiting for treatment. A cancer diagnosis immediately puts a person into a higher risk category. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become imperative that our teams make sure everyone is safe, including themselves. Our nurses and ancillary team members maintain the highest level of infection prevention when working with each other and our patients. Our infusion nurses need to remain healthy, flexible, and ready to cover in another office if needed. Our team understands the service standards of AdventHealth. They not only made it easy, they own it and keep every patient safe and loved.
I started sending my patients their treatment education packs and setting up appointments via phone or Zoom. This has allowed me to involve more family members in the education while keeping everyone safe. Making sure patients understand their home treatment plan is so important when it comes to keeping them safe. While working from home, I not only maintained my productivity, but increased it. I developed new and easier to read treatment education plans and established working relationships with colleagues across the country through online meetings and teleconferences. I live an hour away from our offices, so I finally got the work/life balance I was craving. This balance created space for me to finish my BSN and start an MSN program. COVID-19 brought so much devastation to our country, but there was a small shred of good. I am proof of that. I thank my director Lisa Gundersen, BSN, RN, OCN, CMSRN and AdventHealth for “making it easy” and allowing me the opportunity to be fluid within my position.
By Shawn Costanza, BSN, RN, OCN Oral Oncolytic Nurse Navigator
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“Earning this recognition is the result of the hard work and focus of the incredible team at The Baby Place,” said Chloe Harden, RN, COB, Director of The Baby Place at AdventHealth Hendersonville. “Our nurses are committed to make sure every mom who delivers at The Baby Place has the support, education and resources to help her and her baby get the best, healthiest start in life.”
The Baby Place also focused its attention on extra training for the nurses on the unit. In July, they partnered with MAHEC and conducted two days of hands-on simulation training for postpartum hemorrhage (PPH). Since PPH is a medical emergency that can happen with any delivery, it is very important that all nurses receive training on what to do in that event. Providing that training in a learning environment was great for everyone to experience. The nurses were able to ask questions, go back and evaluate what worked or what needed improvement. These simulations are extremely important to help prepare the nurses for this type of emergency.
Collaboration Brings Advanced Training for Our Nurses
Baby-Friendly Designation
The Baby Place at AdventHealth Hendersonville is proud to announce that it has achieved the highly prestigious international Baby-Friendly designation. This designation is part of a quality improvement program administered by Baby-Friendly USA; the organization responsible for bestowing this certification in the United States. This distinguished honor demonstrates that AdventHealth Hendersonville is adhering to the highest standards of care for breastfeeding mothers and their babies.
The Baby Place at AdventHealth Hendersonville Focuses on Highest Standards of Care and Specialized Training for Nurses
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Because guitar is one of her passions as well, Cathy was able to create an achievable goal for the patient through the use of a slide for his left hand. When Cathy and the patient had their sessions, people would gather in the hallway to listen to the music they played. With the activity director, Cathy was able to coordinate a concert. Everyone who wanted to attend was invited. The patient’s confidence grew exponentially as people began applauding and gathering around to hear him.
Cathy was able to extend the healing ministry of Christ to this patient by bringing music back into his life. With her time and compassion, she showed him the light of Christ. And by using his musical passion, she hoped to bring some light back into his life.
Cathy quickly realized this patient’s plan of care needed to involve his musical passion. “Knowing his history of being a performer, I understood how important the energy of a “crowd” would be,” Cathy explains, “plus the applause is a significant factor. I thought that by making it a “performance” with “an audience” I could ignite a spark.”
A Shared Passion for Music Ignites a Patient’s Participation in Crucial Therapy PT Solutions Cathy LeBruyere and Guitar Therapy
Therapist and lifelong guitarist, Cathy LaBruyere, was able to use her musical talent to reignite the passion of a very special patient. This patient in his fifties was admitted to the Behavioral Health Unit floor of AdventHealth Hendersonville. He was dysphoric, withdrawn, and in constant pain. He was diagnosed with depression with suicidal ideation and had suffered extensive injuries from a car accident in his twenties.
He presented with significant left-sided weakness and severe contractures in his left hand. While he was cooperative during the initial evaluation, he remained gruff and irritable during most of the session. It was during this first session that Cathy learned about him. He was traveling with his band when the motor vehicle accident occurred, changing his life and leaving him with extensive injuries. He shared with her that his passion “used to be” guitar, and through watching a series of guitar instruction videos he made years ago, she learned he had indeed been an amazing guitarist.
Keeping Patients Safe and Healthy: The Continued Focus of Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Team
By Jo Comaris, BSN, RN
In the past year, two of our nurses worked to advance their education through new degrees. Jessica Henderson, RN is completing her BSN and our Clinical Practice Manager, Laura Chambers, RN, BSN, CWOCN, CFCN, completed her master’s degree in Nursing Leadership and Management. These accomplishments bring our all our clinical team members to the BSN level or higher.
In this past year we instituted new procedures and criteria to keep our patients safe and healthy. This included taking extra precautions with patients who have no back-up for wound/dressing care if they are not able to come in due to being quarantined. To ensure the best outcome possible, we began giving these patients specific instructions for their care during a quarantine period. We now order two weeks of dressing supplies or give them an emergency dressing kit if they are not eligible for Home Health or if insurance does not cover dressing supplies.
Some exciting developments in our clinic include adding several skin substitutes/grafts that we can apply in the wound care clinic. We have had very promising results with these applications.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continued, 2021 grew into an interesting and challenging year for the Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Team.
We are also excited to be able to bring another physician on board. Lance Davis, MD has many years of experience in wound care and hyperbaric medicine and is board-certified in these areas. We now have three boardcertified physicians bringing their varied experiences and expertise to ensure our wound care patients receive safe and high-quality care.
The Annual Nursing Report Committee would like to express its thanks and appreciation for all of those who contributed to the content and production of this report.
100 Hospital Drive, Hendersonville, NC 28792 AdventHealthNC.com828-650-8117
Thank you, Committee Members: Jo Comaris, RN, BSN, Steve Wilson, MSN, RN, CCRN-K, and Jenn Kennedy, BSN, RN, PMH-BC
