March/April 2017
The Kenmore Kronicle A Newsletter for the Nursing Staff at Kenmore Mercy Hospital
“Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love!” ― Sitting Bull
A Note From Cheryl Hayes, Vice President of Patient Care Services On February 22, 23 and 24 of this year, we were honored to be visited by the Magnet surveyors.
Mere words cannot express my feelings of pride and respect that I have for the nurses and the interprofessional team members who gave it their all to represent nursing as a profession at Kenmore Mercy Hospital. During the sessions, you discussed the work that you do every day and how you take care of patients.
The surveyors were very impressed with our nurses and how you talked about your work with pride, your commitment to patient care, and what you have accomplished to improve the care you provide. Congratulations and sincere gratitude goes out to all of you for your outstanding work exemplary demonstration of excellence in nursing.
Now we just have to wait to see what the results are. We should be hearing very soon from the ACCN on whether we achieved Magnet status. I want you to know that you are exceptional nurses second to none. Thank you for your hard work and for your commitment to nursing - the most trusted and compassionate of all professions. With sincere gratitude, Cheryl
Units Get to “Brag” During Magnet Visit In preparation for our three-day Magnet site visit, each nursing unit prepared unit specific “Brag Boards.” These showcased everything their unit has been working on, as well as what makes their unit unique. The concept was presented during the Shared Governance meeting. Criteria for each board included: must contain the Nursing Professional Practice Model, our Mission/Vision and Values, Unit specific PI data, Evidence-Based Practice/Research and the Magnet Model.
Each unit was encouraged to get creative to showcase their hard work and dedication to their nursing practice. The “Brag Boards” were a big hit with appraisers, they stated that it gave them a glimpse into each individual nursing unit’s culture and gave the nurses an opportunity to talk about their unit-specific initiatives and activities. Once each board was completed, the Magnet team rounded to evaluate the boards and choose the winners. First place went to 2 East/2 South which recieved a pizza party. Second place was a tie between 3 East and the OR which received trays of cookies. Third place went to Pulmonary Rehabilitation which received candy.
Thank you to every nursing unit for your participation in the “Brag Board” contest, having them displayed as part of the unit tours really added that extra something special to each unit.
2 East/2 South Joint Commission Blue Distinction Award
Disease Specific Certification Total Hip & Knee Replacements
Health Grades Excellence Award Total Joint Replacement
Recognizing RN’s Pursuing Advanced Degrees: Nikki Faulkner—DNP
Isabel Mendoza—NP
Courtney Kessel—NP
Meredith Chamberland—NP
Amanda Gullo—NP
Daijha Fulgham—NP
Medical Staff Associate of the year Award Debbie McCoy
Med-Surg Certification Jessica Yormick
14 Orthopedic Certified Nurses
Outstanding Staff Nurse
Our therapy dog: TANK
Alan Chittley
Mary Hojnacki
Nikki Faulkner
Betty LoFaso
Sydney Dirk
Debbie Micholas
Pam Koetzle
Sue Zeisz
Amber Mazurek Del Billips
Alan Chittley
Outstanding Staff Nurse Debbie Micholas
Outstanding Staff Nurse Kitty Scribner
Skin Champion
CHS Cohort Graduate — Nikki Faulker
CHS Cohort Graduate — Debbie Micholas
Sue Wasielewski
Chris Reaser
Christine Clark
Briana Geddis
Sue Zeisz
CHS Cohort Graduate — Christine Clark
OF NURSING STAFF ARE BSN GRADUATES
CHS Cohort Graduate — CHS Cohort - Current
CHS Cohort Graduate —
Holly Grimm
Eileen Gramlich
Chris Reaser
2016 LeapFrog Ann Uldrich—1979, Kitty Scribner—1982, Sue Wasielewski—1985, Pam Koetzle—1986, Alan Chittley—1986, Sue Zeisz—1987, Jenn Szumla—1988, Julie McDonald—1992, Lynn DeGrasse—1996, Gena Long—2001, Eileen Gramlich—2002, Dani Lalewicz—2004, Chris Clark—2005, Debbie McCoy—2008, Nikki Faulkner—2008, Angie Gizzo—2008, Leah Hettinger—2009, Kathy Lange-Stevenson - 2009, Tina Ouellette—2011, Vicky McDonald—2012, Briana Geddis—2012, Courtney Kessel—2012, Tom Roe—2012, Leigh Skrzynski—2013, Chris Reaser—2013, Jenn Barone—2013, Jessica Yormick—2013, Ashley Pinak—2014, Amanda Gullo—2014, Kara Forester—2014, Liz Budzinski—2014, Heather Fell—2015, Sam Belter—2015, , Sam Kulu—2015, Isabel Mendoza—2015, Ashley Heim—2015, Kora Ettinger—2016, Jenna Holevinski—2016, Meredith Chamberland—2016, Amanda Smith—2016, Brianna Mis—2016, Susan Nghe—2016, Daijha Fulgham—2016, Crystalan McMindes—2016, Jessica Gilbert—2016, Idea Mulkey—2016, Natalie Pelton—2016, Yvonne Davis—2017
Daisy Award Winner Missy Cavaluzzo
Patient satisfaction is the foundation that enriches our growth
Daisy Award Winner Matt Winiarski
3 East
Operating Room
Pulmonary Rehab
Nursing Tips Falls Documentation Tool If your patient experiences a fall please be sure to fill out the Falls Documentation Tool from the filtered list in Soarian as well as completing a detailed Occurrence Report. A post fall Fall Risk Assessment also needs to be completed to reflect the patients most recent fall.
Patient Discharge Folders To Be Piloted In early April, the 2 West Patient Care Unit began a pilot where each patient receives a customized Kenmore Mercy discharge folder to organize all of the documents they receive during their admission.
The need for a discharge folder was identified by a clinical nurse participating in the Research Committee. Nursing leadership and clinical nurses collaborated to design the discharge folder to meet the needs of our patients.
Each patient will receive a folder upon admission to 2 West for each discipline to utilize to organize patient documents throughCommunication Assistance out their hospital stay and be completed upon discharge. The Under Federal law we are obligated to provide folder will then go home with the patient. communication assistance to those patients Patient satisfaction scores will be examined to see if the foldwho: ers have a positive effect on patient satisfaction scores for the a) Have limited English language questions: “During this hospital stay, did you get information in proficiency writing about what symptoms or health problems to look out for b) Are hearing impaired after you left the hospital?”, and “When I left the hospital, I had a c) Are sight impaired good understanding of the things I was responsible for in managing my health.” Each time the Language Assistance Line is either used or offered it must be charted in Soarian. The charting tool can be found in the filtered list under Communication Assistance Service and is pictured below. For details, refer to Policy #CHS-LS-CCP-121A or contact Kathy Kanaley at 76914.
If the 2 West pilot is successful, the hope is to go hospital-wide with the discharge folders. Thank you to the Kenmore Mercy Foundation for funding 1,000 of the discharge folders for the pilot.
Labeling of IV Access Dressings
Please remember to label IV access dressings with date/time of insertion and RN initials as per the Vascular Access Policy. It is important that the appropriate date/time is clearly visible in order for the IV site to be rotated every 96 hours.
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Registered nurse Joy MacNeil from 2 West shows the new discharge folder.
Turn in Your Kudos for Prizes
Spring oes r e h r Supe in 2017 on! i t Associate c A Forum Community Room Sessions Tuesday, April 25 from 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. Thursday, April 27 from 10 p.m. – midnight Monday, May 1 from 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 2 from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. Friday, May 5 from 3:30 a.m. – 5:30 a.m.
Ken-Ton Family Care Monday, May 8 from 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Did you know that your Kudos can be turned in for more than just a drink in the cafeteria? As of September 2016, the program was remodeled with new incentives and multiple levels of prizes available for associates and volunteers.
The new list of prizes includes cafeteria drink vouchers, candy, cafeteria lunch vouchers, umbrellas, gym bags, jackets, and much more.
Denise Walker, NA, from 2 West, models her Kudos prizes.
And each time you turn in a Kudos to Administration, you earn more prizes!
Kudos recipients should turn their vouchers into Administration (room 4002) between the hours of 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. to either collect their prizes, or have their vouchers recorded, stamped and returned.
Associate feedback about Kudos was valuable in helping us to roll out this improved program.
We listened to you! Changes & New Initiatives from Your Input Your safety matters
• New wheelchairs – 11 Michael Graves, 12 regular, 7 bariatric • Locked doors – Emergency Department, guard at front door • Rubber steps in the back associate entrance • New concrete - back associate entrance • Improved salting of parking lot • Prompt follow-up of associate injury • Limited access to Operating Room locker rooms • Additional cameras on second floor • New white boards in the Emergency Department • Power balls installed in the Operating Room • Added cord “houses” in the Operating Room
Health & Wellness
• Yoga classes • Lunch with dietician • New Year, New You – three month weight loss challenge • New equipment in associate exercise/ workout room • Walking paths – indoor/outdoor • Buy your own vegetables in summer • Operating Room tray initiative • New isolation carts • Disaster drill, fire drill • “Move with Care” equipment and education • New healing garden donated by the Kenmore Mercy Foundation
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Nurses Celebrate Benefits of Certifications
Among the breakfast attendees were certified nurses Heather Telford, Cheryl Hayes, Kathy Daley, Tina McGee, Sr. Mary Walters, and Mary Applegate, as well as president & CEO Jim Millard, in the back row.
In celebration of Certified Nurses Day, Kenmore Mercy Hospital hosted a breakfast for nurses on March 24. Congratulations to all the nurses who have achieved the important career milestone of certification. More than 70 Kenmore Mercy nurses have specialty certifications, in 17 different areas. For those still considering it, here are some reasons to pursue specialty certification.
• Credentialing advances the profession of nursing by both encouraging and recognizing professional achievement. • Meeting the needs of employers, practitioners, and the public by identifying individuals with certain knowledge and skills • Assuring consumers that professionals have met standards of practice. • Demonstrating an individual’s commitment to a profession and to lifelong learning. • Providing an individual with a sense of pride and professional accomplishment.
Nurses achieve certification credentials through specialized education, experience in a specialty area, and a qualifying exam. Certification is a profession’s official recognition of achievement, expertise, and clinical judgment. It is a mark of excellence that requires continued learning and skill development to maintain.
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Redesigned Whiteboards Better Serving Patients The new whiteboards in patient rooms were originally designed as a collaborative effort between clinical nurses, nursing leadership and members of the patient and family advisory council.
These were finalized and installed on the inpatient patient care areas in November 2014. After clinical nurses had sufficient time to use and evaluate the content on the whiteboards, it was decided in the summer of 2016 to redesign the content of the boards to make them more effective for communication between staff, patients and their families. The content revision was brought to the clinical nurses involved in Shared Governance, to gain their insight into what changes needed to be made to increase the quality of communication.
Once again the content of the whiteboards was derived from the collaboration of clinical nurses, nursing leadership and members of the patient and family advisory board.
A big change with the new boards was the addition of tracking intake and output, as well as hourly purposeful rounding. This allowed the elimination of the paper tracking.
Registered nurse Natalie Pelton 2E/2S demonstrates the new whiteboards.
With the content finalized and approved by all, the new whiteboard inserts were ordered and distributed in February 2017.
2E/2S Nurse Makes Great Catch Registered nurse Leigh Skryznski from the 2 East/2 South Patient Care Unit, was honored at the Kenmore Mercy Hospital management meeting in March with a Great Catch Award. While preparing an order for a straight catheter, Leigh noted that the kit contained a Betadine swab, to which the patient has an allergy.
Thanks to Leigh’s Great Catch, the Betadine was not used and patient harm was avoided.
The Great Catch program is a Quality & Patient Safety initiative designed to help Catholic Health catch and avoid situations that have the potential to cause harm to our patient.
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Welcome to Our New Nurse Educators Kenmore Mercy Hospital is pleased to welcome three new members to its nurse education staff - Rosanne Schiavi, RN, BSN; Ellen Colan, RN, BSN; and Megan Kosmoski, RN, BSN. Rosanne, the hospital’s stroke coordinator, serves in the same role at Mount St. Mary’s Hospital. As stroke coordinator, she ensures the hospitals maintain criteria for both the NYSDOH Stroke Designation Program and Joint Commission Stroke Certification, and oversees their Stroke Support Group. She graduated from Niagara University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing
Ellen was named senior clinical advisor of perioperative services. She joined Kenmore Mercy Hospital in 1992 as a staff nurse in the surgical services department prior to being promoted to her current position. In her role as a clinical advisor, she coordinates and evaluates in-service orientation and continuing education programs for professional nursing personnel, and is responsible for implementation of staff development training programs. She graduated from D’Youville with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing.
Megan was named diabetes educator for Kenmore Mercy. She has been a nurse for ten years, but changed her career path to become a diabetes educator after being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes seven years ago. She educates inpatients and outpatients and she teaches the outpatient diabetes self-Management education classes held monthly at Kenmore Mercy Hospital. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from University at Buffalo School of Nursing.
During Nurses’ Week May 6 - 12, 2017 We’re rolling out the Red Carpet Monday, May 8 Join us for a special Nurses’ Week lunch & learn at 12:30 p.m. in the 2 South Conference Room, addressing the benefits of aroma therapy. Lunch will be provided by the Kenmore Mercy Foundation. The Spiritual Care team will offer a “Blessing of the Hands,” starting on May 8 and continue throughout the week on nursing units. Tuesday, May 9 Connecting back to our Mercy roots and hosting a Comfortable Cup of “Tea Party.” Stop by the 2 South Conference Room from 9 - 10 a.m. and midnight - 1 a.m. (May 10).
Wednesday, May 10 Join us for the annual Nursing Awards Ceremony at noon in the Community Room. The Nurse of Distinction, Outstanding Staff Nurse, and Outstanding Nursing Assistant will be recognized. Lunch will be served from 11 a.m. - p.m. Dinner will be served from 5 - 7 p.m. Meals will be delivered to night shift nursing staff from 11 p.m. - 1 a.m. (May 11). *Please consider donations cans of soup or other canned goods to St. Vincent de Paul. For each donation you make, you will get entered into a special raffle drawing.
Thursday, May 11 A representative from the University of Buffalo Nurse Practioner School will be in the lobby from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Friday, May 12 Join us for the blessing and dedication of the John M. Repetski Healing Garden, located on the north end of the hospital at 1 p.m.
Be sure to check the Hospital Week schedule for fun activities too!
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