Health Beat Summer 2016

Summer 2016

A new system at EASTAR uses CAT scans to detect lung cancer more quickly.

Page 4 With the national shortage of nurses expected to reach nearly 1 million within 10 years, EASTAR Health System is working with area colleges and high schools to train nurses and interest students in the profession.

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Feeling sick? You don’t need to go to the emergency room first every time.

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Page 2 — Sunday, July 24, 2016

Muskogee Phoenix

Health Beat

Shortage of nurses likely to increase EASTAR, colleges work to close gap

By Travis Sloat

Phoenix Correspondent

As the baby boomers are entering their senior years, the need for health care professionals to care for them has risen.

Chief among the needed are registered nurses.

Bill Peterson, the director of human resources at EASTAR Health System, said that by 2022, there could be a seven-figure gap in the number of job openings for RNs. “Right now, we have 2.7 million registered nurses in the United States,” Peterson said.

Getting started Thinking of pursuing a career as a registered nurse? Connors State College offered these steps to get started: • Visit the Port Campus at 2501 N. 41st St. East.

• Sit down with a nursing adviser to discuss

“By the year 2022, the need will be 3.2 million.

That’s roughly 525,000 nurses that will be needed. Along with that, a little over 500,000 of the current nurses will be retiring. The projection is we’ll be a million-plus

enrollment.

• Develop a curriculum plan.

• Take general education classes first.

• Take admissions test to nursing program.

• Apply to nursing program.

registered nurses short.”

The issue, Peterson said, is not with job satisfaction. The majority of registered nurses enjoy their work and find it fulfilling. Like many other shortages in the state, the lack of nurses can

Photo by Travis Sloat

Amy Smith, a registered nurse at EASTAR Health System and recent DAISY Award winner, works with her extern Makala Tillery. Tillery is a nursing student at Connors State College, which works closely with EASTAR to help train and keep nurses local.

be traced back to budget cuts at the state level.

“Statistics are showing that as many as 80,000 candidates are turned away from nursing programs because there aren’t open slots,” Peterson said. “My understanding is the state of Oklahoma is looking at cutting the nursing programs at the local levels. That will only compound our problems.”

EASTAR works handin-hand with Connors State College, Indian Capital Technology Center, and Oklahoma State University to not only train dedicated and quality registered nurses, but to encourage them to consider staying local when they graduate.

Billy Maxwell, a registered nurse in the critical care float pool at EASTAR, is a Connors graduate who said he’s thankful to be working in Muskogee.

“Being a nurse has allowed me to do what I’ve

always wanted,” Maxwell said. “I’ve always wanted to help people. Knowing that my job matters directly to people, I like knowing that I’m capable and prepared to take care of them. It’s gratifying and challenging.”

Amy Smith is a registered nurse at EASTAR who recently received the highly coveted DAISY Award for excellence in nursing. She also said her career is gratifying, and she enjoys not only helping those who need a nurse, but those who need a trainer.

“I can’t imagine doing anything else but being a nurse,” Smith said. “I love being part of a team that helps make a patient’s life better. We also have a great preceptorship program here. I’m the preceptor for this unit. All of our new grads follow me for a few days to shadow me. I start them with one patient and make sure they slowly get comfortable with the workload.

“I love being part of a team that helps make a patient’s life better.”

— Amy Smith, EASTAR registered nurse

I want them to be able to confidently and comfortably carry a four-patient workload.”

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the yearly average salary for a registered nurse in Oklahoma was $57,130 in 2013.

If job satisfaction isn’t an issue for the majority of registered nurses, and the median salary is competitive, why is there a nationwide shortage?

Joyce Johnson, the division chair for nursing and allied health at Connors State College, said the problem is cyclical.

(See NURSES, Page 3)

Health Beat

Nurses Continued from Page 2

“The number of applicants we have is staying the same,” Johnson said.

“But we don’t have the faculty to graduate those students and meet that demand in health care.”

Connors’ interim president, Dr. Ron Ramming, said that sometimes, it all comes down to money.

“One of the primary challenges that we have is attracting, hiring and training qualified faculty,” Ramming said.

“The nursing accrediting agencies require master’s level preparedness in our faculty at all levels of the nursing program. Master’s level candidates can make a far healthier salary in the health care industry than in the educational industry. From a salary standpoint, we’re not very competitive. But this is not an issue isolated to Connors. This is statewide, and I suspect it’s nationwide.”

Connors has dropped its nursing school class size from 48 to 36 students per semester. Faculty and administration alike remind students that the program is competitive, and students will need to be prepared for the workload.

The result, of course, is

More information Looking for more information about enrollment, nursing programs or financial aid? Contact each institution here: • EASTAR Health System 300 Rockefeller Drive (918) 682-5501 • Connors State College (Port Campus) 2501 N. 41st St. East (918) 687-6747 • Indian Capital Technology Center 2403 N. 41st St. East (918) 686-7565

Muskogee Phoenix

Sunday, July 24, 2016 — Page 3

highly qualified and exceptionally trained nurses; Connors State College, ICTC and EASTAR are working together to keep nurses in Muskogee.

Another approach EASTAR, ICTC and Connors are trying is getting to potential nurses earlier.

High school students from the area recently were given a tour through EASTAR facilities, headed by ICTC nursing instructor Wren Stratton.

Students Reagan Garrett, Brooklyn Gauntt, and Jarrah Tate want to be nurses. Each said nursing runs in their families, and they share the common goal of wanting to help people.

Jim Wells, the chief Photo by Travis Sloat nursing officer at EASTAR, said that for Jay Garrett, the director of the Cath Lab at EASTAR Health System, talks with student campers from Indian Caphim, it was always about ital Technology Center about the different career paths they can take as registered nurses. Garrett also showed helping people, no mat- a video of a heart procedure. ter how difficult the process.

EASTAR employee “I always wanted to be perks someone who was in it for other people,” Wells • Day care. said. “I feel like it’s a gift • Workout facility open to employees and family from God that He bemembers. stowed upon me. This is • Scholarship opportumy opportunity to show nities. what God can do in other • Advanced training people’s lives through beopportunities. ing able to care for them.

• Employee recogniThat’s where we need to tion programs. be.”

Page 4 — Sunday, July 24, 2016

Muskogee Phoenix

Health Beat

EASTAR system finds lung cancer sooner New technique uses CAT scan

By Travis Sloat

Phoenix Correspondent

In a state with an already high rate of lung cancer cases, Muskogee County has a rate significantly higher than the state average.

According to the National Cancer Database, Oklahoma sees 60.2 cases of small-cell carcinoma per 100,000 people, and Muskogee County sees 74.7 cases per 100,000.

Both are well above the national average of 54.1 cases per 100,000. The data was collected between 2008 and 2012.

However, two oncolo-

gists at EASTAR Health System are bringing hope to those wanting to diagnose cancer earlier.

Dr. Selam Negusse, a radiation oncologist, and Dr. Fuad Hassany, a medical oncologist, are bringing a relatively new cancer screening technique to EASTAR. The screening, which uses a low-density computerized axial tomography (CAT) scan, has been found to catch lung cancer in much earlier stages, both doctors said.

Hassany said that with the new screening process, they would be able to “make an impact on

survival” for lung cancer patients.

“In the past, we’ve used chest X-rays and sputum tests to check for abnormal cells,” he said.

“That did not show any benefit. But new studies have shown that by using this fast, low-density CAT scan, you can pick up early stage cancer and impact survival.”

According to a National Cancer Institute lung cancer screening trial, screening individuals with low-dose CAT scans could reduce lung cancer mortality by 20 percent.

(See CANCER, Page 5)

Submitted photo

According to the National Cancer Database, Oklahoma has 60.2 cases of small-cell carcinoma per 100,000 people, with 74.7 cases per 100,000 in Muskogee County. The national average is 54.1 cases per 100,000.

Health Beat

Muskogee Phoenix

Sunday, July 24, 2016 — Page 5

Lung cancer quick facts • Lung cancer is the second most common cancer in both men and women.

• Each year more people die of lung cancer than colon, breast and prostate cancer combined.

• In the U.S. there are 228,190 cases annually, and 159,480 deaths (five-year sur-

Photo by Travis Sloat

Joe Hester, the dosimetrist at EASTAR Health System, looks at an image from a patient’s computerized axial tomography (CAT) scan so he can develop a plan of action to administer radiation treatment. Oncologists at EASTAR have a new lung cancer screening process that uses the CAT scan to identify cancer earlier.

Cancer Continued from Page 4

Negusse said the problem with lung cancer is that it’s so hard to detect in the early stages, and when detected in the later stages, it’s almost certainly too late.

“In the early stages there are no symptoms,” Negusse said. “You only notice something is wrong when you experience weight loss, coughing up blood, or shortness of breath. By that point, it’s already at stage three or stage four.

“If we do this screening, and we’re able to catch it in stage one or stage two, survival rates are much higher. The cure rates are higher as well. For stage two, twoyear survival is as high

as 92 or 93 percent.”

According to documents released by EASTAR, the lung cancer screening program is open to patients who are between 55 and 80 years old, are current or former smokers with a 30-pack-per-year history and those who no longer use tobacco products but have quit within the last 15 years.

Hassany said that the screening procedure has been approved by Medicare and the American Cancer Society.

“Medicare is paying for it,” Hassany said. “And most of the other insurances are paying for it, as well.”

Belinda Farmer, the director of oncology and wound care, said that even if insurance doesn’t cover the cost, the procedure is affordable for

Do you qualify?

A lung cancer screening program is available to those who are: • 55-80 years of age.

• Current or former smokers with a 30-pack per year history equivalent to one of the following: one pack per day for 30 years, two packs per day for 15 years, or three packs per day for 10 years.

• No longer using tobacco products, but have quit within the last 15 years.

its potential life-saving effects.

“The procedure is $125,” Farmer said. “Plus there is an additional cash discount for patients who prefer to pay cash.”

Hassany said the screening should be done once per year. He

compared it to a mammogram.

“The only difference is, a mammogram is for all women, and this screening is for high-risk patients,” he said. “The first thing we’re going to tell people is they need to stop smoking. If you stop smoking now, and go on this program and we find cancer in the early stage, there’s a good chance we can cure you.”

Negusse added that the statistics for lung cancer are not very positive.

“Lung cancer is the second-leading killer for men and women,” she said. “For women, breast cancer is No. 1, and men, prostate cancer is No. 1.

But lung cancer is the No. 1 killer of men and women both. And the chance for surviving five years with lung cancer is about 15 percent.”

vival is 15.9 percent).

• Smoking is by far the leading risk factor for lung cancer.

• Cigar and pipe smoking are almost as likely to cause lung cancer as cigarette smoking.

Source: Compiled by oncologists at EASTAR Health System.

Page 6 — Sunday, July 24, 2016

Muskogee Phoenix

Health Beat

Learn options available for health care concerns

By Mark Hughes Phoenix Staff Writer

Staff photo by Mark Hughes

Carla Frazier, a computer tomography technician, reviews X-rays at EASTAR Health System. For simple fractures, an urgent care clinic with X-ray capability is as good as an emergency department. The medical practitioner can set the fracture, and then an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon can be made.

Patients who feel they need immediate care have three options for treatment — an emergency room, their primary care physician, or an urgent care clinic.

Knowing when to use each could save patients time and money, doctors say.

“If anyone is experiencing life-threatening issues, then the emergency department is the place to go,” said Dr. Jay Gregory, chief medical officer at EASTAR Health System.

Life-threatening issues include chest pain, shortness of breath, symptoms of heart attack or stroke, major broken bones, bleeding from any orifice, motor vehicle accidents, blunt trauma, or something going on you are unfamiliar with.

Otherwise, your primary care physician or an urgent care clinic are your best options, Gregory said.

Officials say people should research their options in obtaining health care services before needing the services.

Learn the resources available at various loca-

tions and seek the most appropriate level for their needs. Car owners, for example, should not take their car to an auto body shop when it needs engine repair.

Shakeel “Eighty percent of illnesses seen at the ED can be treated at an urgent care clinic,” Dr. Azhar Shakeel said, quoting the American Medical Association.

Studies have shown that overuse of emergen(See OPTIONS, Page 7)

Health Beat

Muskogee Phoenix

Sunday, July 24, 2016 — Page 7

Studies have shown that overuse of emergency departments increases the nation’s overall health costs.

Staff photo by Mark Hughes

Options Continued from Page 6

cy departments increases the nation’s overall health costs, Gregory said.

“If a patient can get appropriate-level care somewhere else, as in a doctor’s office or urgent care clinic, they should do that,” he said.

Gregory sees as a possible trend that insurance companies could question patients who use the ER for non-emergency purposes when they could have gone to an urgent care clinic a few miles away at a much lower cost.

Get to know urgent care clinics and their capabilities, as some are staffed with mid-level medical practitioners such as physician assistants and nurse practitioners versus medical doctors, Gregory said.

But the best thing people can do is to establish

Staff photo by Mark Hughes

Mike Butcher, lead technologist for EASTAR Health System’s emergency department’s stat lab, removes a vial of blood from a centrifuge, which spins to separate plasma from red blood cells. Except for life-threatening issues, individuals should consider using urgent care clinics, which may or may not have on-site laboratories.

a relationship with a primary care physician, Gregory said. A primary care physician can be in internal medicine, pediatrics, or even obstetrics-gynecology.

If a non-life threatening injury occurs during normal business hours, then you should call

your primary care physician, who is familiar with your medical issues and has immediate access to your medical records, he said.

“Once he knows your condition, he may treat you or send you to an urgent care clinic or the ED,” Gregory said.

072411435504

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Muskogee Phoenix

Health Beat