Volume 27
Number 7
April 1, 2016
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
`` Jill Huzinec (l) passes Joanne Phillips the “Olympic torch” of the Patient Safety Culture Survey.
`` Members of the ED unite for patient safety.
Every Day is Patient Safety Day!
Keeping our patients, employees and visitors safe is a year-round priority, but HUP’s annual Patient Safety Awareness Fair provides an opportunity for several departments to demonstrate — and educate staff about — some of the measures in place to improve safety. This year’s theme was “United for Patient Safety,” encouraging everyone in the health care process to make a difference in patient safety. Alarm fatigue is a major concern among hospitals nationwide. Medical equipment alarms in patient rooms alert staff to potential problems, but many units —
INSIDE New Chiller Plant Nets Large PECO Rebate..............................2 Creating a Warm and Comforting Environment.........3 Annual UPHS Health Fairs and Open Enrollment Coming in April........................................3 Providing PEACE of Mind.........4 What’s Up at HUP?....................4
especially critical care units — have so many medical devices that care providers can become desensitized to the sound. In addition, according to studies, up to 99 percent of alarms don’t require clinical intervention. But “for that one percent, it might be fatal to ignore,” said Kristin McCabe of the NICU. A special multidisciplinary committee at HUP is raising awareness and educating staff about safe and effective ways to decrease the number of times non-actionable alarms go off. For example, nurses can customize the parameters at which alarms sound to match the patient’s condition (as opposed to relying on the device’s default setting) so “when it does go off, it’s meaningful,” McCabe said. Proper hand hygiene always ranks as a top patient safety measure. Using “Glitter Bug” lotion and a black light, Kathy Pirolli, infection control specialist, demonstrated at the fair — and also on patient care units — the most common areas where viruses “hide” after hands are washed. “It’s especially
important to wash the area between the thumb and index finger and to scrub around the fingernails and rings,” she said. And always wash before entering and after leaving a patient’s room. Spores on high-touch surfaces, such as written medical charts, doorknobs and keypads, can survive for weeks! Jessica Williams of Nuclear Medicine explained how Radiology promotes an “image gently, image wisely” approach. Following best practices, “we lower a patient’s radiation exposure to the lowest possible dose for the best possible image,” she said. Carolyn Cutilli, of Patient and Family Education, stressed the importance of using health literacy universal precautions. “We don’t know who has low health literacy because patients often go out of their way to hide it,” she said. “So we need to teach things very simply, treat everyone as if they have low literacy. Many safety issues arise because patients don’t understand what we’re teaching.” (continued on page 2)
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`` (From left): Emily Kreider, Laura Haynes, and Gabrielle Pepe helped spread the word of Pharamcy’s efforts to promote medication safety.
`` Kathy Pirolli (r) looks on as Megan Marron of the MICU demonstrates the proper handwashing technique.
Every Day is Patient Safety Day! The Olympics was present this year, representing the theme for Penn Medicine’s Patient Safety Culture survey. The five Olympic rings designate each of Penn’s hospitals but Pharmacy borrowed this symbol to show the five areas in which its staff helps promote patient safety. These measures include educating staff and patients — both on the unit and in outpatient pharmacies — about medications and creating new initiatives to improve their processes.
(continued from cover)
Many thanks to Jill Huzinec, director of Patient Safety, who led the effort, and to the many others who worked so hard to pull together another successful Patient Safety Fair. To see more photos from the Fair, go to http://news.pennmedicine.org/inside/hupdate/.
NEW CHILLER PLANT NETS
LARGE PECO REBATE! Efficiency measures from the addition of a new chilled water plant have resulted in a rebate check from PECO of $207,606! Chilled water is circulated at 42 degrees F. throughout the hospital as the cooling method for air conditioning and medical equipment. (All of HUP’s chillers combined could cool 4,000 homes!) The new plant, located in the Stemmler basement, includes a number of features to
make it energy efficient. For example, the chillers and pumps vary their speed to accommodate changing loads and weather. In addition to the rebate HUP received, these measures will save roughly $150,000 annually compared to the older plant located in Founders. “The new plant improves our reliability to provide a great patient environment and the bonus is spending less in the process,” said Frank Connelly, director of Physical Plant. Pete Zeitz, HUP’s energy manager, thanked project manager Wendy Curtis and construction manager Joe DiPaolo for a job that was “technically and logistically challenging and completed with minimum hospital effect.”
Do you have ideas to save energy at HUP? Email them to save.energy@uphs.upenn.edu. `` From left: Joe DiPaolo, Nancy Vizzard (PECO), Frank Connelly, COO Carolyn Jackson, Pete Zeitz, Kathy Lentini (PECO), Anthony DePrince and Dan Hazley.
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Creating a Warm
and Comforting Environment
A patient who had recently undergone a stem cell transplant at HUP was sitting in her room in the Clyde F. Barker Penn Transplant House when the aroma of baking cranberry walnut bread drifted up from the kitchen. Although unable to go downstairs, she found the smells very comforting. And that’s exactly why Julia Lavenberg, PhD, RN, a research analyst in Penn’s Center for Evidence-Based Practice, has been baking at the House nearly every Thursday for more than a year. “I want to create something that comforts and nurtures,” she said. “Even though that patient couldn’t eat, she got the benefit … the feeling that someone cared.” It’s not surprising that these types of smells often evoke warm and caring memories. Research has shown that the olfactory bulb (the organ involved in the sense of smell) is linked to those areas of the brain associated with past emotional experiences. “In my vision, families returning after a stressful day at the hospital would be welcomed by the smell of something lovely baking in the oven.” Although Lavenberg does not now have the direct patient care she had as a critical care and cardiac rehab nurse, volunteering at the House provides her with another way to nurture and care for both patients and their families. “The nursing I did was shorter, more intense,” she said. At the House, “I see and talk with the same people for longer periods of time, which allows me to get to know them and build trust between us. It’s
patient-centric care beyond the walls of the hospital.”
Like everyone who serves as “guest chef ” at the Transplant House, Lavenberg supplies all the ingredients for her baked goods (as well as some non-food items from home) but now a Penn Medicine CAREs grant will be used to purchase baking staples (such as flour, butter/ margarine, eggs and vanilla) as well as four large storage containers and a mixer. While she will continue her Thursday baking, Lavenberg is also thinking of ways to expand her outreach. For example, she wants to start doing a weekend brunch every month, possibly beginning in late spring, when the volunteer chefs from Penn’s sororities and fraternities leave campus. She would also like to start a conversation with House guests about what she bakes. “I want to give them the ability to rate my recipes and provide input on what to bake ... more like a family would do.” The patients themselves — and their stories — are the motivation to come every week, often after working 10hour days, and the desire to do more. “They have such dedication to and respect for the donor,” she said. “They openly tell me ‘I am so incredibly grateful to the person who donated. It is my responsibility to take the best care of this organ to honor the person.’
“I think receiving an organ makes people appreciative but also opens them up emotionally, to reach out and connect in a real way,” she continued. “I see them as role models for positive living.”
ANNUAL UPHS HEALTH FAIRS AND OPEN ENROLLMENT COMING IN APRIL! This year’s Open Enrollment runs from Monday, April 25, through Sunday, May 8. Look for the Annual Open Enrollment newsletter being mailed home to all UPHS employees in early April that will outline the benefit information for the 2016-2017 plan year. All employees are encouraged to read through the newsletter thoroughly and contact the Benefits Team with any questions by calling 215.615.2675, option #4, or emailing BenefitsQuestions@uphs.upenn.edu. More information can be found on the HR and You website (www.uphshrandyou.com). Any changes made during Open Enrollment will take effect on July 1, 2016. UPHS will hold health fairs at several locations. These fairs allow you to visit with many different vendors, be entered into raffles for cool prizes, grab free giveaways, sign up for an upcoming biometric screening, and learn about your medical plan and other various benefits as a UPHS employee. HUP’s fair will be held on Tuesday, April 5, from 10 am to 2 pm on the Ravdin Mezzanine. The health fair at 3001 Market Street will be held on Thursday, April 14, in Suite 310, Training Rooms A+B, from 10 am to 2 pm.
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Providing PEACE of Mind In roughly one out of four pregnancies, miscarriages occur prior to the 12th week. Because this may happen before news of the pregnancy has been shared with friends and family, many choose to suffer in silence. The secrecy that so often surrounds the issue of miscarriage has, as a result, led to a lot of misinformation — including the perception that it is rare, or the woman’s fault — and a stigma surrounding the experience. Additionally, because most women don’t start receiving obstetric care until the second half of the first trimester, they may find themselves making a choice between waiting and worrying, or seeking emergency department care when they suspect something may be wrong. Now, a team of obstetricians and women’s health specialists from Penn Medicine are working to create a Pregnancy Early Assessment Center (PEACE). By offering streamlined care specifically to women in their first trimester, PEACE will deliver a new model of care
designed to identify and tackle issues for women with signs of complications in early pregnancy. Not only will the center improve the patient experience and outcomes, but it could also ultimately reduce costs associated with miscarriage care. The benefit of PEACE to patients is clear: Women will get the care they need in a setting created specifically for them and staffed by clinicians and technicians who focus on their specific needs. But the center, newly funded by Penn Medicine’s Innovation Accelerator Program — a program of the Penn Center for Health Care Innovation — hopes to create a ripple effect of benefits that extends beyond patients, to providers and the overall health system. To read more about PEACE, go to http://bit.ly/1KqixQB.
JOIN THE TEAM TO SUPPORT CAMP ERIN Join the Care to Carry On 5K race/1-mile walk through the Philadelphia Zoo on Sunday, April 17, to help raise awareness of children’s grief. Proceeds will benefit Camp Erin®-Philadelphia, a free weekend overnight camp for kids ages 6 to 17 who have each experienced the death of a significant person in their lives. Penn Wissahickon Hospice staff and volunteers provide counseling and support services at no cost to the kids at Camp Erin. The program is supported entirely through the generosity of donors and fundraising events like the Care to Carry On run. To learn more and register, go to http://bit.ly/1PFsGJo.
Welcome to a new HUPdate feature!
We’ll zero in on what employees think — on a variety of topics — and share their responses with you.
atWHAT’S
UP HUP?
John Barrett, MD
Faya Scott
QUESTION: What is something about your role at HUP that people may not know?
Valerie Ciminera
Denise Statham
HUPdate EDITORIAL STAFF Sally Sapega Editor and Photographer
People would be surprised at how much team work there is between nurses and residents. We’re a very tight-knit group.
I often bring my experiences with patients home. The emotional attachments I form with them.
— John Barrett, MD Resident in Emergency Medicine
— Valerie Ciminera, Radiology
How much we interact with patients. We are the ears for nurses and doctors should anything happen when they’re not in the room.
The amount of education I have for my role as a HUP chaplain — two master’s degrees (in Theology and in Pastoral Care and Counselling) and a certification in Clinical Pastoral Education.
— Faya Scott, EVS
ADMINISTRATION
Susan E. Phillips Senior Vice President, Public Affairs Holly Auer Director of Communications
— Denise Statham, Pastoral Care
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Maureen McGirr Graphic Designer
CONTACT HUPDATE AT: 3535 Market Street, Mezzanine Philadelphia, PA 19104 phone: 215.662.4488 fax: 215.349.8312 email: sally.sapega@uphs.upenn.edu HUPdate is published biweekly for HUP employees. Access HUPdate online at http://news.pennmedicine.org/inside/hupdate.