Volume 27
Number 11
May 27, 2016
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
HUP
Celebrates Nursing!
HUP’s Board of Nursing pulled out all the stops for this year’s celebration of National Nurses Week and treated its nurses to a variety of special activities, including Reiki, aromatherapy and massage, and a professional makeup and photo shoot. “Over 150 massages were given over the course of three days,” said Angela Newton, BSN, RN, CMSRN, chair-elect of HUP’s Professional Development Core Council, “and the nurses were raving about the new Reiki sessions.” Also new was a Mind-Body Life Coaching workshop, led by Mara Wai, MEd, program director of Penn Program for Stress Management, and a Pet a Pooch session at the Center for Nursing Renewal. Another new addition was professional development
INSIDE UPHS Nursing Excellence Award Winners..........................2 Raising Health Care Awareness for the Oromos......3 Community Baby Shower a Success.....................3 Breathing Better Under Pressure..........................4 A New Fundraising Record for CF.............................4
consultations. Katherine Fisher, BSN, RN, of Cardiac Surgery went for advice on what her next career move should be. “Should I get an NP or a master’s degree in some nurse-related field?” she said. “I wasn’t sure.” The consultant helped correlate Fisher’s past interests with what she does now and then suggested what programs might be of interest. “She gave me a direction.”
In addition to the pampering and the special activities, Nurses Week also included recognition of those winning nursing excellence awards, including this year’s UPHS Nursing Clinical Excellence Awards (see page 2) and the Victoria Rich Patient Satisfaction Award to HUP’s Baby Friendly Hospital Committee. (Read more at http:// bit.ly/20qq9Fm) This year’s Joan Bretschneider Shared Governance Leadership Award, which is given to a nurse whose contributions exemplify excellence in many areas, went to Maura Gallagher, BSN, RN, of Ravdin 6. Her nomination letter noted that “Maura is an exceptional nurse, whether she is working at bedside delivering nursing care to her patients or as a nurse leader in the Core Charge Nurse
role. Maura works as an advocate to provide world-class care to her patients.” With Gallagher taking the lead on the Bedside Report Task Force, “bedside report has now become the standard of care on Ravdin 6. As a result, patients are more involved with their care and our Nurse Communications scores have significantly improved.” Gallagher has also worked to improve nurse documentation and practice on the unit.
`` Helping to pull together Nurses Week at HUP were (from left) Victoria Dixon, Teresa Murphy, Beth Smith, Angela Newton, Maria Radziewicz and Angela Piech.
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HUP
Celebrates Nursing!
“As Unit Council chair, Maura is also a voice for the concerns of the staff. She has coordinated meetings with leaders from across the Health System to address our concerns,” which have resulted in changes to improve the patient experience…. “She embodies the Professional Practice Model in that she cares, leads, and innovates every day and in every role she performs at HUP.”
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The Awards ceremony also recognized winners of the monthly DAISY (Diseases Attacking the Immune System) Award. According to the foundation’s website, the award honors the “super-human work nurses do for patients and families every day.” This year’s winners are: Troy Cataplano, BSN, RN Womens’ Health and Neonatal
Abbey Barron, BSN, RN Outpatient
Tamara Betancoft, BSN, RN Oncology
Rachel Amiano, BSN, RN Medical
Jennifer Dagger, BSN, RN, OCN Chemotherapy
Judith Rivera, BSN, RN, PCCN, WCC, CLNC Perioperative
Timothy Cragg, BSN, RN Medical Jaclyn Morrow, BSN, RN Perioperative & Cardiovascular Cara Brinkley, BSN, RN-BC Women’s Health & Neuroscience Beauty Averion, BSN, RN Surgical Soo Kim, BSN, RN, OCN Oncology
`` Maura Gallagher with Regina Cunningham.
Rachelle Haworth, BSN, RN Women’s Health Abbey Barron, BSN, RN Outpatient Rachel Amiano, BSN, RN Medical Judith Rivera, BSN, RN, PCCN, WCC, CLNC Perioperative Rachelle Haworth, BSN, RN Women’s Health
Thanks to all our nurses for everything you do for our patients and families.
OUR NURSING EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNERS Congratulations to the nurses from HUP and CPUP who received this year’s UPHS Nursing Clinical Excellence Awards:
Helen McClelland Award for Research and Innovation Colleen Cook, BSN, RN, CCTC CPUP (Liver Transplant)
Mae DeChristy, BSN, RN, OCN, BMTCN, GCN HUP (Roads 7)
Lillian Brunner Award for Exemplary Practice Julie Pitts, BSN, RN CPUP (Chestnut Hill Cardiology)
Leticia Pendleton, BSN, RN HUP (Staffing for All Seasons)
Dianne Lanham Award for Leadership Julie Truong, BSN, TN CPUP (Kidney Transplant)
Carrie DeFeo, BSN, RN, OCN HUP (Rhoads 7)
Rosalyn J. Watts Award for Community/Patient/Family Relationships Clarice Maggio, BSN, RN, OCN CPUP (Abramson Cancer Center)
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Alexis Brimm-Akins, BSN, RN, RRT HUP (Staffing for All Seasons)
RAISING HEALTH CARE AWARENESS FOR THE OROMOS Three years after Mitiku Tolassa of Clinical Engineering came to this country from Ethiopia in 1997, he moved to Philadelphia and discovered the Oromo Community Organization of Pennsylvania. Tolassa not only stayed a member of the group, but become its executive chair in 2014.
Oromo PA helps establish stable communities in the area and the Oromo community in general by helping Oromo immigrants — most of whom come from Ethiopia — acclimate to their new environment. “We make sure they have a place to stay, guide them in education, help kids with their homework,” Tolassa said. They also teach the Oromo language, one of the most spoken Cushitic languages in East Africa, and culture to second generation offspring. On a global level, as part of the national organization, they help members of their community still in Ethiopia and raise awareness of human rights violations against the Oromos. An important part of keeping their proud heritage alive is the Pennsylvania Oromo Day of community celebration, which brings together members from the Philadelphia, Lancaster and Pittsburgh chapters. Last year the celebration included traditional Oromo blessings and dances in cultural clothing. For this year’s event, the Penn Medicine CAREs grant will help them promote health care awareness in the community, including prophylactic education on hypertension, diabetes, and nutrition as well as onsite blood pressure screening, and glucose test kits to screen for diabetes. To learn more about the Oromo community, go to www.oromoPA.org.
`` Mitiku Tolassa (second from left) with other members of the Oromo Community Organization (from left): Ensarmu Shino, Abel Desalegn, and Chala Lata.
Community Baby Shower A Success! Over 700 expectant women and moms of young children attended last month’s 2016 Greater Philadelphia Community Baby Shower. Pam Mack-Brooks, professional development specialist, worked with national vendors, local social services and health agencies, and other departments at Penn to bring health and wellness resources to this population, including health screenings and CPR demonstrations. “Our goal was to educate expecting and new mothers and their families on topics that can help their new family,” she said. Over 75 volunteers from Penn Medicine (and their children), as well as University faculty and students helped for two days in the setup and running and breakdown of the event. “We were attendance counters, registrars, snack servers, guest entertainers, etc!” Mack-Brooks said. Thanks to everyone who made this event so successful.
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BREATHING BETTER UNDER PRESSURE The prick of a strategically placed needle is felt by nearly two million Americans every year looking to reap the benefits of acupuncture. Back problems, migraines, allergies: The 2,500-year-old Eastern medical technique has been shown to help relieve pain or discomfort stemming from a host of ailments. At Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center, patients use it to combat dry mouth related to radiation therapy, nausea and vomiting, and even depression. Now, new research suggests acupuncture may also help lung cancer patients suffering from dyspnea, otherwise known as shortness of breath, a widespread condition with few effective treatment options. “Even a small amount of shortness of breath has a significant impact on patients’ quality of life,” said Joshua Bauml, MD, of Hematology/Oncology, who led a pilot study to investigate the feasibility of the technique in patients. Nearly 90 percent of lung cancer patients have dyspnea, which is also very common in COPD patients. However, clinicians treat shortness of breath in lung cancer much less aggressively than it’s treated in COPD—and it’s far less studied in cancer patients, Bauml said. In the study of 12 patients, published last week in Integrative Cancer Therapies, Bauml and his colleagues showed that acupuncture led to a significant improvement in shortness of breath, quality of life, and fatigue. Patients who underwent 10 sessions of acupuncture had a 50 percent reduction in the severity of the disease. Their overall quality of life scores also improved and most reported feeling less fatigued. To read more about the study go to http://bit.ly/1YRzrtP.
Heartfelt Thanks Last year I had a very large head bleed and was taken to LGH by ambulance and admitted overnight. Most people with a bleed this large would never have even made it to the hospital. After one night in the LGH Neuro ICU, I was flown to Penn where I underwent 6 hours of brain surgery. After surgery I remained in a coma for a week, but the neurosurgeons at Penn not only saved my life, but I have very little deficits. I can walk, talk, cook and function very well independently. Luckily my only deficit is some small short-term memory issues. Because of Penn, I am a miracle ... and I am thankful for every new day I am given! Thank you!
A NEW FUNDRAISING RECORD FOR CF Staff, providers and friends of Silverstein 11 who participated in the Narberth Cystic Fibrosis Run/ Walk and volunteered at the event were able to raise over $1,100! “This year we had more participants and volunteers, and raised the most money we ever have,” said Diana Santangelo, BSN, CMSRN, WCC. Thanks to the many volunteers, the unit was able to set up a table at the event and hand out information about Penn Medicine services and a little Penn “swag,” thanks to the Penn Medicine CAREs program. “It was a huge success, despite the rainy weather, but we love our Cystic Fibrosis population and wanted to help raise donations for the Take a Breather Foundation that benefits from the Narberth run,” she said.
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HUPdate is published biweekly for HUP employees. Access HUPdate online at http://news.pennmedicine.org/inside/hupdate.
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