Volume 26
Number 4
February 20, 2015
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
TAKING CARE OF
FAMILIES
is Part of Caring for Patients
“ Now, more than ever, we need to provide more services that `` A "respite room" helps families of inpatients take a break from daily stresses.
Located at the top of the escalator on the Ravdin Mezzanine, the Center for Family Caregivers is many things to many people. For example, some family members use its computer, fax and printer to help keep the everyday parts of their lives on track without leaving the hospital. Others see its “respite room” — with massage chair, peaceful images and soft music — as a temporary escape from the stress of having a loved one in the hospital, providing more privacy than a waiting room. And many use it just to take a deep breath and regroup. “One parent whose child was in a devastating accident came here from a rural area. The city seemed like a foreign country and was overwhelming,” said Mary Walton, MSN, director of Patient and Family Centered Care. “Just talking
center on the needs of patients and families.” with Marisa (Stephens, a Drexel co-op nursing student) helped.” In addition to Stephens, a Penn social work grad student, Melanie Perna, is also available at the center (Mondays and Wednesdays) to talk with family members and provide emotional support. Both Walton and Karen Anderson, MSN, clinical nurse specialist in Patient and Family Centered Care, provide clinical supervision and discuss cases with her. “Sometimes the best ‘intervention’ is listening,” Anderson said. “Silence is doing something in a therapeutic relationship.”
The Caregivers Center was originally the Patient Education Center but times and technologies change; much more medical information is available online now. Walton said she and Anderson also answer questions or point family members in the right direction for help. “Sometimes we’ll call the unit and, with the family’s permission, share a concern or describe a vulnerability that we get a chance to see in this unique environment,” Walton said. “We don’t supplant anything on the units. We just help connect the dots.” (Continued on page 4)
`` (From left): Mary Walton, Marisa Stephens, and Anita McGinn-Natali, co-chair of HUP's Patient and Family Advisory Council.
INSIDE A Heartfelt Send-off for Trauma..................................2 Samantha Null Honored by ACS........................................2 The Best Way to a Woman's Heart..........................3 SImple Screenings Can Save Lives..........................3
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A Heartfelt SEND-OFF FOR TRAUMA Before Penn’s Level 1 Trauma Center made its official move to PPMC earlier this month, HUP leaders and staff gave the trauma team a heartfelt send-off.
Planning for this huge transfer of services “was the most complicated project I’ve ever been involved in,” said HUP executive director Garry Scheib, “and I thank each of you for your role in helping to implement this world-class program” at PPMC. “This is a celebration of 28 years of astounding accomplishments,” said C. William Schwab, MD, who created Penn’s Trauma Center. “In the last 15 years, HUP trauma has cared for 42,000 patients. Each one had to have 10,000 correct decisions to heal. Thank you all for the hundreds of thousands of correct decisions you made.”
But the magic is not the building; it’s the people, she said. “That magic will go with you in this historic move. You are all the magic of trauma. I’m excited to see the heights you’ll take this program to with this state-of-the-art facility.”
"Change is difficult and unsettles us but it causes us to learn and grow," Schwab said. "It opens windows to that which we thought we’d never see.” At the end of the program, Scheib presented Michele Volpe, Penn Presbyterian executive director and CEO, with a symbolic “handoff ” of Penn’s Trauma Program to PPMC. “In health care we do many handoffs but I can’t think of anything more important than what we’re celebrating today,” he said.
Kate Fitzpatrick, DNP, MSN, clinical director of Neurosciences, Women’s Health & Neonatal Nursing, who spent her first 10 years at HUP as part of the trauma team, noted “a certain magic in Penn Trauma. People who come here to learn all talk about this magic. It’s made up of many things — skill, intellect, spirit of collaboration, passion.”
`` Garry Scheib symbolically “hands off” Penn’s Trauma Program to Michele Volpe.
`` Scheib thanked David Henfield, who served as HUP’s trauma chaplain since 1999.
" In health care we do many handoffs but
`` Samantha and her husband, Greg, at the awards ceremony in Atlanta.
Samantha Null Honored by ACS Samantha Null, a clinical oncology social worker, was one of seven outstanding cancer care providers who received the 2015 American Cancer Society Lane W. Adams Quality of Life Award. According to the ACS, this award “recognizes individuals whose compassion and dedication go far above and beyond the call of duty. They help empower people with cancer, as well as clinicians, to make quality of life a high priority in the treatment process.” Null was also the recipient of the Health System’s first-ever Palliative Care Champion award last year.
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I can’t think of anything more important than what we’re celebrating today.”
GOSPELRAMA
2015
IS COMING! Mark your calendars for HUP’s annual music spectacular: Gospelrama! This joyous celebration will be held on Friday, February 27, starting at 5 pm in Medical Alumni Hall on 1 Maloney. Hope to see you all there!
`` Chileshe Nkonde-Price (third from left) with members of Penn Medicine's cardiovascular team on "Go Red" Friday.
The Best Way TO A
Woman’s Heart
Most women fear breast cancer more than heart disease but, in fact, cardiovascular disease is the more deadly. Indeed, more women die from a cardiac condition than all cancers combined. “More men are diagnosed with heart disease, but, when a woman gets it, she’s more likely to die,” said Chileshe Nkonde-Price, MD, of Cardiovascular Medicine. "Pregnancy and early post-pregnancy are important times to assess a woman’s cardiac risk factors," said Nkonde-Price, who serves as director of the new Center. Many of the symptoms that might alert a woman to a brewing cardiac condition — for example, preeclampsia — are similar to those of pregnancy. This potentially serious condition develops in 1 of 30 pregnant women and could lead to regular hypertension after delivery.
“ By continually assessing risk factors and educating women, we have the tools to prevent heart attacks in the future.” Menopause — the next milestone in a woman’s life — can also be a particularly vulnerable time for women when it comes to their hearts. The incidence of heart disease increases dramatically around peri-menopause and it correlates directly with the decrease of estrogen, she said But, with the right vigilance during the many stages of a woman’s life, the trend can be reversed. And that’s where the new Penn Women’s Cardiovascular Center
comes into play. “We’re creating a culture of women’s cardiovascular health that’s for women, by women,” said Nkonde-Price. “By continually assessing risk factors and educating women, we have the tools to prevent heart attacks in the future.” Read more about how the Center helps women stay “heart healthy” throughout their lives at http://news.pennmedicine. org/inside/hupdate/.
SIMPLE SCREENINGS CAN SAVE LIVES For the past 20 years, Raymond Townsend, MD, of the Renal, Electrolyte and Hypertension Division, has been helping prevent heart attacks and strokes in local residents through community screenings. “Four factors predict the most risk of a heart attack or stroke: weight, cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure,” he said. “I can determine three of them at a screening and it only takes about a minute.” Townsend and his staff in the Nephrology/Hypertension Program started doing screenings outside of HUP’s cafeteria in the 1990s and soon expanded to community centers and churches. Then, in 2013, as part of the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort study, Townsend began doing blood sticks for glucose as well as screening for protein levels in the urine. “Of all the things that predict the development or progression of kidney disease, protein in the urine is at the top of the list. It means the kidneys are not ‘behaving’ as well as they should.”
Penn Medicine faculty, staff and students who volunteer their time in community outreach are eligible to apply for a CAREs grant. To learn more, go to http://uphsxnet.uphs.upenn.edu/community/ CARE/grant.html. The deadline for the next round of grants is March 1.
This past June, he and his team (usually four to six volunteers) performed screenings on 400 men at the Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church men’s health fair. A Penn Medicine CAREs grant will help them expand the number they screen and do it more efficiently. “We’re getting five new FORACare devices which do automatic blood pressure readings and read blood glucose levels,” he said. “We can check blood pressures on up to five people at the same time now.” Screenings are invaluable, he continued. “They’re a good way to give back to the community.” For information about borrowing the new screening devices for health fair screenings, email townsend@mail.med.upenn.edu.
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TAKING CARE OF
FAMILIES
is Part of Caring for Patients
HUP REACHES OUT
(Continued from page 1)
TO WEST AFRICAN COMMUNITY Last month, several members of HUP Nursing and others volunteered their time at the FaithImmanuel Lutheran Church in Delaware County to provide the influenza vaccine to members of the West African community. Chyke Doubeni, MD, chair of Family Medicine and Community Health, addressed church and community members about the importance of receiving the influenza vaccine. Pam Mack-Brooks, MSN, director of HUP Nursing Community Outreach Program, worked with Jean Marie Kouassi of Family Medicine to organize the project. Neil Fishman, MD, associate CMO, arranged for HUP to donate the flu vaccines.
ONLY
2
WEEKS
LEFT!
Remember: the Penn Tower Parking Garage will permanently close to employees on Friday, March 6. The garage’s parking swipe card will be invalid as of 11:59 pm on that date. (It will remain open for patients until Wednesday, March 11). Employees who currently park in that garage are strongly encouraged to transfer to the University Avenue Garage (Lot #51) immediately to ensure a smooth transition and avoid long delays in obtaining the new parking pass card. Staff who have a Penn Tower parking swipe card must return it before they will be issued an access card for Lot #51. Parking pass cards for Lot 51 are available at one of the following locations:
But no matter what reason brings family members in the first time, the welcoming environment and help they receive keep them coming back. Since its official reopening in July 2014, the Caregivers Center has recorded more than 2,500 visits. “Our attendance went up when word got out about the massage chair,” Walton joked. A guest book in the Respite Room shows how much family members appreciate the Center and the people who work there: “I really look forward to coming here every morning as an escape.” “Thank you for this quiet piece of sanity. I find it so relaxing and welcoming. Keep up what you’re doing!” “Loving the caregiver space. These small things help in ways I could never explain.” “Patients are sicker and staying longer; families are more stressed,” Walton said. “Now, more than ever, we need to provide more services that center on the needs of patients and families.”
• Parking Office on the Penn Tower Bridge Level (to the left of the Nursing Renewal Center), on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (7:30 am to 4 pm) and Tuesday and Thursday (6 am to 4 pm) • Penn Tower Garage office (7 am to 11 pm), 7 days a week. (Glass office to the left of the main garage exit.)
HUPdate
To learn more about the closing of the Penn Tower parking garage, go to http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/employeeselfservice/transportation.html.
EDITORIAL STAFF
If you have additional questions or concerns, please speak with your supervisor or email Denise.Mariotti@uphs.upenn.edu.
Lisa Paxson Graphic Designer
Sally Sapega Editor and Photographer
ADMINISTRATION
Susan E. Phillips Senior Vice President, Public Affairs
ALL EMPLOYEE MEETINGS Be sure to attend an All Employee Meeting to learn more about HUP and the Health System. HUP leaders will be available to answer questions.
All Employee Meetings are held in Medical Alumni Hall, on 1 Maloney.
Holly Auer Director of Communications
Dates for the next three meetings are:
CONTACT HUPDATE AT: 3535 Market Street, Mezzanine Philadelphia, PA 19104
T UESDAY, MARCH 3 5:00 to 6:00 p.m.
phone: 215.662.4488 fax: 215.349.8312 email: sally.sapega@uphs.upenn.edu
T HURSDAY, APRIL 9 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. W EDNESDAY, MAY 13 Noon to 1:00 p.m.
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HUPdate is published biweekly for HUP employees. Access HUPdate online at http://news.pennmedicine.org/inside/hupdate.