Volume 26
Number 14
July 10, 2015
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
`` (From left) Paula Watkins, CNA award winner Holland Robinson, Theresa Gorman, and Michael Newcomb.
Your role is critical to the patient. You make a huge difference and our patients feel that.
TREATING PATIENTS LIKE Certified nursing assistant (CNA) Holland Robinson treats the patients he cares for on Rhoads 7, an oncology unit, as if they were part of his family. “I love getting to know my patients,” he said. “Our patients are pretty sick so I try to make their day a little better.” This level of compassion is just one reason Robinson won this year’s CNA of the Year Award. According to his nomination letter, written by Theresa Gorman, MSN, AOCNS, “I have seen Holland proactively
INSIDE The Right “Medicine” for Preemies...............................2 Empowering Women Through Knowledge.................3 Every Patient, Every Time.........3 Heartfelt Thanks........................4
Family
advocate for his patients as a member of the interdisciplinary care team, build lasting bonds with patients and families, and work professionally with others amongst the most stressful of patient care situations.”
not want to move, as Holland had taken care of her and her parents ‘like family.’ To this day, the patient makes specific stops up to the floor to visit Holland when she has outpatient appointments.
Many nurses noted how fortunate they are to be working with Holland, the letter continued. It described a time when Holland reached out to a nurse because he discovered a patient who seemed suddenly disoriented. “While the patient’s vital signs were stable, his fasting sugar was 51…. Because of Holland’s intervention and collaboration with the nursing staff, the patient’s hypoglycemia was promptly reversed and the patient remained stable.”
“Holland is gentle, kind, and the CNA I would want to take care of my loved ones if they were ever ill.”
Another example of his “extraordinary care” concerned a patient who was transferred into one of the unit’s semiprivate rooms from the ICU. “By the time a private room was available, the patient did
At the CNA celebration, Regina Cunningham, PhD, HUP’s chief nursing executive, congratulated this year’s 21 nominees and thanked all CNAs for their work on the patient care units. “Your role is critical to the patient,” she said. “You make a huge difference and our patients feel that.” “We couldn’t do what we do without what you do,” agreed Paula Watkins, MSN, RN, nurse manager on Rhoads 7.
SEE PAGE 4 FOR THIS YEAR’S CNA AWARD NOMINEES.
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`` Preemie Paloma Quinones sleeps soundly while mom Lainey uses kangaroo care to hold her close.
THE
MEDICINE
FOR PREEMIES
While advanced technology saves the lives of many preemies, studies have shown that the most basic of all care — simply holding the baby — may have the biggest impact of all. At HUP, new moms of full-term babies are strongly encouraged to hold their newborns skin-to-skin right after delivery. But when an infant is born prematurely and rushed off to the intensive care nursery (ICN), both mom and her baby miss out on the initial closeness that is so important to the baby’s health and development. The ICN staff is helping moms and preemies regain this close bonding, thanks to a practice called kangaroo care. As the name implies, kangaroo care recreates the warm protective environment a baby kangaroo has in its mother’s pouch. The infant, wearing only a diaper and covered with a blanket, lies on the mom’s chest, with no barriers between them. HUP’s nursing staff actively advocates for kangaroo care for all babies born at HUP but, according to Laura Carpenter, BSN, RN, IBCLC, a lactation consultant in the ICN, this skin-to-skin practice may have even greater impact on preemies than full-term babies. Studies have shown that kangaroo care, which allows the baby to hear the mother’s heartbeat, helps to stabilize the baby’s own heart rate and breathing. And, despite the noises in the ICN, babies can fall into a deeper sleep while being “kangarooed,” thereby conserving energy for important things … like gaining weight. Carpenter said that this, in turn, can lead to shorter hospital stays. Also, “the mother’s body heat helps keep her baby’s internal temperature stable so he or she can stay out of the incubator for longer periods of time,” Carpenter said. When premature infants are out of that warm environment and swaddled (wrapped snugly in a blanket), their internal body temperature starts falling quickly and as a result must be placed back in the incubator.
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What’s truly amazing, though, is that, during kangaroo care, the mother’s body temperature automatically adjusts to the baby’s needs. “If the baby gets cold, mom gets warmer,” Carpenter said. “If the baby gets too warm, mom cools her own temperature. It’s awesome.”
Studies have shown that kangaroo care,
which allows the baby to hear the mother’s heartbeat, helps to stabilize the baby’s own heart rate and breathing. Moms — and dads — benefit as well. In the ICN, “it is typically doctors and nurses who care for the baby initially. Parents often feel helpless and don’t know how they can connect to their baby,” she said. “Kangaroo care provides a way for them to bond and feel like parents to their infant.” Earlier this spring, the unit held a Kangaroo-a-thon to raise awareness of the initiative and educate new preemie parents about why this simple practice has such a tremendous impact. “We provided informational packets, encouraged skin-to-skin holding, and took photos and displayed them on the unit bulletin board. “We are encouraging families to hold babies in kangaroo care at whatever time they are visiting,” Carpenter said. “We just hope to have lots of babies snuggling skin to skin with their parents.”
Empowering
WOMEN THROUGH KNOWLEDGE
For the last several years, Martina Ward, MSN, RN, of Women’s Health (Silverstein 7), has spent every third Sunday at her church – Master Builder’s Church — taking blood pressures of congregants and talking with them about living a healthier life. Two years ago, to help spread “healthy” awareness beyond church members, she decided to organize a community health fair. “Healthy Habits Healthy Lives” proved to be such a success that she embarked on yet another, this one dedicated to women. “I receive many questions about female issues, such as reproductive health,” she said. “My goal was to empower women to make their health a priority. Women need to take care of themselves, not just their families.”
`` Martina Ward (r.) with Paulette Robinson of Women’s Health at the Master Builder’s Women’s Health Expo.
Thanks to her efforts — and a Penn Medicine CAREs grant — the fair included health screenings, information about local health services and resources, circuit training by a fitness expert, and selfcare practices. For example, Pam Mack-Brooks, MSN, Professional Development specialist, supplied Ward with four breast models that she uses in her outreach efforts. “We encouraged women to feel them for lumps and showed them how to do a breast exam,” she said.
Knowing that many moms might come to the fair with kids, she organized fun activities for them as well. With handouts from choosemyplate.gov — including a picture to color of the MyPlate icon that emphasizes the fruit, vegetable, grains, protein foods, and dairy groups — kids learned about healthy eating choices. “We also did fitness bingo, with kids doing sit-ups, running in place, and jumping jacks.”
In addition, Penn Medicine doctors, nurse practitioners, and nurses (many from her unit) gave talks and answered questions. “Everyone was raising their hands, asking questions,” she said. “They enjoyed the interactions.”
Ward is now thinking about what the next fair should focus on. “I have a love for my community. My purpose is to give back,” she said. “There’s a certain joy — aha moments — when I see things getting done.”
EVERY PATIENT, EVERY TIME In the health-care environment, a “time out” is a deliberate pause to confirm that the correct patient is getting the correct procedure on the correct surgical site before doing a procedure. On National Time Out Day, Maria Dowling, Brittany Moshen and Tom Nield (shown left), all of Perioperative Services, distributed information and talked with people about the importance of this process. At HUP, time outs are performed prior to operative and invasive procedures, “not only in the OR but in bedside procedures as well,” said Moshen. “Every patient deserves a time out and they get one,” Nield said.
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Congratulations to the 21 CNAs nominated for this year’s award (including those pictured above): Ivor Assaye. . . . . . . . . Silverstein 12 Charnese Brown . . . . Silverstein 10 Joseph Cager. . . . . . . Silverstein 11 Alana Carter. . . . . . . . . . . . Rhoads 7 Annette Charles. . . . . Silverstein 12 Mark Green. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CCU Tara Headen. . . . . . . . . Founders 14 Marsha Henry. . . . . . . Silverstein 12 Deborah Howell-Robinson.Silverstein 12 Alison McCaulley . . . . . . . . . . Endo Denise Meneff. . . . . . . . . . Rhoads 7
Shaleeta Mills. . . . . . . Silverstein 7 Judith Neville. . . . . . . Silverstein 12 Kahdijah Pearsall . . . Silverstein 10 Silbert Richards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ED Holland Robinson . . . . . . . Rhoads 7 Dawn Scott. . . . . . . . . . . . . Rhoads 1 Allyson Shurmur . . . . . . . . Rhoads 3 Clarence Spencer. . . . . . . . . . . CCU Robin West. . . . . . . . . Silverstein 12 Delema Yeager. . . . . . . . . . . . . CICU
C OME TO LEARN MORE… Do you want to learn more about HUP and the Health System? Be sure to attend one of the upcoming All Employee Meetings. Members of senior leadership provide updates and answer questions.
All Employee Meetings are held in Medical Alumni Hall, on 1 Maloney.
Heartfelt Thanks A note from a patient of Steven Brem, MD, chief of Neurosurgical Oncology, and Lynn Schuchter, MD, chief of Hematology/Oncology.
I was a patient in your hospital last year for brain tumor surgery from July 15 to 20 and from July 25 through August 7, when it became apparent that I had developed a pulmonary embolism. I received the best of care from all the staff at both Ravdin and Silverstein, 9th floors. Of all the hospitals I have had experience with I found your staff to be the most diligent and conscientious overall concerning my care. I owe my life to Dr. Brem and his staff for their quick and diligent diagnosis and removal of my brain tumor and for the timely diagnosis of the pulmonary emboli…. I have felt blessed ever since to have been cared for in your hospital, knowing that my present state of health is due in part to the wonderful care I received. I was moved to write a poem (see below) during my hospital stay. … please accept it with my deepest gratitude.
In This Place Dimly ... through my sleep little by little, the rhythmic hum of hospital life begins to seep in. I hear a tiny riff of sound coming from someone’s IPhone, a door closing squeaky wheels coming past my room, early morning co-workers exchanging greetings, down the hall, a moan. I begin to slowly wake in anticipation of what’s to come, feeling the life-force of this place as somehow part of my own. I have a feeling of belonging to something much bigger than myself. It encompasses all of those I love, my family, even the universe. To read the entire poem, go to http://news.pennmedicine.org/inside/hupdate.
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