Magnet Maggie featured in Advance for Nurses

A June 2010 issue of Advance for Nurses features a great article on Magnet Maggie and her adventures at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, California. Not only can you follow Magnet Maggie as she tours throughout the hospital but you can also see how much fun she has had accompanying nurses to conferences and even graduations. Thank you to feature writer Candy Goulette!!

SlideWorld: a portal of health sciences and medical PowerPoints

 

I stopped by Burlew Medical Library today and Julie told me 

about this cool new resource: Slideworld

I was getting ready to do a patient education slideshow and I wanted to see if any other professionals had done something similar that they would be willing to share. Sure enough, through Slideworld, I was able to view and download many excellent Powerpoints on topics of interest to me.

For instance,  there is a slide show on Asthma Pathophysiology which is both 5 star rated and has received

over 3800 hits.

SlideWorld is a powerful resource for PowerPoint Slide Presentations. It is a web resource designed to facilitate the educational process of medical professionals. As you know, slide presentations have become one of the key ways of facilitating education and a way of communicating new scientific developments. Academic faculties and clinicians in practice from worldwide have contributed to the web portal.

Take the Quick Tour of SlideWorld .

More than 5 million ppt presentations are searchable by both broad categories and textword searches. Slideworld employs web 2.0 technologies allowing you to rate presentations as well as incorporate them into

your tweets and other social networking tools. Registration is both free and easy. Medically orientated

PowerPoint templates are also available for purchase for a small fee. Upload your own presentations  to share information and receive a wider viewership.

Enjoy!!

A Fond Farewell to the CEO

At a barbeque on June 2, we had a chance to bid a fond farewell to President and Chief Executive Officer Larry K. Ainsworth, who is retiring this month after 16 years with St. Joseph Hospital. That day was pronounced as "Larry K. Ainsworth Day" by City of Orange Mayor Carolyn V. Cavecche for his outstanding achievements in improving the health of our community (shown here, along with COO Alan Garrett). Here are some of the achievements during his tenure:

* U.S.News & World Report named St. Joseph Hospital one of America’s top 50 hospitals for orthopedic care;

* St. Joseph Hospital was named one of 14 sites in the country by the National Cancer Institute to participate in the NCI Cancer Centers Program (NCCCP). St. Joseph Hospital was the only hospital on the West Coast selected;

*St. Joseph Hospital earned Magnet designation, the highest honor for nursing excellence;

* St. Joseph Hospital opened a 250,000-square-foot Patient Care Center and 85,000-square-foot Center for Cancer Prevention and Treatment at St. Joseph Hospital.

* Mr. Ainsworth provided ongoing leadership in obtaining health coverage for 45,000 children by initiating Orange County’s first California Kids program in collaboration with CHOC Children’s, Hoag, St. Jude Medical Center, Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center and St. Joseph Health System Foundation;

* Mr. Ainsworth helped increased medical access to Orange County’s medically underserved by acquiring and licensing four fully equipped mobile health clinics. These clinics provide primary care, dental and vision services at schools, churches, and community centers in central Orange County.

* Mr. Ainsworth helped enrolled 900 children per year in the Healthy Families and MediCal programs through La Amistad Clinic, Puente a la Salud’s mobile health van and the Orange Unified School District.

Congratulations, Mr. Ainsworth, on your many achievements, and best wishes on your retirement!

New article published by St. Joseph Hospital Nurses: Jeannine Loucks, Dana Rutledge, Beverly Hatch and Victoria Morrison

Congrats to  Jeanine Loucks, Dana Rutledge, Beverly Hatch and Victoria Morrison  for their newly published article. The article is so new it hasn't yet ( as of 5/26/10) been picked up PubMed or CINAHL.

Rapid Response Team for Behavioral Emergencies

Jeannine Loucks St. Joseph Hospital, Orange, CA, USA, jeannine.loucks@stjoe.org
Dana N. Rutledge
St. Joseph Hospital, Orange, CA, USA, California State University Fullerton, Fullerton, CA, USA
Beverly Hatch
St. Joseph Hospital, Orange, CA, USA
Victoria Morrison
St. Joseph Hospital, Orange, CA, USA
Behaviors of patients with psychiatric illness who are hospitalized on nonbehavioral health units can be difficult to address by staff members. Instituting a rapid response team to proactively de-escalate potential volatile situations on nonpsychiatric units in a hospital allows earlier treatment of behavioral issues with these patients. The behavioral emergency response team (BERT) consists of staff members (registered nurses, social workers) from behavioral health services who have experience in caring for patients with acute psychiatric disorders as well as competence in management of assaultive behavior. BERT services were trialed on a medical pulmonary unit; gradual housewide implementation occurred over 2 years. Tools developed for BERT include an activation algorithm, educational cue cards for staff, and a staff survey. Results of a performance improvement survey reveal that staff nurses have had positive experiences with BERT but that many nurses are still not comfortable caring for psychiatric patients on their units.

Key Words: rapid response team • psychiatric emergencies • behavioral health • psychiatric nursing • de-escalation • Iowa Model of Evidence-Based Practice 

Blessing of the Hands

What a Blessing of the Hands on May 6 as St. Joseph Hospital kicked off its 2010 Nurses Week. I loved the blessing offered:

Creator God, Giver and Sustainer of Life, bless the noble work to which these many hands have been dedicated. Enable us all to be truly wise in our clinical judgments, courageous in our dedication to doing good and avoiding harm; compassionate in responding to the human need for healing. Guide our minds and hands. Inspire us with words of comfort that we may be a supportive presence to others. Endow us with the gifts that will enable us to provide the sick and suffering with the care and attention each human life deserves.

Strengthen us in times of trial and discouragement. Keep our hearts from becoming indifferent when faced with our own limitations in curing human ills. Grace our perceptions that we may behold the wonders of your healing power working through our hands. May we not lose sight of the divine truth: That is is Your consoling love that brings forth peace where there is anxiety; healing where there is injury; and new life when our journey on earth is complete. In your love, bless all our hands this day, and everyday. Amen

Labor & Delivery, Baby!

Touring the Labor & Delivery Unit was so exciting! And to think - 5,000 babies are born at St. Joseph Hospital every year! The staff are understandably proud to be designated a "Baby Friendly Hospital," which assures that new moms will have the information, confidence and skills to successfully breastfeed their babies, providing them with the best possible start.

March Magnet Madness!

On March 31, approximately 120 St. Joseph Hospital nursing professionals gathered for a rousing redesignation kick off. The incredible achievements and inspirational best-practice stories that were shared made us even prouder to be a part of St. Joseph Hospital Nursing! It's no wonder that the average length of employment for an SJO nurse is 11 years - well above the state and national average.

Team leaders on the Magnet Redesignation journey, from left: Kathy Penzes, Executive Director of Women's Services; Carmen Ferrell, Executive Director, Critical Care and Telemetry Services; Alex Wiggins, Executive Director of Medical/Surgical Services; Patti Aube, Magnet Program Director and Executive Director of Nursing Professional Development & Research; Renee Mazeroll, Executive Director of Cardiac and Vascular Services; Magnet Maggie; Pat Brydges, Executive Director of Case Management/Social Services/Admitting Services/DSS/Beds; John Senteno, Executive Director of the Emergency Department and Chest Pain Center; and Soudi Bogert, Magnet Project Coordinator. In the coming months, these team leaders will be busily collecting and documenting evidence of Nursing Excellence at St. Joseph Hospital. Taking advantage of having so much Nursing brain power in one place, they asked the nurses to be thinking of and report on personal examples of best practices on the units, professional engagement and community involvement.