SJO nurses present "virtual posters" at the ANCC 2010 Magnet Conference

We are proud to announce St. Joseph Hospital of Orange nurses presenting two of the 25 "virtual posters" accepted at the 2010 ANCC Magnet Conference.

Transformational Leadership: Building Leadership Competency with Blended Learning by Vivian Norman, RN, MSN, CCRN and Factors Associated with Nurses' Discussions of Hospice by Denise Boyd, RN, BSN, OCN; Kristen Merkh, RN, BSN, OCN; Dana N. Rutledge, RN, PhD; and Victoria Randall, RN.

Those who follow this blog know how much Flat Maggie loves to travel, but even she has difficulty getting away from the office. Fortunately, their posters are now available for viewing at the ANCC 2010 National Magnet Conference Virtual Poster Session via Virtual World and will remain on view until the end of the October conference.

To access Virtual World please follow the steps below (note, the software required for entry into the Virtual World is not compatible with Mac).

1. View this training video with step by step instructions (Windows Media Player 9 or later & speakers/headphones are required), or view the written instructions.


2. Register and DOWNLOAD the Virtual World software which must be installed on your computer.


3. You may need to work with your Information Systems department in order to be able to download the software at your desktop computer (if accessing Virtual World from work).


4. Technical support for actual technical difficulties is available, call 1-800-679-3646 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time and ask for “virtual technical support.” You may also email virtual technical support at support@virtualbeginnings.com. Please, carefully review the instructions above before asking for technical support.

New Leadership for Flat Maggie Blog and welcome to the new Library Manager

I would like to share that it has been a tremendous privilege and joy for me to have been involved in beginning the world's first blog devoted to nursing research and evidenced based nursing some 3+ years ago.


An enormous thank you to our entire blog team for their dedication to the continued improvement in the quality of our blog is in order. Nursing Research: Show me the Evidence! is truly a team effort . I will miss our entire team and wish everyone in the wider world of nursing research the best of everything. I will be retiring on August 6 after 31 years in my position as Library Manager of Burlew Medical Library, St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, California. My husband and I will be pursuing our twin loves of travel and all things "ballroom dancing". We, of course, also relish the thought of spending more time with our families, our garden, our cameras and our BOOKS!! We will also serve as volunteer couriers for the National Bone Marrow Association and I hope to involve myself in literacy training.

Please allow me to introduce Danielle Linden, MLS, AHIP as both our new Library Manager and the new administrator for our nursing research blog. Danielle received her BA in Anthropology from UCLA and her Master of Library and Information Science Degree from San Jose State University. Professionally certified by the Medical Library Association’s Academy of Health Information Professionals (AHIP) at the senior member level, Danielle has been actively involved in both the Medical Library Group of Southern California and Arizona as well as the Medical Library Association. Danielle’s experience includes working as a medical librarian in both academic and hospital environments. She is an experienced searcher and instructor in a wide variety of databases. She has a special interest in library services and resources for nurses and notably has presented a poster entitled “Incorporating Library Resources into an Undergraduate Nursing Program Wiki.” Danielle runs marathons for fun and has an outgoing, engaging personality.

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