news for employees and friends of wakemed

w w w. w a k e m e d . o r g

M A R C H 2 0 1 1

WakeMed Cardiac Rehab Now at Kraft Family YMCA

Exercise specialist Beth Drossman (Healthworks) (right) assists patient Carol Greco with her Cardiac Rehab workout.

In February, WakeMed established the WakeMed Cary Hospital Cardiac Rehab Program at the Kraft Family YMCA in Apex, making it the fourth cardiac rehab program offered by WakeMed. Established in 1987 on the Raleigh Campus, the WakeMed Cardiac Rehab program offers physical, emotional and nutritional support for patients who have

had a recent heart attack, cardiac bypass sur-gery, angioplasty or stent, valve repair or replace-ment surgery, a heart transplant, stable angina or heart failure. Patients with ventricular assist devices are also enrolled. The participants’ goal is to improve physical fitness and overall health, and reduce the risk of future heart complications.

“For people with a cardiac condition who live in Cary, Apex, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina or a sur-rounding community, the WakeMed Cary Hospital

Cardiac Rehab Program offers them additional support and care for their recovery, or while

( c o n t i n u e d o n p a g e 2 ) ( c o n t i n u e d o n p a g e 6 )

2011 Marks WakeMed’s 50th Anniversary

Café 3000 Employee Survey Inspires New Offerings & EnhancementsCafé 3000 thanks all employees who responded to their 2010 Employee Satisfaction Survey conducted last summer in collaboration with Corporate Planning. A random sample of 1,000 Raleigh Campus employees were invited to complete the survey by mail or online.

In all, 383 responses were received containing valuable feedback on menu offerings as well as the cafeteria’s operations.

“We conducted this survey to better understand our employees’ opinions about Café 3000 as well as their expectations. We also wanted to identify potential opportunities for improvement,” said Alice Franklin, director, (Food & Nutrition Ser-vices). “Our goal is to offer our employees and other patrons the highest quality food at the best possible value. The feedback we gained from this survey greatly helped us in this effort.”

In the months since the survey, Franklin and her team have made several enhancements in Café 3000 to address employee requests and suggestions.

YOU ASKED FOR IT:More Variety Overall & More Healthy Options

In response, the Café 3000 team added new offerings to the Grab n’ Go station – many healthy and nutritious – all prepared by Café 3000 chef Jennifer LeGrande and her staff. Selections include a parfait with fresh fruit, granola and yogurt, a crudités (vegetable) tray, layered bean dip with tortilla chips, a breakfast casserole, a twice-baked potato, hummus and pita bread, and chicken salad with crackers. Pre-packaged dried fruit and nuts have also been added.

New Doctors Join WakeMed Physician Practices

WakeMed announces the addition of Carolina Cardiology Consultants and several new doctors to its growing Physician Practices division.

“Many of our communities in Wake County lack access to primary care services. The primary care doctors and practices that are

joining the WakeMed family are enhancing access in communities where significant growth continues,” commented Susan Weaver, MD, senior vice presi-dent of Medical Affairs & WakeMed Physician Prac-tices. “WakeMed is also the state’s leading provider of cardiac services. Linking cardiology practices closer to the WakeMed Heart Center is a win for patients in our community because direct relation-ships between cardiologists and hospitals allow for better coordination of patient care.”

On March 1, Carolina Cardiology Consultants joined

WE’RE lISTEnIng.

Visit the New Website for WakeMed Physician Practices:

www.wakemedphysicians.com> Learn all about the offerings of each practice.

> Find a physician.

> Access financial and insurance information.

> View location maps.

> Read about the latest news and events.

as Carolina Cardiology - WakeMed Faculty Physicians. This practice features nine full-time cardiology specialists and a physician extender, offering non-invasive cardiology, invasive cardiology, cardiac electrophysiology and vascular services. With three offices located throughout the Triangle (Raleigh, north Raleigh and Garner), Carolina Cardiology will continue to practice from all existing sites and is now aligned with WakeMed’s regionally renowned Heart Center.

WakeMed will also assume ownership of Carolina Cardiology Consultants’ cardiac testing clinic, Park Place Diagnostics. The diagnostic clinic is located immediately next door to Carolina Cardiology’s Raleigh office and offers cardiovascular tests, including treadmill, echocardiogram, stress echocardiogram and nuclear cardiolite stress tests, among others.

Additionally, Jack Newman, MD, of North Wake Cardiovascular Center, recently joined Raleigh Cardiology - WakeMed Faculty Physicians. His office, located in the WakeMed North Healthplex Physicians Office Pavilion, serves as the only full-time cardiology specialty practice in north Raleigh. With this new relationship, the existing providers at Raleigh Cardiology, an eight-provider practice that joined WakeMed in October, recently began practicing at this location on a rotating basis, further enhancing the specialty offerings in northern Wake County. With the addition of the new cardiology practices, WakeMed Faculty Physicians’ cardiology practices now feature 17 physicians and three physician extenders.

Lastly, two new physicians have joined Mary Forbes, MD, at Wake Specialty Physicians - City Center Medical Group, Raleigh’s only downtown internal medicine practice. Theresa Amerson, MD, joined on January 17 as a full-time physician, and Dr. Weaver has also joined as a part-time physician.

All practices are accepting new patients and welcome WakeMed employees. For an appointment, call:

> Carolina Cardiology - WakeMed Faculty Physicians: (919) 781-7772 or (919) 781-2837

> Raleigh Cardiology - WakeMed Faculty Physicians (North Raleigh Office): (919) 847-3164

> Wake Specialty Physicians - City Center Medical Group: (919) 834-5299

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Food & Nutrition Services chef Chris Zebney at the Self-Serve Hot Bar

This is an exciting year in the history of WakeMed. This year, we celebrate 50 years of care and caring, as we continue to build on the strong foundation

that has brought us to where we are today. “Building on 50 years of care and caring” is the motto we have chosen to

recognize our 50-year milestone, and we look forward to celebrating with our employees, volunteers, physicians and the community this year. Stay tuned for more information on employee and community events starting this spring and continuing throughout the year.

We hope you will join us in acknowledging our past as we look toward the future.

Photos and Memorabilia Needed! Public Relations is collecting vintage WakeMed photos, news clips and memorabilia for various historical displays and presentations that will highlight our 50-year history. If you have anything that you would be willing to contribute, please contact Becky Scolio (Public Relations) at bscolio@wakemed.org. We will return all items to you – just be sure to label everything with your name and department.

Let’s Celebrate !

Top: Carolina Cardiology - WakeMed Faculty Physicians (l to r) William J. Parsons, MD; David k. Millward, MD; george l. Hamrick, MD; James E. Nutt, MD; Jack W. Noneman, MD; Mark Englehardt, MD; Willard l. kennedy, MD; John S. kelley, MD

left: Jack Newman, MD, of North Wake Cardiovascular Center, recently joined Raleigh Cardiology - WakeMed Faculty Physicians.

above: Mary Forbes, MD; Theresa amerson, MD; and Susan Weaver, MD, now make up Wake Specialty Physi-cians - City Center Medical Group.

safety first

QuestionThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says we should use hand hygiene before and after patient contact, not upon entering and exit-ing a patient room. Why are we set-ting ourselves up for a tougher standard with the observations for WakeShare?

answerSafety science suggests that if we want to achieve the highest levels of reliability we must make the process convenient (on way in and out with visual cues) and automatic. If we stop to think, “Am I going to touch this patient?” each time we enter a patient’s room, it will never be auto-matic. Most likely, we will find our-selves needing to help the patient and our hands haven’t been cleaned.

We observe many staff and physicians who have truly made hand hygiene a habit. They auto-matically reach up for the hand gel on the way into patients’ rooms and on the way out. We KNOW in these cases that we have 100 percent hand hygiene compliance before and after patient contact. They have made it a habit. Let’s all do the same.

SafetyFIRST

Watching Each Other’s Backs

Culture is defined as the beliefs and behaviors of a group of people. So what are the beliefs and behaviors in a culture of safety? We believe that delivering health care is complex and risky so that we are preoccupied with, or always on the lookout for, things that could go wrong. We behave in such a way as to reduce those risks and catch them before they reach a patient. And we do so reliably – we make safe behaviors a habit.

One example of a safe behavior, part of our safety standards, is using hand hygiene before

and after patient contact. However, sometimes we are in a hurry, busy or distracted. We may think we are not going to touch the patient, so we skip hand hygiene on the way into their room, but then the patient needs to be propped up in bed.

Another behavior in a culture of safety is watching each other’s backs, so that if we are rushed or distracted and

start to cut a corner, a supportive colleague can redirect us and get us back on track. This can be difficult. We don’t want to offend the other person or make them feel bad. We don’t want them to get defensive or feel uncomfortable the next time they see us. But once we start having these brief, direct conversations, it becomes easier ... and if we are the person who receives the reminder from a colleague, we are thankful, even though it may initially sting or feel embarrassing.

With the new WakeShare measure, we are observing staff for hand hygiene upon entering and exiting a room. “Gel In, Gel Out” or wash. Our results are not where we want them to be.

Meera Kelley, MDVice President, Quality & Patient Safety

HAND HYGIENE & WAKESHAREQ&A

This is our opportunity to refocus our energies on preventing the transmission of infectious agents. Let’s harness our beliefs and act in such a way that will allow us to reach the highest level of performance for our patients. Let’s remind each other. Let’s make it a habit.

living with a cardiac condition, at a beautiful facility located closer to them,” said Pratik Desai, MD, FACC, director of the WakeMed Cary Hos-pital Cardiac Rehab Program and a cardiolo-gist with Cary Cardiology.

Cardiac rehab has been shown to lower the risk of heart attack and heart disease in elderly patients, as proven in a study review-ing 30,000 Medicare records completed by the Center for Clinical and Genetic Econom-ics at the Duke Clinical Research Institute in Durham. The study also found that fewer than one in five eligible patients attends cardiac rehab, and that the more sessions a patient attends, the better the outcome. These findings were published in a Decem-ber 2009 issue of Circulation published by the American Heart Association.

“We see similar results in our practice; patients who participate in cardiac rehab following a cardiac event are generally healthier and have a better quality of life,” added Dr. Desai.

Additional WakeMed Cardiac Rehab Pro-grams include those on the Raleigh Campus (operated by Healthworks) and at Betsy Johnson Regional Hos-pital and Sampson Regional Medical Center. Each program involves a medical director, ACLS registered nurse, exercise and fitness special-

ists, registered dietitian and a stress man-agement counselor. A physician referral is necessary for program admission.

Cardiac rehab sessions at the Kraft Family YMCA (8921 Holly Springs Road) will be held Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 7 to 8 am. For details, call the WakeMed Cary Hospital Cardiac Rehab Program at (919) 350-1875 or visit www.wakemed.org.

SHINE Conference Planning Committee

Conference Celebrates 10th AnniversaryThis year’s SHINE (Spinal Cord Head Injury Neuro Extravaganza) confer-ence marked a milestone for all those involved in the event – 10 successful years of providing valuable education for nurses, nurse practitioners and others who care for patients with neurological and neurosurgical health problems. Organized and managed by WakeMed’s Neurosciences, Rehab Services and Nursing Education teams, SHINE helps participants discuss non-traditional roles and treatments within a neuroscience setting and learn about future trends in neurological health care.

SHINE

Approximately 130 participants attended the conference on day one and about 95 attended on day two. Participants had the opportunity to learn from poster displays created by WakeMed caregivers as well as booths set up by vendors for various products and services related to the field. Several guest speakers pre-sented on a variety of topics critical to the care of patients with neurological and neurosurgical health problems. Topics included stroke, spine surgery, brain tumor treatment, neuroscience of the past, neuro imaging and many more. SHINE will be held again next year in the Andrews Center, and the planning committee is looking forward to 10 more years of success.

According to Melissa Craft, RN, (Neuro ICU), WakeMed made tremendous strides in organ donation in 2010 as compared to years past. Craft is co-chair of WakeMed’s Hero Support Network, an organ donor resource team comprised of staff nurses from the intensive care units and emer-gency departments, representatives from Respira-tory Care Services and Spiritual Care, and a representative from Carolina Donor Services (CDS), the federally designated organ procure-ment organization that partners with WakeMed. WakeMed’s 2010 organ donation data, as reported by CDS, was as follows:

Conversion Rate Data Reported Nationally for WakeMedThis percentage shows how many patients became organ donors out of those who were eligible for donation. In 2009, we had a 63 percent conversion rate, but in 2010, we had a 73 percent conversion rate, just two percent shy of the national goal.

Organs Transplanted Per Donor at WakeMedThis number shows the average number of organs donated per patient. In 2010, we reached 3.33, very close to the national goal of 3.75.

Lives SavedMost importantly, 58 organs from WakeMed patients were transplanted in North Carolina in 2010. Additionally, 22 were transplanted out of state for a total of 80 organs transplanted and over 70 lives saved!

Craft credits much of this suc-cess to enhanced education for nurses on how to care for patients who will become organ donors, keeping organs viable and working with fami-lies to obtain consent. Either Craft or a representative from CDS presents at every orienta-tion session for new nurses, and a Learning Link course was created that highlights the results of organ donation.

“Since WakeMed is a donor hospital and not a transplant center, our nurses are not often able to see the other side of the process,” said Craft. “The

Learning Link course has been help-ful in illustrating the life-saving out-comes of this process, putting a new face on organ donation for our team.”

The Hero Support Network meets monthly to discuss processes, proce-dures, data and opportunities for improvement. Mary Ann Wilcox, RNC, WakeMed’s former senior vice

president (SVP) of operations and chief nursing officer (CNO), had been serving as the network’s other co-chair, but since her departure, she will be replaced by Gail Sturtevant, RN, interim SVP and CNO, and executive director of nursing at Cary Hospital.

Concluded Craft, “Everyone has done a fabulous job, and we look forward to continued success with organ donation at WakeMed.”

HandHygieneMAKE IT A HABIT

Help protect yourself and our patients from the spread of germs and infection!

Heart Center ObservatiOn area

WFP - PediatriC surgery

5C MediCine

WakeMed Organ Donation Program Makes Great Progress in 2010

Hand Hygiene PHoto ContestThe results are in! More than 2,435 votes were cast in the WakeMed Hand Hygiene Photo Contest this winter. Employees submitted pictures of themselves and their coworkers practicing good hand hygiene in a creative or funny way. The top three winners were:

1. HaPPy BirtHday to you Heart Center Observation Area

2. HandwasHing saves Lives 5C Medicine

3. Partners in Hand HygieneWakeMed Faculty Physicians - Pediatric Surgery

The photos submitted by these teams are now fea-tured on a hand hygiene poster (shown above) that is being distributed throughout the system. It is meant to help remind all employees to practice good hand hygiene at all times. Thanks for all your creative sub-missions, congratulations to our winners and please remember to make vigilant hand hygiene a priority each and every day.

Cardiac Rehab at the Kraft YMCA(continued from page 1)

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“Until the presentations, many Imaging Services staff didn’t know how to report a near miss,” said Newman. “In November 2009, zero near misses were reported to the Risk Management System at Raleigh Campus, Cary Hospital, North Healthplex, Apex Healthplex, Brier Creek, Zebulon and Clayton.”

After educating coworkers, Newman was thrilled to see this number increase. By October 2010, more than 120 near-miss reports were submitted at Raleigh Campus, North Healthplex, Brier Creek, Zebu-lon and Clayton combined, and almost 25 reports were submitted at Cary Hospital and Apex Healthplex combined. As a result, many Imaging Services processes were improved to benefit patient safety.

“Eighty to 90 percent of our team’s patient safety initiatives are a direct result of the Good Catch Program,” said Newman. “Now, we can identify problems before they happen.”

For example, near-miss reporting led the department to confirm the importance of testing cerebral coils (used to treat aneurysms) prior to a procedure. This process had once seemed redundant to staff. However, during one pre-test, a coil was found to be faulty. In another instance, CT identified that an extension tubing used for IVs was not rated for high pressure causing it to split during a proce-dure, so they contacted the manufacturer to obtain tubing that was rated for high pressure.

“The benefits of Good Catch are unbelievable,” said Newman. “We now realize the difference each frontline caregiver can make.”

To encourage participation in Good Catch, Newman and his team devel-oped a bulletin board to spotlight staff for their exceptional good catches. Newman also sends out regular e-mails to Imaging Services managers and directors to inform them of the good catches and processes/equip-ment that may need to be fixed. This knowledge is shared at staff meetings so the entire team can stay informed.

“Staff are the most valuable resource we have in keeping our patients safe,” added Jones. “If staff do not report

near misses or actual incidents, we cannot effectively improve patient safety.”

Welcome to the WakeMed fam-ily, all new brides, grooms and babies!

Crystal Drake, RN, (5A Medical Interme-diate Care) and husband Adam wel-comed daughter Karsyn Samantha on September 17.

Heather Perry (Staffing Resources) and husband Bill adopted their son in October and brought him home from South Korea.

anne Marie Davis (Inpatient Pharmacy) and husband Nick welcomed daughter Zoe Elizabeth on October 5.

Devonda Dasher (Outpatient Rehab Reg-istration) and husband Shamar cele-brated the birth of their son on November 4.

Elaine Marinello, RN, (Nursing Educa-tion) and husband Michael welcomed son Samuel Anderson on December 13.

linda H. Wiggs (Environmental Health & Safety) married Lonnie C. Baker Jr. on December 26.

Mary Cantrell, RN, (5C Medicine) and husband Josh welcomed daughter Lily Gray on January 7.

Tanisha Holiday (Medical Records) cel-ebrated the birth of son Javian Justice Burgher on January 20.

Daniel Corbin, RN, (5A Medical Interme-diate Care) and his wife celebrated the birth of daughter Emma Alyse on Janu-ary 21.

Patricia lee, RN, (6B Orthopaedics & Oncology) and husband Garrett wel-comed daughter Campbell Noel on Jan-uary 27.

Carrie Brady, RN, (5C Medicine) and husband J welcomed son Isaac James on February 4.

amy Peterson, RN, (6A Cardiovascular Intermediate Care) and husband Mike welcomed Brooke Marie on February 11.

Mariluz landor (Children’s Diabetes & Endocrinology) was married to Bernard Peterson on February 12.

Jennifer Ellsworth, RN, (Children’s Emergency Department) and husband Joe recently celebrated the birth of daughter Addison.

Dawn knode, RN, (Children’s Emergency Department) and husband JD recently welcomed baby Reid.

alyson Weimar, RN, (Children’s Emer-gency Department) and husband Ben recently welcomed son Alexander.

New Additions and Attachments Imaging Services Adopts Good

Catch ProgramAfter learning about the Children’s Emer-gency Department’s (CED’s) Good Catch Program, Michael Newman, RT(R), clini-cal operations manager for Imaging Ser-vices, felt a similar program would be beneficial for his department. A “Good Catch” is the recognition of an event or circumstance that could have caused patient harm but did not, due to correc-tive action and/or timely intervention. The CED’s Good Catch Program was implemented by Erin Aston, RN, and former CED supervisor/educator Tiffany Young, RN, in 2008. It is a way for nurses to report near-miss events, or errors that are caught before reaching the patient, to improve processes before a real event occurs – a great benefit to patient safety.

“I approached several coworkers, including Janice Dyer, RN; Holly Carpenter, director, (Radiology); and Jennifer Narron, supervisor, (Radiology), and we agreed that our department’s current near-miss reporting was not sufficient enough to track opportunities for improved patient safety,” said Newman. “We decided to adopt the Good Catch Program for all Imaging Services modalities, system-wide.”

Before creating the Good Catch Program, Aston and Young surveyed nurses to determine barriers to near-miss reporting. They discovered that many nurses didn’t know how to report a near miss, felt the process was too lengthy and feared punitive action. They then created a program that would make it easy and convenient for nurses to report near misses and, with the help of Risk Management and Patient Safety, reassured nurses that punitive action would not be taken. Their findings were published in the Journal of Emergency Nursing (Sept. 2009).

With the support of Janine Jones, RN, (Quality & Patient Safety), New-man took the knowledge gained by Aston and Young and presented the Good Catch Program to all Imaging Services modalities across the sys-tem (including CT, MRI, Angiography, Ultrasound, Diagnostic and Mam-mography) during their Patient Safety meetings. He educated staff on the difference between near-miss reporting and incident reporting, and instructed them on how to complete a near-miss form. The Imaging Ser-vices Patient Safety Team simplified the form so it would be quick and easy to complete. Newman also reassured staff that they would not get in trouble or be punished for reporting near misses.

WakeMed Emergency Departments Successfully Manage High Volumes Emergency Department (ED) volumes across the system, including the Chil-dren’s ED and Adult ED on the Raleigh Campus, the Cary Hospital ED, the North Healthplex ED and the Apex Healthplex ED, were way up in January 2011 (and continued this way through February and into March). The EDs reported their highest volumes since March 2009, including October 2009 at the height of the H1N1 pandemic. Nearly 19,000 people arrived to our EDs for emergency care this January, with only 2.8 percent leaving without being seen. That means more than 18,400 received emergency care in one month!

“As our volumes continue to grow, our Emergency Department teams con-tinue to meet the need and exceed expectations, exemplifying the highest level of skill, professionalism and com-passion for our patients,” said Tom Gettinger, executive vice president and chief operating officer. “The Janu-ary report shows great work and dedi-cation by ED staff, physicians and leaders. We applaud their efforts.”

Members of the Imaging Services Good Catch Initiative: (Back row, l to r) Cynthia Gwath-ney (Imaging Services), Jennifer Narron (Imaging Services), Janine Jones (Quality & Patient Safety), Brandy Holzshu (Imaging Services), John Olexa (Patient Transport), Holly Carpenter (Imaging Ser-vices); (Front row, l to r) Travis Williams and Michael Newman (both of Imaging Services)

Management Newsamar Patel Named Director, Center for inno-vative learningAmar Patel, MS, NREMT-P, CFC, was promoted to director of

WakeMed’s Center for Innovative Learning. Patel joined WakeMed in May 2007 as manager of the WakeMed Medi-cal Simulation Center which was renamed the Center for Innovative Learning last year. As director, Patel will continue to have many of the same responsibilities that he did as manager, including: recruiting, coaching and developing staff, facilitators and educa-tors; collaborating with other WakeMed departments and regional partners on the center’s educational plan; providing technical and operational oversight for equipment, maintenance and repair; maintaining and analyzing data to sup-port simulation and patient safety ini-tiatives; and overseeing program development. Patel also serves on the WakeMed Center for Patient Safety and Safety Events Review Committees.

WAKEMED DOESN’T MISS A BEAT FOR HEART MONTH

WakeMed took to the streets this February to celebrate American Heart Month. Feel the Beat, a CPR Anytime Road Tour, made stops across Wake County to teach the basics of CPR, along with the warning signs and symptoms of a heart attack.

“We wanted to take our expertise to the community,” commented Betsy gaskins-McClaine, RN, vice president, Heart & Vascular Services. “By giving our commu-nity members training and education on both CPR and how to detect a heart attack, we hope to give them the awareness they need to seek early medical treatment and save lives.”

The road tour, which ran February 14 through 19, included a 30-minute CPR pre-sentation that gave participants a quick and easy tutorial on how to perform CPR. A participant from each household received a free CPR anytime for Family & Friends kit. The event also included a discussion on the warning signs of chest pain and heart attack, the importance of early activation of the 911 emergency system, and what to expect from EMS and the hospital in treating and managing heart attacks and cardiac arrest. Each discussion was led by a WakeMed cardiologist and a representative from Wake County EMS.

Feel the Beat was held in Apex, Cary, Fuquay-Varina, Holly Springs, Knightdale, Morrisville, Raleigh, Wake Forest and Zebulon at local community centers, town halls, and WakeMed hospitals and facilities. It concluded with the Feel the Beat Heart Health Fair on Saturday, February 19, at the WakeMed Heart Center. Health fair participants benefitted from CPR training; heart health exhibits; health screen-ings; and seminars on peripheral artery blockages, aortic aneurysms and when to take chest pain seriously. Led by WakeMed physicians, nurses and staff, the month’s events were free and open to the public. In total, more than 500 people attended the week’s events.

Added Gaskins-McClaine, “I want to extend a special thank you to the Public Relations team and the many physicians and staff volunteers who supported all of these events.”

For more information about heart disease and how to live a heart-healthy lifestyle, visit the American Heart Association’s website at www.americanheart.org.

Above: Participants at the Cary Hospital Feel the Beat event on Monday, February 14, practice CPR on the dummies included in their CPR anytime kits. Richard Daw, MD, (Wake Heart & Vascular Associates) and Brent Myers, MD, medical director for the Wake County EMS System, were presenters at the Cary event. 3

Focus On NursingNEWS, RECOGNITION AND INFORMATION FOR WAKEMED NURSESSett ing a new s tandard of excel lence in the art and sc ience of nurs ing care and caring.

www.wakemed.org

wakemed NURSING NewS

M A R C H 2 0 1 1

Since the departure of Mary Ann Wilcox, MS, RNC, NEA-BC, WakeMed’s former senior vice presi-dent (SVP) of operations and chief nursing officer (CNO), Gail Sturtevant, RN, MSN, NEA-BC, is now serving as interim SVP and CNO in addition to her role as executive director of nursing for Cary Hospital.

“In this time of transition, my main goal is to maintain stability for our nurses while continuing on the strate-gic path that has already been set,” said Sturtevant. “We have an outstand-

ing leadership team in place, and I will sup-port them in any way I can as we continue to strive for excel-lence in patient care.”

As interim SVP and CNO, Sturtevant is responsible for nursing practice throughout the system, and she will be greatly supported by

the leadership teams at all sites. Paula Bird, RN, MSN, NEA-BC, (Adult Acute Care Nursing Services) will maintain most day-to-day nursing operations at Cary Hospital along with Sturtevant. Managing the Raleigh Campus will be a team effort with Carolyn Knaup, RN, MHA, vice president, (Ambulatory Services) overseeing the Emergency Department and Observation Units; Tom Gettinger, MHA, executive vice president and chief operating officer, responsible for Service Excellence initiatives; and Betty Woodard, RN, PhD, direc-tor, (Nursing Research & Evidence-Based Practice), Elizabeth Rice, RNC-OB, MBA, director, (Women’s & Children’s Services Administra-tion), Sabrina Tyndall, RN, MSN, NE-BC, director, (Adult Acute Care Nursing Services), Marcy van Scha-gen, RN, manager, (Clinical Admin-istrators), Pam Cayton, RN, BSN, NE-BC, director, (Staff Resources), and the Nursing Administration staff reporting to Sturtevant. All cardio-vascular nursing areas will continue to report to Betsy Gaskins-McClaine, RN, BSN, MSN-C, vice president, (Heart & Vascular Ser-vices). All current nursing strategy and operational initiatives that were managed by both Wilcox and Sturte-vant will continue to be fully sup-ported by Sturtevant and her teams across the system.

“I am honored to represent the outstanding nurses at WakeMed and will do everything I can to advocate for their best interests,” added Sturtevant. “Even though we are

STAFF NURSE COUNCIL

Certified Nurses Day Receptions

T u e s d a y , M a r c h 1 5

You are cordially invited to celebrate Certified Nurses Day as we recognize the invaluable contributions of WakeMed’s Board Certified Nurses. Come support the advancement of nurse credentialing and learn more about how you can become a certified nurse. Currently, 579 national certifications are held by nurses at WakeMed. Thank you to all our Board Certified Nurses!

Because Certified Nurses Day (March 19) falls on a Saturday, WakeMed will celebrate on Tuesday, March 15.

Raleigh Campus

Conference Dining

1 to 3 pm

Cary Hospital

Conference Center

10 to 11 am

A Note from the New SNC Chair

Jennifer Myers, RN, (Wom-en’s Pavilion & Birthplace - Raleigh), the new chair of the WakeMed Staff Nurse Council (SNC), considers it an honor to represent the nurses at WakeMed. In addition to being a patient advocate, she calls herself a nursing advocate who seeks to rep-resent nursing in a positive way.

“As SNC chair, my vision for nursing is simple. I would like to see all nurses invest in the idea of Shared Governance and view them-selves as vital to the care of our patients,” said Myers. “Each nurse has important ideas and opinions to share. I hope to see more unit-level nursing committees encourage practice enhancements and positive change. I also hope all health care disciplines can understand the importance of nursing input. And, ultimately, I would love to see our system receive Magnet designation.”

Myers started working at WakeMed in July 2006 as a staff nurse on 3B CVSIC. After two years, she transferred to the Wom-en’s Pavilion & Birthplace on the Raleigh Campus where she still works today as part of the Labor & Delivery team.

Gail Sturtevant, RN, (right) with Pamela Page, RN, and Corinna Simms,

RN, (both of Surgical Services - Inpatient PACU)

at the WakeMed Staff Nurse Council Poster

Presentation held at Cary Hospital in February.

Gail Sturtevant Named Interim Chief Nursing Officer as Search for New WakeMed CNO Continues

experiencing a change in leadership, we will continue to move forward with our nursing practice while focusing on our mission, vision and goals.”

Sturtevant wants to be as visible as possible for all WakeMed nurses. She plans to spend one day a week at Cary Hospital and four days on the Raleigh Campus, all the while familiarizing herself with each WakeMed nursing unit and the care they provide.

Since joining WakeMed in 2007, Stur-tevant has provided outstanding leader-ship for Cary Hospital and the Raleigh Campus Heart Center, and has made great strides in enhancing physician/nurse relationships. She brings more than 25 years of nursing administration experience with operational leadership in a wide variety of clinical areas, including: cardiovascular, pulmonary, emergency and critical care, among oth-ers. She has a master’s degree in nursing (MSN) from Duke University and a bachelor’s degree in nursing (BSN) from the University of South Carolina at Columbia. She is certified in Nursing Administration by the American Nurses’ Credentialing Center, and is a member of numerous professional organizations, including the American Organization of Nurse Executives, the North Carolina Organization of Nurse Leaders and the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, among others.

“I love every aspect of nursing,” said Myers. “If I had to choose my favorite part, it would be patient interaction. I love being at the bedside, and, as a labor and delivery nurse, it is an

honor to be part of such a sacred moment for a family.”

Myers has been involved with Shared Governance since it began at WakeMed. She started by chairing unit committees and was elected the Raleigh Campus Labor & Delivery SNC representative in 2008. She was elected chair of the WakeMed SNC in October 2010, and her term will run from February 2011 to December 2012.

“I believe that Shared Governance is important because it gives direct care nurses a voice. We can impact how patients are cared for and how our system views nursing,” added Myers. “As frontline caregivers, nurses have historically been viewed as the ‘doers.’ However, nursing has evolved. Shared Governance now provides nurses with a venue through which they can express their opinions on all aspects of patient care and ultimately enhance patient care throughout our system. There is so much ahead for us as WakeMed nurses, and I am looking forward to our continued Magnet journey.”

The Search for a New Chief Nursing OfficerNursing leaders, the executive team and Human Resources are continuing a com-prehensive national search for a new senior vice president (SVP) and chief nurs-ing officer (CNO) in partnership with a national recruiting firm. Dr. Bill atkinson, president & CEO, Jeanene Martin, SVP of Human Resources, and Tom gettinger, executive vice president and chief operat-ing officer, are integrally involved in the process. Chaired by Carolyn knaup, RN, vice president, (Ambulatory Services), the search committee includes representation from Nursing Administration, Women’s & Children’s Services, Heart & Vascular Ser-vices, Nursing Education, Adult Acute Care Nursing Services, nurse managers and staff nurses.

“Right now, we are screening a variety of candidates. We meet with the recruiting firm weekly to continue to narrow our search,” said gail Sturtevant, RN, interim SVP & CNO, and executive director of nursing at Cary Hospital. “Once we are ready to interview potential candidates, we will be involving many more members of the nursing team in this process.”

While they strive to follow an aggres-sive timeline, the search committee is ded-icated to finding a strong leader for our nursing program, one who will build upon the outstanding work already done by Mary ann Wilcox, RNC, former SVP & CNO, and her team. Stay tuned for details!

Presented by the Nursing Education depart-ment, this four-hour class provides tools to enhance the skills of nurse educators and nurses interested in teaching in the future.

Monday, April 25 8:30 am to 12:30 pm Cary Hospital, Conference Center

Contact hours will be awarded. Register via Learning Link using code NE014-11022. For more information, call ext. 08024.

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WakeMed to Establish a Pain Resource Nurse CommitteeImproving patient comfort and management of patients’ pain is currently one of the top strategic goals for nursing at WakeMed. By working toward this goal, we will also improve our patients’ perception that we are doing everything we can to help control and manage their pain.

Pain management is one of the measures used to determine our patient satisfaction scores, as reported by Professional Resource Consultants (PRC). PRC is the firm that surveys thousands of our patients each year to track our patient satisfaction data. WakeMed’s HCAHPS results have also demonstrated that we need to focus on pain management. HCAHPS is the national standard for collecting or publicly reporting patients’ perspectives of care information that enables valid comparisons to be made across all hospitals nationwide.

“Pain management is an area that we really want to improve upon. Our goal is to provide excellent pain management for all of our patients,” said Annie Brito, RN, clinical nurse resource, (Adult Acute Care Division). “This has to be a system-wide initiative if we want to do a better job of managing our patients’ pain.”

Under Brito’s leadership, representatives from 15 clinical areas throughout the Raleigh Campus, Cary Hospital and North Healthplex have formed a planning committee that will establish a dedicated Pain Resource Nurse Committee. The planning team is now working to understand any barriers to pain man-agement, define a mission statement, determine a definition of pain management and outline expecta-

[ Pain Management ]

Nurses were challenged to show how they apply the Swanson Theory of Caring to their practice or how the

theory is evident in their daily work. The Swan-son Theory of Caring was adopted by WakeMed Nursing in 2010 and states: Caring is a nurturing way of relating to a valued other toward whom one feels a personal sense of commitment and responsibility.

“Most nurses are using the Theory of Caring every day, but they may not have the words to express it,” said Betty Woodard, RN, PhD, direc-tor, (Nursing Research & Evidence-Based Practice). “This event gave them an opportunity to show how their work is connected to the theory and to learn from their nursing colleagues who might be applying it in different ways.”

In all, 46 different posters were presented by WakeMed nurses on topics including support for women in labor, improving family and patient satisfaction, nurse to patient communication, stroke education, meeting the criteria for a PICC line, patient flow in the Heart Center and Emergency Department, spinal cord injury interven-tions, visitation, maternal comfort after a birth, pain, patient mobility, nursing in the operating room, caring for newborns and many more.

1 Desiree Hunter, RN, (5B Neuro Intermediate Care) and Angela Jones, RN, (Rehab Hospital) take a moment to smile for the camera.

2 Lisa Wilson, RN, (CICU) presents the CICU’s poster on the “We Care” relationship model.

3 Donica O’Leary, RN, (Heart Center Pre- & Post-Procedure Area) and Tracey Fillingame, RN, (2E CVICU) catch up at the Poster Presentation event.

4 Lynn King, RN, and Bonnie Cotton, RN, (both of Surgical Services - Day Surgery) present on the impor-tance of deep breathing during all aspects of surgery.

5 Gary Jenkins, RN, (CV Testing) presents “Guiding a Safe Passage toward Learning and Caring” on behalf of his team.

6 Betty Woodard, RN, PhD, (Nursing Research & Evi-dence-Based Practice) learns more about “Shock Absorb-ers,” WakeMed’s Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) Support Team, from Jodi McLean, RN, (Cath Lab - Cary Hospital).

7 Joan Kauffman, RN, (Observation Unit - Cary Hospi-tal) (middle) presents “Swanson’s Theory of Caring - Concepts in Action” on behalf of her team while Steph Hurley, RN, (Staffing Resources - Cary Hospital) (far left) and Kimberly Perdue, RN, (Staffing Resources - Cary Hospital) join her for a photo.

8 On behalf of her team, Kamron Moody, RN, (Emergency Department - Cary Hospital) presents a poster on how the Theory of Caring applies to caring for stroke patients.

9 Eleanor Valentine, RN, (Heart Cen-ter Pre- & Post-Procedure Area) talks with other nurses about her depart-ment’s work to improve patient flow while increasing patient satisfaction.

10 Nancy Canady, RN, (Zebulon-Wendell Outpatient & Skilled Nursing Facility) explains her facility’s “Five Stars to Perfection” program to Sabrina Tyndall, RN, (Adult Acute Care Nursing Ser-vices).

The SNC thanks all nurses who presented and hopes even more nurses will choose to participate in the third annual event, likely to be held later this year. Added Woodard, “The opportunity to share nursing innovations with one another and learn more about the quality improvement projects that have been beneficial on other units is invaluable to our nursing practice at WakeMed.”

After the presentations, the SNC held a meeting at which they invited several staff nurses to share stories of their personal experiences with the Theory of Caring. The SNC also presented awards to Mary Ann Wilcox, MS, RNC, CNAA, BC, former senior vice president and chief nursing officer, and Michelle Clements, RN, former NICU nurse and SNC chair, in recognition of their con-tributions to the establishment of Shared Governance at WakeMed. Both Wilcox and Clements left WakeMed in February to pursue other endeavors, and the SNC thanks them for their dedicated service and contributions.

23Poster Presentations

S E C O N D A N N U A L

Hosted by WakeMed Staff Nurse Council

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Swanson Theory of Caring Highlighted at SNC Poster PresentationsAfter being rescheduled due to inclement weather in December, the WakeMed Staff Nurse Council (SNC) hosted their second annual Poster Presentations on Thursday, February 10, at Cary Hospital.

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tions for patient care – all for the Pain Resource Nurse Committee’s review. The committee will eventu-ally be made up of frontline staff nurses from all clinical areas across the system who have agreed to serve as their unit’s pain resource nurse. These nurses will attend a two-day training session and quar-terly committee meetings.

“Our pain resource nurses will be responsible for taking the knowledge they gain from the committee back to the bed-side nurses on their units,” said Brito. “They can do this through in-services or any other unit-based activity that will, in the end, impact our patients’ perception of how we manage their pain.”

Jill Whade, RN, (Nursing Administra-tion), who has provided administrative support for the planning committee, added, “Each pain resource nurse will be someone who is passionate about assisting patients with their pain and enthusiastic about sharing that passion with coworkers.”

Brito hopes the committee will have representation from all clinical departments by April. Along with Caroline Girardeau, PharmD, (Pharmacy), Brito will utilize the Pain Resource Nurse Curriculum & Plan-ning Guide (the standard for the Alliance of State Pain Initiatives, which includes North Carolina) to teach a two-day course to plan-ning team members in March. Whade was instrumental in procuring funds to order this standardized program. Once the committee’s pain resource nurses are chosen, Brito will train them using this guide as well. In the future, she and the planning team hope to make the education widely available to all clinical staff on an ongoing basis.

If you are interested in becoming a pain resource nurse on your unit, please speak with your manager. Pain resource nurses will receive PRPN credit. With questions, please contact Brito at ext. 02983 or abrito@wakemed.org.

Nurses, nursing leaders, executive staff and other members of the WakeMed fam-ily had the opportunity to say good-bye to Mary ann Wilcox, MS, RNC, NEA-BC, former senior vice president (SVP) of operations and chief nursing officer (CNO), at farewell receptions held on the Raleigh Campus and at Cary Hospital in February. Wilcox was tapped to serve as the top nurs-ing executive for Carolinas Health System, one of the

southeast’s largest health systems comprised of 33 hospitals, 500 plus physician practices, surgical and rehabilitation centers, home health agencies, nursing homes and other facilities in North and South Carolina. This move represents a tremendous opportunity for Wilcox, who will serve as the system’s senior vice president and system nurse executive.

“Mary Ann has been an exceptional leader not only for WakeMed’s nursing program, but for the entire organi-zation,” said Dr. Bill atkinson, president & CEO. “Since Mary Ann joined WakeMed, our patients and system-wide team have benefited from her leadership, drive and commitment to nurses and the practice of nursing. She has taken our nursing program to the next level through collaboration, research and her unwavering pursuit of excellence. Our nursing team has done out-standing work under her leadership. Mary Ann will be greatly missed by the entire WakeMed family, but we will proudly build upon her years of hard work with the strong team she has helped to assemble over the past four years.”

At the Raleigh Campus reception (above right) Wilcox shares a laugh with Betty Woodard, RN, PhD, (Nursing Research & Evidence-Based Practice).

(above left) Sabrina Tyndall, RN, (Adult Acute Care Nursing Services) (center) and Elizabeth Rice, RNC-OB, (Women’s & Children’s Services Administration) (right) offer Wilcox their thanks and best wishes.

Farewell, Mary Ann

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5C Medicine welcomes Jessica Harris, NT, and Mary Jones, RN.

MPDC welcomes Robert Richardson.

Surgical Services - Inpatient PACU welcomes Marshel Moore, RN, who transitions from Emergency Department/Case Management. They also wish a fond farewell to Holly Hans, RN, as she transi-tions to the ICU at Cary Hospital.

Cath Lab - Cary Hospital welcomes kelly Radford as a cardiovascular specialist as she transitions from CTICU.

Respiratory Care Services welcomes Owen Hays, Maria Hays, Sophia Maina and lloyd Phillips.

Birth & Parent Education welcomes part-time staff member Debbie McClamroch and casual staff member ashley greene.

The Pharmacy welcomes new technicians karen Coburn and Ruba Beltaji.

The Heart & Vascular Services Midlevel Program welcomes Jeff grande, PA-C, Cathy Nakayama, ANP-C, and Nader Emami, PA-C.

Imaging Services welcomes Cynthia Chris-tian as a physician relations consultant.

Respiratory Care Services wel-comes Owen Hays, Maria Hays,

Sophia Maina and lloyd Phillips.

The Chest Pain Unit wel-comes Brian lane, RN, and anu Francis, RN.

COMINGS GOINGSCOMINGS GOINGS

Comings & Goings

Duke Realty to Develop WakeMed Medical ParkDemolition is complete on the site of the future Capital City Surgery Center, a joint venture between WakeMed and community surgeons, that will be located off Sunnybrook Road. Capital City Surgery Center is the primary ten-ant of WakeMed Medical Park, which will also include comprehensive outpa-tient imaging and laboratory services, as well as physician office space. Duke Realty will finance, develop, own, lease and manage the building, which will be built on a 7.84-acre site leased from WakeMed. It is anticipated that the new facility will open in mid-2012.

“This new facility will strengthen our ability to achieve our mission of provid-ing outstanding and compassionate care to our patients, their families and the communities we serve,” said Kathleen Gormley, WakeMed’s executive vice president of Operations and Ambulatory Services. “The location adja-cent to our flagship campus provides easy access for our patients who need outpatient care without having to navigate the complexity of the hospital. We are pleased to be working with Duke Realty, as they bring significant exper-tise in developing complexes like this.”

Future WakeMed Healthplex locations – Brier Creek & garnerWakeMed has broken ground on Brier Creek Healthplex at the corner of T.W.

6A Cardiovascular Intermediate Care wel-comes nurse techs kevin Covington and Jonathon DeFoto, and gregg Johnson, RN, and Jennifer Williams-Sallifou, RN.

Outpatient Rehab - North Healthplex wel-comes Melissa Bell, Melissa Bieber, Chris Billiar, Chad gravatt, Jessica Miller, kyle Raygor and luan White to the Orthopaedic Outpatient Rehab team.

Food & Nutrition Services welcomes george Pettiford Sr. as a food services assistant as well as clinical dietitians Stacy kropp and Rebecca Wilkins.

5C Medicine welcomes lisa Narron, RN; Tracy Hackal, RN; and Randi Wills, RN.

5B Neuro Intermediate Care welcomes gabrielle Cole, RN; Jennifer Hunter, RN; Mary Pisczcak, RN; Patricia Boone, RN; and John georgopoulos, RN. The depart-ment also wishes a fond farewell to Bobbie Plumlee, LPN, as she transitions to a new position outside of WakeMed.

Alexander Drive and ACC Boule-vard in Raleigh. Featuring a stand-alone emergency department and support services, this healthplex is scheduled to open in November.

Additionally, the new Self-Serve Hot Bar opened in January. The Hot Bar allows patrons to customize their meal with a selection of toppings and side items. Different offerings include the Spaghetti Bar, Gourmet Burger Bar, Taco Bar, 10-Topping Hot Dog Bar and Chili Bar. Made by Food & Nutrition Services chef Chris Zebney and staff, one new entrée is featured daily, Monday through Friday, at lunch (11 am to 2 pm) and dinner (4:30 to 8 pm). The price of each meal ($4.99 to $5.99) includes a 20 oz. beverage.

To top it all off, Café 3000 is offering new homemade soups, such as split pea, black bean and southwestern chicken tortilla, made with fresh, healthy ingredients; new entrée items, such as red beans and rice, and margarita grilled pork chops; a greater variety of hot breads; and new items on the salad bar. And they will continue to enhance the salad bar in the coming months – stay tuned!

YOU ASKED FOR IT:More Variety for Third-Shift EmployeesIn response, Café 3000 has replaced the third-shift’s Hot Bar with the Grab n’ Go station – stocked with delicious pre-packaged, fully cooked meals made by Food & Nutrition Services staff, under the direction of Zebney and chef John Haskins. Packaged fresh and heatable via microwave, meals include Buffalo wings, spaghetti, red beans and rice, beef stew and BBQ chicken. The third-shift Grab n’ Go also contains many of the snacks and meal items offered during the day (listed above).

Additionally, third-shift employees can now enjoy a full salad bar as well as a dif-ferent soup and Grill Station special each night. New grill specials include house-made French toast, freshly made corned beef hash, pork chops, fried chicken and the quesadilla burger. The weekly third-shift menu is conveniently available on the WakeMedWeb for employees to read in advance of their visit to Café 3000.

YOU ASKED FOR IT:More Trays, Dishes and UtensilsIn response, Café 3000 purchased new trays and dishes, and they continue to request that all employees return trays or dishes that they have taken to their work areas. Additionally, new disposable utensil units have been installed on the condi-ment stand and at other locations throughout the cafeteria.

YOU ASKED FOR IT:Enhanced Convenience at Check-Out, Coffee and Beverage StationsIn response, the register near the coffee station is no longer being used during breakfast. This has improved the flow of the cash register line as well as conges-tion at the coffee station. Additionally, beverage lids and straws were moved to the area next to the fountain beverages and iced tea for added convenience.

YOU ASKED FOR IT:Go Greener!In response, Café 3000 has purchased additional ceramic plates. Using signage, Café 3000 staff continue to encourage patrons to use ceramic plates and reus-able utensils instead of disposable plates and utensils.

mORE TO cOmEKeep watching for more enhancements in Café 3000, including new menu offerings! The team at Café 3000 is committed to offering customers the best experience possible and hopes all employees will con-tinue to share feedback and suggestions on a regular basis.

FRESH FRUIT BASKETSNow Available in Café 3000The perfect idea for a gift or party! Order a fresh fruit basket from Café 3000 – only $14 each!

Café 3000 Employee Survey( c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 1 )

Café 3000 chef Jennifer LeGrande at the Grab n’ Go case

WEIGHT LOSS SURGERYFree Information Sessions

WakeMed Medical Interpreters Achieve National Certification Status Several members of the Interpretation & Translation Ser-vices team were recently among the first group of profes-sionals to receive the Certified Healthcare Interpreter (CHI) credential from the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters. Pictured from left to right, they are Brenda L. Perez, Linels Higuera-Ancidey, Claudia S. Giraldo, Veronica B. Maldonado, M. Cristina Krasny, Maria Gonzalez-Ruiz, Kimberly Marmol and Claudia Poncelett. Not pictured are Manoella Abreu and Kasandra Parraga-Martinez. The team thanks the WakeMed Foundation for helping them fund this accomplishment.

Wake Specialty Physicians - General Surgery has added to their services bariatric surgery with adjustable gas-tric banding. Brandon Roy, MD, (WSP - General Surgery) performs this surgical weight-loss procedure at Cary Hospital. Patients receive sup-port from a team of fitness and nutri-tion experts. Free information ses-sions will be held at North Healthplex (3rd Floor Conference Room) on Thursday, March 24, 11 am to 12:30 pm and 6:30 to 7:30 pm; and on Tues-day, April 26, 11:30 am to 12:30 pm and 6:30 to 7:30 pm. For details, call Carol Kunkel at ext. 01604.

Pre-register at: www.wakemedphysicians.com/bariatricsurgery.

S H ongs eartLynn Bailey (Accounting) plays the piano in the Heart Center lobby on Valentine’s Day as part of the Heart Center’s Songs from the Heart program, organized by Sheila Debastiani (Invasive Cardiology).

“Live music often has a healing effect and helps reduce anxiety for patients and families,” said Debastiani. “For the past three years, we have provided music during the Christmas season, so we thought Valentine’s Day would be a perfect opportunity as well.”

In addition to Bailey’s performance, Alvin Smith (Clinical Engineering) sang in the Heart Center lobby on Valentine’s Day.

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from the

C o n s t r u C t i o n u p d at e s

Plans for the Garner Healthplex continue with an anticipated open-ing date of summer 2012. A tentative site has been selected west of White Oaks off U.S. Highway 70.

BRiER CREEk HEalTHPlEx

WakEMED MEDiCal PaRk

MA

RCH

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One Nurse’s MissionTo help Enhance Patient Care and Save Costs on Her Unit

Sometimes even the simplest ideas can have the biggest impact. Helen Cox, RN, (2D - Rehab Hospital) quickly dis-covered this one night when a patient on her unit lost her dentures after put-ting them in an empty potato chip bag for “safekeeping.” When the nurse tech straightened the room, she threw away the potato chip bag thinking it was trash, not knowing the dentures were inside. Only after the trash was taken off the floor were Cox and her coworkers alerted of the issue.

“I spoke with the patient’s family member that night, and needless to say, she was very upset,” said Cox. “I thought about this incident a lot after it happened – how each time dentures are lost, the hospital is negatively impacted as is the patient’s experience at WakeMed.”

In addition to this incident, there have been several past occurrences where Rehab patients have lost or misplaced their dentures or hearing aids. Cox explained that none of these incidents have been intentional, just unfortunate cases of patients misplacing the devices and staff not knowing to look out for them. For example, hearing aids have fallen out of patients’ ears

after they have mistakenly worn them to bed. When the bed linens are changed, the hearing aids are lost. Similarly, many patients have placed their dentures on a food tray under a napkin or other trash, and staff have mistakenly cleared the tray and thrown out the trash without knowing to look for the dentures first.

The impact of losing these items is huge. Not only does WakeMed reimburse many patients for their lost dentures or hearing aids (a direct impact to our budget), but patients and families tend to lose trust in the hospital and staff when important pos-sessions are lost. Their hospital experience has been tainted, and it is very hard to reverse the damage. Additionally, a patient’s care, health and recovery can be negatively affected. A patient who loses his or her hearing aids has trouble hearing therapists, nurses or other caregivers. This challenge can slow down treatment and frustrate the patient. A patient who loses dentures may not be able to eat and therefore not receive proper nutrition. Without dentures, a patient’s appearance may also be affected causing a loss of self-esteem.

“As I was thinking about all of these factors, I remembered the refrigerator magnets I have at home that remind me of upcoming appointments,” said Cox. “I wondered if we could implement a similar system on our unit, using magnets on the white boards in each patient room to remind the care team of the patient’s dentures or hearing aids.”

Cox worked with her supervisor Diane Gilewicz, RN, to take this idea to her unit’s Shared Governance council. The council loved the idea, so Cox and Gilewicz wrote a policy and designed the magnets. Cox chose illustrations of an ear with legs and a pair of dentures with legs to symbolize the effort to prevent these items from “walking away.” With the help of their team, they cut the pictures into squares and attached Velcro.

“To save money, we decided to use Velcro rather than magnets. Velcro sticks to the white board just as well and is less expen-sive,” said Cox. “We laminated each picture so it can be sterilized before reuse.”

The new policy on 2D states that the admis-sion nurse will determine if the patient uses hearing aids or dentures, indicate this on the patient’s chart and immediately put the necessary magnet(s) on the white board in the patient’s room. The patient and family will be informed about this process. Staff education will happen in March after the final project is presented to the unit council, and shortly thereafter the new process will begin. In the future, Cox and her team will help nursing units throughout the Rehab Hospital and Raleigh Campus implement the magnet program.

“We couldn’t have done this without our Shared Governance council. We went to them with the idea, and they helped us make it happen,” added Cox. “Ultimately, we all want our patients and their families to know that we value them, and we recog-nize the importance of their possessions.”

Helen Cox, RN, (2D Rehab) shows the new magnets that will be used on her unit to help staff be aware of a patient’s hearing aids or dentures so they will not be lost or mistakenly thrown away.

What an Employee !

Jennifer Ross, RN, was named supervisor /educator for 2 West ICU/MSIC - Cary Hos-pital after serving as the departments’ interim supervisor /educator.

On January 26, lt. kenrick Harris (Campus Police & Public Safety) saw a stalled motorist at the intersection of New Bern Ave. and Sunnybrook Rd. After investigat-ing, Lt. Harris realized the motorist had gotten out of the car and collapsed, so he requested EMS assistance. Lt. Harris pulled the driver out of the road with the help of two other motorists before Wake County EMS, the Raleigh Fire Department and the Raleigh Police Department responded. The driver was transported to the WakeMed ED, and early reports said that he may have suffered a stroke. Kudos to Lt. Harris for his attentiveness and quick action.

luan White (Outpatient Rehab - North Healthplex) renewed her designation as a certified hand therapist (CHT) through the Hand Therapy Certification Commission, Inc. White has been credentialed since 2001. There are only around 5,400 profes-sionals worldwide who hold the CHT designation.

Jennifer Narron (Imaging Services) earned her bachelor’s degree in health care management.

Sharon Burnett, RN, (Staffing Resources) earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from West Carolina University.

Susan Dickinson, RN, (2 West CVIC - Cary Hospital) earned her Cardiac Vascular Nursing Certification from the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

kathy Jaeger, RN, (2 West CVIC - Cary Hos-pital) earned her Medical-Surgical Nursing Certification from the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

Patty Robinson (Staffing Resources - Cary Hospital) received her master’s degree in business administration from Pfeiffer University of the Triangle.

kelly Mutch and aparna Veeramachaneni (both of Food & Nutrition Services) met the requirements for the National Board of Nutrition Support Certification and passed the exam to earn their Certified Nutrition Support Clinician (CNSC) credential.

lynn Thorne, RN, (Financial Planning) was named manager of Clinical Analytics.

Mary krizay, RN, (Clinical Analysis) was promoted to manager of Quality Reporting.

laveshia Johnson, RN, (CICU) was hired as a nursing instructor for the associate’s degree in nursing (ADN) program at Durham Technical Community College.

Michelle Jones, RN, (6B Orthopaedics & Oncology) received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Winston-Salem State University.

amy Saccoccia (Adult Diabetes Manage-ment Outpatient Program) received her National Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) certification.

annie Brito, RN, (Adult Acute Care Divi-sion) along with Christine O’Neill, RN, and Fran Powell, RN, (both of the Center for Innovative Learning) were chosen to present at the Human Patient Simulator Network Symposium held in Tampa this February. Their presentations were entitled Facilitating Sim Experiences in Adult Acute Care: Getting It Just Right and Ripped from the Headlines: Using Simulation in Adult Acute Care to Enhance Patient Safety.

Roberta lombardi (Respiratory Care Ser-vices) and coworkers participated in the MIX 101.5 Radiothon for the Duke Children’s Hospital & Health Center, where Lombardi’s daughter was treated for a brain tumor.

Be Prepared: It’s Coming!The U.S. Department of Health & Human Ser-vices (HHS) has mandated that the United States adopt the ICD-10 (International Classifi-cation of Diseases-10) procedure and diagno-sis coding system by October 1, 2013. This overhaul of our nation’s medical coding sys-tem will be a complex undertaking for hospi-tals across the country, including WakeMed. Preparatory work must begin now so that we can meet the federally directed deadline.

“The adoption of ICD-10 is not merely an upgrade of the ICD-9 coding classification sys-tem that we are using now,” said Beverly Fisher, project manager, (Information Ser-vices). “It is a significant structural change that will impact health care organizations nationwide, affecting providers, staff, pro-cesses, and most of the systems and technology that we use. We have a massive amount of work to do including system updates, testing and training prior to the 2013 deadline.”

Kathy Brouch, author of “Where in the World is ICD-10?” (Journal of the American Health Information Management Association), states that ICD-10 is the first new diagnosis coding system adopted since the wide-spread use of computers in health care. Its predecessor, ICD-9, is almost 30 years old and has become obsolete. With the exception of the United States, almost every industrialized country is already using ICD-10. Many departments across our system that are highly dependent on ICD-9 codes will feel a major impact by the ICD-10 transition, including Sched-uling, Admissions, Physician Clinical Care, Case Management, Labs, Radiology, Transcription, Performance Management, Accounting/Billing and Health Information Management (HIM) as well as payors.

“ICD codes are used to indicate diagnoses and procedures for billing, audits, teaching, Joint Commission compliance and publicly reported data, among others,” said kelly guthrie, director, (Medical Records). “By adopting ICD-10, we will go from using about 18,000 codes to over 140,000 codes – a huge difference that will directly impact everyone who uses a report, system or process that cites a patient’s diagnosis or procedure. This is not a change that will only affect medical coders.”

How will ICD-10 help?According to the American Medical Association, many chal-lenges faced by using ICD-9 are solved by ICD-10, such as: > Lack of specificity of the information conveyed in the codes> The ability to add new codes> The use of full code titles> Being able to appropriately reflect advances in medical

knowledge and technology

Where will we see changes?Requiring a lot more descriptive detail than ICD-9 codes, ICD-10 codes include changes in:> Terminology> Expanded concepts for injuries> Laterality> Etiology> Anatomic site> Severity of illness > Codes connected to operations and procedures will

require a much deeper description of a patient’s condition by the physician

New!nEW HOURS FOR

WSP-EmPlOYEE HEAlTH SERvIcES

As of March 1, the Wake Specialty Physicians - Employee Health prac-tice has changed its hours to 7 am to 3 pm, Monday through Friday. WSP - Employee Health offers on-site health care options for WakeMed employees and their adult dependents. The practice is conveniently located on the first floor of the Andrews Center, near the patient eleva-tors. For urgent care services courtesy of Page High, MSN, FNP-C, walk in or schedule an appointment by calling ext. 08284.

WSP - Employee Health also offers primary care services (i.e. physical exams and continuity of care for stable chronic diseases such as hyper-tension and asthma) courtesy of christy Henry, MD, by appointment only. Call ext. 08284.

The practice accepts all insurance plans accepted by WakeMed. Employees/dependents without health insurance will be charged an office visit fee of $50 for evaluation, with other service fees charged when applicable (for example, laboratory, imaging or other service fees are not included in the $50 office visit cost). Check with your provider for details regarding costs for specific services.

( c o n t i n u e d o n p a g e 8 )

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Microscope is a newsletter written by and for

the employees of WakeMed. Our goal is to provide

employees and friends of WakeMed with the most

up-to-date news on all of the hospital system’s activi-

ties. The Public Relations department thanks all of the

employees who contributed to this publication.

We welcome comments and suggestions on this

publication and its content. Call (919) 350-8120, e-mail

microscope@wakemed.org, or write Microscope,

Wake Med Public Relations Department, 3000 New

Bern Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27610.

Coleen Smith, Moira Dutton, Editors

Leslie Keefe, Design

WakeMed Employees, Photos

©WakeMed Public Relations, March 2011

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

WakeMed Health & Hospitals

3000 New Bern AvenueRaleigh, North Carolina 27610

To help you plan ahead, this calendar lists upcoming system-wide events, training classes and community events. For complete details and fee informa-tion, visit the WakeMedWeb. Please send calendar submissions to the Public Relations department or e-mail microscope@wakemed.org.

Non profit OrganizationU.S. Postage

PAIDRaleigh, NC

Permit NO. 1307

CALENDARO F E V E N T S

BOWliNg FOR BOOkSSunday, March 13, from 1 to 4 pm – Benefiting the Reach Out and Read program at WakeMed – Enjoy an afternoon of bowling, arcade games, music and food at The Alley, 2512 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh. $15 per person (includes unlimited bowling and shoes). Donate new and gently used books for kids, ages 6 months to 5 years.

VOluNTEER ORiENTaTiONRaleigh Campus – Wednesday,

March 16, from 1 to 4 pm; Monday, April 11, from 5:30 to 8:30 pm; and Wednesday, April 13, from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm. All sessions held in Conference Dining.

Cary Hospital – Tuesday, March 15, from 8:30 am to noon; Thursday, April 7, from 5:30 to 9 pm; and Tuesday, April 26, from 8:30 am to noon. All sessions held in the Conference Center.

STaFF DEVElOPMENT & TRaiNiNgEnroll in any of the listed classes via Learn-ing Link or ask your manager/supervisor to e-mail SDRegistration@wakemed.org with your name and employee number, and course name, date(s) and time(s). For information, visit the WakeMedWeb or call ext. 08306. Please note: Some classes require an introductory course or satisfac-tory completion of an assessment test.

Computer Training

kronos Time and attendance for Manage-ment – Tuesday, March 15, 8:30 am to 12:30 pm, Raleigh Campus, Medical Office Building, SD&T Classroom #4 (Code=CTKR)

Management Development

Substance use and Fitness for Duty – Friday, March 11, 9 to 11 am, Raleigh Campus, Medical Office Building, SD&T Classroom #3 (Code=MDDSA)a Positive approach to Discipline – Thursday, March 31, 10 am to noon, Raleigh Campus, Medical Office Building, SD&T Classroom #1 (Code=MDPAD)

WakE aHEC Educational credit available for all pro-grams. For details /fees, call ext. 08547 or visit www.wakeahec.org and click Program Listings.

institute for Educators in Health Care: Evaluation of Student and Faculty in Health Care Education – This online learning module runs over a four-week period, with one online module per week. Available Sunday, March 13, at 8 am, through Sunday, April 9, at 5 pm

Spanish for Nurses - Wednesday, March 16, 9 am, at Cary Hospital

19th annual lactation Consultant Compre-hensive update – Begins Monday, March 21, at 8:30 am, and runs through Friday, March 25, in the Andrews Center

Nephrology update for Primary Care – Saturday, March 26, 8 am, in the Andrews Center

Mental illness as a Spiritual Journey: Creating Caring Communities – Friday, April 1, 9 am, at The Catholic Community of St. Thomas Moore, Chapel Hill

Wake aHEC Online learning Webcasts Now available• Perinatal Mood Disorders Update:

Current Treatment/Resources• Understanding Family Obesity: What

Works• Type 2 Diabetes: When Nursing

Knowledge Makes a Difference

NuRSiNg EDuCaTiONNursing Professional Development Book Series: inspired Nurse – Monday, March 21, from 1 to 2 pm; and Friday, March 25, from 8:30 to 9:30 am. Both sessions will be held in Raleigh Campus Conference Dining. Learning Link code: NE014-11004.

Medicine of Compassion – See Learning Link for dates, times and locations as there are multiple offerings. Learning Link code: NE014-9073.

2011 Pediatric Conference: Stepping into the Future – Thursday, April 14, and Friday, April 15, in the Andrews Center. Learning Link codes: NE014-11010 for April 14, and NE014-11011 for April 15.

Girl Scouts Donate Books for Reach Out and ReadGirl Scout Troop 896 in Raleigh orga-nized a Community Dance fundraiser this February to benefit WakeMed’s Reach Out and Read (ROR) pro-gram, a national non-profit literacy program that is being used by the WakeMed Faculty Physicians - Pediat-rics clinic in partnership with The Vol-unteers at WakeMed Raleigh Campus. ROR volunteers read aloud to children ages 6 months to 5 years while engag-ing them in educational development activities and encouraging them to read aloud to their families.

The girls are shown above delivering books to the Raleigh Campus Volun-teers on Monday, February 21.

What are the reasons for ICD-10?The main goals of ICD-10 are to: > More accurately track diagnoses> Create room to code new diseases> Report better disease epidemiology data to

the World Health Organization (i.e. signs, symptoms, risk factors and co-morbidities)

> Allow health care organizations to remain compliant with federal regulations

> Make data available for quality metrics, patient safety and compliance

> Ensure clinical pathways are based on detailed codes

> Collect better data for research and the enhancement of predictive accuracy

> Support national health care reform: payment for performance, episodes of care and high-risk pools

“Additionally, we are reimbursed based on the specificity of the information we give to the payor about a patient’s diagnosis or procedure,” said Guthrie. “The accuracy of our reimbursements depends on the accuracy of our coding. ICD-10 will help enhance this accuracy and lead to reimbursements for new procedures, with fewer rejected claims.”

How is WakeMed working toward ICD-10?WakeMed is currently following a four-step implementation timeline recommended by Hospitals & Health Networks.

STEP ONE

Organize the implementation Effort – Develop a steering committee, educate and train staff.

STEP TWO analyze and Plan for implementation – Launch an awareness campaign, inventory information systems, assess vendor readiness and support.

STEP THREE implement New iCD-10 Coding System

STEP FOuR Post-implementation Evaluation – Measure success of the implementation effort.

Stay tuned for regular updates as we move through this timeline. In the meantime, send questions to Fisher at bfisher@wakemed.org or Guthrie at kguthrie@wakemed.org.

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QuaNTiTY OF iCD-9 vs . iCD-10 CODES

The chart below shows the structural change that will result from the ICD-10 transition. The bars in blue show how many codes are associ-ated with ICD-9, and the bars in red show how many codes are associated with ICD-10.

Adult Diabetes Management Program

Recognized for ExcellenceThe WakeMed Adult Diabetes Man-agement Program received continued accreditation status and recognition for their outpatient programming from the American Diabetes Associa-tion (ADA) for the period of February 4, 2011, through February 4, 2015. This accreditation means the program is recognized for promoting quality education for people with diabetes.

To support this goal, the ADA Educa-tion Recognition Program (ERP) assesses whether applicants meet the National Standards for Diabetes Self-Management Education. The ADA endorses these standards that are designed to be flexible enough to apply to any health care setting, from physicians’ offices and HMOs to clinics and hospitals.

WakeMed offers outpatient program-ming at different locations in Raleigh and Cary, as well as pre-diabetes classes throughout the community. For more information, contact the WakeMed Adult Diabetes Manage-ment Program at (919) 350-7292.

6 T H A N N U A L

SpringSprint5 K R U N / W A L K & O N E - M I L E F U N R U N

Benefiting WakeMed Children’s Diabetes & Endocrinology and the

Rotary Club of the Capital City Foundation

Check-in/registration from 7 to 8:45 am. One-Mile Fun Run begins at 9 am. 5K Run/Walk begins at 9:30 am.

A P R i l 2 , 2 0 1 1St. Timothy’s School

4523 Six Forks Road | Raleigh

Register at www.sportoften.com

Sponsored by the Rotary Club of the Capital City

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