F A L L 2 0 1 2
Working Togetherf o r UMMC
Dear Colleague:
ospitals traditionally use the word “unit” to mean
one part of many sections that make up the whole. But it also means
the whole, as in “working together as a unit.”
Whenever I learn about the great things unit staff are working
on, it usually involves partners from other departments that interact
with many units. The best patient care happens when a group
of professionals with different roles, all working together, as one
team — make it their mission to give patients the best and safest care
possible.
In this issue, we have more examples of that than I have room to
repeat here. We have many great stories to tell. We hope you take great
pride in how the actions of each of you strengthen the teams on which
you work.
It’s rewarding when we can share our team spirit at work with
our family members. Thanks to the generosity of Edward St. John, a
member of the Shock Trauma Board of Visitors, we recently had such
an opportunity. Our families got to enjoy the Baltimore Grand Prix
from a prime spot on Light Street at the Maryland Science Center on
Saturday of the race weekend. You can see by the photos on page 6 that
it was a huge hit for those who accepted the invitation.
Thank you for all that you do, as individuals and as a team, to fulfill
our important mission to provide the safest and highest quality patient
care, every day.
Sincerely,
JEFFREY A. RIVEST President & Chief Executive Officer
w Safety and Civility on the Orthopaedics Unit
w Staff Get a Leg Up on Tuition Costs
w UMMC’s U.S. News & World Report Rankings
ALSO SEE
Inside:
PUBLISHED IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION FORUMS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND MEDICAL CENTER
w Grand Pr ix Event Exclus ive ly for Employees
H
Dozens of perioperative staff members rallied together the weekend of June 16–17 to move in equipment and supplies to the new operating rooms in the Shock
Trauma Critical Care Tower. By Sunday night that weekend, they had prepared all 10 rooms to begin operating on patients at 7 a.m. Monday, June 18.
The Shock Trauma Critical Care Tower under construction on the southwest side of the hospital, at Lombard and Penn streets, will be completed by the end of 2013.
In the meantime, the Perioperative Services staff reached an important milestone on the weekend of June 16–17, when dozens of the staff rallied for two days of intense move-in activities for the 10 new operating rooms (ORs) that are part of the first phase of the building project.
“I thought it was going to be chaos, but it went quite smoothly,” says Tonya Miles-Zachary, BSN, RN, CNOR, a senior clinical nurse II in perioperative services. “It was very well organized, and it was exciting.”
“The planning and preparation was good, and that helped a whole lot,” says Rhonda Pulley, CST, certified surgical technologist. “We were able to move everything into place, so that on that first Monday morning of surgery, no one had to go looking for anything. Tables were where they were supposed to be. Cabinets had the right supplies in them.”
The Periop staff, together with partners from other departments, including Materials Management, Facilities and Housekeeping Hospitality Services, spent Saturday and Sunday preparing the new ORs for 7 a.m. Monday morning, June 18, when they opened their doors to patients for the first time.
Nurses, surgical technologists, patient care technicians, anesthesia technicians, unit clerks and other support staff set to work, with the assistance of the perioperative services management team. They moved equipment to the right places, stocked cabinets with supplies, and made sure the rooms were ready for Monday’s cases.
The rooms were new, and much work had gone into their design with many staff involved providing input. Architects and builders set up a model OR and model intensive care room for staff to visit and suggest modifications to better support their work. The model enabled staff to move things around to demonstrate changes they recommended.
Both Miles-Zachary and Pulley said that moving day was satisfying because they saw the features and layout of the new operating rooms reflected the input that they and dozens of their colleagues had provided during the planning process.
Jim McGowan, DHA, vice president for perioperative services and procedural areas says, “This group of people has come together and has been the driving force to keep this process moving until everything comes to fruition next year. On any given day, we may need to revise what we’re doing to accommodate the continuing construction in the building. We have a ways to go until final building completion. But the work going on now ensures that the project will stay on schedule.”
Since the move, hundreds of surgeries have been performed in the new rooms, increasing the Medical Center’s capacity to treat more patients who need the highest level of trauma and surgical care available.
In addition to the 10 new operating rooms, the tower, when complete, will include additional critical care units, expanded adult and pediatric emergency departments and post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) and a new National Trauma and Emergency Medicine Training Center. A $35 million community campaign is underway to raise part of the $160 million cost of the new tower. The project has garnered investment from the State of Maryland, as well as federal and local support.
Moving into TheirNEW HOME
• Get vaccinated by Dec. 6 at Employee Health Services (EHS), or see the Intranet for when the EHS roving cart will come to your department.
• If declining for medical or religious reasons, or if vaccinated elsewhere, file paperwork to EHS by Nov. 10.
FLU VACCINE DEADLINES APPROACHING
Protect Your Health and Your Patients
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Safety, clinical excellence, teamwork and civility all go hand-in-hand for the staff on the Orthopaedics Unit on Gudelsky 6 West.
When Simone Odwin-Jenkins, MBA, BSN, RN, was hired as the nurse manager for the Orthopaedics Unit in February, she spent the first few weeks meeting one-on-one with the nurses, patient care technicians (PCTs) and secretaries, and observing how the unit staff interacted.
When the time came for her meeting with Tia Generette, PCT, Generette took the opportunity to ask her new manager, “Can you tell me a little about yourself?”
Odwin-Jenkins started to tell Generette how she became an accountant first, and then went to nursing as a second career because she loves it. She told Generette she was dedicated to caring for patients as if it were herself or a loved one in the hospital bed. She talked of compassion and respectful interactions between co-workers.
“And I noticed Tia had tears in her eyes,” Odwin-Jenkins says. “She said, ‘That’s what we need.’ She really took it to heart. She’s a special person and she’s very dedicated. I always want to make sure I don’t fail her. I put the words out there, and now she expects me to live up to it!”
Generette remembers the meeting well. Before, she had wondered whether this soft-spoken new manager would pass muster on a unit with strong personalities.
“I thought she might be a little too soft, but little did I know she was tough,” Generette says. “She is perfect for this unit. We have a lot of different personalities that sometimes clashed. She talked to us about communicating with each other, and talking with each other.”
For example, some of the staff had a tendency to be blunt, Generette says, and it resulted in hurt feelings, even if that wasn’t the blunt person’s intention.
“But if I’m looking at you face to face, I can see that you’re hurt, and I can say it in a nicer way,” Generette says.
Odwin-Jenkins introduced a document she asked all the staff to agree to and sign. The “Commitment to My Co-Workers” lays out eight simple but profound rules for good communication. (See excerpt)
Communication is about more than sparing feelings, Odwin-Jenkins says. If a staff member is alert to a potential safety issue but is afraid to speak up because a nurse or physician might react badly, a patient could be harmed.
“Bottom line is, we’re all here for the patient,” Generette says. “We have a ways to go, but for the most part, I’m very happy to be on this unit.”
The team’s results showed a streak of at least one year with zero hospital-acquired infections in five main categories that are measured:
• central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI)
• catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) • health care-associated Clostridium difficile (C.diff) infections • health care-associated vancomycin-
resistant enterococci (VRE)• health-care associated multidrug-resistant acinetobacter
baumannii (MDR-AB)
“They really should be celebrated, because I cannot find another unit in the organization that has performed as well in all categories combined,” says Michael Anne Preas, BSN, RN, CIC, director of infection prevention and control at UMMC.
Building a Culture of Safety and Civility
ORTHOPAEDICS UNIT
1. I will accept responsibility for establishing and maintaining healthy interpersonal relationships with you and every member of this staff. I will talk to you promptly if I am having a problem with you. The only time I will discuss it with another is when I need help in deciding how to communicate with you properly.
2. I will establish and maintain a relationship of functional trust with you and every member of this staff. My relationship with each of you will be equally respectful, regardless of job title or educational background.
3. I will not engage in bickering, complaining and talking behind people’s backs and will ask you not to do so as well.
4. I will not complain about another team member, and ask that you not as well. If I hear you doing so, I will ask you to talk to that person.
5. I will accept you as you are today, forgiving past problems, and ask you to do the same with me.
6. I will be committed to finding solutions to problems, rather than complaining about them or blaming someone else for them, and ask you to do the same.
7. I will affirm your contribution to quality customer care.
8. I will remember that neither of us is perfect, and that human errors are opportunities, not for shame or guilt, but for forgiveness and growth.
AS YOUR CO-WORKER WITH A SHARED GOAL OF PROVIDING EXCELLENT CARE TO THE PATIENTS AND FAMILIES OF THE ORTHOPAEDICS UNIT — GUDELSKY 6 WEST, I COMMIT TO THE FOLLOWING:
COMMITMENT TO MY CO-WORKERS
on the
IN PEDIATRICS: TAKING CARE OF THE WHOLE FAMILY
She’s known as a great problem-solver in the Pediatric Hematology
and Oncology Clinic, but Sherri Brice, CNA, ambulatory technician,
also is a bridge to other departments that her young patients need.
In addition to Brice’s patient care duties — from taking vital signs to
placing an IV — she knows whom to call in the Lab or in Housekeeping,
and what their names are. Whatever it is, “She knows how to get it
done,” says her manager,
Monika Bauman, MS,
BSN, RN, CEN.
“I just know a lot of
people in the hospital,”
Brice says. “When you’re
taking care of kids, you’re
taking care of the whole
family. So in our unit,
we come together. I feel
just as respected as the
doctors and nurses.”
SIGNATURE DATE
WorkingTogether_Fall12.indd 2 10/17/12 3:39 PM
UPWARD BOUND: STAFF GET A LEG UP ON TUITION COSTS
It isn’t easy to work while also going to school to pursue a degree or advanced certification. But for those who are up for the challenge, the Medical Center
provides tuition reimbursement for undergraduate and graduate studies that are related to an employee’s current job or another hospital-related job.
The Medical Center reimburses up to $3,000 for undergraduate studies per calendar year and up to $5,000 for graduate studies per calendar year, for courses that UMMC employees take at accredited colleges, universities and vocational schools.
To obtain a tuition reimbursement application form or for more details about this program, go to http://intra.umm.edu/ummc/hr_benefits/tuition.htm.
Currently, more than 1,500 UMMC staff members are using these education benefits, such as for professional continuing education and undergraduate or graduate degrees.
Here are a few people who have used this benefit,
or who are planning to do so in the next year:
Earning a Master’s Degree and a Promotion
Angie Ekwonye, MS, RN, came to work at UMMC from another hospital specifically because of the tuition benefit. She used tuition benefits to earn a master’s degree at the University of Maryland School of Nursing, while continuing to work on the Orthopaedics Unit. For the two years it took her to complete her degree, she offered to work a mostly weekend schedule in order to have Tuesdays and Thursdays off for attending classes. Her master’s degree allowed her to earn a promotion to Senior Clinical Nurse I.
“I could not have gotten my master’s without the 100 percent tuition benefit here. I was able to keep working and keep feeding my family. It makes a big difference,” Ekwonye says. “The other hospital I worked at would only have reimbursed me 60 percent of the tuition.”
Man of Many Talents and Roles
Samuel Gurmu, BA, audio-visual specialist, is a familiar face to many people in the Medical Center — because he’s had many roles. His first job at UMMC was entry level — literally: He began as a valet in 2007.
He was hired by UMMC Guest Services in 2009 to work at the front desk, because of his great customer-service skills and fluency in English, Somali and Amharic and other regional languages in his native country of Ethiopia. While working the desk, he helped create a database that the department now uses to help patients and guests.
This spring, he became the medical center’s AV specialist. He helps staff with presentations that take place in the Medical Center Auditorium, such as Grand Rounds, press conferences, Great Stories celebrations and, of course, C2X Employee Communication Forums.
Next on his agenda is to return to college to earn a degree in electrical engineering from University of Maryland Baltimore County, while continuing to work at UMMC. Before working here, he said, he had started at UMBC but eventually had to stop because he couldn’t afford the tuition.
Juggling Work, School, Parenting and Community
Involvement
“I use this benefit,” says Tanya D. Berry, administrative assistant in the Supplemental Staffing Department. “If it were not for this program, I would not be able to attend the University of Maryland University College to pursue my BS in Human Resource Management. I am so happy that UMMC affords this opportunity to every employee here at the medical center and not just its clinical staff.”
Berry has worked at UMMC for four years, starting as a temporary staff member in Human Resources until she was hired as the learning and organizational training coordinator.
“I transferred to supplemental just recently to learn more about our clinical side of the Medical Center,” she says. “I will ultimately hope to transfer back to HR in a few years.”
Berry juggles work and school with being the mother of four girls and one boy, ranging in age from 4 to 21, along with community and volunteer work, such as leading a Girl Scout troop and organizing food and blanket drives for homeless people.
Expanding Skills in Ever-Changing Modalities
Kevin White, RT(R),(CT) (not pictured), a computerized tomography (CT) technologist by night and student by day, is studying to achieve magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) certification in an effort to expand his knowledge in the ever-changing world of diagnostic imaging. Upon successful certification, White will join a small number of technologists in Radiology who are certified in both CT and MRI.
Debra Tobin, RT(R),(M), manager of Radiology’s Breast Center and single mom to three
boys, is enrolled in the Health Systems Management program at the University of Baltimore. Tobin’s departmentally sponsored membership in her professional association allowed her to apply for and win a scholarship from the Association of Medical Imaging Management, in addition to her tuition benefit.
Respiratory Care Services Grows Its Own
To address a nationwide shortage in respiratory therapists in 2005, UMMC created a program to help staff who wanted to pursue this profession to go to school. For example, John Rouse, RRT, worked in the Trauma Resuscitation Unit as a patient care technician (PCT) and used UMMC education benefits to become a respiratory care therapist two years ago.
Suzette Champ, RRT, was a PCT in the Cardiac Surgery ICU/Telemetry Unit before becoming a respiratory care therapist here in 2006. She has worked at UMMC since 1996.
Some respiratory therapists, such as Greg Ludvik, MS, RRT, (not pictured) earned advanced degrees with the help of UMMC tuition reimbursement and mentors from among their fellow UMMC staff. Elshadie Birratu, MAHCA, RRT, (not pictured) earned her master’s degree and, in addition to her job as a respiratory therapist, did an internship in another department, Organizational Development (part of Human Resources).
From Unit Secretary to Nurse
In the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU), Jessica Grandier (not pictured), a unit secretary, is a nursing student using her tuition benefits from UMMC.
That formula worked for Nicole Hodski, BS, RN, CCRN, now a nurse in the MICU. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from Towson University and her nursing degree from Baltimore City Community College, all the while working at UMMC as a unit secretary on the MICU.
Angie Ekwonye, MS, RN
Samuel Gurmu, BA
Tanya D. Berry
Debra Tobin, RT(R),(M)
Suzette Champ, RRT and John Rouse, RRT
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NEUROLOGY & NEUROSURGERY The physicians from the Department of Neurology and the Department
of Neurosurgery and UMMC staff from neurocare units helped UMMC rank
No. 48 in this combination category.
DIABETES & ENDOCRINOLOGY The University of Maryland Center for Diabetes and
Endocrinology rose to No. 11 in 2012-13, up from
No. 29 last year.
EAR, NOSE & THROAT UMMC’s Department of Otorhinolaryngology/
Head and Neck Surgery moved up to
No. 24 from No. 38
the year before.
CANCER #11
CARDIOLOGY & HEART SURGERY #27
DIABETES & ENDOCRINOLOGY #11
EAR, NOSE & THROAT #24
GYNECOLOGY #49
NEPHROLOGY #9
NEUROLOGY & NEUROSURGERY #48
PULMONOLOGY #26
UROLOGY #15TOP
50
KIMROS BUCHANAN-LEGGETT, MA, medical assistant; KRISTI SILVER, MD; SUSAN HUNTER-SCHULZE, MS, RD, CDE, LDN, education coordinator
ROXANE McAFEE, PCT, patient care technician; LYNDSI HILER, MS, RN, nurse; LaMONDE BROWN, MED, RN, nurse manager
SCOTT STROME, MD
YEMI OLALEKAN, MS, CRNP, nurse practitioner
TIMIKA JONES, PCT, patient care technician; MICHELLE LEAMAN, BSN, RN, nurse
TOPS IN NINE SPECIALTIES NATIONWIDEU.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT RANKINGS FURTHER RAISE UMMC’S NATIONAL PROFILE
WorkingTogether_Fall12.indd 4 10/17/12 3:39 PM
NEPHROLOGY
(INCLUDING KIDNEY TRANSPLANT AND OTHER KIDNEY SURGERY)
UMMC rose to No. 9 in 2012–13 from No. 27 last year. This category,
which the magazine rankings had called “Kidney Disorders” in
the past, spans two of UMMC’s departments, the Division of
Nephrology, part of the Department of Medicine and focused
on the non-surgical diagnosis and treatment of kidney disease;
and the Division of Transplantation in the Department of
Surgery, home to UMMC’s well-known kidney transplant center.
UROLOGYThe Urology Department jumped to No. 15 in 2012– 13 from No. 44 last year.
The scorecard noted highest rankings in patient survival, nurse staffing,
advanced technologies and the number of important services available to
patients in this specialty.
PULMONOLOGY UMMC ranked No. 26 in the Pulmonology category, thanks to the physicians
and staff in Pulmonology and Critical Care Medicine, including nurses, nurse
practitioners, respiratory therapists and others.
CARDIOLOGY & HEART SURGERYThe University of Maryland Heart Center moved up to No. 27
in 2012–13, up from No. 31.
GYNECOLOGY The Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive
Sciences physicians and staff from the UMMC
units who serve these
patients raised
UMMC’s ranking
to No. 49
nationwide.
MATTHEW WEIR, MD
JONATHAN BROMBERG, MD
MICHAEL NASLUND, MD; SHANA PRICE, MA, medical assistant; MICHELLE BLAKE, RN
JEFFREY HASDAY, MD; TRACEY WILSON, CRNP, acute care nurse practitioner; JEFFREY GONZALES, PharmD, BCPS, FCCM, clinical pharmacist
MAY BLANCHARD, MD
GAUTAM RAO, MD
SHARRON BETTER, PCT, patient care technician; CRYSTAL JEFFERSON, BSN, RN, nurse
PATTY UBER, PharmD; LUZ COBARRUBIAS, BSN, RN, cardiac nurse; KESHAVA RAJAGOPAL, MD, PHD
BRIAN McVEY, RN, nurse; JENNY FORRESTER, DPT, physical therapist
TOPS IN NINE SPECIALTIES NATIONWIDEU.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT RANKINGS FURTHER RAISE UMMC’S NATIONAL PROFILE
EMMA WILLIAMS, PCT, patient care technician
MARIA BAER, MD; VEITA ODOM, NCMA, medical assistant; MICHAEL L. TIDWELL, CRNP, nurse practitioner; LAURA WHITE, RN, OCN, oncology nurse
CANCERIn the Cancer category, the University of
Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum
Cancer Center shot up to No. 11 in 2012–13,
up from No. 22 last year.
WorkingTogether_Fall12.indd 5 10/17/12 3:39 PM
The University of Maryland Medical Center is an equal opportunity employer and proud supporter of an environment of diversity.
This publication is printed on recycled paper.
][ W O R K I N G T O G E T H E R , W E H A V E A C H I E V E D G R E A T T H I N G S .
6
Hundreds of UMMC staff and their families were able to attend a free party exclusively
for them, with a great view of the hairpin turn in the Baltimore Grand Prix races, as well
as the run of the Maryland Science Center for the day.
Edward St. John, a businessman and member of the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma
Center Board of Visitors, donated the private use of the Science Center for the party,
held on the Saturday of Grand Prix weekend.
A GRAND PRIX EVENT JUST FOR UMMC FAMILIES
UMMC UNITS HONORED FOR BEING ON THE CUSP OF BANISHING A PAINFUL COMPLICATION FOR PATIENTS
The battle against health care-associated infections is being
won at the ground level — by the unit staff — as state and
national organizations recognize specific hospital units that
show results.
Four patient-care units at the Medical Center were
honored by the Maryland Hospital Association (MHA) for
significantly reducing a painful complication that some
patients develop — catheter-associated urinary tract
infections (CAUTIs).
The four units are:
• Neurocare Intensive Care Unit
• Medical Intermediate Care Unit
• Cardiac Care Unit
• Orthopaedics Unit
The initiatives to reduce health care-associated infections are part of a nationwide effort led by the Association
for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). In Maryland, a statewide effort is also underway to address both
bloodstream infections and CAUTI with the Comprehensive Unit-Based Safety Program (CUSP), a customizable
approach that hospital units can use to combine clinical best practices with an understanding of the science of
safety. The “On the CUSP: Stop CAUTI” approach focuses on teamwork and an improved safety culture.
“Congratulations to these four units,” says Michael Anne Preas, RN, BSN, CIC, director of infection prevention
and control at UMMC. “This is great work by these teams.”
YOUR GREAT IDEAS AT WORK
UMMC STAFF ASKED FOR MORE OPTIONS FOR SHUTTLE TRANSPORTATION.In response, UMMC joined with the University of
Maryland, Baltimore, to expand shuttle services, such
as a route to Mount Vernon and another to Federal
Hill. Schedules and routes are available in the UMMC
Parking office and online through the UMB website.
EMPLOYEES ASKED FOR PARKING SUBSIDIES TO BE REVIEWED.In response, UMMC equalized subsidies so that all
employees now receive the same level of parking
support. No employee groups have lost their level
of parking support, despite increases in downtown
parking costs.
NIGHT SHIFT STAFF ASKED FOR MORE ACCESS TO UMMC LEADERSHIP.In response, executive staff at UMMC have been
regularly rounding during the night shift to talk
with staff.
The Human Resources Department staff have also
started bi-weekly night shift rounds to help staff
whose schedules make it difficult to visit the HR
office during business hours to fill out forms or get
other help.
Nurses representing UMMC units that gained state-wide praise for reducing catheter-associated urinary
tract infections include (left to right) Katherine Ramirez, BSN, RN, from the Neurocare ICU; Amy
Grier, RN, of the Cardiac Care Unit; and Catherine Zei, BSN, RN, CCRN, of the Medical IMC Unit.
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