this Article - Denver`s Nursing Star

Turn Page To Be
gin
Viewing Latest E
dition
Recruiter Showcase
B E S T
Come to Kaiser Permanente,
I N
T H E
W E S T
Kaiser Permanente’s Colorado Region ranks among the Top-10 Health Plans in the
U.S., according to the annual Health Care Quality Report of the National Committee
for Quality Assurance (NCQA). No other Colorado health plan is listed among the top
10 (National Committe for Quality Assurance. The State of Health Care Quality 2003)
leave your indelible mark.
Kaiser Permanente is proud to be an equal opportunity/affirmative
action employer. Principals only.
j
No
vember 8, 2004
Nov
Vol. 3 issue 19
o
b
s
.
k
a
i
s
e
r
p
e
r
m
a
n
e
n
t
e
.
o
r
g
www.denvernursingstar.com
Information for the Denver area Nursing & Health Care Professionals
Published Each Week by Metro Publishing LLC.
Children's nurse finds niche with
pediatrics, orthopedics
Lightening the Burden
By Elizabeth Bussey Sowdal, RN
I
by Jason P. Smith
Staff Writer
E
l i s e
Benefield,
RN, orthopedic spine
nurse coordinator at
The Children’s Hospital
in Denver, grew up in
Minnesota and wanted
to go into the medical
field early on, but
wanted to work
behind the scenes as a
pharmacist.
After starting
school at a junior
college in Iowa and
working towards a
Photo bbyy JJason
ason PP.. Smith
future in pharmacy, Elise Benefield, RN
thopedic spine nnur
ur
se coor
dina
tor aatt T he Childr
en
RN,, or
orthopedic
urse
coordina
dinator
Children
en’’s Hospital in Den
Denvver
er,, holds a
Benefield realized that science pr
oject done bbyy one of her pa
tients' sib
lings ffor
or sc
hool. Sho
wn in 3-D
ough the use of
patients'
siblings
school.
Shown
3-D,, thr
through
project
leaner
pipe-cleaner
leanerss, is the detailed la
layyout of a spine
spine..
wasn’t what she colorful pipe-c
See Benefield , PPaage 2
National Hospice Month 2004
November is annually
celebrated as National Hospice
Month, a time to raise awareness
of hospice and stress the
importance of quality care at the
end of life. This is a time to
honor and recognize the work
of hospice and palliative care
professionals, volunteers, and
supporters across the country.
Presorted Standard
U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit #16
Longmont, CO 805
Hospice usage in the United
States has been growing steadily
since the first volunteer hospices
began almost 30 years ago. More
than 950,000 patients were served
by the nation’s 3,300 hospice
providers in 2003. Click here to
download a Hospice Fact Sheet.
Hospice
uses
an
interdisciplinary team of health
care professionals and trained
volunteers to provide pain
management, symptom control,
psychosocial support, and
spiritual care to those living with
life-limiting illness as well as
their families. With 80 percent
of hospice care occurring in the
home, the wishes of the patient
and family are always a priority
was feeling mistreated and petulant recently. Because I
was cleaning the bathroom. I hate this job and there is a
reason that I hate it. I sit down to take care of my
business. The act of sitting absolutely negates any possibility
that I will miss. I don’t have to worry about it. There is
nowhere for anything to go but down. As it should be.
And yet I am obliged to scrub all around the toilet, the
back of it, the seat, the sides, the floor around it and the wall beside
it. I don’t mind that things have to be cleaned.
That’s O.K. But, my heavens! What do they do in here, these
boys? Is it like a big pee-pee Mardi Gras? Are they practicing the
Macarena? Writing their names? Looking at the ceiling? Pretending
there’s an earthquake? What? What? What! What is the problem?
Micturition related seizures? Is this the way they relieve all their pent
up resentment and frustration? “Oh yeah? Clean up m y
room? Well, take that! Liver for dinner? HA!
Here’s what I think of liver
for dinner!” Is that it? It
wasn’t enough that I carried Laughing
them around for nine months with
as they sucked the very life
out of my bones, not enough Elizabeth
that I spent a year on each of
them smelling like spit-up milk. Not enough
that I ate pounds and pounds of leafy
green vegetables when my entire being
See Eliza
beth , PPaage 2
Elizabeth
for the hospice care team. Click here
to read an article, What is Hospice
and Palliative Care, or read about Six
Frequently Asked Questions.
Outreach and education continues
to be a priority. Many Americans
are unaware that:
• Compassionate support for
the dying and their loved ones is
available
• Pain and symptom control,
emotional and spiritual support,
bereavement care, and dignity are all
possible at the end of life.
• Hospice care is available at
little or no cost under the Medicare
Hospice Benefit, Medicaid, most
private insurance plans, HMOs and
other managed health organizations.
• Hospice provides care
regardless of diagnosis.
• Care is not limited to only
six months.
See Hospice , PPaage 3
Inside
Today’s Nurse: CAREER
OPTIONS IN NURSING
This Weeks
Topic:
FLIGHT
NURSING
part 2
Pg
.4
Pg.4
Colorado's
First Lady,
Frances
Owens, helps
kids cast
their vote at
Children's
Pg
Pg.. 7
Evasive Bacteria Spreading
In the News...
Commentary by Dr. Linda
Mundorff RN, MPH, MSN, ND
Pg
Pg.. 14
Page 2
Benefield
Contin
ued frfrom
om PPaage 1
Continued
wanted to do after all. When she decided
to do something else with her career
plans, one of her pharmacy professors
suggested nursing.
“That was kind of what started this
whole thing,” she said. “I was never going
to be a pediatric nurse though. I just
didn’t think I would ever want to do
that, but I’ve fallen in love with it.”
Benefield earned her BSN at
Jamestown College in Jamestown, North
Dakota. Her first job was at a little city
hospital in New Rockford, a small town
in North Dakota where she said there
was only one physician for the whole
community.
Her work at the hospital in New
Rockford proved a quick way to get
training in a lot of areas right away.
“You did everything – on the evening
and night shifts you were the only RN,”
she said. “It was not a good place for a
new graduate – you did emergency room
work, helped deliver babies and scrubbed
for some surgeries. It was very
challenging and an interesting place to
work – I learned a lot.”
One day the physician at the hospital
took Benefield aside and offered her some
advice that changed her life. “He was
about 80 years old and he took my under
his arm one day and said: ‘You know,
Elizabeth
Contin
ued frfrom
om PPaage 1
Continued
was screaming “CHOCOLATE!” That I
sacrificed my figure, my youth and my
disposition for them? That wasn’t enough?
But they have to pee like they’re blessing
the earth? Like they are the clouds and
the bathroom is the desert? Like somebody
else (me, Me, ME!) is going to clean it up?
So. I was feeling mistreated. I was
thinking, “I know Princess Di never had
to put up with this.” Which was stupid.
She probably had a special HazMat team
on call especially for her family. I bet
Dorothy Parker never found herself on
her knees in front of a toilet. O.K. Bad
example. On her knees scrubbing a toilet.
How about Edna St. Vincent Millay?
Imagine her up to her elbows in Ajax.
What would she have to say about it?
Tidy Bowl
With what a limpid, gentle grace,
With swish and swirl and sigh,
With what a passion pent and spent,
The mold do battle I.
If ever men were meant to pee
Upon the wall and floor,
And leave it all there just for me,
November 8, 2004
you’d be really good at pediatrics,’ ” she
said. “So, I left there and came here –
that was in 1978.”
Though she had already done some
traveling for school and work, Benefield
said what brought her to Colorado was
Children’s. “I really wanted to work here,”
she said. “I also liked the mountains.”
Once she got her job with Children’s
– despite the experience she gained in
North Dakota – Benefield said she had a
lot to learn her first few years. “Learning
about pediatric patients was a challenge,”
she said. “I was also still getting my footing
as a nurse. My first year here I worked
on the Float Team, which gave me a
chance to figure out where I wanted to
work.”
During her more than 25 years at
Children’s, Benefield has always worked
with orthopedics. “I always worked on
orthopedic floors and in that always found
that I liked working here with the spine
patients,” she said. “I always found that
a fun population and challenging to take
care of, but pretty rewarding. It’s a pretty
dramatic surgery that they do on those
patients, but they get well pretty quick.”
According to Benefield, the work she
did with the spine surgery patients is
what helped the position she has now
evolve. “In 1996, while I was still working
as an inpatient nurse, we started seeing
the need for a clinical care path for the
spine fusion patients because they were a
complicated surgery and really needed
more guidelines and plan of care.
“So, I actually helped with the
committee and wrote up a care path.
Then, later that year or so, the nurse
that was the clinical director here in the
clinic as well as the clinical director really
thought we could benefit from having a
nurse dedicated to taking care of that
patient population – someone who would
kind of oversee things and make sure
they were being done.”
Benefield helped develop that position
for the hospital and helped write the job
description for the position and propose
it. “After doing all of that, then they
made me interview,” she said. “I
interviewed along with a couple other
people and then started this position in
May of 1998. Not everyone gets to propose
their own job and write their own job
description,” she laughed.
It’s the patients and the families that
Benefield said have been the most
rewarding aspect of her career at
Children’s. “That’s why you do this work
in the first place,” she said. “My career
has been really fun, and I think the
patients and the families are what make
it fun. Working where I work I really
get to know the patients and the families
and spend time with them.”
One of the other things that has
kept Benefield happy about coming to
work at Children’s for more than 25 years
has been the support she feels from the
administration. “You really feel like your
job is valued here,” she said. “Everyone
here is so supportive and caring – my
experience here has been wonderfully
rewarding.”™
An unrelenting chore,
Then there’s no justice in this world!
It’s surely not my lot
To leave my hopes and dreams tight
furled
Whilst scrubbing round the pot.
If men can sail the seven seas
And make it home again,
Is it too much to ask them please,
To keep within the rim?
If they can travel to the stars,
Determine speed and thrust,
To land upon the breast of Mars,
Count more on aim than trust,
Is it too much to hope and ask
That it could be the same,
When they are at their toileting
Count less on trust than aim?
If this be so, if this be right,
Then follow ye my reason,
Let men stay here to fight the fight,
And we’ll be back next season.
I had a lot of fun with that and believe
me, it made cleaning the bathroom much
more fun.
Then it made me think of work. You
know. Since I was being poetic. So here’s
one more, that you might enjoy. I hope
you will. Maybe you can read it while you
clean the bathroom.
Medical Resident
or
When They Grow Up
You’re a fine young American brain
You don’t think this because you are
vain
But you’ve often been told
By the young and the old
That you’re headed for riches and fame.
You’ve chosen the study of medicine,
Unlike Misters Tesla or Edison,
Engineering’s a drag
The Arts aren’t your bag
And it’s too late to change and begin
again.
After long years of hardship and toil,
Burning right through that ol’ midnight
oil,
It’s your first night On Call
You’ve been handed the ball
Each dilemma you’ll conquer and foil!
Fever and seizure and rhonchi and spots,
None of these problems are Gordian
knots.
You run hither and yon
From dusk until dawn
While your dinner congeals and then
rots.
For each query you had a reply
And resisted the impulse to cry
You’ve been up for two days
Your brain’s in a haze
And there’s slime on the end of your tie.
Oh where is the glory and valor?!?
Your cheeks have an unhealthy pallor
But your mom is so proud,
Your dad boasts out loud,
You’re a hero, a saint and a scholar!™
Denver’s Nursing Star
Published each Monday
by Metro Publishing, L.L.C.
Publisher
Steven R. Eldridge
[email protected]
Editor
Priya Jenkins
[email protected]
News Consultant
Dr. Linda Mundorff (Rener) MPH, MSN, ND, RN, NC
W riter s
James Coburn
Carol Cole
Elissa Crocker
Mena Ganesan
Preston Jones
Mike Lee
Mike Ligouri
Jason Smith
Lea Terry
[email protected]
Boar
Boardd of Commentar
Commentaryy
Patricia Armenta, RN
Martha Collar
Eileen Doherty
Mary Jo Fay, RN, MS
Colleen Folsch
Virginia Gillispe
April Goode
Vicki Jenkins
Larry Leeds, RN
Vicki Mayfield, M.Ed, RN, LMFT
Dr. Trisha Phaklides
Dr. Linda Mundorff (Rener)MPH, MSN, ND, RN, NC
Carol Shenold, RN, CIC
Colleen Folsch
Marvel Williamson, Ph.D., RN, CS
Ad Ser vices Mana
Managg er
Michael Hannan
[email protected]
Ad v er tising
Annette Deckard
Christi Dobbs
Scott Laudenslager
Mary Walewski
[email protected]
Accounts Coordinator
Gaye Hannan, LPN
[email protected]
Direct Mailed and distributed to a readership of
more than 56,000 LPNs, RNs, Administrators
and Students in the Denver Metro area each week.
Add your name to the list for only $27 per year
within the Denver Area and $30 for all other areas.
Opinions expressed in columns and in letters
to the editor are not necessarily the opinions
of employees, ownership of this newspaper
or the pub
lishing compan
publishing
companyy.
In Lo
ving Memor
Loving
Memoryy of
our brother and friend
Randall (Randy) I. Eldridge
Phone (720) 283-2209
Fax (720) 283-2198
P.O. Box 2078,
Broomfield, CO 80038-2078
www.denvernursingstar.com
Denver’s Nursing Star
Hospice
Contin
ued frfrom
om PPaage 1
Continued
In order to promote a wider public
understanding of hospice and palliative
care, NHPCO released the Hospice and
Palliative Care Awareness Ribbon in 2003.
This was in honor of the 25th anniversary
of National Hospice Month. The hospice
ribbon was created to increase awareness
and inform the world of the special care
hospice and palliative care provides at
the end of life. Hospice ribbons can be
made at home with a few pieces of green
and purple ribbon. A Hospice and
Palliative Care Awareness lapel pin is
also available at low cost from the
NHPCO Marketplace, click here.
NHPCO encourages all Americans to
take time during National Hospice Month
and talk with their families and loved
ones about the kind of care they would
want. Here are two brochures that may
help:
• "Communicating Your End of Life
Wishes" (PDF)
• "Let's Start Talking" (PDF)
Local hospices welcome the
opportunity to share information with
members of the community as well. For
additional information, or to find a
hospice in your area, call NHPCO’s
Helpline at 800/658-8898. You may also
visit www.hospiceinfo.org for more
information.
✓
November 8, 2004
Free policy comparison
What Is Hospice
Considered to be the model for
quality, compassionate care for
people facing a life-limiting illness
or injury, hospice and palliative
care involve a team-oriented
approach to expert medical care,
pain management, and emotional
and spiritual support expressly
tailored to the patient's needs and
wishes. Support is provided to the
patient' s loved ones as well. At
the center of hospice and palliative
care is the belief that each of us
has the right to die pain-free and
with dignity, and that our families
will receive the necessary support
to allow us to do so.
Hospice focuses on caring, not
curing and, in most cases, care is
provided in the patient's home.
Hospice care also is provided in
freestanding hospice centers,
hospitals, and nursing homes and
other long-term care facilities.
Hospice services are available to
patients of any age, religion, race,
or illness. Hospice care is covered
under Medicare, Medicaid, most
private insurance plans, HMOs,
and other managed care
organizations.
out our new chat
room/message
board at: www.denvernursingstar.com
h
e wit
nicat alth
u
m
Com and he ls
a
es
nurs rofession
p
e
r
W
a
E
c
.
our N
with ge Board
a
s
s
e
M
Page 3
CONIFER
NEWCOMERS &
NEIGHBORS ASSOCIATION
27TH ANNUAL
Long term care
insurance can be one of
the most effective
ways to help protect
your savings and
maintain your lifestyle.
So important, that
even the Federal Mantooth Schwab Associates
government is offering Senior Long Term Care Specialists
its employees group long term care insurance.
Holiday
Boutique
But, before you choose any policy, it makes
good sense to compare benefits to see what’s
right for you. So, make sure you check out
the features and benefits of a long term care
insurance individual policy from General
Electric Capital Assurance Company.*
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Conifer High School
10441 Hwy 73
GE’s Long Term Care Division has been
providing people just like you with long term
care insurance protection for more than 25
years. It’s no wonder we’re an industry leader!
9:00 am to 4:00 pm
Over 75 Artisans
Bake Sale • Silent Auction • Live Music
2004 Christmas Ornaments
So, before you buy the Federal group long
term care insurance - compare. Then you’ll
know for sure which policy is best for your
needs and budget.
Free Admission
For a free comparison and policy evaluation, contact:
Mantooth Schwab Associates
Long Term Care Insurance Representative
Toll Free: 1-877-257-0344 Pin 2100
Proceeds to benefit local communities
Proceeds from the silent auction benefit
the Park County
Crisis Center
GE Financial
We bring good things to life.
* In New York, by GE Capital Life Assurance Company of New York.
Supporting Nursing
Professionals of the
Denver Area
The Denver Area
Health Care Directory
Associations
One of the posted questions:
If Denver’s Nursing Star held
a Which Presidential
Candidate Stands Closest to
the Health Care Industry?
It always pays to
compare long term care
insurance policy benefits
before you buy.
Hospice
Medical Transportation
Hospital
Mortgage Lenders
Colorado Department of Human Services
Nursing Centers
people who help people
Skye Brunick • 303-866-7115
Sandra Malafronte • 720-857-6408
Education
Excellence in Nursing Education
Tel: 303-882-6919
Fax: 720-214-2367
Orthopedic Services
www.marinerhealthcare.com
Pharmacies
nursing, a profession we honor
Pharmaceutical Manufac.
719-365-2335
Physicians and Surgeons
Denver School of Nursing
(303) 292-0015
www.denverschoolofnursing.org
www.memorialhospital.com
www.memorialhospital.com
Hospital Services
Ph: 303-365-8377,
Fax: 303-365-8396
www.ccd.rightchoice.org
People. Strength. Commitment.
Long-Term Care Ins.
Health Care Staffing
Long-Term Acute Care
Home Health
Medical Manufacturers
R
Call for more info: 303-722-0857
Fax: 303-722-2943
Rehabilitation Services
eferring a patient, client,
resident or friend to that
special service can be a timely
process - allow these supporting
businesses and organizations to help!
Include your Facility, Organization or Service here
Only $25 per month CALL 720-283-2209
www.hcr-manorcare.com
Supervised Living Facil.
Real Estate
Uniforms
Page 4
November 8, 2004
Denver’s Nursing Star
Today’s Nurse: CAREER OPTIONS IN NURSING
This Weeks Topic: FLIGHT NURSING part 2: So You Want to be a Flight Nurse?
by Elissa Crocker, RN, BSN
Staff Writer
If the first law of real estate is
location, location, location, perhaps the
first law of flight nursing should be
education, education, education.
Emergency air medical transport
(AMT) is a relatively small industry
offering a limited amount of job
openings for qualified professionals.
And while the current nursing shortage
has affected most areas of specialty
practice, flight nursing remains an
exception.
At a recent Transport Nurses
Advanced Trauma Course, five seasoned
flight nurse-instructors from the Air
and Surface Transport Nurses
Association offered their insight into
how nurses might best prepare
themselves to break into this highly
competitive field.
“I would tell people who want to
do flight nursing to find the busiest
hospital and the most critical patients,
and then to take the sickest ones,”
said Elisabeth Abel, flight nurse with
AirLife Denver, in Englewood,
Colorado.
“If this is where you want to go
in your life, get out there and get
experience – and not just in one specific
area, but as broad as you can,” said
flight nurse Jan Stordahl with Star Care
V in Lincoln, Nebraska. “The more
experience you bring, the more you
can contribute with the knowledge base
that you have to work from.”
“You’re more marketable,” added
Michel Hall Wofford, flight nurse with
LifeFlight Eagle in Kansas City,
Missouri.
Allen Wolfe, Jr., chief flight nurse
with MedSTAR Transport in
Washington D.C. agreed, explaining
that his first step into the profession
was the acquisition of technical
credentials in major markets.
“I wanted to get experience under
my belt before I applied,” he said. “I
got critical care experience at Level II
hospital and then went to a bigger
hospital because they have sicker
Start enjoying
the loves of
your life
again.
Affordable, out-patient
office treatment of
varicose and spider veins.
Complimentary consultation.
303 333-8889
www.veinexpert.com
patients.”
Nancy Johnson, flight nurse with
ARCH Air Medical Services in Saint
Louis, Missouri, added that intuitive
action based on past experience is an
unwritten part of the job description.
“The only consultation we have is
with the voices in the back of our
heads,” she said.
Additional preparation that might
put aspiring flight nurses on a fastertrack to success can be gleaned by a
comparison of environments in which
flight nurses practice their trade.
A good starting point is the locale
of practice. Typically, transport services
in large urban areas will serve a
different patient population than those
serving rural areas. The geographical
base of operation can also impact
another consideration: the ratio of scene
response calls to inter-facility transfers.
Scene response calls primarily
involve trauma and can affect all body
systems. Knowledge of emergency
medical rescue techniques and skill in
performing life saving procedures is
required.
As a result, air medical transport
(AMT) services that perform a high
percentage of scene response and rescue
calls may prefer nurses with a
background in trauma, or those with
more pre-hospital emergency
experience. At a wilderness-based search
and rescue operation, for example, dual
certification as a paramedic might seal
the deal.
Inter-facility transfer involves
transporting critically ill patients from
smaller, less-equipped facilities to large
medical centers capable of providing
technically advanced medical care. In
transit, flight nurses must have the
ability to anticipate, initiate, and
maintain life sustaining care to patients
suffering from an array of illnesses
and injuries.
Inter-facility neonatal transport is
common among AMT services.
However, some agencies — especially
those serving rural areas – may have a
higher percentage of both neonatal and
pediatric calls, offering greater
opportunities for NICU nurses, pediatric
nurse practitioners, or nurses with
advanced training in pediatrics or
neonatal care.
AMT services predominantly doing
inter-facility transport of adults may
prefer differing proportions of ER to
ICU experience, depending on the
location of the service and the types
of patients transferred.
An example is MedSTAR
Transport, operating out of one of the
largest medical/trauma centers in the
nation’s capitol. According to Wolfe,
MedSTAR does about 80 to 85 percent
inter-facility transport and about 15 to
20 percent scene response. In addition,
he said their patient population includes
a large number of cardiac patients who
undergo cutting edge procedures.
As a result, Wolfe said ICU
experience takes precedence over ER
experience.
“If they only have ER experience,
I won’t even entertain an interview,”
he said. “They have to have ICU
experience.”
Although from two to five years
of experience may be required, he said,
“I think two years are usually enough
because young nurses are enthusiastic.”
As a flight nurse in Colorado, Abel
said some AMT services, such as AirLife
Greeley — about 70 miles north of
Denver — specialize in wilderness and
winter-related scene response calls.
“Most of what we do [at AirLife
Denver] is inter-facility transfers,” she
said, adding that their ratio of scene
calls to inter-facility transports is fairly
similar to MedSTAR’s – 30 percent scene
to 70 percent inter-facility.
However, she said AirLife Denver
covers a five-state region, flying to
smaller, clinic-type operations in remote
areas.
“You’re doing primary care and
you’re also their entry door to the ER,”
she explained. “So we require a
minimum of five years critical care
experience, and we like a mix between
critical care and ER.”
And while Abel said the typical
nurse usually comes to the position
with adult ICU and ER experience, her
background — predominantly NICU,
pediatrics, and high risk OB – has
served her well at AirLife Denver;
infants are considered pediatric at six
weeks, and 20 to 40 percent of calls
are pediatric calls.
She also said that AirLife Denver
and Flight for Life, another Denverbased service, often provide back-up
to one another.
“Flight for Life has a base in the
mountains so they do most of the ski
injuries,” she said. “But we can be called
in to second assist and we do a lot of
things along the front ranges.”
She said calls range from the
expected – hikers who fall accidentally
Contin
ued on ne
xt pa
Continued
next
pagge
Denver’s Nursing Star
November 8, 2004
Page 5
Over 4.2 Million Influenza
Vaccine Doses Shipped to
Health Providers Serving
High-Priority Groups
Photo bbyy Elissa Cr
oc
Croc
ockker
A Medi FFlight
light helicopter lifting of
om the helipor
top Gar
rison Tower aatt the OU Medical Center
offf frfrom
heliportt aatop
Garrison
Center..
– to the lamentable – those who
combine hiking with alcohol and “try
to climb a mountain without ropes.”
For nurses entertaining the idea
of a career in AMT, another fairly
unique consideration is their physical
stature.
Explaining that the structural and
lift capability of helicopters differ, the
flight nurses said weight limits taking
into account the weight of the aircraft,
equipment, patient, and crew can’t be
exceeded. As a result, maximum patient
and crew weights are established.
According to Wolfe, crew weights
range from 180 pounds in strict
programs to 250 in more liberal; the
average is around 200. And while
Johnson said she once transported a
patient weighing 535 pounds, the limit
is usually around 400.
Adding that altitude is a major
factor for crew weights at AirLife
Denver, Abel said, “Sometimes you have
to go single caregiver because of the
mountains and the altitude.”
Wofford pointed out that limited
space is also a factor. “You have to be
able to move around in the helicopters,”
she said.
But size can also be an asset.
Johnson entered nursing school to
become a flight nurse and had
completed her second year in the ER
when another flight nurse resigned.
“Because I was of small stature,
they said, ‘You’re hired,’” she said.
General physical condition is also
an issue.
“A lot of programs have strict
physical standards,” Wofford said. “You
have to prove that you can carry the
load.”
And while age limits aren’t
imposed, Wolfe said the demands of
the job take a toll physically.
“As you get older it’s harder to
do,” he said. “You’re in and out, lifting
stretchers and carrying heavy
equipment.”
The rigors of flight also present
working conditions outside the norm;
again necessitating a measure of
stamina.
“You’ve got vibration, you’ve got
noise, sometimes you’ve got vertigo,
and there’s altitude considerations
going up and down,” Wofford said.
“It affects your equipment, it affects
your assessment technique – you can’t
hear breath sounds like you can on
the ground.”
Wolfe added heat, cold, and jet
lag to the list, while Abel said crew
rest is a factor that is becoming an
accreditation issue for programs —
especially those with 24 hour shifts as
opposed to 12 hour shifts.
“Programs that have 24 hour shifts
must have mechanisms in place for
[periodic rest breaks],” said Stordahl.
“When a nurse is [physically exhausted]
a methodology has to be in place to
ensure the safety of the crew.”
Another environmental factor is the
absence of a climate-controlled
environment — air conditioners aren’t
necessarily a standard option on air
medical helicopters.
“In the summertime in Missouri,
the air is wet and heavy,” Johnson
said. “Our flight suits are hot, our
helmets are hot – we know what a
bad hair day is.”
Abel concurred. “A helicopter is like
a little greenhouse,” she said. “We have
a monitor in our aircraft to see how
hot our drugs get, and we’ve registered
117 degrees.”
Still think you might have the
Right Stuff to join the ranks of flight
nurses?™
Over 4.2 million influenza vaccine
doses were shipped this week to health
providers serving high-priority groups
as part of the plan announced on October
12 by the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) and Aventis
Pasteur. Since October 11, 2004, more
than 9 million doses of flu vaccine have
been shipped to the following groups:
• State Public Health Departments
• Department of Veterans
Administration
• Long-term Care Facilities/Acute
Care Hospitals
• Vaccines for Children program
• Private physicians who care for
young children
• HMOs and private providers
serving high-priority groups
• Department of Defense
“We are and will continue to take
all the steps possible to get vaccine out
in an equitable way to those who need
it most,” said CDC Director Dr. Julie
Gerberding. “The spirit of cooperation
we are seeing by Aventis Pasteur, state
and local health officials, clinicians,
hospitals, and the public is extraordinary
and is what will help deal with this
challenging situation.”
Dr. Gerberding urged people to
continue to be patient and persistent as
health officers work to fill vaccine
coverage gaps in the coming weeks. The
approximately 16.5 million remaining
doses of vaccine will be shipped to public
and private vaccine providers, at a rate
of about 2.5-3 million doses per week,
primarily through early December. About
2.6 million doses of the Aventis Pasteur
vaccine will be available for shipment
in early January 2005.
On October 5, 2004, after Chiron
Corporation announced that none of
the doses of influenza vaccine it had
produced would be available this year,
CDC announced priority groups for
vaccination for the 2004-2005 influenza
season:
• All children aged 6-23 months,
• Adults aged 65 years and older,
• Persons aged 2-64 years with
underlying chronic medical conditions,
• All women who will be
pregnant during influenza season,
• Residents of nursing homes
and long-term care facilities,
• Children 6 months-18 years of
age on chronic aspirin therapy,
• Health-care workers with
direct patient care, and
• Out-of-home caregivers and
household contacts of children aged
less than 6 months.
Influenza season is unpredictable.
In most years, the season peaks
between December and March. It is
too early to say how severe the 20042005 season will be, but to date only
sporadic cases have been reported.
Vaccination is the best protection
against influenza, but there are
alternatives. Antiviral drugs can be
used before someone becomes ill to
prevent them from getting the flu or
taken within 1-2 days of first flu
symptoms to reduce the severity of
the illness.
The Department of Health and
Human Services has purchased a
stockpile of antiviral drugs to treat
more than 7 million people during the
2004-2005 flu season. Other supplies
of the antiviral drugs are available
through private health providers. It is
estimated that about 40 million of
people could be treated this flu season
with the antiviral drugs available.
Finally, everyone can take practical
steps to help prevent spread of flu:
• Avoid close contact with
people who are sick
• Keep your distance from others
if you’re sick
• When possible, stay home from
work, school, and errands when you
are sick, and don’t send your children
to daycare or school if they are sick
• Cover your mouth and nose
when coughing or sneezing, and
• Clean your hands often.
For more information about the
flu, visit the CDC Website: http://
www.cdc.gov/flu.
Page 6
November 8, 2004
Denver’s Nursing Star
Farmers Insurance giving nurses a break
Affinity discount will give
“It takes a
customers the opportunity
certain type
for an additional 5%
discount.
of person to
Littleon Farmer’s
be a nurse or
Agent Robert Tucker said
a doctor,”
Insurance rates are skyrocketing, but the discounts are a result
your attention to detail and safety can of data that was compiled.
Robert
“What happened is
help cut those costs for you and your
Farmers went through all
Tucker said.
family.
That’s what Farmer’s Insurance Group their statistics and can
“I think
thinks anyway, this year announcing a statistically show there are
they’re a
rate decrease for several employee classes some classes where people
are actually better drivers
including doctors and nurses.
little more
Farmers Insurance Group announced and we’re able to give
responsible
the reduction in auto rates earlier this them better discounts,”
year as it was approved by each state’s Tucker said.
type of
Tucker knows from
insurance department.
Photo Submitted
experience.
A
former
person.”
“Improved loss results and a favorable
Littleon FFar
ar
mer’
ent RRober
ober t Tuc
armer’
mer’ss Ag
Agent
uckker
regulatory environment have allowed us adjuster with Farmers,
to pass the savings on to the customer, Tucker said it was no
said Bill Matlock, Farmers’ Illinois State surprise to him that nurses, firefighters that helps him working with people in
Executive Director. “We are pleased we and police officers were among those the insurance industry, he said.
“I think it helped a lot that I was an
can give something back to our tabbed by Farmers for a premium break.
“It takes a certain type of person to adjuster for three years,” Tucker said. “I’ve
customers.”
The Affinity discount will be made be a nurse or a doctor,” Tucker said. “I seen the claims side when people call
available to Educators, Policemen, think they’re a little more responsible and they’ve had an automobile accident
and the home losses. I can steer people
Firefighters, Engineers, Scientists, type of person.”
It’s his background as an adjuster in the right direction to make it as easy
Physicians/Surgeons and Nurses. The
a process as it can be.”
Farmers Insurance Group of
Companies® is the nation’s third-largest
Personal Lines Property & Casualty
insurance group. Headquartered in Los
Angeles and doing business in 41 states,
the insurers comprising the Farmers
Southwestern Jalapeno Cornbread Dressing
Insurance Group of Companies provide
Homeowners, Auto, Business, Life
Ingredients:
insurance and financial services to more
than 10 million households through 17,000
4 Cups cornbread crumbled
exclusive and independent agents and
10 Slices dried bread cubed
district managers. This is Farmers’ 75th
1 Pound MILD ITALIAN TURKEY SAUSAGE
year serving America’s families and
1-1/2 Cups celery chopped
businesses.
1 Cup onion chopped
Farmers Insurance was founded in
1-1/2 Teaspoons salt
1928 in California and insures millions of
1 Teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/4 Cup Jalapeno peppers seeded and chopped
drivers throughout California and America.
2 eggs slightly beaten
Tucker said the new program has
1 Cup TURKEY BROTH
been well received.
“We’ve had really good success,”
by Mike Lee
Staff Writer
Recipe of the Week
Directions:
• Preheat oven to 325.
• In large bowl combine cornbread and bread cubes.
• In large skillet, over medium-high heat, saute
Studies show that...
Nurses Are Special
sausage, celery and onion until sausage is no longer
pink and vegetables are tender; combine with
cornbread mixture.
• Add salt, poultry seasoning, jalapeno peppers, eggs
and turkey broth.
• Spoon dressing into lightly greased 3-quart casserole
dish.
• Bake, covered, at 325 degrees F. 45 to 50 minutes.
And particularly responsible and careful when they drive.
If you’re a nurse, we at Farmers® would like to reward
you with a *special preferred rate on your Auto insurance.
Ask the professionals below for more information.
NURSES:
Please share your favorite recipe...
Email your name and recipe to
[email protected] or mail to Denver’s
Nursing Star, ATTN: Editor, PO Box 2078, Broomfield,
CO, 80038-2078.
Tucker said. “We’ve talked to the
firefighters and police officers and have
had a lot of good interest in it. I think
our rates are competitive anyhow so this
just helps even more.”
In order to take advantage of the
discounts nurses must be registered and
licensed with the Colorado Nurses
Association or with the state board, Tucker
said.
Physicians and surgeons licensed to
practice as well as pharmacists and
psychologists are also eligible for the
discount.
“It’s a really neat deal for the different
classes (of occupations),” Tucker said.
Scientists are also included in the
discounts. Those with bachelor’s or master’s
degrees in a range of scientific classes
will be rewarded with lower premiums.
The new discounts require proof of
accreditation. Nurses are required to show
their credentials before receiving the
discount.
Tucker recommends that people talk
to their local Farmer’s agent to see if
they qualify for the discounts.
The Insurance Information Institute
estimates that the cost of auto insurance
will rise 3.5 percent in 2004. That increase
is the lowest in the last four years.
The declining number of auto
accidents due to better drivers and safer
cars and crackdowns on fraud and abuse
are behind the trend, though rising costs
for medical care, vehicle repairs and
skyrocketing jury awards remain a
problem, according to the I.I.I. analysis.
In 2002, claims accounted for $80 of every
$100 earned in private passenger auto
insurance premiums in the United States.
Lawyers’ fees accounted for $13 out of
every $100 in premiums. Of this, half
went to plaintiffs’ attorneys and the
remainder to defendants’ attorneys.
The projected increase represents a
substantial slowdown from 2003 when auto
insurance costs rose by 7.8 percent, the
I.I.I. observed. The average cost for auto
insurance nationwide for 2004 is estimated
at $871 - an increase of $29 per vehicle
from last year or about the cost of one
fill-up at the gas station these days.
For more information contact Tucker at
303-794-5534 or talk to a Farmer’s agent
near you.™
FARMERS®
Gets you back where you belong.
Robert Tucker
303-794-5534
Don Means
303-646-9701
799 W Littleton Blvd,
Littleton, CO 80120
PO Box 1947, 166 Main,
Elizabeth, CO 80107
Metropolitan Area
Douglas & Elbert Couties
Denver’s Nursing Star
November 8, 2004
Page 7
Colorado's First Lady, Frances Owens, helps kids cast their vote at Children's
by Jason P. Smith
Staff Writer
Colorado’s First Lady, Frances Owens, visited Children’s hospital on Election
Day to help some young voters with their ballots. Teaming up with Kids Voting
Colorado/Denver helped kids cast their votes for the presidential candidate of
their choice.
With voting booths and “I Voted” stickers to boot, the event was a big
success with a large turnout. For those who were not able to get down to the
lobby to vote, Owens made her way around the floors helping everyone vote
for their candidate.
Kids Voting is a program that works to help educate younger voters on the
electoral process and hopefully encourage them to vote once they’re old enough.
The results for the Children’s election? Well, Kerry took it 42 to 39.
Voter apathy stats Kids Voting hopes to change:
•
Only 2.5 percent of 18-and 19-year olds are registered in
the City and County of Denver
•
In the 2003 Denver Municipal Election only 46.85 percent of
eligible active voters voted.
•
In the 2002 General Election, 65.85 percent of eligible
active voters voted.
Photo bbyy JJason
ason PP.. Smith
•
In the 2000 General Election (Presidential) 77.43 percent of
eligible active voters voted.
Color
ado's Fir
st Lad
ens
oes oovver a Kids Voting ballot with Da Taria, 8, of Texas on Election Da
Colorado's
First
Ladyy, FFrrances Ow
Owens
ens,, ggoes
Dayy aatt
Childr
en's Hospital. Ow
ens visited the hospital to help educa
te kids wwho
ho wwer
er
oung to vvote
ote on the elector
al
educate
eree too yyoung
electoral
Children's
Owens
pr
ocess
process
ocess..
NEED A DYNAMIC SPEAKER FOR YOUR NEXT EVENT?
One who makes you laugh, cry, and most of all THINK?
Mary Jo Fay, RN, MSN ...
Denver Nursing Star columnist
and award winning author of:
Get Out of YYour
our Boxx!
When YYour
our Per
fect Par
tner
Perfect
Partner
Goes Perfectly Wrong
Now taking bookings for the 2005 calendar of events.
CALL NOW!
Book your event early for best dates available!
Contact Mary Jo Fay at 303-841-7691
www.outoftheboxx.com or www.helpfromsurvivors.com
Page 8
November 8, 2004
1
9
0
4
A
Century
2
Of
0
0
4
Caring
Join our nursing staff in one of these areas:
• Acute Care
• CCU (nights)
• Cardiac Step Down • Neonatal NP
• Oncology
We offer outstanding benefits including
paid health insurance, 401K, tuition reimbursement and more!
Bilingual applicants encouraged to apply.
Apply online at:
www.memorialhospital.com
Employment: 719-365-2335
EOE
113 CASE MAN
AGEMENT
MANA
140 GENERAL NURSING
Case Manager Needed: Full-time
for Developmentally disabled
adults in Morgan County.
Responsible for intake, eligibility,
service coordination, and
monitoring. B.A. in related field and
experience required. Contact
DeGaye Latta at (970)522-7121
Ext. 225). EOE Agency.
RNs/LPNs/CNAs Our 96 bed long
term care facility is currently
seeking experienced RNs, LPNs &
CNAs. FT & PT positions available.
Great work environment, strong
team, exc pay/benefits. If you are
a licensed nurse or certified CNA
please apply in person at 1020
Patton St. Ft. Collins, or fax
resume to Charo, 970-484-8143.
EOE.
123 CERTIFIED MEDICAL
ASSIST
ANT
ASSISTANT
MEDICAL ASSISTANT RMA
ASAP for Specialty Practice.
2 yrs exp. and strong
back office skills required.
Call Stefanie 719-544-5450
Medical Assistant, part- time, to
work Sterling 4 times a month,
Brush 1 time a month and Fort
Morgan as needed. Fax resume
to Karen, 970-221- 9654.
RN andamp; LPN Positions
Four Corners Health Care Center
is seeking caring & dedicated
individuals to fill the following
positions. PT RN/LPN Day shift,
FT LPN/RN evening shift & FT
RN night shift. Competitive
wage scale, sign on bonus &
benefits available. Please apply
in person, 2911 Junction St,
Durango, CO 81301
NURSING NEEDED RNs LPNs
CNAs - 15-bed critical access
hospital and 32-bed nursing home.
Eastern plains, excellent nurse/
patient ratio, competitive salary,
good benefits. Call Kathy Bennett,
RN, DON, 719-743-2421 EOE
Medical Assistant Needed for New
Patient Scheduling & Triag. Please
Fax Resume to 719-471-3203
Index to Classifieds
1 0 0 Ambulatory
1 0 8 Administrative
1 1 3 Case Management
1 1 5 Chemical Dependency
1 1 8 Clinical Instructors
1 1 9 Collection
1 2 1 Critical Care
1 2 3 Certified Medical Assistant
1 2 4 Certified Nurses Aide
1 2 7 CRNA
1 2 9 Dental
1 3 0 Dialysis
1 3 1 Dietary
1 3 7 Education
1 4 0 General Nursing
1 4 3 Geriatrics and Long Term Care
1 4 6 HMO
1 4 9 Home Health
1 5 2 Hospice
1 5 4 Housekeeping
1 5 5 Infection Control
1 5 8 IV Therapy
1 6 1 Licensed Practical Nurse
1 6 4 Managerial
1 6 5 Massage Therapy
1 6 7 Medical/Surgical
1 7 0 Nurse Practitioner
1 7 3 OB/Gyn
1 7 6 Occupational Health
1 7 9 Office
1 8 2 Oncology
1 8 5 O.R./PACU
1 8 8 Orthopedic
1 9 0 Pediatric
1 9 1 Pharmacist
1 9 2 Physicians Assistant
1 9 7 Public Health
2 0 0 Rehabilitation
2 0 4 Registered Nurse
2 0 7 Research
2 1 0 Sales Representative
2 1 3 Service
2 1 7 School Nurse
2 2 0 Spec Producers
2 2 3 Support Staff
2 2 5 Traveling Nurse
2 2 6 Miscellaneous
124 CERTIFIED NURSES
AIDE
Certified Nursing Assistant
Seeking an experienced team
member with up to date
patient care skills.
Must be available Monday
through Friday, 8-5 pm
(occasional weekends).
Requires current CNA license,
home health/ LTC or hospice
experience, &
strong interpersonal &
organizational skills.
Hospice offers a competitive
wages & benefits package.
Submit resume by fax or mail to:
970-254-1321
ATTN: HPCWC
645 S. 5th Street
Montrose, CO 81402
or contact Rose at
(970)-257-2419.
www.hospicewco.com
EOE
Nursing
• P/T PRN CNAs
• F/T-P/T PRN RNs
Parkmoor Village Healthcare
Center needs P/T PRN Cnas for
all shifts and F/T & P/T PRN RNs
for all shifts. Candidates must have
current Colorado Licensure and
CPR certification. Interested
applicants may apply in person at:
3625 Parkmoor Village Dr. or fax
resume to 719-637-0756 attn: Ann
Lund. No phone calls please. EOE.
Nurses Wanted LPNs, RNs to
work Various Shifts in LTC facility
in Boulder. Call Debbie or Carol
(303)442-4037.
Health Care. RNs and LPNs
Looking for a challenge? Are you
self-motivated? Are you interested
in changing the direction of your
career? Then come see us! If you
are interested, please come see
Ken at Glen Valley Care Center,
2305 Blake Ave, GWS, CO 81601
top apply or call (970)945-5476.
*NURSES CNA Ped PT* East E.O.E.
Boulder. P/T help needed for cool
12yr boy. Call Diane 303-924-9461
RNs/LPNs/CNAs Our 96 bed
long term care facility is currently
seeking experienced RNs, LPNs
Health Care. CNAs Glen
and CNAs. FT and PT positions
Valley Care & Rehab Center
available. Great work
environment, strong team, exc.
is looking for a few select
pay/benefits. If you are a
CNAs to augment our
licensed nurse or certified CNA,
please apply in person at 1020
already terrific staff to work
Patton St., Ft. Collins, or fax
in a caring and homelike
resume to Charo 970-484-8143.
environment. Days and
EOE
evenings available. Contact
Ken or Tammy at 970-9455476, or stop by at 2305
Medical Boulder Medical Center
Blake Ave., Glenwood.
RN or LPN Peds-FT Office
Surgeon-FT Competitive salary.
Great benefits. Come join a great
team! Day shifts! Call job line for
more info. 303-440-3160
CNAs All Shifts for Skilled
Long Term Care Nursing
Home. Apply in person at
Larchwood Inns, 2845 N.
15th. NO PHONE CALLS
PLEASE. E.O.E.
LPNs/RNs to work various shifts
in LTC facility in Boulder. Call
Debbie or Carol at 303-442-4037
RN/LPNs Mantey Heights
now has 8 hour shifts
available! Apply in person
Nurses Aide for overnights and all
weekend shifts. Great place to 2825 Patterson Rd., GJ. Ask
work. Apply at Grand Villa 1501 for Leanne, Mantey Heights
Patterson Rd. GJ, CO.
Rehab & Care.
Car
eer Alter
na
ti
Career
Alterna
nati
tivves
Denver’s Nursing Star
SOUTHWEST
Memorial Hospital
An affiliate of Southwest Health System
Director of Patient Services
WHERE THE MOUNTAINS MEET THE
DESERT - Join our JCAHO accredited, 61-bed
progressive acute care facility located in beautiful,
rural Southwestern CO where outdoor recreation
is unlimited, Dir. of Patient Services needed to
oversee all Nursing Departments, provide clinical
education, budget, policy, regulation compliance
and leadership. BSN, clinical experience. Marketbased pay, competitive benefit package.
Contact: Human Resources:
EOE-M/F/D/V
Southwest Health System
1311 N. Mildred Rd.
Cortez, CO 81321
970-564-2168
Fax: 970-564-2167
[email protected]
140 GENERAL NURSING
161 LICENSED PRA
CTICAL
PRACTICAL
NURSE
NURSE For small assisted
living facility. 20 hours per
week. Ideal working
conditions. Fax resume to:
LPNs Sunrise Assisted
Living of Colorado Springs,
a premier assisted living
provider in the downtown
area, is seeking Nurses for
days, PMs, Weekends and
in-house pool. Selected
candidates(s) will be
compassionate,
conscientious and positive
individuals, preferably with
dementia and/or medication
experience. Experience in
geriatrics a must.
Competitive salary, plus
medical, dental, stock
options and 401(K) benefits.
Please apply at 10 West
Monument St. Colorado
Springs, CO 80903, (719)
635-6300. EOE.
970-667-3079
149 HOME HEAL
TH
HEALTH
Hiring-Short Shifts
CareGivers, P/T
Homewatch Agency
Littleton, Lkwd, Engwd;
Transportation Required
Call: 720-344-4700
Medical * NURSES * Join the
ROCKY
MOUNTAIN
HEALTH PLANS Family PRN
HOME HEALTH RN-PRN
Provide quality home health
and nursing care to our
patients. Requires experience
as a staff nurse, excellent
clinical, communication,
documentation and decisionmaking skills. Medical/
surgical and home health
experience is preferred. This
position
requires
an
unrestricted Colorado RN
license and CPR certification.
We offer competitive pay,
comprehensive benefits and
a family-friendly work
environment. To apply, attach
cover letter and resume or
complete an application at:
www.rmhp.org EOE/M/F/D/V
SKILLED LONG TERM CARE
NURSING HOME. LOOKING
FOR AUTONOMOUS NIGHT
LPN/RN. Apply in person at
Larchwood Inns, 2845 N. 15th.
NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE.
E.O.E.
161 LICENSED PRA
CTICAL
PRACTICAL
NURSE
LPN for new pediatric office
needed. Pediatric experience
pref’d. Please call 779-0330 or
email resume to [email protected]
161 LICENSED PRA
CTICAL 161 LICENSED PRA
PRACTICAL
CTICAL
PRACTICAL
NURSE
NURSE
LPN FT Eves & Nocs. Exc. working
conditions and staffing ratios.
Great benefits including a
generous PAL program. Come
work at the Castle on the Hill. EOE
Apply at 101 S. Union Blvd.
Colorado Springs, CO 80910. Preemployment background and drug
screening performed.
LPN FT Eves & Nocs. Exc.
working conditions and staffing
ratios. Great benefits including
a generous PAL program. Come
work at the Castle on the Hill.
EOE Apply at 101 S. Union Blvd.
Colorado Springs, CO 80910.
Pre-employment background
and drug screening performed.
Recruiters...
Ask about internet advertising at
www.denvernursingstar.com
More Than
50,000 Hits
Per Month
Call
720-283-2209
We’ll Prove it!
Reports available on demand
FFAX
AX (720)283-2198
(720)283-2198 Or
Or Call
Call (720)
(720) 283-2209
283-2209
riday
Monday
Deadlines
ridayy,, noon
Deadlines -- FFrida
noon ffor
or Monda
issue
Frida
for
Mondayy issue
Denver’s Nursing Star
November 8, 2004
204 REGISTERED NURSE
RNs &
LPNs
CLASSIFIED RATES
Please contact Kellie Smith for
an immediate interview
email [email protected]
Tel: 303-882-6919 - Fax: 720-214-2367
204 REGISTERED NURSE
FIND YOUR IDEAL JOB:
RN, 20hrs/wk M-F 12:30pm4:30pm + on call, to coord. home
health (HH) ref., labs, etc. HH exp
pref. $17,850- $18,720/yr +
benefits. ? call Nancy 247-5702 x
232. Apply, San Juan Basin Health
Dept. 281 Sawyer Dr., Dgo.
RN - full-time
RN - Per Diem
Excellent salary and benefits.
NO NIGHTS, WEEKENDS,
HOLIDAYS
OR CALL!!
GI experience preferred
but will train
Please send resume to:
Ambulatory Surgery
Assistance, Inc.
3100 Broadway, Suite 325
K.C., MO 64111
800-590-2713
fax 816-960-0021
REGISTERED NURSES Alpine
Home Health Care is seeking
experienced RNs for full-time
positions in the Grand Junction
service area. Home Health
experience is preferred. Cindy Box,
HR Assistant Alpine Home Health
602 Jackson Street Clifton, CO
81520 (970) 257-1275 Apline
Home Health does not discriminate
against any person on the basis of
race, color, national origin,
disability, or age in admission,
treatment, participation in
programs, services and activities,
or in employment.
REGISTERED NURSE Colorado
Allergy & Asthma Centers, P.C.
has an immediate FT position for
an R.N. to be split between our
Ft. Collins (2 days/week) &
Greeley (2days/week) offices.
Previous experience
highly desirable.
Must be organized, a self-starter
& have great people skills.
Mail, fax, or email
your resume to:
CAAC
1136 E. Stuart Street,
Bldg 3, Ste 3200,
Ft. Collins, CO 80525
Fax: (970) 221-0948,
[email protected].
RN EXECUTIVE- Needed
to supervisor home care
agency in Longmont. Exp
in home care preferred,
but will train the right
person. Excellent salary,
benefits, & atmosphere.
Email resume to
[email protected]
or call 720-530-5492.
RN POSITIONS for home
health care. Home visits &
case
management
responsibilities. Some
private duty shifts avail.
Call Complete Home
Health Care at:
(720) 652-0292
REGISTERED NURSE to fill a
staff development coordinator
RN - Medical Case Management
position. We are a 160-bed
Non-profit seeks RN to
coordinate health care for adults
skilled nursing facility. F/T. Exc
with DD/MR and manage med
pay and benefits. Contact
office. Competitive pay and
Christine Southworth, Human
benefits. Monday-Friday 8-5, FT.
Resources at 303-785-5800 or
Elizabeth Chilcoat, Mtn. Valley
email
Developmental Services. P.O
Box 338; Glenwood Springs
[email protected]
81602. 800-626-6450.
EOE.
mtnvalley.org. EEO/AA.
Car
eer Alter
na
ti
Career
Alterna
nati
tivves
RECRUITMENT - RECRUITMENT
Camellia HealthCare Center - Aurora
Berthoud Living Center - Berthoud
Boulder Manor - Boulder
Terrace Gardens Health Care - Colorado Springs
Cedarwood Health Care Center - Colorado Springs
Colonial Columns Nursing Center - Colorado Springs
Aspen Living Center - Colorado Springs
Red Rocks HealthCare Center- Denver
Mariner Health of Denver - Denver
Cherry Park Progressive Care Center - Englewood
Fort Collins Health Care Center - Fort Collins
Spring Creek Health Care Center - Fort Collins
Kenton Manor - Greeley
Minnequa Medicenter - Pueblo
Belmont Lodge Health Care Center - Pueblo
Mariner Health of Greenwood Village - Littleton
Applewood Living Center - Longmont
Sierra Vista HealthCare Center - Loveland
Alpine Living Center - Thornton
Windsor HealthCare Center - Windsor
www
.den
singstar
.com
www.den
.denvv er n ur
ursingstar
singstar.com
Denver’s Nursing Star
RN
Endoscopic ambulatory surgery
center in Denver now accepting
applications for the following
positions:
Mariner offers top wages
and a full benefits program,
including medical, dental,
life, 401K, paid vacation, sick time
and tuition reimbursement. We pride
ourselves on a team oriented
environment providing National
long-term care.
F/T, P/T and Per Diem Floor positions all shifts
Nurse Managers, MDS Coordinators, Staff
Development Coordinators Opportunities exist for all
new nursing graduates.
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
Page 9
Effective January 1, 2002
Per Line, Per Insertion
Open
4x
12x
26x
48x
$7.05 $6.40 $6.20 $5.89 $5.40
Logos For Line Ads (Per Insertion)
Open
4x
$23 $20
12x
$17
26x
$15
48x
$8
Classified Display: 14 lines to an inch.
Color
Full Color: Only $275
Spot: $100 for each color
(color as available)
WORLD-WIDE! YOUR AD ONLINE FOR
ONLY .38 EXTRA PER LINE!
Quick Fax Form
Complete this quick & easy
form and submit your ad.
Just fill and fax.
After a fax has been received, a
representative with the DNS will
call with ad cost
Start Issue
Use space below to provide the ad
copy for your classified line ad.
Ask about our
Combination
Special!
Oklahoma City’s
Nursing Times 1/2 Price!
Ad Copy
Company
Billing Address
City
State
Zip Code
Telephone #
Fax #
Contact Name
Signature
Fax to: (720) 283-2198
Or Call (720) 283-2209
for more information
Mail To:
Denvers’s Nursing Star
P.O. Box 2078
Broomfield, CO 80038-2078
FFAX
AX (720)283-2198
(720)283-2198 Or
Or Call
Call (720)
(720) 283-2209
283-2209
Deadlines
riday
Monday
for
Mondayy issue
Frida
ridayy,, noon
Deadlines -- FFrida
noon ffor
or Monda
issue
Page 10
November 8, 2004
Denver’s Nursing Star
Some online nursing programs require no clinicals
Is this safe for patients?
by Jason P. Smith
Staff Writer
Susie Law, regional vice president
of operations for All About Staffing in
Denver, is taking a stand on a trend
that has become an important national
issue in the field of nursing: the
possibility of nurses gaining licensure
without ever doing a clinical rotation
during nursing school.
For some nurses out there, this will
be something they have already heard
about. For others, it may come as a
complete surprise. The two big questions
surrounding this issue are: How did
this happen? and Is it allowed?
“I think it actually happened in two
separate arenas that were driving at
different goals and arrived in the same
place,” Law said. “One being nursing
education with the nursing shortage –
trying to answer the question of how
do we get the most qualified candidates
out the quickest. This, I think, generated
a big push for nursing education
programs to get more creative and
perhaps a little bit more out of the box
in what they’re doing to make the
education of nursing move along faster,
but also to entice more people to come
into nursing.
“At the same time, you have
institutions of higher education looking
at the Generation Xers and trying to
figure out how to get people through
their programs faster and make it so
they can work and go to school, so you
have the evolution in the education
programs of online or computer-based
training going through all different types
of professions and now it has come
into nursing, which is something that
was considered to have a clinical
expectation to it also.”
According to Law, almost all state
boards in the United States require
approved nursing programs to have a
component that has clinicals. The
problem is that the state board cannot
approve every nursing program for every
nurse who applies for a license in
Colorado, so they require a transcript.
“The way the state board discovered
the programs with no clinical component
was a screener for the ICLEX exam,”
Law said. “During the process of looking
at transcripts as people are applying,
someone noticed there didn’t seem to
be anything on it that looked like a
clinical component. That’s how it came
to the state boards’ attention.”
HealthONE hospitals in the area as
well as nursing organizations such as
the Colorado Organization of Nurse
Leaders and the Colorado Organization
of Nurse Educators also have stepped
up and made their case to the Colorado
State Board of Nursing.
“HealthONE has CNAs, LPNs and
RNs who are applying to go to programs
that do not require clinicals and have
asked for tuition reimbursement from
our hospital to go to these programs,”
Law said.
“We feel there is a kind of ethical
problem if we pay for tuition
reimbursement for a program that we
really don’t support and really would
not want to hire them as registered
nurses once they get through because
they don’t have the clinical component.
We’ve made it part of our policy to not
pay tuition reimbursement to people who
go to a nursing program without clinical
experience.
now probably looking at 18 months to
two years if you can even invest the
time and money to do it appropriately
and give them the experience that they
need.”
The major concern that Law pointed
out was not that the programs are
unethical or that the students were not
learning what they needed to as far as
knowledge gained from lectures or
textbook readings, but that the students
would not have the real life experience
that is gained from clinical rotations.
“Simulated clinical experiences that
you do on a computer give you some
baseline basic skills, but critical thinking
that nurses have to do to tie everything
together – that’s not done in a sterile
environment, it’s done in an environment
where you have tons of different kinds
of stimuli coming at you,” Law said. “If
you never experience that, what’s going
to happen the first time you go out on
a floor and you have six or seven or
eight patients? You may have a preceptor
with you, but while
you’re talking to a
“So, to say that you can become a
patient in this bed, the
registered nurse without having ever patient in the next bed
is yelling for you and
touched a patient, makes no more
you have alarms going
sense than saying a registered nurse off and all these other
things that don’t happen
could become a physician and never
on the computer –
what’s going to happen
have done the OR or ER rotation or
that nurse in that
actually been on call. You don’t want to
situation – what’s going
that doctor practicing on you, and you to happen to that
patient?’
don’t want a nurse who has never
According to Law,
been in a hospital practicing on you the National Council of
State Boards of Nursing
either,” said Susie Law.
clearly states that there
needs to be a clinical
“There’s
much
“Our biggest concern as CNOs with c o m p o n e n t .
HealthONE is the issue of safety,” Law documentation out there from the
said. “We believe we have a struggle nursing world that you can’t become a
even with the best nursing programs registered nurse without clinical
that we have. The new graduate who experience,” Law said.
“Imagine what the community
comes out of the best nursing programs
that we have is not prepared to go in would do if we said we’re now going
and take care of a patient. It is six to 12 to have a physician program where the
months before they become fully physician never steps foot in a hospital,
functional, and that’s with strong support but as long as it is a nurse going into
from the facility, through orientation the program, we’re going to let them
and mentorship and teaching and become a doctor without ever having
to practice in the OR, without ever
education.
“We are happy to do that, but now having to do any actually real procedures
take that whole thing and put someone – it’s going to be all clinically based in
in who could potentially have been a a simulated situation, but they could be
medical assistant in a doctor’s office – your physician tomorrow. You could be
never even worked in a hospital. Now the first person where they’ve actually
you have that person stepping forward cut skin in surgery.
to take care of your patients. You’re
“It would never go over, and the
practice of nursing is as unique and as
clinically focused as the practice of
medicine is. They are different entities,
but one is no more specialized than the
other.
“So, to say that you can become a
registered nurse without having ever
touched a patient, makes no more sense
than saying a registered nurse could
become a physician and never have done
the OR or ER rotation or actually been
on call. You don’t want that doctor
practicing on you, and you don’t want
a nurse who has never been in a hospital
practicing on you either.”
Five states have stepped up and said
they will not allow graduates from
programs that don’t require clinicals to
sit for the state boards, according to
Law.
“The scary part of this is that we
don’t know where these programs are.
So, as recruiters looking at new
graduates, we have a whole other
element here of screening that we
haven’t had to have before, which is:
tell me about a clinical experience.”
Another problem that may arise with
this situation is that even if a state has
decided not to allow nurses graduating
without clinical experience to sit for the
state boards, there is nothing to stop
that nurse from going to another state
that has not instituted that law, take
the boards and then transfer the license
to another state.
“The Colorado Organization of Nurse
Leaders, which is really the organization
that represents nursing leadership
management executive nurses across the
state in all types of health care entities,
has clearly taken a stance, saying they
do not believe it is appropriate for nurses
to graduate without clinicals,” Law said.
“The same is true of the Colorado
Organization of Nurse Educators. So, you
have the two major components of
nursing – education and service – which
rarely agree, coming together and saying:
we agree on this.
“It’s scary to me to think that to
become a veterinary tech – not a
veterinarian – you have to have one year
that involves clinical experience with the
animals, but we would be willing to take
people and say you don’t need any clinical
experience to deal with human beings.
It’s a displaced priority. We need to be
out of the box, but there’s a point where
being out of the box doesn’t make sense.
“The people at the State Board are
very concerned, and I feel strongly that
they will make the right choice on this
decision.”™
Denver’s Nursing Star
November 8, 2004
Page 11
Children's Hospital announces this years Holiday Card Project winners
by Jason P. Smith
Staff Writer
The Children’s Hospital of Denver
recently announced the winners of this
year’s Holiday Card contest with a
premier displaying all of the cards in
the hospital’s lobby. The six winners
for 2004, ranging in age from 4-13 years
old, include: Katrina Singleton of Denver;
Dariya Shevchenko of Arvada;
Mackenzie Davis of Castle Rock; Taylor
Henry of Aurora; Leah Rishavy of
Colorado Springs and Adam Ficker of
Denver.
The Holiday Card Project is a contest
in which current and former pediatric
cancer patients who received care at
The Children’s Hospital can submit
artwork with a holiday theme in hopes
of having their art chosen and
represented on one of the holiday cards
sold each year.
The proceeds from the cards go to
back into the Cancer Center at the
hospital. The funds then go towards
the purchase of items that help ease
the burden of families going through
cancer, such as new lab equipment,
improvements in the patient play area,
laptops, software and video games for
the patients.
Since the program began in 1999, it
has raised nearly $200,000 in proceeds
with more than $65,000 going to fund
research symposiums. Last year alone,
67,000 cards were sold, generating
$37,000 in proceeds.
Each winner in this contest is
presented with a plaque and a $250
check during the premier of the cards.
All the artwork selected for this year’s
contest included a wide range of
creativity and expression in each card –
all of which had an interesting story
behind them.
Katrina, 4, was diagnosed in March
with Medulloblastoma, a type of brain
tumor that required surgery, radiation
therapy and chemotherapy. She is
reportedly doing well with her treatment
and will be finishing chemo next spring.
She enjoys singing, dancing and always
comes to her appointments dressed up
like a princess.
Working as sort of the poster child
for the Holiday Card Project this year,
Katrina is seen in a photo with her
mom and older sister on much of the
project’s promotional items.
Dariya, 13, whose card this year is
called “Decorated Tree,” was diagnosed
with Lymphoma in May of 2004. Moving
here recently from the Ukraine, Dariya
enjoys fashion, telling funny stories and
doing arts and crafts projects. She plans
to use her winnings to help purchase
school supplies and decorate her locker.
“Singing Birds,” the card created by
Mackenzie, came as a result of a book
her parents bought her to help pass
time while in the hospital for treatment.
The book, entitled “Learn to Draw Birds,”
was the starting point for her work in
this year’s contest. An extension of her
playful spirit, Mackenzie drew two birds
playing in a snow-covered holly tree,
with one bird kicking snow on the other
bird’s head – something Mackenzie
likened to the way her and her brothers
play.
Now 11, Mackenzie is two years out
of treatment and living a happy, healthy
life. She plays soccer and basketball and
studies hard in school.
Taylor’s card, “Peace,” was inspired
by her father who is in the military
and due to ship out this year to Iraq.
Taylor hopes for peace in the world so
her dad won’t have to go to war. Her
card includes the word peace in 11
different languages.
Taylor, 11, was diagnosed with
ganglioneuroblastoma, a rare form of
cancer of the nervous system, in
December 2003. After a long battle of
surgery and chemotherapy, Taylor has
won her battle with cancer.
Leah, 10, created a card entitled
“Snowman Hugs” this year. Now off
therapy for Burkitt’s Lymphoma, Leah
spent the last year, as the 2004
ambassador for the Children’s Miracle
Network, sharing her story of cancer
and survival.
Adam, 4, had two cards accepted
in this year’s contest: “Shining Tree”
and “Holiday Wreath.” Adam was
diagnosed with Wilm’s Tumor in October
2001. He had the tumor removed and
was treated with radiation and
chemotherapy. He continues to be
monitored at the hospital, but is doing
well.
According to his mother, one of his
favorite things to do in his free time is
to roll Hotwheel cars under the stove.
While not all the winners were sure
what they would do with their winnings,
Leah knew exactly what she would do
with her money. “I’m planning on
making gift bags and passing them out
on the inpatient floor,” she said.
Her third year doing the gift bags,
Leah knows exactly what to put in them.
“Toys and candies are going in the bags,”
she said. “I can usually make about 26
bags with the money I win in the
Holiday Card Contest. Making the gift
bags is relaxing to me, and I enjoy
helping people support the hospital.”
For more information on the Holiday
Card
Project,
go
to
www.holidaycardproject.com.™
Photo bbyy JJason
ason PP.. Smith
K atrina Sing
leton, 4, shar
es a quiet moment with her mom, Elv
uar
or
esented with her plaque and
Singleton,
shares
Elvaa JJuar
uareez, bef
befor
oree being pr
presented
priz
or this yyear's
ear's Holida
oject.
Holidayy Car
Cardd Pr
Project.
prizee mone
moneyy ffor
"Holiday Wreath"
"Peace"
This card was
designed by
Adam Ficker, a
4-year-old
oncology patient
at The
Children’s
Hospital in
Denver,
Colorado.
This card was
designed in 2004
by Taylor
Henry, an 11year-old
oncology patient
at The
Children’s
Hospital in
Denver,
Colorado.
"Shining Tree"
"Snowman Hugs"
This card was
designed by
Adam Ficker, a
4-year-old
oncology patient
at The
Children’s
Hospital in
Denver,
Colorado.
This card was
designed by
Leah Rishavy,
an 10-year-old
oncology
patient at The
Children’s
Hospital in
Denver,
Colorado.
"Singing Birds"
"Decorated Tree"
This card was
designed by
Mackenzie Davis,
an 11-year-old
oncology patient
at The Children’s
Hospital in
Denver,
Colorado.
This card was
created by
Dariya
Shevchenko, a
13-year old
patient at The
Children’s
Hospital in
Denver,
Colorado.
Page 12
November 8, 2004
Denver’s Nursing Star
Continued Education
December
12/02/04 Introduction to
Evidence Based Practice
This course is designed to
provide RNs and other healthcare
providers with beginning tools to
understand and incorporate the
principles of research utilization
and other sources of clinical
evidence into professional
practice. Course content will
include an overview of what is
evidence based practice,
introduction to critically analyzing
literature and other sources of
data, and application by use of
scenarios and clinical examples,
of how to incorporate these skills
into practice. Time: 8:00 a.m. to
4:30 p.m. Location: University of
Colorado Hospital, Fitzsimons
Campus Nighthorse Campbell
Native Health Building Auditorium
13055 East 17th Avenue, Aurora
Tuition: Mandated Class:
University of Colorado Hospital
Employees mandated to
complete this course must
register on HealthStream.
HealthStream Learning Center
All Other University of Colorado
Hospital Employees= $ 40.00
Community/All Other Registrants
including non-UCH contract
employees= $ 80.00 Contact
Credit Hour: 8.0 Additional Info:
Mary Krugman, RN, PhD Director,
Professional Resources (303)
372-8206 Registration Info:
Veronica Baiamonte Professional
Resources Center for Clinical
Education, Research and
Professional Development
(303) 372-5560
12/07/04 Trauma Nursing
Core Course
Division: TNCC/ENPC Class Title:
Trauma Nursing Core Course
Start Time: 07:00 AM End Time:
05:30 PM Duration: 2 day(s)
Room: ASB, Classroom B
Instructor: Penny Cole
Current Enrollment: 27
Maximum Size Allowed: 36
Minimum Size Required: 16
Credits: 19.1 Credit Type: Contact
Hours Employee Fee: $160.00
(Does not include book) NonEmployee Fee: $200.00 (Includes
book) Track/Division: TNCC
Registration Deadline: 11/30/
2004 Book: Available to Memorial
Hospital employees through the
Memorial Hospital library. Book
Fee: Contact Course Director for
textbook purchase options. 719473-2843. Comments: READ THE
BOOK! Participants are expected
to attend prepared. The course is
for TWO days, December 7, 07001730, and December 8, 07151630. Target audience:
Emergency Nurses, Pre-hospital
Nurses, Flight Nurses, Critical
Care Nurses. Audit fee for nonRNs is $100, based on space
availability. The class is designed
to provide core-level trauma
knowledge and psychomotor
skills associated with the delivery
of professional nursing care to the
trauma patient. This content is
presented through lectures and
six psychomotor skill stations.
Continental breakfast provided;
lunch on your own. Mail payment
to: Penny Cole, 1411 Iowa Ave.,
Colorado Springs, CO 80909. For
additional information, contact
Penny Cole at 719-473-2843 or
e-mail: [email protected].
Memorial Hospital, 1400 East
Boulder St., Colorado Springs.
Contact Judi Blake @ 719-3655087for more information.
12/08/04 BLS
Recertification Day
This course is designed to be a
BLS "fast track" recertification. To
attend this class you must present
your current, unexpired AHA BLS
card at the beginning of class.
Time: 10:00 A.M. Location:
University of Colorado Hospital,
9th Avenue Campus 4210 East
11th Avenue, Denver, CO 80262
Administrative Office Building
(AOB), Room 354 Mandated
Class: University of Colorado
Hospital Employees mandatated
to complete this course must
register on HealthStream. Please
use the link below to register on
HealthStream: HealthStream
Learning Center Community/NonUCH=$ 30.00 THERE IS ALSO A
$ 4.00 CARD FEE REQUIRED
FOR EVERYONE. Please bring to
class a check for $ 4.00 made out
to the Colorado CPR Association.
Please do not bring cash. Contact
Credit Hour: 0 Additional Info:
Trudy Orona RN BSN BLS
Instructor Trainer (303)372-5556
Registration Info: Veronica
Baiamonte Professional
Resources Center for Clinical
Education, Research and
Professional Development (303)
372-5560
to support critical ill patients in
acute renal failure. Concepts to
be discussed also include patient
identification, troubleshooting and
topics related to appropriate plan
of care. Includes the PRISMA(TM)
equipment review and patient
management. PREREQUISITES:
# Critical care experience and
basic knowledge of renal
physiology and pathophysiology.
Class Objectives: The class
participant will be able to: 1.
Explain the basic function of the
Prisma system used for
continuous renal replacement
therapy. 2. Identify potential
complications of CRRT.
3. Discuss key components of
documentation on the CRRT flow
sheet. Time: 8:00 a.m. to 12:00
p.m. Location: University of
Colorado Hospital, Main Campus
Main Hospital, Gersten Library
4200 East 9th Avenue, Denver
Tuition: University of Colorado
Hospital Employees mandated to
complete this couse must register
on HealthStream. All Other
University of Colorado Hospital
Employees=$ 20.00 Community/
UCHSC Participants=$ 40.00
Contact Credit Hour: 4.6
Additional Info: Karen Bell, RN,
MSN, CNN linical Nurse
Specialist/Educator (303) 3726544 Registration Info: Veronica
Baiamonte Professional
Resources Center for Clinical
Education, Research and
Professional Development
(303) 372-5560
Continued Education Listings in Denver’s
Nursing Star print and Online edition are free.
Please FAX this form to announce your
continuing education course to our readers.
FAX: 720-283-2198 Phone: 720-283-2209, Or
email your CEs to [email protected]
www.denvernursingstar.com
Subject:
Hours: Indicate Credit Hours/Credit
________
Category
________Registered Nurse
________Licensed Practical Nurse
________Nurse Anesthetist
CONTINUED
EDUCATION
Submit your classes
and announcements
in to Priya Jenkins at
________Physician’s Assistant
________Administrator: Administration
________Administrator: Resident Care
[email protected]
Admission:________________________________
12/13/04 Continuous
Renal Replacement
Therapy
Registration Deadline: December
3, 2004 This course is designed
to provide the critical care RN
with a review of continuous renal
replacement therapies and the
types of dialysis that can be used
FREE
Date:________________________________________
Check out our continued
education classes at
www.denvernursingstar.com
Time:_______________________________________
Location:__________________________________
Denver’s Nursing Star
November 8, 2004
Page 13
From the Message Board
w w w . d e n v e r n u r s i n g s t a r. c o m
For those who attended the NFLPN
National Convention in Oklahoma City!
What was you favorite thing about
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma? What was the
worst thing about Oklahoma City, OK?
Best and Worst
The best thing about OKC was going
to the OKC Memorial .They did the
best possible thing they could have
done out of the worst of circumstances
.What a moving exhibit ! Also enjoyed
the watertaxi rides in Bricktown and
dinner at Chilenos.The best thing about
the convention was being able to meet
and network with LPN’s from all over
the country.We had wonderful speakers
,especiallly Lyn Hester who urged us
to lighten up .Laura Cross who spoke
on palliative care was also very good .
The worst thing about the convention
was seeing that the people involved
with our organization are aging and we
desparately need to attract younger
members in order to carry on .
Linda H.
Best and Worst
I had a great trip, the convention was
top notch as always, our host and the
Marriott
were
outstanding.
It was great to meet with old friends
and make scores of new friends,
networking
is
great.
It concerns me and others, that our fine
professional organization is loosing
ground, membership growth is
marginal at a time when we need
serious growth to keep abreast of the
many issues currently facing our
profession and the entire health field.
It is most unfortunate that new LPN’s
especially the younger ones that will
make our future, create our history are
not coming into membership. We are
clearly an aging group, we need the
help of younger generations to infuse
new energy, hope, and vitality into a
great
organization.
As to “Oklahioma City” there were so
many places to go and see, so many
major interesting places. I personelly
as a Fire Chief, availed the hospitality
of my Brothers and Sisters of the
Oklahoma City Fire Dept. and was
taken to the Murrah Memorial Park and
Museum, and the Oklahoma State
Firefighters Memorial, and the State
Firefighters Museum, an excellant
collection of rare restored fire apparatus
and related fire equipment. As a
Horseman, I own three saddle horses,
and spent an evening at the horse show
of all horse shows playing at the State
Fair Grounds, the “Grand National International Morgan Horse Show” met
a horse owner who gave me a persoenl
tour of the behind the scene stable
areas, and Her $90,000.00 Morgan
stallion.
Fantastic.
My last day, I topped off with a
morning at the National Cowboy and
Western Museum.
Fran B.
Which Presidential
Candidate Stands Closest
to the Health Care
Industry?
Oohrah to Military Dad!
Thank your family for me for the
service and the back up for my boy...
USMC Cpl. James. I become
frustrated when I see one of my
patients on medicaid with a cell
phone, a pager and a car that is more
expensive than mine and realize I am
helping to pay for their medical care
when I recently had to fight to get
health care and I pay for my
insurance. I would love to see some
of the frivolous handouts stopped. As
to the comment from Tonya about
outsourcing starting when GW got
into office... ask Mr. Kerry if his wife
will stop the outsourcing at the Heinz
plant in Pittsburgh, Pa. That
outsourcing has been going on for far
more than 4 years. I would like to
know the answer if you get one... I
asked him and have not recieved an
answer.
Cheryl McF.
ANA Endorsement
I am glad to see that the ANA
endorses a democratic candidate.
That makes me all the more certain
that I will join after I graduate from
nursing school I believe that some of
the republican ideas such as opposing
stem cell research will further
degredate the state of medicine.
Elizabeth B.
To Respond to the Message Board submissions, go to
www.denvernursingstar.com Message Board.
To Add a Topic, send an email to
[email protected]
Healthy Living
Epilepsy Drug Linked to Developmental Delays in Offspring Sinus Infections
Study finds kids showed low IQs when mothers took
sodium valproate
The epilepsy drug sodium
valproate has been linked to
children
born
with
developmental delays and
lower IQs, says research
published in the current issue
of the Journal of Neurology,
Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.
The study focused on 375
children born to mothers with
confirmed epilepsy in Liverpool
and Manchester in northwest
England.
All but 80 of the children
had been exposed to epilepsy
drugs while in the womb. In
41 cases, the drug was sodium
valproate.
Researchers found that
children whose mothers had
taken sodium valproate alone
had an IQ in the low-average
range, an average of seven
points lower than would have
been expected, wrote lead
author David Chadwick of the
Walton Centre for Neurology
and Neurosurgery in Liverpool.
A verbal IQ score of 69 or
lower was more than three
times likely in children exposed
to sodium valproate alone,
compared with children whose
mothers had not taken any
epileptic drugs.
Anatomical abnormalities
also were more common
among children exposed to
sodium valproate in the womb,
affecting 44 percent of children
compared with 9 percent of
those exposed to the epilepsy
drug carbamazepine, and 2
percent among those whose
mothers took no drugs at all.
The research followed up
on a 2000 British study that
tentatively linked epileptic
drugs taken by mothers to
developmental delays in their
children.
That study found that
mothers taking sodium
valproate in combination with
other drugs were 2.5 times
more likely to have a child
with developmental delays. If
they were taking sodium
valproate alone, that risk rose
to 3.4 times.
Crop Up in
Autumn
Fall marks start of
more than cold and flu
season
Not only is fall the start of
the cold and flu season, it's also
the time of year when sinus
infections become more common.
"The cooler, dry weather
associated with the fall allergy
season will cause an increase in
the frequency and severity of sinus
infections and sinus headaches,
especially in seasonal allergy
sufferers. Many people who believe
they have the common cold may
actually have a sinus infection and
are self-mediating improperly," Dr.
Brian A. Smart, vice chairman of
the American Academy of Allergy,
Asthma and Immunology's (AAAAI)
sinusitis committee, said in a
prepared statement.
More than 31 million
Americans suffer from sinus
infections. It's one of the most
common disorders in the United
States, accounting for more than
18 million visits to doctors and
more than $5.8 billion in healthcare expenses each year.
A sinus infection is caused by
inflammation of the nasal sinuses.
This inflammation is often caused
by inadequate draining of mucus
due to colds, allergies, infections,
or structural problems. Sinusitis
symptoms include: profuse, thick
yellow-green discharge from the
nose; plugged nose; headache;
facial pain or pressure; toothache;
cough, ear pressure; and fatigue.
The AAAAI recommends that
people who think they may have
sinusitis seek proper diagnosis and
treatment.
"When left untreated or
undiagnosed, sinus infections can
cause further complications with
the nose, eyes or middle ear,
lasting for months or even years,"
Smart said.
Page 14
November 8, 2004
s
r
u
N
Who is your favorite
superhero and why?
Who is your favorite
superhero and why?
“Florence Nightingale is my favorite
superhero,” Balshaw said. “She
doesn’t fly, but she did work
miracles.”
“My mother. She’s been a nurse for
25 years, and has helped me
through nursing school,” Backhaus
said. “She really helped me learn
how to care for patients.”
Denver’s Nursing Star
k
l
t a
e
Each week we visit with
health care professionals
throughout the Denver area.
When I
grow up I
want to be
a nurse.
Who is your favorite
superhero and why?
Who is your favorite
superhero and why?
“Spiderman because he is a normal
person who has a little something
extra.”
“The relief pitcher for the Boston
Red Socks – waited 50 years for
them to win a pennant, and they
couldn’t have done it without him.”
If you would like us to visit
your facility, please email
Priya Jenkins at:
[email protected]
ason PP.. Smith
Photo bbyy JJason
Donna Balsha
w, RN
ur se pr
Balshaw
RN,, nnur
proo g r am
mana
managger
Den
Denvver Health
ason PP.. Smith
Photo bbyy JJason
Allison Bac
khaus
Backhaus
khaus,, RN
Den
Denvver Health
Evasive Bacteria Spreading
In the News...
Commentary by Dr. Linda Mundorff RN, MPH,
MSN, ND
Over the
years,
studies
h a v e
documented
t h a t
Dr
Dr.. Linda Mundorf
Mundorfff RN
RN,, MPH,
noscomial
MSN, ND
infections
were on the rise in hospitals.
Noscomial infections were
considered rogue germs that
took residence in hospitals;
thriving on the immune
suppressed critically ill patient.
But during those years, even if
an infection was contracted,
new-generation antibiotics were
available to treat and cure those
secondary infections. These
infections, once fallen prey to
antibiotics of the 20th century,
now are resistant to the same
drugs that saved millions of
lives before. Today the enemy
waits, taking its time, lying
dormant in unsuspecting
portals, waiting for the right
time to erupt. They attack with
little warning and leave few
survivors. Epidemiologists
warned that this time would
come. Inappropriate and overusage of antibiotics, antibiotics
in our water supply, even
antibiotics in our hand and body
soaps have created a generation
of stronger and more resistant
super bugs that fend-off the
antibiotics with little to no
problem.
These super bugs are
everywhere, they are more
common than one would think,
and occurring in places that no
one would suspect. All across
America, our emergency rooms
are becoming inundated with
patients with mysterious skin
eruptions. One patient, a 10year-old child was swimming
in her local pool. An activity
Please let us know...
Email your thoughts and comments
regarding Nurse Talk to
[email protected] or mail
to Denver’s Nursing Star, P.O. Box
2078, Broomfield, Colo. 80038-2078
she participated in on a regular
basis. However this time, when
she came out of the pool her
mother noticed a red rash with
small blister-like bumps on the
child’s back. Within weeks, the
vesicle-latten rash spread to her
trunk, her face, and her mouth.
After a year of high-dose steroid
usage, pain and skin deformity,
the rash finally disappeared as
mysteriously as it came. No
amount of antibiotic treatments
would help, in fact the
treatments made the infection
worse.
Other documented cases of
bizarre skin eruptions are
cropping up all over the
country. No clear pattern can
be distinguished, the eruptions
are occurring in cities all over
the country; in men, women,
children, across all socioeconomic, and ethnic groups.
These super bugs were once
thought to be mutations of the
original noscomial strains found
in hospitals. However after
closer examination, and study,
it was found that these super
bugs actually have nothing to
do with the hospital-related
bacteria of the 20 th century.
These super bugs actually are
a different strain with an
ason PP.. Smith
Photo bbyy JJason
Jaime Br
enner
Brenner
enner,, RN
Den
Denvver Health
unknown origin.
With all the advances in
medical research, science, and
developments
of
new
generation-stronger antibiotic
therapy, we still can’t destroy
the new invaders. As these
bacteria continue to mutate and
become more resistant, our
ability to treat and destroy them
is getting more difficult. In a
recent report by The Centers
for Disease Control in Atlanta,
506 new drugs were getting
ready to be released into the
market, however only 5 of those
506 drugs were antibiotics. The
big pharmaceutical houses are
not making huge amounts of
profits in antibiotic drug sales
anymore. The new big money
makers are in drugs that lower
cholesterol, arthritis-fighting
drugs, anti-obesity drugs, and
pediatric antidepressant usage.
So what is the average
American to do to protect
themselves and their families
from the super bugs that are
slowing
invading
our
communities and homes? This
author recommends not taking
antibiotics for anything other
than bacterial infections. Ask
for a culture, if the doctor
suspects a bacterial infection.
ason PP.. Smith
Photo bbyy JJason
Mar
cia Hallenbec
k, RN
Marcia
Hallenbeck,
Den
Denvver Health
If antibiotics are prescribed,
follow
the
medication
directions.
Do not share
medication or stop taking the
medication. In order for the
medicine to work, it must be
taken for the full amount of
time prescribed at the full dose
prescribed. There must be a
steady amount of medicine in
the body to fight off infection.
If there is a drop in the level
of medicine in the blood then
it gives the infection an
opportunity to grow and
mutate. For example, if the
prescription calls for a 5 cc dose
t.i.d., then that means: take a
teaspoon- three times, within a
24-hour-period, or every 8
hours. A teaspoon is 5 cc,
however it has been found that
regular household teaspoons
vary in size from 3-5cc.
Therefore, it is suggested that
liquid medication be taken with
a calibrated measuring spoon
which oftentimes is given free
by the pharmacist. Lastly, the
doctor should be informed about
all medications currently being
taken by the patient: over-thecounter, prescriptions, and herbal
remedies, which could interfere
with the effectiveness of
antibiotic therapy.™
Denver’s Nursing Star
November 8, 2004
LETTER
TO THE
Reading Red Flag Behaviors
on Internet Dating
Out of the boxx...
Commentary by Mary Jo Fay, RN, MSN
So you’re single
again and the
concept of Internet
dating seems new
and exciting! Upon
your first glimpse,
you feel like a kid
in a candy store!
Mar
Maryy JJoo FFaay, RN
RN,, MSN
New partners by the
hundreds! People just like you – divorced,
or otherwise broken relationships, hurt
feelings, wounded souls – just looking to
be loved by someone like YOU! Right??
Well, beware. Just as you need to be
careful when you meet people in the bar
scene, the Internet is chock full of predators
as well. However, there are lots of “Red
Flags” to look for to protect yourself, IF
you know how to read the signs.
I’m tempted to write a book just on
Internet dating “smarts.” You know – things
like what to say and not to say to appear
to be kind, generous, and all those things
that make the writer appear to be a perfect
catch. And yet, how would the unsuspecting
know then? The red flags would all be
hidden and booby traps would be walked
into by unsuspecting victims by the score!
Naw – I think it’s best to warn you –
the recipient, what to look for and let the
narcissistic Don Juan’s (or their female
counterparts) show their true colors for
what they are!
Here are a few actual statements from
profiles of men currently on the Internet
dating scene …
“I’m one of those individuals that is
looking for a attractive, well kept, female…”
On his description of himself, he claims
to be “very attractive.”(Big red
flag!)Hmmmm… has he looked in the mirror
lately? Balding, slightly overweight, posed
in three pictures on his Harley need I say
more?
“Seeking smart, funny, sexy, balanced,
introspective, well read, credible, flexible,
independent, complete woman with a fine
CryptaQuote
XVG EGDPGX FR EXZSWNL SFJNL WE XF
IWBG VFNGEXIS, GZX EIFHIS, ZNO IWG
ZKFJX SFJP ZLG.
IJDWIIG KZII
Page 15
EDITOR
ass. If her ass is other than fine, I’ll guess
we’ll have to focus on her brains and
personality. If you’re not smiling right now,
then my sense of humor either didn’t
translate or you’ll not think me charming.”
Was that supposed to be cute and endear
him to me? I’ll pass…
Then of course, there are the guys who
list their income, ($100,000 -$200,000!) and
absolutely nothing else about themselves!
Guess they figure that with their money
they can get anyone they want. If you fall
for that, it’s important to realize up front
that money is the only thing important to
them. There will not be depth of character,
an interesting, empathetic personality, an
interest in YOU.
“I dress my women in the finest clothes.”
(MY WOMEN?!)
This actual statement came from the
same $200,000 income gentleman who sent
me this quick email that said, “Meet me at
Jake’s Bar tomorrow night at 7. You won’t
be disappointed!” That’s it. No info on him
except about his money and how he “dressed
HIS women in the finest clothes.”
Hmmmmm… when I opened up his
photos, there he was with a woman who
looked just like me! Talk about CREEPY!
I wrote him back and said “No thank
you,” that I didn’t think our profiles showed
much in common. He wrote back livid …
“What? You’re refusing to meet with me?”
In essence … his ego screamed back over
email, (never a pretty site) and I blocked
any further communication with this
To solve substitute each letter
for another, each letter
consistently represents another.
One clue is given (e.g. F=O),
so for every occurence of “F”
within the quote and author you
would substitute a “O”.
Answer on page 13.
CLUE:
F=O
___ ______ __ _______ _____ __ __
SAMPLE:
FQMAM OY, QIRMLMA, E
SOBOF
EF
RQOJQ
DIAZMEAEUJM JMEYMY FI
ZM E LOAFNM.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _, _ _ _ _ _ _
MGBNUG ZNACM
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.
The clue was: M = E
"There is, however, a limit at
which forbearance ceases to be
a virtue. "
Solve Puzzle Here"
_______ ____
Answer in next issue
CLUE:
F=O
Edmund Burke
demigod with all his money and fine
clothes!
Another man (age 64), “winked” at me
(I’m 48) to show me that he was interested.
I guess he thought he was saving himself
time and trouble with a bio that said
something like this “I have retired here in
Texas where it is warm and I can spend
lots of time on my boat. Seeking a
wonderful, attractive, intelligent woman
companion to do the same with me. No
fatties please.”
NO FATTIES, PLEASE?!
Does he think that only overweight
women will then leave him alone? Is he so
blind not to understand that ANY woman
with a brain will see that and say “What a
jerk!”
Then of course, there are those mid
life crisis statements that send me running
the other way… Things like “Seeking
someone age 25 – 35” when they themselves
are 45 or beyond. (What, do they want to
date their daughter? Will she even know
what he’s talking about when he mentions
the Kennedy assignation?) Or even weirder,
the guy is age 45 but he’s looking for
someone up to age 44. Now what’s up
with that?
Of course, the other side of that is
someone who is middle aged but has to be
sure to tell readers in the first paragraph
that “I look and act much younger than
my age.” PLEEAAASSEEEE!!!
Of course, if you do meet with one
that seems like Mr. (or Ms.) Right, don’t be
surprised if the person who arrives for your
date looks 10 or 15 years older than the
person in the photos … posting pics from
the “younger years” seems to be a common
behavior as well!
Don’t get me wrong … Internet dating
is an awesome way to meet people. Just
keep your radar up for the warning signs.
If someone seems too good to be true …
they probably are!™
Denver’s Nursing Star
Board of Commentary
Patricia Armenta, RN
Martha Collar
Eileen Doherty
Mary Jo Fay, RN, MS
Colleen Folsch
Virginia Gillispie, RN, ND
April Goode
Vickie Jenkins
Larry Leeds, RN
Vickie Mayfield, M.Ed, RN, LMFT
Dr. Trisha Phaklides
Dr. Linda Mundorff , MPH, MSN, ND, RN, NC
Carol Shenold, RN, CIC
Elizabeth Sowdal, RN
Marvel Williamson, Ph.D., RN, CS
Opinions expressed in columns and
letters to the editor are not necessarily the
opinions of employees, ownership of this
newspaper or the publishing company.
Come to Kaiser Permanente,
In an atmosphere that fosters shared decisionmaking among nurses, management, and
physicians, Kaiser Permanente is creating a
culture that delivers optimal care for our
members and a collaborative work experience
for our nurses. In fact, Kaiser Permanente is a
national leader in delivering high-quality,
affordable health care, and our diversity of
services provides many opportunities for you to
explore and excel. In return for your skills and
dedication, we offer competitive pay and
excellent flexible benefits, staffing levels that
allow work/life balance, a wide array of
leave your indelible mark.
disciplines and specialties, and an environment
that rewards employees.
B E S T
I N
T H E
W E S T
Kaiser Permanente’s Colorado Region ranks among the Top10 Health Plans in the U.S., according to the annual Health Care Quality Report of the National Committee for
Quality Assurance (NCQA). No other Colorado health plan is listed among the top 10 (National Committee for Quality Assurance, The State of Health Care Quality 2003).
WE HAVE THE FOLLOWING OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE
RNs
• Medical Review Supervisor, OB/GYN Nurse Manager, Head/Neck Surgery Charge Nurse, Gastroenterology Charge Nurse, Heart
Failure Care Manager, Asthma Care Manager, Population Management Cardiac Rehabilitation
• Adult Chronic Care Coordinator, Senior Care Coordinator, Pediatric Chronic Care Coordinator
• Primary Care, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Float Pool, Head/Neck Surgery, General Surgery, Neuro Surgery, Dermatology,
Cardiology, Pulmonology, Minor Surgery, Infectious Disease, Latino Center of Excellence, Infectious Disease,
Ophthalmology/Retinal Surgery, Mental Health
LPNs
NPs
• Primary Care
• Float Pool
• General Surgery
•NeuroSurgery
• Orthopedics
• Urology
• Gastroenterology
• Pediatrics
• General Surgery
• OB/GYN
• Alternate Care
• Same Day Surgery Patient Education
• Childbirth Education
• Cardiology
• Family Practice
• General Surgery
• Nephrology
Bilingual candidates in English and Spanish are highly preferred.
If you would like to work in a caring, customer-focused
atmosphere, please visit us online at jobs.kaiserpermanente.org,
or contact Phil Mizuno, NP at (303) 338-3563.
j
o
b
s
.
k
a
i
s
e
r
p
e
r
Kaiser Permanente is proud to be an equal opportunity/affirmative
action employer. Principals only.
m
a
n
e
n
t
e
.
o
r
g