Pillar Talk Fall 2009 - Russell Medical Center

A Message From The President & CEO
Our standard for this
quarter is etiquette. All of us are
expected to demonstrate proper
etiquette at all times. This commitment is reflected through good
manners and appropriate actions:
• Be polite and respectful to everyone you
meet each day.
• Address others appropriately using proper
names and titles. (Dr. Smith, Rev. Brown)
• Acknowledge others with eye contact and a
riendly greeting when passing in the hall
ways. And say it with a smile!
• Identify yourself and your department when
providing a service or patient care and make
sure your name badge is facing the correct
way.
Great job everyone on the overwhelming
contribution our hospital and medical staff pledged this year to
United Way. As the official pacesetter for the campaign, RMC
outpaced ourselves with a grand total of over $81,000. -- the
most ever pledged by a pacesetter campaign. RMC is a fine
example of the slogan: Live United.
It’s no secret that I love Christmas, and this year we’re
going to “Jingle All The Way!” Bells will be incorporated into the
many activities scheduled throughout December. You may wear
bells (small) around your neck or on your shoes during the day
shifts. However, please be conscientious of the noise level in
patient care areas. Fridays will be designated “Festive Holly Jolly
Fridays,” and you are encouraged to wear novelty Christmas
sweaters, and ties.We all have them, so pull them out of the closet and show your Christmas spirit!
As we pause to celebrate Thanksgiving, I extend my sincere “Thanks” and appreciation to each of you for all you do for
our patients, RMC family and community. We are blessed to
have compassionate, patient-centered professionals working in
our facility. May the joy and happiness of the holiday season be
with you and your family.
us observing, then we can say, “Yes, RMC is ready for Joint
Commission”.
Maintaining our Joint Commission accreditation is ongoing.
The Joint Commission surveyors come to Russell Medical
Center for on-site survey at least once every 3 years. When
they come to survey RMC it is an unannounced date. We don’t
know they are coming until the morning they arrive. If we knew
when surveyors were coming, it would certainly be more convenient for our schedules. But that is the only reason for us to
have the desire to know “the date”. Every day RMC employees
care for patients and visitors with the highest quality. We all follow policies and procedures, and we are continually working to
improve patient care and safety. If every one of us performs
our job as if a Joint Commission Surveyor were standing beside
Here are some questions for each of us to ask
ourselves related to Joint Commission standards and
patient safety goals?
• How do I respond in the event of a fire?
• What Performance Improvement (PI) activities has my
department been involved in?
•What are National Patient Safety Goals?
•How do I know the patient care equipment I am using is safe?
Is there a place to look to ensure the Biomed department has
checked a piece of equipment?
• When should I use hand sanitizer?
• What is RMC doing to promote patient safety?
Please feel free to contact Misty Anderson through email or at
extension 7168 with any questions or comments.
Communication……..Am I clear?
Clear communication with each patient is one of the
keys to successful outcomes for both the patient and the
hospital as a whole.To ensure we are clearly heard by the patient
and that we clearly hear patient needs, we are expanding our
communication tools to reach additional patient populations.
We have recently entered into an agreement with
Access America of Shreveport, Louisiana to provide American
Sign Language (ASL) interpretation services through broadband
access. Members of the Case Management Department and IT
are working with Access America to select equipment that will
allow our staff to connect through a web cam or videophone to
have 24 hour a day access to a certified ASL interpreter.Through
this service, we will ensure more prompt and accurate patient
response through clear communication. The timing of our
contact with Access America has allowed our hospital to be
included in a federal grant proposal submitted by Access
America. If the grant is approved, we will be awarded additional
video equipment.
We can also assist our patients who experience hearing
loss by ensuring they are aware of closed captioning on all
RMC Family and Friends
Cookbook
coming
soon!
Case Management
and Medical Records
has compiled a recipe book with over 570 delicious entrees
from the staff and friends of RMC. This recipe book will be
available in December at the Gift Shop.The cost is $15.00.
The RMC Family and Friends Cookbook Team has
chosen to donate the profits from the sale of the recipe book
as their contribution to Relay for Life, 2010 in support of find-
ing a cure for this deadly disease. We are doing so in memory of our family and friends who have fought the battle with
cancer and are no longer with us, and in honor of the survivors who have fought that same battle and won.
Put the RMC Family and Friends Cookbook on your
Christmas List!
2
Pillar Talk /Fall 2009
by Rosemary Brigham
televisions in the hospital. When we hear very loud televisions
from a patient room or are aware of a patient’s hearing
challenges, offer to turn on the closed captioning.To accomplish
this task for your patients, press the menu button on the
television, then using the remote, choose caption 1, then enter.
There is a delay before the closed caption comes up.
We continue to have three interpreter phones placed in
our hospital for communicating with non-English speaking
patients.These phones are located at ER Registration, ER and the
Supervisor’s office. All are portable and can be used from any
location with a phone jack.
Communication is multifaceted. It is both verbal and
non-verbal and includes listening. For a patient to feel his or her
needs are met we need to ensure we are listening. The
equipment we currently have on -site and the equipment that will
be added in the near future will improve our listening along with
our speaking skills. To continue to improve our skills in working
with patients who are deaf, we will also offer training provided by
the Department of Mental Health, Office of Deaf Services.Watch
your email for the scheduling of this one-hour presentation.
Total Fitness Work Out
Cara Tidwell
Total Fitness plans to kick off the new year with an
Open House January 11-15 from 4p.m. to 7p.m. There will be
refreshments and tours of our facility. We welcome anyone
interested in becoming a member of our fitness facility or in
need of our licensed staff for rehabilitation purposes.
Total Fitness will once again be the host site for
Scaleback Alabama.
Total Fitness is currently registering TLC (Total Life
Change) participants The 1st TLC Program of 2010 will begin in
February.
The cost for this program is $120/ 3months
Please call Total Fitness for more information at # 7623.
Mockler Receives
Patients Choice Award
Dr. Karen Mockler was recently honored by her patients with a
Patients’ Choice recognition. This award
is tabulated by MDx Medical, Inc., an
online service providing comprehensive
information for medical professionals
nationwide so patients can choose the
best provider for their healthcare needs.
Generally, physicians receive positive reviews from their patients
but only a select few receive near perfect scores across the
board. Various components such as beside manner, doctorpatient face time and degree of follow up are rated. Dr. Mockler
is one of those physicians most highly regarded by her patients.
Congratulations to Dr. Mockler for this outstanding
distinction!
Shout-Out from Surgery
Lori Rayfield
It’s time again to introduce you to one of our very
important departments. Pre-registration is the foundation of our
Surgery Department.
There are three full-time
employees that painstakingly perform a systematic
assessment of the patient and assures that all data is
collected, documented and communicated. They are responsible
for integrating an appropriate evaluation, necessary testing,
access to consultative services, and thorough patient education
to properly prepare the patient for surgery or a procedure. The
information they collect is what starts the Plan of Care in
motion. And from this data is what many of the surgical and
anesthesia decisions are based on. As you can imagine, sometimes this is no easy task. They average 40 patients a day, starting about 7:45am to 5:00pm and they diligently go about doing
their jobs. They are Libby Forrester, Laney Simpson and Suzanne
Mann.
Libby was born in Sydney,
Australia and graduated in 1968. Of
her 41 years of nursing, 22 of those
have been here with us at RMC.
She was certified as a Midwife at
one time and has worked in ICU,
Out-patient Surgery, OR and PreAdmission. In 2008 she became an
official American citizen, but I bet
you can still find an Australian flag
Libby Forrester
somewhere around her house! She
was the original pacesetter for Pre-admission and is an excellent
resource person for all of us!
Last, but not least is Suzanne. She is from Sylacauga and attended CACC for her nursing degree. She graduated in 2000 and has
been with us since 2001. In those 9 years of nursing she has had
experience in ICU, OP Surgery, Cath lab, Endoscopy, Step Down,
and Pre-Admissions. Her critical thinking skills have come into
play a few times in pre-admission
when she had to intervene when
patients were exhibiting signs of
distress. The pre-admission staff
worked together quickly to get
patients to the ER where they
received the help that they needed.
Together they make a great team
with a total number of 80 years of
nursing experience and are a pleasure to work with! I assure you,
Suzanne Mann
without them, our jobs would be a
lot more difficult! So, once again, if they
directly or indirectly impact your job, PLEASE let them know
what great work they are doing. After all,
THEY ARE 3 OF RMC’S FINEST!
On a different note, Dr. Robinson took another group
to Honduras for his annual surgical trip. Gaynell Albright, Dr.
Nelson Cooper, and Robyn Mann, along with Dr. Robinson’s staff
traveled to Coyoles and performed many important operations
for the Honduran citizens. The returned with lots of pictures
and stories to tell! Ask them about their adventures!
That’s all for now. See ya next quarter.
Laney is a local gal born right here on Old Dark Road
in her Mother’s home not too far from where she lives now. She
attended Southern Union School of
Nursing and graduated in 1979. She
has been with RMC for the last 28
years of her career. Laney’s hospital
experience includes Pediatrics,
Post-partum, Nursery, Home
Health, OP-Surgery and PreAdmission. Laney is one of the few
nurses I remember as a great role
model when I started in 1985. She
is a tremendous asset to the team.
Laney Simpson
Hello from the POB
by Leeta McGill
The Education Department has moved to a new location by the ground floor elevators. I still see boxes, looks like
this was an exhausting move.Thank you Education for all the
flu shots.You’re awesome!
STOP! What is this, a new Volunteer desk that looks
amazing! You guys deserve it! Thanks for all you do. Isn’t it
great to be a part of the RMC family!
That’s all folks!
Congratulations to Jan Landers for receiving her Juris
Doctor from Concord Law School in California. Jan was a
leader among her peers. She served as Student Bar
President for 2 years and was awarded the Presidential
Award in 2007 , the Roy Aranda Service Award in 2008
and the Duane Hurt Service Award in 2009. These
awards were presented to Jan for her leadership, mentoring, and unselfish service to other law students.
Pillar Talk /Fall 2009 3
What is NIMS Compliance?
by Misty Anderson
NIMS stands for “National Incident
Management System.” It provides a systematic way
to guide agencies in their preparation and response
to emergency situations. When multiple agencies
respond to a disaster situation, using NIMS information helps to ensure that each agency can communicate in the same way and follow many of the same
procedures.
RMC continually supports classes for the
FEMA NIMS training. The ICS-300 & ICS-400 classes were offered in September for designated leaders. These classes totaled approximately 30 hours
of classroom time. The ICS-100, ICS-200, ICS-700,
and ICS-800 have been offered on a regular basis
since 2007. These classes can be taken individually
through the FEMA website, or they can be taken as
a combined class at RMC. The training is approximately 4 hours long. The next scheduled class for
the ICS-100, ICS-200, ICS-700, and ICS-800 will be
November 10, 2009 from 8:30 AM to 1:00 PM.
Please contact the Education Department if you
would like to register for this class.
Lake Martin Area
United Way
Russell Medical Center, in conjunction with
the physicians and their office staffs, served as the
official Pacesetter for the 2009 United Way campaign.The RMC “Cast of Many Characters” paraded
through the complex encouraging employees to
pledge their Fair Share.The grand finale of the campaign was an entertaining show starring RMC personalities. The results of the campaign were overwhelming! The RMC family pledged over $81,000!!
This is the most ever pledged in a pacesetter campaign! United Way agencies touch the lives of many
people in our service area. Thank you for your support of this very worthy cause.
Employee of the Quarter
Employee of the 2nd Quarter
Claudette Wyckoff of the Dietary
Department
This tiny lady works mostly behind the scenes, but she has a huge
impact on our organization. Claudette has been called the
“Backbone of the patient line, cafeteria and Meals on Wheels.”
She is extremely conscious about the special needs of our
patients and Meals on Wheels recipients. Congratulations
Claudette!
4 Pillar Talk /Fall 2009
Employee of the 3rd Quarter
Tina Dean of the Radiology Department
Tina has worked at RMC since 2002, starting in the Cath Lab
and ultimately moving to Ultrasound. Tina passed the ARDMS
registery for breast ultrasound and became a Ultrasound
Technologist in 2005. She is a tremendous asset to the
Radiology Department. Congratulations Tina!
Halloween Costumes at RMC
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Pillar Talk /Fall 2009
Breast Cancer Awareness Luncheon
at Central Alabama Community College
Its beginning to
look a lot like
Christmas!
Lee Stimson, Volunteer in
the Gift Shop, hangs an
ornament
on
the
Christmas Tree in preparation for the busy holiday
shopping season Stop by
the Gift Shop and find
items for everyone on
your Chrismas list!
Congratulations to Yvonne Crispin on being
named Volunteer of the Year for 2009. A member since 1987,
Yvonne has served in many areas of the hospital during her 22
year tenure at RMC. She has served as an Auxiliary officer four
times and is the sole “active” charter member. Yvonne has volunteered over 2,000 hours in the Auxiliary Gift Shop.
When she finds spare time, she enjoys gardening, grandchildren,
music, and theater.
RMC is proud and grateful to have Yvonne Crispin as a
hospital volunteer!
Holiday Tree of Lights
The Auxiliary is currently selling lights on the annual
Holiday Tree of Lights. Lights are $5.00 each, and may be
purchsed in honor or memory of a special person. Their
names will appear on the tree and in the Book of
Honor prominently displayed in the main lobby.
Acknowledgements will be sent to the honoree or family of the
person memorialized.
Your tax deductable donation wil be
used to purchase additional equipment for the
hospital.
Pillar Talk /Fall 2009
7
Jingle all the Way...
This holiday season Russell Medical Center will “Jingle all the Way” and we want everyone to participate! First,
show your Christmas spirit by wearing small jingle bells on your clothes or shoes during the day shifts throughout
December. In addition, wear those elaborate Christmas sweaters, ties and scrubs during “Festive Holly Jolly Fridays.”
The following is a list of activities designed to make the Christmas Season merry!
December 5
December 7
December 8
December 9
December 10
December 11
December 14
December 15
December 16
December 17
December 21
December 22
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All RMC children are invited to the annual party with Santa Claus, from 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. in
the Community Room. Tim Phillips and other elves will be on hand to assist with pictures!
“It’s a Magical, Musical Christmas” hometown Christmas Parade. Don’t miss the RMC sparkly
magic! The parade begins at 6:00 p.m. and meanders through downtown. Contact Mary Shockley or
Susan Foy if you would like to participate!
Tree Lighting Ceremony at 5:00 p.m. on the front lawn. Afterwards, join us for hot cider and
cookies served in the hospital lobby. The Gift Shop will be open from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Special assistance will be given to children to buy something “affordable and special” for their
parents.
Attention all departments!! Expose your “Inner Elf” and create Christmas ornaments to hang on
the Hospital Christ mas Tree located in the Total Fitness lobby. Each department is asked to submit
a minimum of two to a maximum of five ornaments. Ornaments will be judged, and the winning
department will be treated to lunch. ***Ornaments should be submitted by 8:30 a.m. on this date to
Human Resources.***
Brunch will be served to retired employees in the Community Room at 10:00 a.m. Employees are
welcome to stop by and wish the retirees a Merry Christmas.
Shhhhh! We hear a special guest will be on the campus “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree,” in
his blue suede shoes.
Do you hear what I hear? This could be your lucky day! Random drawings for Christmas prizes
will be drawn throughout the day.
A special morning treat is in store for the third shift!
Also, everyone is encouraged to stop by the Marketing Department between 8:30 a.m. – 10:30
a.m. and record special Christmas greetings to be played Christmas Eve and Christmas Day on
WKGA, 97.5.
Enjoy hot chocolate, snacks and good yuletide fellowship in the cafeteria at 2:30 p.m.
Bring an unwrapped gift for a needy child in the area to be donated to the DHR.
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas Luncheon! The annual employee luncheon will be
festive, complete with special entertainment from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Hark the RMC Angels Sing! The RMC Christmas Choir will carol throughout the hospital
during the afternoon. Please contact Mike McCaleb if you would like to sing in the choir.
‘Twas three days before Christmas… join us for our Employee Breakfast in the cafeteria between 6:30
a.m. and 8:30 a.m. The Alexander City Police and Fire Departments will be our special guests.
Pillar Talk /Fall 2009
May the magic, excitement, peace and love of Christmas
be with you and your family this holiday season.