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Allen Open Forums
This month we had a record attendance at the Open Forum meetings with 1,153 associates attending one of the 18 sessions offered at various times on various days. I am grateful for the written feedback we received regarding the Forums, and I wanted to note a couple of comments in particular that we received. A number of associates have taken offense that we highlight special efforts and accomplishments of nurses while failing to recognize other associates doing important work such as coding. To a certain extent, I believe this complaint is legitimate, and we will try to do a better job recognizing all areas of Allen Health System.
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All Allen associates are important and play a role in our success. The coder is a good example. Unless we code the expected complication and expected mortality rates will be inaccurate when calculated, and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services will view our observed-to- expected rates as too high. Likewise, if finance associates don’t accurately capture our expenses or revenues, our statement of income will be inaccurate. Foundation associates play a key role in raising money for important capital projects we need to complete, such as the expansion of Allen College to meet increased enrollment. Everyone has a key role to play. When it’s done well, we want to recognize those associates, whatever area they are in.
Another associate commented that I was too focused on awards rather than patient care. I want to clarify that the most important award we are pursuing - Thomson Reuters Top 100 Hospital recognition - utilizes quality patient indicators to select winning hospitals. Only those hospitals with high patient safety scores and low mortality and complication rates are selected. Improvement in these quality indicators and others like fall rates, infection rates and readmissions is what we are going after. The award is a nice way of recognizing that we have made progress and letting the public know that we have made progress too. We want the community to know that Allen stands for great patient care.
We received a number of questions from the Open Forums and are in the process of answering all those questions in writing. We will circulate the questions and answers throughout Allen so you can see them.
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NEI AHEC Preceptor of the Year
While the clinical training component of the Northeast Iowa AHEC’s program continues to grow, the need for area preceptors increases. As DO, PA, NP, CNM, and other students seeking healthcare certifications and degrees utilize AHEC to complete their required clinical training from various institutions, the demand for placements is on the rise. AHEC could not begin to meet this demand without the welcome and willingness of area providers taking these students in. With this in mind, we would like to use National AHEC Week to thank all of those who help us contribute to the training of future healthcare professionals.
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As we host such a wide variety of students while encouraging the consideration of primary care and practice with underserved and rural patient populations, several preceptors are involved with AHEC programming. As the number of AHEC preceptors involved to date exceeds 125, there are too many to individually recognize each year. As such, it is up to the students to submit nominations for Preceptor of the Year. Honorable mentions go to Dr. Kaaki (Allen OB/GYN), Marti Hall, ARNP (Aplington-Parkersburg Family Practice), Kelly Hassman, ARNP (Waterloo Internal Medicine), Dr. Kamenova (Cedar Valley Cancer Center), Dr. Krishna (Peoples Community Health Clinic), and Michele Friedman, ARNP (Waterloo Internal Medicine) as well as the Allen ED and OR for their consistent involvement in clinical training for students at all levels!
This year’s NEI AHEC Preceptor of the Year award goes to Dr. Matthew Smith! Dr. Smith has been involved as a preceptor since the start of Allen’s partnership with Des Moines University’s AHEC acting as a core site for a growing number of DO students. Every year, Dr. Smith welcomes in the third-year students and has continued to welcome them back during their fourth year as many have requested a second rotation with him. The students have consistently commented on his clinical expertise, demeanor with patients and staff, business sense, and willingness to let them in on multiple aspects of patient care during their rotations. Additional comments shared by those who’ve worked with Dr. Smith express their appreciation more extensively.
“(Dr. Smith) is an outstanding physician who cares for his patients in a down-to-earth manner.”
“Preceptors since comment on how well my oral presentations are based on what Dr. Smith has taught me.”
“No matter how many mistakes I made, I was always corrected in a polite and professional manner and was allowed the opportunity to do it again correctly.”
“Nothing during the rotation was too small or unimportant to learn.”
Dr. Smith has been described as brilliant, welcoming, intense, and selfless. He has been a great asset to NEI AHEC and has helped several students improve clinically, personally, and professionally. Many look at the prospect of a career in Family Practice differently after seeing his approach and attitude toward his patients and practice. We appreciate all he has done and continues to do! The Preceptor of the Year Award was presented to Dr. Smith earlier this week.
Faces of AHEC Update
This year’s group of DO students rotating through Northeast Iowa has now completed at least 8 rotations each. In that amount of time, lessons have been learned, guidance has been offered, each has grown, and minds have changed. Upon their arrival, we saw a highlight of what rotation each student was most looking forward to and their ideas as to their most likely practice choice. As happens with most medical students now immersed in the clinical setting and exposed to various options, the initial presumptions are not still today’s intentions.
As you know, AHEC is focused on encouraging the consideration of primary care particularly for rural and underserved populations. Working with Allen Hospital and other area organizations and providers allows us to offer the students exposure to settings that clearly exemplify such practice. We are thrilled when students open their minds to primary care, find they enjoy rural settings, discover compassion in serving the underserved, or unveil a love of Iowa which prompts consideration or establishes intention to return or stay in our state!
The seven students who will be wrapping up their year with us in July (and begging to stay around longer) have made decisions that reflect these thrilling results. We have students beginning their residency application process for Internal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Family Medicine, and Emergency Medicine. Additionally, we have students still focused on entering a specialty in which they’ve found their passion. Be it Cardiology, Ophthalmology, Occupational Medicine, or Hematology/ Oncology, all were able to solidify their preferences through the time and talent offered from NEI AHEC preceptors. A couple have every intention of returning to Iowa to practice after residency and others would consider returning as well.
As we celebrate National AHEC Week this year, the students are a reminder of what makes AHECs great! The need for providers is vast in our area and we value the time these future practitioners spend with us and the ways in which their careers can be influenced through our program. Other students have rotated through the program from other professional paths and every time we see them employed locally, we find great joy. We thank all of our preceptors for the time and talent they share, Allen for its continued support, and the many others that assist us with our mission.
National AHEC Week 2011: March 21 - 25
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Allen Info Spot
A new informational area has been added to AllenNet. The “Allen Info Spot” is the place to go for postings of information you need to know such as the “Share Our Success Plan”; associate forum survey link, Q & A, and summary; flu shot info, open enrollment info, etc.
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Reminder
Effective April 2, the Outpatient Registration desk (Entrance 8) will no longer be staffed on weekends. This desk will close at 6:00 pm Friday evenings and re-open at 5:00 am Monday morning. There will be a large sign and telephone placed on this desk for patients and visitors to dial “0” for assistance which will forward to the ER registration staff.
Patient Satisfaction for February
Congratulations to these Allen departments who hit their stretch goal for patient satisfaction scores in February. Click here and here. Each department is studying their patient satisfaction surveys and identifying ways to give patients and their families the very best care.
Picker Institute Awards Always Events
Grant to Iowa Health System
Picker Institute, an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to improving patient-centered care, announced today that it had awarded a matching grant to Iowa Health System. The grant is being administered under Picker Institute’s Always Events/Always Experiences initiative, which was launched in April 2010. The grant is one of 20 awarded to institutions around the country.
Always Events/Always Experiences refers to those aspects of the patient and family experience that should always occur during interaction with healthcare professionals and/or the healthcare delivery system. The grant program provides matching funds in support of innovative approaches to creating specific Always Events that achieve measurable improvements in patient- and family-centered care.
IHS will develop and implement an “Always Use Teach-Back!” toolkit for the three care settings encountered by patients being discharged from the hospital: hospital discharge, primary care follow-up and home health support. The toolkit will include training modules with videos demonstrating effective use of teach-back. IHS will train and coach physicians and nurses on the “Always Use Teach-Back!” approach.
The Always Events encompass Teach-Back (T-B) opportunities during a patient’s hospitalization and upon arrival in the next care setting. Physicians and nurses will educate and discover (in a non-shaming way) what the patient or family caregiver understood using T-B. The aim is to have patients/family caregivers able to teach back in their own words:
· Danger signs and symptoms to watch for after discharge from hospital
· Action steps if signs or symptoms occur
· Key medications related to principal diagnosis
· Critical self-care activities
· Follow-up appointments
IHS has the ongoing benefit of patient and family advisors in developing appropriate T-B interventions through their HLC, partnership with the New Readers of Iowa and Reducing Readmissions Collaborative.
For more information, visit http://alwaysevents.pickerinstitute.org/.
New BLS Recommendations
Erin Peters, MSN, RN, Professional Coordinator
As you have probably heard over the last several months the American Heart Association (AHA) has released updated recommendations for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care. These changes were made based on the last five years of new research, past research and recommendations of experts in the field. There are exciting changes in the sequence. For example it is now recommended that you initiate chest compressions prior to delivering rescue breaths. The changes were implemented to simplify training and to improve bystander response after a victim suddenly collapses.
Allen Hospital will begin training on the new guidelines as of April 1, 2011. The updated materials will be posted on the Allen Intranet no later than March 25. Look under the Education Tab in the section titled BLS Materials. The updated material will include the new AHA algorithm C-A-B, (Compression, Airway, Breathing), a comparison chart outlining the new changes and rationale, and the new skills checklist.
Things to keep in mind:
- Please review the new material before attending any BLS Renewal Class
after April 1, 2011.
- You do not have to renew with the new material until your current CPR card expires. For example, if you just renewed your BLS in March 2011, you do not need to renew until March 2013 as scheduled.
Please take a moment to review the new guidelines.
Allen College Student Presentations
Click here for schedules for student presentation on Monday, March 28, 2011.
Stop over and review the presentations that our students have prepared.
Thank You
Deanna Van Beisien, RN, received this thank you card she wanted to share with fellow associates.
"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. " Phillippians 1:3. I would like to thank each of your nurses for their wonderful care of our young son during his admission. You have an extraordinary team of nurses. We have had several admissions with our son and have been so impressed and happy with the care we've received! I hope you will share this note with them and commend them on such wonderful care! Thank you to ALL!"
I think this speaks volumes to the compassion our nurses have in Pediatrics, not only with the patient. but also with the parents.
Allen Heart Walk Team Captain Kickoff
Heart Walk Team Captain Kickoff for Allen captains will be Friday, March 25 from 2:00-4:00 pm in the South Dining Room. We will have laptops available for any captains who wish to register online. Want to be a captain, or just want to get more information about the Heart Walk? Stop on by! For more information, contact Angie in Corporate Relations at fullerad@ihs.org or ext. 3960.
Allen College Honors Project Kicks off Seeds for the Fatherless Shoe Drive
Where Shoes Become SOLES on Their Feet
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Symbols Of Love Encouragement and Support for orphaned, abandoned, and fatherless children close to home and far away.
DROP OFF NEW OR GENTLY-USED SHOES NEW SOCKS AND NEW SHOE LACES
at the Allen Café or Allen College Barrett Forum
March 28th - April 3rd
The shoe drive is an Allen College honors project conducted in partnership with Seeds for the Fatherless.
Seeds for the Fatherless is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that has been caring for orphaned, abandoned, and the fatherless close to home and far away since 2005. Learn more at www.seedsforthefatherless.org.
If you have questions or need more information email us: shoedrive@home.seedsforthefatherless.org
Financial donations can be made at www.justgive.org and designate Seeds for the Fatherless as your charity.
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Save the Date
The Beat Goes On - April 15, 2011
Click here for registration information and form.
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Allen Auxiliary Blood Drive
April 7
7:30 – 10:30 AM
To schedule go to www.bloodcenterofiowa.org or call the Volunteer office at 3692
Thank you for your support!
Allen Gift Shop News
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April 25 and 26
Books Are Fun
May 26 and 27
Scrubs and Beyond
June 8
Egyptian Sheets Sale
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All events are held in Meeting Room #5
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You Can't Beat This Deal!
Junior League is collecting donations of prom dresses, bridesmaid dresses, shoes and accessories through April 6th. They will then hold an event on April 9th from 10:00am -5:00pm at Crossroads Center to dress young ladies for prom who may not be able to afford a new dress at full price.
Click here for details and locations for dropping off dresses and accessories.
Proceeds will be donated to the Northeast Iowa Food Bank.
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Operation Threshold
What: Open House for Operation Threshold’s New
Service Center/Central Office
Where: 1535 Lafayette Street, Waterloo
When: 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m., Thursday, March 31, 2011
Brief Program at 3:30 p.m.
