Notes on Nursing

 
Jana Stonestreet, PhD RN
Chief Nursing Executive - MHS

Congratulations to each and every one of you for doing such a fantastic job during our Joint Commission site visit. The surveyors were very impressed with our organization and the tremendous work that has been accomplished to date.

We were fortunate to have Inez Kennemore, RN, JCAHO team leader, as one of our nurse surveyors. She truly took to heart her role as consultant and educator and she used every opportunity to share her knowledge. As she conducted the survey through our hospitals, she commented on our spirit of collegiality and the drive to excellence that she observed when she talked with our nursing staff and management team.

Now that our triannual survey is complete, our goal is to maintain the level of preparedness we achieved during the site visit each and every day of the year. We took extensive notes as the surveyors toured and reviewed our operations and we know the last minute things that we had to address rather quickly. In the weeks to come, we will be developing an internal plan that will help us maintain this state of readiness year round. Please share any suggestions for this plan with your Nurse Manager or feel free to send your ideas to me directly.

Although we did great this time around, we know there are many ways we can improve, to the benefit of our patients, families, staff and physicians. Lets keep our focus.

MHS’s Own Shania Twain...

Everyone knows that nurses are multi-talented; some more so than others. As amazing as it seems, there are those of us who not only thrive in the demanding nursing profession but in other areas as well. Leana McGuire, RN, is one such phenomenon.

Leana, originally from Ontario, Canada, graduated from the nursing program at Georgian College in Barrie Ontario. She then worked in Vancouver, BC in geriatric, medical, oncology, telemetry and intensive care. In 1997, Leana moved to San Antonio and began working at Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital in critical care.

In her spare time, Leana has actively pursued making a name for herself as a singer/songwriter. Leana is the title artist in her own trio, which includes “two guys named Bob’. She plays the rhythm guitar and sings while Bob and Bob play the guitar and keyboard, as well as provide harmony. Leana’s style has been described as Americana (a combination of folk and Country Western) with influences ranging from Nancy Griffith and Iris DeMent to Hank Williams and Merle Haggard.

The Leana McGuire trio has been establishing itself locally in such venues as Spechts General Store, Borders Cafe Expresso and the Longhorn Cafe. Recently, Leana had the.opportunity to open for Augie Meyers at Riley’s Tavern in Hunter, TX. Information about scheduled appearances can be obtained by calling Leana’s band hotline at 696-7793.

In reaction to the positive response to her performances, Leana has just released her debut CD entitiled, For Just One Day. Of the eleven songs on the sound track, ten are originals written by Leana, including “The Dating Game” which won first place in the country category of the Austin Songwriters Group’s Bare Bones Song Contest in 1998.

When asked about her future goals, Leana mentioned that she had recently mailed out several of her CDs to radio stations that play Americana/Alternative Country music, with the hope of getting airplay. She also plans to approach some record companies and publishers with the intent to sell some of her material to other artists. Her primary goal however, is to “sing every chance I get”.

Just as in nursing, if talent, hard work and perseverance are what it takes to succeed in the music industry, then Leana McGuire is more than well equipped for success. Her friends and co-workers, throughout MHS, look forward to the day when they can say, “We knew her when………..

~

Ain’t It The Truth!

Nancy P. Garcia, RN – SWTMH

Several years ago, I was working the night shift and a patient expired. I called the funeral home, which was in Boerne, around 4:00 am. They promised me that someone would arrive within the hour to pick up the deceased. Quite a bit of time went by and no funeral home representative showed up.

The funeral home was a father and son operation and after a while the concerned father called to inquire as to the whereabouts of his son. He asked me to call him if his son did not arrive by 7:00 am.

Finally, the son arrived at 6:55 am. I told him that his father (and I) had been worried about him and he was to call his father immediately. The flustered young man apologized profusely and said, “I had a flat tire and believe me, NO ONE stops to help a hearse!”.

Facility Updates

Southwest Texas Methodist Hospital

•       The Intermediate Medical/Intermediate Surgical Care Unit on 7 Central is currently undergoing renovation to improve overall efficiency. Two central nurses stations will be reduced to one, centralized pulse oximetry capability for up to six patients is being added, and a new centralized ventilator alarm system will permit transfer of up to four intermediate care level ventilator patients on this unit. Completion of this renovation is expected by mid September.

•      The Special and General Surgery Unit on 4 North is planning to designate ten intermediate level beds by early October. These beds will be utilized for special/general surgical patients who require intermediate level nursing care without the need for cardiac monitoring.

Methodist Specialty & Transplant Hospital

•  Surgical areas are gearing up for an expected increase in vascular surgery cases as they coordinate with Peripheral Vascular Associates to develop a center of excellence for vascular surgery.
  
  

•      The Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) program is rapidly expanding. RN’s who are interested in learning about this role or becoming a SANE team member can contact Shelley Botello, RN, ANM, at 752-7804.

Northeast Methodist Hospital

•       In response to the demand for increased mental health services, a 7-bed Adult Psych Unit was opened August 14, 2000. As a result, in addition to the Senior Care Unit that opened earlier this year, NEM now offers comprehensive geriatric (senior) and adult mental health services.

Metropolitan Methodist Hospital

•      Anna Gamez, NM, and staff opened an 8-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in late July.

Internet Resources

Nursing Certification - Part 1

Catherine Dikcis - Medical Librarian

Nursing certification is the process by which a registered nurse can demon­strate and be acknowledged for her/his experience and expertise. Unlike a license, it is not required in order to practice nursing. It is earned by meeting nursing experience and continuing ed­ucation eligibility criteria, and success­ful completion of an examination. Cer­tification exams are offered in a variety of clinical specialties and are sponsored by professional associations, several of which are listed below. If you would like help accessing their web sites, contact Catherine Dikcis at 575-4583 or via Meditech.

Critical Care Nursing - CCRN
AACN Certification Corporation
http://www.ce rtcorp.org/
Sponsored by American Association of Critical-Care Nurses

Emergency Nursing - CEN
Board for Certification for Emergency Nursing
http://www.ena.org/BCEN
Sponsored by Emergency Nurses Association

Oncology Nursing - OCN
Oncology Nursing Certification Corp.
http://www.oncc.org
Sponsored by Oncology Nursing Society

Orthopaedic Nursing - ONC
Orthopaedic Nurses Certification Board
http://naon.inurse.com/Certification/
Sponsored by National Association of Orthopaedic Nurses

Neuroscience Nursing - CNRN
American Board of Neuroscience Nursing
Professional Examination Service
http://www.aann.org/credential/
Sponsored by American Association of Neuroscience Nurses

Urology Nursing - CURN
CBUNA
http://www.suna.org/cert/
Sponsored by Society of Urologic Nurses & Associates

This Newsletter is a publication of Methodist Healthcare System Nursing Department.  All Nursing Department employees are welcome to submit articles related to nursing, locally or nationally.  The Editorial Board has the final decision on submissions, including editing and condensing.  Please submit material (preferably on disk or though Meditech or Outlook) to any member of the Editorial Board or directly to Sharon Garza, 5 West, MSTH.

Jana S. Stonestreet, PhD, RN Chief Nursing Executive MHS Sharon F. Garza, RN - MSTH Editor-in-Chief Editorial Board: Orna Bailey, RN - MCH Kathy Black, Admin. Assistant Deborah Bodin, RN - SWTMH Pat Cornett, Ed.D., RN - MHS Catherine Dikcis, Medical Librarian Diane Ferguson, RN - NEMH Lucy Gabrovic, RN - MCH Linda Iruegas, LVN - MMH Debbie Nichols, RN, - SWTMH Pam Putnam, RN - MSTH Cynthia Vavala, RN - OPSC Graphic Artists: David Reyna Jason Rickman

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