RxTraA publication for the staff of Hartford Hospital June 3, 2013 Vol. 69 No. 20

Fifteen Nurses Honored With Nightingale AwardsFifteen nurses at Hartford Hospital were honored on May 9 with the prestigious Nightingale Award for Excel-lence in Nursing. The Night-ingale Awards celebrate out-standing nurses and elevate the nursing profession in Connecticut.

The winners were honored at the 11th An-nual Hartford Regional Night-ingale Awards Gala. There

were 114 honorees from 32 or-ganizations throughout great-er Hartford. Hosted by VNA HealthCare at the Hartford Marriott, it was a highlight of National Nurses Week.

“These nurses exemplify on a daily basis the values we hold dear at Hartford Hospital,” said president and CEO Jeffrey Flaks. “Our values are caring, integrity, safety and excel-lence. Our Nightingale win-ners incorporate those values into everything they do. We are so proud of all of them.”

Hartford Hospital’s Nightin-gale winners for 2013 are:

• Lynn Belanger, Jefferson House

• Diane Braga, Wom-en’s Health & Ambulatory Services

• Izabela Burzynski, GI Endoscopy

• Christine Calheno, Oncology

• Phyllis DeMaine, Case Coordination

• Jason Doonan, CEN LIFE STAR

• Lanetta Gann, Medicine

• Ray Lilburn, Institute of Living

• Susan Mullin, Cardiology

• Linda Raye Olander, Car-diac Surgery

• Ilona Sapieha, Surgery

• Linda Shapcott, West Hartford Surgery Center

• Man-Ling Tang, Orthopedics

• Judith M. Tartaglia, Surgery

• Christine Werner, Elec-tronic Health Record Team

The awards are named for Florence Nightingale, who laid the foundation of pro-fessional nursing with the establishment in 1860 of the first secular nursing school in the world.

Winners are chosen for making a significant impact on patient care and/or the nursing profession; going “beyond the call” in a clear-ly illustrated scenario; dem-onstrating excellence above what is normally expected; showing commitment to the community served in a way that is significantly above the norm; or achieving a life-long legacy in a particu-lar arena.

Lynn Belanger (above) and Jason Doonan (below) were among the 15 nurses from Hartford Hospital who were honored on May 9 with Nightingale Awards for Excellence in Nursing.

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Compliance Questions or Concerns?

If you need to obtain information about compliance issues or raise concerns regarding internal and regulatory practices or policies, please contact your supervisor or call the ComplianceLine, a confidential and toll-free service, at

1-855-HHC-OCAP or online at HHC.OCAPComplianceLine.com

Community benefit programs serve vulnerable populations. Black men are definitely a vulnerable popula-tion: they have some of the worst health indicators of all racial/eth-nic groups, male or female.

Black men suffer from more chron-ic disease and die at earlier ages than any other demographic group. They have the lowest life expec-tancy and highest death rate com-pared to men and women in other racial/ethnic groups in the United States. The overall death rate for African American men is 1.3 times that of white men.

Hartford Hospital has partnered with the Omega Foundation of Hartford to address health dispari-ties affecting this group by creating the Black Men’s Health Project.

The Health Project, a series of work-shops and health fairs addressing disparities in health for this group, is a modest start toward helping Black men become healthier.

They will address topics of specific interest to Black men and will take place in areas most heavily popu-lated by Black men.

The Black Men’s Health Project has offered several events so far:

Leadership in Health and Medicine for Youth - a city-wide mentoring program for young men to age 17.

Take Charge of Your Health Day – provided presentations on prostate cancer, high blood pressure, diabe-tes, nutrition and fitness, as well as “Navigating through Difficult

Decisions” and “Positive Thinking.” This event, held at the ERC, was at-tended by 250 men.

Churches on Main Street Health Fair – in addition to screenings and health education for Black men, this event included services for women through our mobile mam-mography van.

Barber Shops Initiative – an effort to reach men with prostate, heart health and diabetes education as well as screenings in the neigh-borhood barber shops where they assemble.

The Omega Foundation of Hartford, Inc. is a private, nonprofit founda-tion dedicated to serving the Great-er Hartford Community by making a difference in education and pro-moting positive health awareness. The primary aim of the Foundation is to focus our efforts and resourc-es on addressing disparities in ear-ly education and health awareness.

By partnering with the Omega Foundation, Hartford Hospital has formed a coalition to improve com-munity health in a meaningful way that exceeds what either institu-tion could do on its own.

Community Benefits Programs at Hartford Hospital:

The Black Men’s Health Project

Staff from Hartford Hospital and the Omega Foundation volunteered at the Churches on Main Street Health Fair, which offered screenings and health education for black men, as well as mobile mammography screenings for women.

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Janet Moriarty of Glastonbury at-tended Hartford Hospital’s Cardiac Rehabilitation program, an exercise and health program aimed at help-ing people recover from a recent heart hospitalization.

She developed a lasting impression of the importance of heart healthy living during a group education session with Dr. Paul Thompson, chief of Cardiology.

Moriarty continues to recognize the cardiac rehab program as being an integral part of healing for both herself and cardiac patients in her community.

So she recently made a generous donation toward the purchase of a NuStep® exercise machine for the Glastonbury cardiac rehab site.

NuStep® manufactures high-quality recumbent cross trainers that pro-vide a safe, effective, total body workout for users of virtually any fitness level or health conditions.

The NustepTM is partic-ularly important for pa-tients who may not be able to exercise easily on a treadmill or bike.

For more information on cardiac rehab, please visit our web site at har-thosp.org/heartcenter/cardiacrehab.

<Janet Moriarty on the NuStep exercise machine.

Grateful Patient Donates Equipment To Cardiac Rehab Program

A Double Celebration At The Institute of LivingOn May 9, during National Nurs-es Week, Dr. Barbara Wolfe, asso-ciate dean for Research at Boston College, William F. Connell School of Nursing was recognized as the second recipient of The Institute of Living Annie Goodrich Distin-guished Nurse Lectureship Award. The award was created to cele-brate the extraordinary accom-plishments and rich legacy of Dr. Goodrich, who was consulting di-rector of Nursing at the IOL from 1938-1941 and established its na-tionally famous postgraduate pro-gram in psychiatric nursing.

Dr. Wolfe, a celebrated speaker, pro-lific writer and nurse researcher, was chosen to receive this award because she exemplifies Goodrich’s values: excellence in scholarship, teaching and in advancing psychi-atric nursing practice. She received the award after her Grand Rounds presentation, entitled “Neurotrans-mitter Regulation and Eating Behavior.”

Dr. Wolfe’s clinical expertise is in the care of women with eating

disorders. Her research, funded over the past two decades by the National Institute of Mental Health, focuses on the relation-ship between biologi-cal correlates of clinical symptoms having impli-cations for intervention and relapse prevention.

She is past president of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, and recently served on the American Psychiatric As-sociation’s DSM-5 Work-group for Eating Disorders which will be released this month.

In addition to her work at the IOL in the 1930s and 1940s, Annie Go-odrich was organizing dean of the Army School of Nursing, first dean of Yale University School of Nurs-ing, and president of the Interna-tional Council of Nurses and the American Nurses’ Association. She died in 1954 at the age of 88, and in 1976 she was inducted into the

American Nurses Association Hall of Fame.

On May 1, renovations were com-pleted for a room at The Institute of Living Library and renamed in hon-or of Dr. Goodrich, in recognition of all the nurses at the IOL, past, pres-ent and future, who have dedicated themselves to the care of patients with psychiatric illness.

Dr. Barbara Wolfe receives the Annie Goodrich Distinguished Nurse Lectureship Award from Ellen Blair, director of Nursing at The Institute of Living.

Happening at Hartford Hospital

Questions or comments about RxTra? Contact editor Annie Emanuelli at aemanuelli@harthosp.org or 860-972-2199

Dementia Support and Education Group

The June meeting of the Dementia Sup-port/Education Group will be held on Tues-day, June 4 from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in the IOL Staunton-Williams Building, Clarke Social. A light lunch will be provid-

ed. Our June meeting will offer caregiv-er support ideas and strategies and two brief presentations on stress manage-ment and relaxation. P.S.: There will be a special surprise at this meeting! We wel-come new members. Please RSVP to Mary Cameron at ext. 5-7665.

Chair Massage in Cafeteria To Support Cancer PatientsIntegrative Medicine is offering chair massages in the cafeteria as a fund raiser for Angie’s Spa, a program that funds free in-hospital massages or oth-er services for people undergoing cancer treatment. They will be offered on Tues-day, June 4 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. in the back of the HH cafeteria. Massages are a donation of $1 per minute, with a mini-mum of 10 minutes and a maximum of 20 minutes (cash or check only please.)

BraceletGirl Coming To Cafeteria BraceletGirl.com will be in the Hartford Hospi-tal cafeteria on Thursday, June 6 from 9 a.m.–3 p.m. Come and see her afford-able collection of 18kt white or yellow gold, overlay boutique style jewelry with Swarovski crystals, sterling silver, stain-less steel and fashion jewelry, beads and charms. Sponsored by the Auxiliary Store.

D’s Jewelers Coming To Cancer Center LobbyD’s Jewelers, LLC will be in the Cancer Center Lobby with unique 14kt and ster-ling silver jewelry at affordable prices on Thursday, June 6 from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. For more information, contact Marie Corona at ext. 5-4968.

Donate At The Red Cross Blood Drive Friday

Our hearts are bro-ken by the devastation and loss of life due to the tornadoes in Okla-homa. The Red Cross is helping those affect-ed by providing shelter, food, relief supplies and emotional comfort. We

appreciate that many donors will want to give blood or platelets in support of patients in those areas. We will hold a blood drive at Hartford Hospital on Fri-day, June 7 in Heublein Hall in the ERC from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. To make an ap-pointment, call Erin at 860-545-2079, or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or go to www.redcrossblood.org and use the Sponsor Code 3962.

Celebrate Life! SundayHartford Hospital invites you to an afternoon of cele-bration and inspi-ration. Celebrate Life! Hartford Hospital’s Helen & Harry Gray Can-cer Center’s 23rd Annual Celebration of Life for patients, friends and families will be held Sunday, June 9 from 12-3:30 p.m. at the Learning Corridor, 43 Vernon Street in Hartford. For more information, contact Karen Weingrod at ext. 5-6000.

Heart Healthy Eating Lecture (En Espanol!)Hartford Hospital invites you to a free educational lecture in Spanish on Heart Healthy Eating on Tuesday, June 11 at 6:30-8 p.m. in JB-118. This lecture will be presented in Spanish by dietitian as-sistant Tasha Ramos, who lived most of her life in Puerto Rico. She currently works as a nutritionist at the Torrington WIC office and as a nutrition educator with the SNAP-Ed program. The lecture is free, and fruit and beverages will be served. Learn how to make better food choices for a healthy heart; facts about fat, sodium and fiber; and healthy cook-ing and seasoning tips. Registration is re-quired; call the Health Referral Service at 860-545-1888. For more information, contact Charlotte Meuci at ext. 5-3257.

Diabetes Support GroupDiabetes Life Care offers free support group meetings throughout the year. These educational and support sessions are where you can meet and relate to other people going through the same experiences. The next meeting will be Wednesday, June 12. All meetings are held on Wednesday evenings from 7-8:30 p.m. at the Wethersfield Satellite Site, 1260 Silas Deane Highway in Wethers-field. Pre-registration is necessary; call 860-545-1888.

Make Your Pledge TodayThe Employees Campaign is your op-portunity to provide support to Hart-ford Hospital. Plus, donors are eligible for great raffle prizes! Visit http://giving.har-thosp.org/employeescampaign or con-tact Jenn Coutu in Fund Development at ext. 5-2969 or JLCoutu@harthosp.org.