RxTraA publication for the staff of Hartford Hospital

Winner Announced in “Dreams For My Daughter” Essay ContestKelly DeForest, an APRN in the post-an-esthesia care unit of the main OR, is the winner of the “Dreams for my Daughter” essay contest sponsored by Women’s Health Services.

The award was announced last Wednes-day (May 4) at the Fourth Annu-al Women’s Health Services Perinatal Conference.

Kelly’s was one of 23 essays entered in the contest by HH staff members de-scribing their dreams and aspirations for their daughters. It was inspired by Mother’s Day and the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day March 8.

Honorable mention awards went to Mar-garet Ahlberg, RN in labor and delivery; Anisa Baczek, assessment clinician at the IOL; Jeanne Kessler, RN, IOL-Donnel-ly 1N; and Alice White, business systems consultant in revenue cycle IT.

Judging the essays were Rebecca Stew-art, Michaela Donnelly and Annie Eman-uelli from the Marketing Department.

“All of the essays were wonderful, and it was difficult to choose a winner,” the judges wrote. “Every one showed us how much the authors love their daughters, and spoke eloquently about all mothers’ hopes and dreams for their children.”

The contest was run in collaboration with the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood, an international coalition bound together by a common goal: to ensure that pregnancy and childbirth are safe for all women and newborns in every country around the world. They will keep the winning essays in their archives.

Here is Kelly’s winning essay:

I dream of peace for you. I dream of unconditional love for you. I dream of satisfying rewarding work for you.

I dream of a time when women ask each other “Remember all those pink ribbons? Remember when we didn’t have a cure for breast or ovarian cancer?”

I dream of a career that you love that never makes you feel torn between your job and your family. I dream of clean air and water for you and for your children and your chil-dren’s children.

I dream of you excelling in any field you choose and of never ever feeling passed by

or over or ignored. I dream of you being re-warded financially for your work and worth and never making less than your male coworkers.

I dream of your laughter and happiness.

I dream of an international ban on underwire.

I dream of you reading and traveling and experiencing and learning. I dream of you laughing and listening and growing and hoping. But most of all I dream of you one day being blessed enough to have a daugh-ter as amazing as mine.

I love you baby girl-may all your dreams come true. Mom

May 9, 2011 Vol. 67 No. 15

Jen Moller, a nurse in Labor and Delivery and co-organizer of the Women’s Health Services Perinatal Conference, congratulates Kelly DeForest, who wrote the winning entry in the “Dreams For My Daughter” essay contest.

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Nearly 1,000 staff members have already completed the ‘Making a Difference’ Service Training classes which started on April 25.

Training is mandatory for all Hartford Hospital employees. Sessions will continue through July 1, and are available sev-en days a week, days and evenings.

The classes are designed to introduce staff to the patient-fo-cused set of values recently adopted by Hartford HealthCare, and the specific behaviors that were identified that support the values. Staff members are expected to hold themselves accountable to these behaviors.

This training delves into how anyone in any role can live these behaviors and “Make a Difference” in the lives of pa-tients, families and each other.

Every day, in everything we do and say, we create the Hart-ford Hospital that our patients, families, visitors and cowork-ers experience. If we learn and live these values in every mo-ment and in every encounter, we build the organization to which we aspire: one marked unmistakably by integrity, car-ing, excellence and safety.

All staff members should enroll themselves in one of these training sessions. To ensure appropriate coverage, please work with your manager to enroll in a session that works with your department’s schedule.

Many of the classes are already full, so the earlier you en-roll, the greater your chance of finding a session that is at the most convenient time for you.

To enroll in the “Making a Difference” Service Training Classes via HealthStream, please do the following:

1. Log on to HealthStream

2. Click on Catalog (blue tab at top)

3. In the search box type Values and hit enter

4. Double click on the Making a Difference class (1st choice)

5. Click on show class schedule (in blue)

6. Find the class date/time you want to attend and click register for that date/time (to the far right)

Reminder:Hartford Hospital Campuses Are Smoke-free

Every day, Hartford Hospital treats individuals who suffer from smoking related illness-

es. Tobacco use will kill nearly a half-million Americans and nearly 2,000 Connecticut

residents this year – and make many more sick with cancer and respiratory illness.

Hartford Hospital is joining with other city hospitals to make all of its properties smoke

and tobacco free in order to encourage staff, patients and visitors to quit tobacco and to

eliminate the hazard of second-hand smoke.

As the region’s leading health care institution, we owe it to our patients, our city and

ourselves to eliminate tobacco from our properties.

Everyone who works, visits or comes for care is covered by this policy. No one anywhere

on our campus may use tobacco in any form while here.

Sign Up Soon: Service Training Classes Mandatory For All Staff

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Hartford Hospital is proud to be participating in the RN survey from NDNQI, the National Database of Nursing Quality Indi-cators, from May 2-22. We encourage participation by all those nurses who are eligible - who spend at least 50% of their time in direct care and who have been on their current unit for at least three months, and who are not agency or travel nurses.This is the fifth year that we are participating in this survey.

The survey will be conducted online via a link from the Nursing Department’s intranet site. From there, click on NDNQI Survey under the Links section. Enter our hospital RN Survey Code, 4F85MFP. Select your unit from a list. Confirm your selec-tions. Complete the survey (will take 15-20 minutes), and submit. Please note the survey needs to be completed in one sitting. For more information, contact Cristina Scalise in nursing, cscalise@harthosp.org.

Ethics or compliance concerns?If you have any business ethics or compliance concerns, please contact your supervisor

or call the Compliance Helpline, a confidential service, at 1-800-431-5572.

Su usted habla Espanol, favor llamar 1-800-297-8592.

The Hospital Incident Command System (HICS) has been developed by the Feder-al Emergency Management Administra-tion (FEMA) and recommended by the Joint Commission as the system with which hospitals should manage emer-gency incidents that require activation of the hospital’s Emergency Operations Plan.

HICS is used by hospitals across the United States to prepare for and respond to various types of emergency and di-saster incidents that take place on the hospital campus or nearby.

Hartford Hospital is committed to be-ing a leader in emergency preparedness

and, through the Center for Emergency Medical Preparedness (CEMP), is dedi-cated to providing its employees train-ing in HICS.

We are offering two classes, “Introduc-tion to the Incident Command System” on May 12, and “Applying the Incident Command System to Health Care Or-ganizations” on May 24. They will both meet from 8:30–11:30 a.m. in Dining Room A (May 12) and Dining Room B/C (May 24).

The courses are also being offered on-line as independent study courses.

ICS-100HC should be completed by any hospital personnel who have a role in emergency preparedness planning, in-cident management, and/or emergency response to an incident.

IS-200HC is designed to provide training to health care professionals who have supervisory responsibility within a hos-pital during activation of the hospital’s

Emergency Operations Plan and HIC Center, including physicians, depart-ment managers, unit leaders, charge nurses, hospital administrators and support staff.

You must take ICS-100HC before you take ICS-200HC.

Following each course students will re-ceive an email link to FEMA’s online test site where they will complete an open-book quiz on their own time. Students with a grade of 75% or higher will re-ceive a certificate awarded by FEMA.

This course fulfills the Joint Commission and Connecticut Department of Public Health accreditation requirements.

Facilitator will be John Burnap, planning specialist/instructor for the CEMP. For more information, call John at 860-545-1193 or email jburnap@harthosp.org.

To register, send an email to CEMP-training@harthosp.org.

HH’s Center for Emergency Medical Preparedness Offers Classes in Hospital Incident Command System

Nurses Invited to Participate in NDNQI Survey

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Happening at Hartford HospitalNew Sandwich Bar Coming to Cafe TodayFood & Nutrition Dining Services is in-troducing a newly revamped sandwich bar today. Sandwiches will have the same great taste and healthy options, but there will be more choices, and sandwich combos will be available with a small bag of chips and any size foun-tain beverage for $4.95.

Health and Safety Fair Tuesday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m.The 2011 Employee Health and Safety Fair will be held on Tuesday, May 10, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. This event will provide health and wellness informa-tion, as well as free health screenings for blood pressure, body fat, cholesterol, hearing, and vision. The fair will be held in the back of the main cafeteria, din-ning rooms A, B, C and the Special Din-ing Room. The Employee Fitness Center, ERN, and Healthtrax cosponsor this pro-gram, open to all HHC staff members. Registration is required for the screen-ings; please call the Fitness Center at 860-545-3077 for more information.

Crohn’s & Colitis Walk Saturday, May 14Dr. Joseph Cappa and Dr. Michelle Smed-ley from Connecticut Gastroenterology invite you to join others from Hartford Hospital on a team - the GI Joes - for the annual “Take Steps for Crohn’s & Colitis Walk” this Saturday, May 14 at 4 p.m. at the Central Connecticut State Uni-versity in New Britain. The two to three mile “stroll” in a festive atmosphere with food, music and fun is sponsored by Hartford Hospital and CTGI. More than 1.4 million Americans - one in every 200 - are affected by Crohn’s and colitis. Be-yond raising money for research to take a step toward a future free from these digestive diseases, this event brings to-gether the community in a fun and en-ergetic atmosphere. To join the team, go to www.cctakesteps.org/connecticut, click “Register Now,” “Join an existing team,” and type in the GI Joes.

Join the YES Community Service Project May 14Staff members are invited to participate in a community service project on Sat-urday, May 14 with students from our Y.E.S. program (Your Educational Suc-cess), which helps HH staff members who want to begin or return to college. Y.E.S. students are coordinating a clean-up project at the Milner Core Knowledge Academy at 104 Vine Street in Hart-ford from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Volunteers will clean up trash, rake, plant shrubs and flowers, and paint the outdoor play area. For more information, contact Leticia Colon at llcolon@harthosp.org.

SCM Downtown Sched-uled Overnight May 14There will eight hours of downtime in the Sunrise Clinical Manager (SCM) sys-tem as it is upgraded to version 5.5 start-ing at 9 p.m. on Saturday night, May 14. Downtime will last until 5 a.m. Sun-day morning. All clinical areas will be using downtime procedures for orders and documenting patient care. The SCM DOWNTIME ICON will be available to view historic documentation, orders and results during the hours SCM is unavail-able. Once the upgrade is complete, us-ers will notice changes in the new SCM. Detailed information and FAQs are post-ed on the HH intranet in the SCM 5.5 In-formation Center: http://intranet.har-thosp.org/hh/dept/819. Go-live support will be provided during the downtime and for several days after the upgrade. Call the Help Desk immediately if you have problems when the system goes back up.

Workplace Violence Workshop May 18The Hartford Hospital Safety Action Group is sponsoring a one-hour presen-tation on workplace violence preven-tion, on Wednesday, May 18, at 4 p.m. in Gilman Auditorium. The session will cover a review of the violence prevention policy and the armed intruder/active shooter policy. A representative of the

Hartford Police Department will speak on their response to a possible armed in-truder, and give tips for handling an on-site crisis. Someone from EAP will speak on the services they offer for workplace stress reduction and other EAP services; and Heidi McKlowski from the IOL will address handling pre- and post-violent events. The session is open to all staff. Please enroll via HealthStream.

Cardiovascular Nursing Symposium May 18The 10th Annual Henry Low Heart Cen-ter Cardiovascular Nursing Symposium will be held Wednesday, May 18, 8 a.m.–3 p.m., in the ERC. For more information or to register online visit www.harthosp.org/CVNursingSymposium.

Pledge to the Employee Giving Campaign, and Win Great Prizes!The Employees Giving Campaign Raffle is back and will be held Monday-Friday during May. The earlier you pledge, the greater the opportunity to win, because your name will be included in ALL the drawings from your date of entry. Win-ners select the gift basket of their choice, and there are some fabulous prizes, in-cluding gift certificates to restaurants and spas, tickets to the Hartford Stage and sporting events, hotel stays, mov-ie passes, and much more. Look on the intranet under “Employee services - Em-ployees Giving Campaign” for a pledge form and complete list of raffle prizes.

Vacation Rental - Narragansett, RIJuly/August weekly summer rental of 5-6 bedroom homes on Scarbor-ough Beach in Narragansett, RI, 1/4 mile from beach. Fantastic area in kid friendly development; park with play-scape, swings, tennis and basketball courts. Property is fully furnished and kitchen is fully equipped. Good weeks still available; rates $1,500-$1,800. Also available for weekend rentals in June, $750 Friday to Sunday. Call Richard, 860-922-3368.