The Pulse - The official newsletter of Atlantic Visiting Nurse - Summer 2023

THE PULSE

A MESSAGE FROM MARY PRADILLA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Care is the catalyst for everything we do, every life we touch, and everyone we serve. The leadership team and I truly appreciate the extraordinary care that you provide to our patients every day. You support patients recovering from illness or surgery, those coping with chronic conditions, families facing end-of-life care, and older adults needing help to remain living independently Everyone in every department contributes to this invaluable work.

We have had a very busy six months In January, we implemented the CMS Oasis Assessment form, which collects new information, as well as beginning our first year of Value Based Care. We are preparing

for Electric Visit Verification (EVV) which will begin in August. We continue to work on exciting wound care software, Tissue Analytics, which will improve the management of our patients with wounds. We continue to work with Epic to develop more effective and efficient workflows Recruitment remains at the top of our list. We continue to work closely with AHS Talent acquisition team as well as the AHS Nursing Steering Committee.

I hope you have a wonderful summer.

The official newsletter of Atlantic Visiting Nurse

International Day: A celebration of diversity & inclusion

Congratulations are in order for Quaniqua Davis and Annieca Edwards, who brilliantly organized the memorable International Day on June 2nd.

This event was a vibrant reflection of our organization's commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Your hard work and dedication helped create a meaningful team-building experience, fostering a sense of camaraderie within our diverse workforce.

Welcome Summer Interns: We appreciate your contribution.

Ian Bregman

Ava Defilippis

Riley Lewthwaite

Bridget Ball

Desiree White

Feny Patel

MJ Lerma

Arianna Chirico

Jacqueline Egerter

Kathryn Fusella

Our Summer Interns will work across a variety of departments within the agency.

CAC Team

Our dedicated CAC RNs navigated through the EPIC Enhancement in May and continued to keep up with the referrals. A special mention goes to Riley Ferguson, Sandy Castellano and Jeanne Miller for providing invaluable assistance.

Welcome

Sandy Castellano, RN, as our newest Assistant Manager.

Congratulations

Lizette Mitjans on the birth of her new granddaughter in May.

Thank you

To the CAC Management Team for their participation in the Geriatric Resident, Geriatric Fellow, and Geriatric Med Student Orientation, demonstrating the value of Home Care and how it applies to the Intake referral process.

Having fun behind the scenes at a photo shoot for the official Fortune 100 Great Places to Work list

Congrats to the AVN Acers Volleyball Club, who won the Team Spirit Award at the AHS Intramurals

Congratulations to our team members who were honored for AHS milestone anniversaries

New trial launched at Morristown Medical Center (MMC)

AVN has launched a new Remote Patient Monitoring trial.

Remote Patient Monitoring equipment is provided at the patient's bedside at MMC prior to their inpatient discharge. This seamless transition enables continuous monitoring and prevents any lapses in care. We are excited to collaborate with other clinical teams to further reduce rehospitalizations and improve patient outcomes.

Our RPM program continues to grow, with approximately 135-140 patients per day.

Thank you

Latesha Williams has been instrumental in ensuring timely Durable Medical Equipment deliveries to our patients' homes.

Michelle Levy has worked tirelessly to provide timely 3rd party commercial supply orders, despite the changing requirements.

Our Virtual Visits program continues with 122 cases in May

Demonstration at our 'Around the Wound World' education program

Patient Experience

We have built an extensive catalog of PX education videos this year, thanks to the hard work of our volunteers. Homecare videos include topics such as "Scheduling an Initial Visit," "Welcome to Home Care The Referral Intake Process," and "Introducing the Patient Admission Booklet." Hospice videos include "Introducing Spiritual Care into the Home" and "Making a Condolence Call "

We have also introduced an enhanced patient calendar to keep patients well informed of their visits, a redesigned pet policy form featuring adorable photos of AVN staff pets, and new tools for caregiver support in hospice.

Northwest Region

We are excited to welcome our newest RNs Francisca, Tawn, and Michelle (Hire Learner) who will be joining the team. We also have two additional Hire Learner RNs who will be joining AVN after their twelveweek orientation at MMC, following the successful completion of their NCLEX.

The Northwest Team continues to strategize ways to improve patient experience scores and prevent rehospitalizations.

All Patient Experience videos are available for viewing on the AVN Teams channel.

Camp Clover

For the past 13 years, Atlantic Visiting Nurse has sponsored Camp Clover, a bereavement day camp designed to support children in 1st through 8th grade who have experienced the loss of a significant person in their lives. The success of Camp Clover relies on the tremendous support we receive from across the Atlantic Health System.

Atlantic Ambulance generously provides transportation and couriers, while Atlantic Private Care provides our dedicated RN camp nurse for the week. We are grateful for the contributions of therapists, AVN managers, finance employees, Overlook Auxiliary members, and trained AVN volunteers.

Mark your calendars for:

The AVN Golf Classic, Rockaway River Country Club, September 18th

Fall Rummage Sale, Far Hills Fairground, October 6th-8th.

Taste of the Hills, Spring Brook Country Club, November 5th

AVN's Spring Rummage sale shattered all previous records raising almost $800,000.

Camp Clover takes place August 14th to August 17th at Camp Riverbend in Warren, New Jersey

Hospice Care

The Hospice Patient Experience Committee has made significant strides in this year's patient experience project focused on improving Emotional & Spiritual Care.

Thanks to Lauren Spendley, Sarah

Heather May and April Lapp for their participation creating two new videos.

Quality Review Team

In 2023, we have been diligently mastering the OASIS E changes, recognizing their significance in providing comprehensive coaching to our clinical team members.

The collaboration between our Clinical Review Coordinators (CRCs), the Education department, and our clinical teams has been invaluable. The CRCs have played a pivotal role in providing individualized documentation coaching to new hires, Higher Learners, and existing team members.

Partnership with the Rehab Department: Our CRC team has provided individual coaching to our physical therapists as they expand their patient care to more complex medical cases.

Welcome to the team: Matthew Goldberg, Allison Podmajersky, Eleni Lutas, Sarah Galo, and Laurie Wade

Hospice Chaplain Sarah Galo (pictured) and Diana Mary-Ellen have been accepted to attend the Interprofessional Train-theTrainer Spiritual Care Education Curriculum in Washington, DC.

Galo,

Watch our new videos celebrating Occupational Therapy Month

Rehab: Recognizing Excellence

Welcome to the team

Occupational Therapists:

Michelle Horowitz

Sarah Baik

Danielle Arnowitz

Physical Therapists:

Rita Lin

Lilibeth Gaerlan

Rey Abalos

Greg Del Fierro

Aisling Ghilino

Mary McCoy

Driving Quality Initiatives

A round of applause to Jenny Winters and Marion Gordon for leading the Therapy Case Box initiative.

Thank you

We acknowledge the outstanding contributions of Nicole Gullotta, DPT, and Maria Anthony, RN, BSN, CWCN, who recently presented at the AHS Shared Governance Retreat.

South & Central Regions

Welcoming New Team Members

Fabiola Scalzo

Dianna Hume

Zhanna Panchuck

Jennifer Searles

Irene Hagan

New Team Structure

Janelle Richmond is now assistant manager for the Central Team

Alexis Page is assistant manager for South 3.

You may have noticed our new automated phone system designed to connect our clients with the right person promptly. We are excited to participate in this system.

Information Services Support:

As part of our commitment to security and efficiency, all team members have started enrolling in the new twofactor authentication system. This cloud-hosted read-only environment (CHROE) ensures access to vital patient information in the event of a downtime emergency.

In September, we will be converting our phone system to NICE This will offer enhanced functionality

The successful implementation of our Epic Spring Enhancement will enhance our workflows.

In March, we launched a monthly support group specially designed for men who are grieving.

Home Health Aides

We celebrate our CHHAs with over 20 years of service

Hazel Mohammed – 20 years

Verna Williams – 31 years

Rose Chery – 21 years

Angella Barnes – 32 years

Shirley Benninger – 24 years

Georgiana Maduakloam - 34 years

Terry Williams – 24 years

Holly Delbridge – 34 years

Marie Guillaume – 24 years

Patricia Lutts – 34 years

Jenneh Kaba - 27 years

Lori Kostecki – 39 years

Fleurette Lumas – 27 years

Welcome to our team: Asst. Manager, Lynda Yonitch, CHHAs Judith Perez, Sueann Kerr, and Raquel Hutchinson.

Bereavement Department

We have launched a series of support groups, including:

Men's Breakfast Bereavement Group. Ladies Lunch Bereavement Group.

Caregiver Support Group. Art Therapy Support Group

AVN's transformative six-week art therapy support group in collaboration with Art & Wellness Treatment Services through Caldwell University.

North East Region

Welcoming New Team Members:

Veronika

Koldachenko

Jessi-Lynn Zorns

We are excited to announce that a highly skilled travel nurse will be joining our team in July.

Congratulations to Claudia Cashman on her new position in the CRC department

We would like to express our deepest gratitude to our invaluable preceptors, Domenica Rowen, Kellee Enos, and Pam Turano.

We also extend our heartfelt thanks to our phenomenal office team, Janice, Christine, Rick, and Belvie.

Private Care

Companion care is now available to support individuals in the community who require assistance with independent daily living activities. This expansion allows us to provide comprehensive care that caters to the unique needs of our clients.

The winners of the AVN Pet Photo contestChance and Molly, and their human OT Laurie Maher (Rehab Team)

Education

Shared Governance is approaching its 2nd anniversary at AVN this Fall.

The Nursing Quality Council is preparing for an interdisciplinary Preceptor Program for Nurses and Physical Therapists.

Remember to keep using your flip cards to continue enhancing your patient care practices.

Thank you to:

Educators Christine Wong, Patricia Mastrogiacomo, and Michelle Stein, who have oriented 51 AVN Team members.

Quality Coordinators, Patricia Denman and Tatyana Seryapov remain focused on decreasing Re-hospitalizations and improving Order compliance

Welcome our 2023 PACT Members. PACT offers a professional advancement tract, to further your skills by participating and leading opportunities within AVN. This Spring, we hosted William Paterson University nursing students, Geriatric Residents, and Geriatric Fellows.

Congratulations to Remote Patient Monitoring Assistant Manager, Jenn Dwyer, who received an award from NJ Biz Health Care Heros for Innovation

Our first AVN Higher Learners, Tracy Mindel (pictured) and Ty Clancy, complete their 1-year residency this Fall.

Adult Day Center

We were honored to welcome Congressman Tom Kean, who visited the center to celebrate our beautiful garden and recognize the outstanding work of the Basking Ridge Garden Club Their dedication and expertise have transformed our garden into a vibrant and welcoming space.

Furthermore, we were delighted to host a marketing event on June 5th, where providers from the Somerset and Morris County areas had the opportunity to tour our center

This event showcased the exceptional care we provide and allowed us to forge new connections within the community.

The Adult Day Center team will be hosting the Geriatric Assessment Center's "Art of Caregiving" series on August 12th. This series aims to support community caregivers who assist individuals with cognitive and physical impairments

Congressman Tom Kean visits the garden at the AVN Adult Day Center

Meet the critters event at the Adult Day Center

Congressman Tom Kean visits the garden at the AVN Adult Day Center

Meet the critters event at the Adult Day Center

Mallory and Patrick promoting the Adult Day Center and AVN recruitment

The AVN Leadership Team enjoyed a wonderful tour of Mansion in May.