Pictured Left to Right are members of our Inspira Woolwich Health Center team: Christina Moore, LPN, Urgent Care; Kianna Grantham, clinical technician, Urgent Care; Michele Walker, receptionist, Primary Care; Joe Chiola, CT scan technologist, Imaging; Kristy Meade, physical therapist, Rehab Care; Arun Garg, physical therapist, Rehab Care; and John Keeley, clinical education specialist, Sleep Center
Elmer Emergency Department Receives Lantern Award Inspira Medical Center Elmer’s Emergency Department has been honored with its third prestigious Lantern Award. The Lantern Award, presented by the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA), recognizes emergency departments that exemplify exceptional and innovative performance in the core areas of leadership, practice, education, advocacy and research. Inspira Elmer earned its first Lantern Award in 2011 and is currently one of only 33 recipients nationwide.
The award is a visible symbol of an emergency department’s commitment to quality, presence of a healthy work environment and accomplishment in incorporating evidence-based practice and innovation into emergency care. By achieving the Lantern Award recognition, emergency departments demonstrate to their peers that they maintain a culture of excellence in emergency care, including strong leadership, practice credibility and workplace recognition.
Pictured left to right: Elizabeth Conte R.N.; Brittany Werner, R.N.; Sue Kernan, R.N.; Sherry Remy, administrative director; Bill Murray, R.N.; Kelli Laing, nurse manager; Gayle Nelson, R.N.; Helane Bodine, R.N.; Brittany Divito, unit secretary; Uriel Sanchez, technician; Christina McIntyre, R.N.; Rebecca Liber, R.N.; Brittany Timberman, technician.
Professional Achievement Danielle Williams, PharmD, BCPS, BCSCP and Jennifer Burns, PharmD, MS, BCPS, BCSCP (not pictured), pharmacists at Inspira Medical Center Vineland inpatient pharmacy, both recently became board certified in compounded sterile preparations. Williams and Burns are 2 out of only 27 pharmacists in New Jersey to have this certification. There are over 9,800 licensed pharmacists in the state. Compounded Sterile Preparations Pharmacy ensures that sterile preparations meet the clinical needs of patients, satisfying quality, safety, and environmental control requirements in all phases of preparation, storage, transportation, and administration in compliance with established standards, regulations, and professional best practices. Want to feature your professional achievement in an upcoming issue of Inside Inspira? Email a brief summary of your achievement and photo to Kelsey Pollard at pollardk@ihn.org.
Congratulations to our Olympic giveaway winners! Inspira highlighted both its Minimally Invasive Surgery and Cardiac Partners commercials during the summer Olympics. In honor of this, Inspira hosted two employee giveaways on Facebook. Frank Cremeens, supervisor, Facilities and Engineering, Inspira Mullica Hill, won the first giveaway and received a $50 Amazon gift card. Tracy Degner, manager, Medical Oncology, Inspira Mullica Hill, won the second giveaway and received a Fitbit Charge 3. Join the Inspira Employee Communications Group on Facebook to stay up-to-date on all things Inspira, see great photos, participate in contests and giveaways, and more!
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Sunflowers Bring Joy to Bridgeton Campus Diana Hatfield, EVS, Spreads Sunshine & Smiles Through Efforts If you have driven down Magnolia Avenue or been near the employee entrance at Inspira Health Center Bridgeton recently, you have probably noticed beautiful sunflowers in various stages of bloom. Last summer, during the first few months of the COVID pandemic, Diana Hatfield, Environmental Services aide at Bridgeton, asked administration if she could plant those sunflowers. “Last year was a really awful time, especially at the beginning of the pandemic,” said Hatfield. “I wanted to plant sunflowers in hopes that it would spread some cheer to all of the wonderful, hardworking health care staff. The flowers turned out so beautifully, that I decided to plant them again this year.” Hatfield not only plants the sunflowers, but waters the flowers and mulch to make sure they germinate and grow. She is dedicated to keeping them alive and beautiful and takes care of them on her days off. “Magnolia Avenue didn’t feature many flowers or landscaping and I noticed an empty mulch bed that looked bare, so I decided that would be a great place to plant the sunflowers,” added Hatfield. “I am so happy that I was able to spread some sunshine and smiles during this difficult time.” For those who have not seen the flowers in person, Hatfield often shares photos of the sunflowers in Inspira’s Employee Facebook Group - and it is obvious that her efforts have had a great impact on many. Employees have shared comments such as ‘What a beautiful ray of sunshine you blessed us with, thank you, it makes such a difference!’ and ‘I saw the sunflowers the other day and they brought a smile to my face, thank you – it was just what I needed.’ “I want to thank Diana for not only her great idea to provide cheer, but for her dedication and hard work,” said Dave Yhlen, Chief Operating Officer, Ambulatory & Strategic Service Lines. “It’s so important, especially in challenging times, to find things that can make us smile. Diana’s efforts have brought joy to so many in our Inspira family.”
Inspira Celebrates First Nurse Residency Graduates Inspira graduated its first class of nurse residents (new to practice nurses) on August 6 in Vineland and on August 30 in Mullica Hill. The celebrations included introductions from leadership, and messages from the nurse residents. Each nurse resident was individually awarded a certificate and pin. Click here to view more photos from the graduation celebrations.
Pictured at the Vineland Nurse Resident Graduation are left to right Kelly Marsh, education outcomes manager; Sydney McLaughlin, R.N.; Kimberly Talley, vice President, Patient Care Services; Elizabeth Gibson, R.N.; Rhoda Parker, R.N.; Amy Criss, R.N.; Jessica Gutowski, R.N.; Craig Williams, R.N.; Sarah Garcia, R.N.; Charlotte Krebs, R.N.; Lonna Rhubart, R.N.; Amanda Letizia, R.N.; Ariel Guida, R.N.; Lisa Maimone, R.N.; Brianna Enrico, R.N.; Lisa Blystone, clinical outcomes manager; Betty Sheridan, chief operating officer; and Rhonda Gable, education outcomes manager.
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Inspira’s new values I.C.R.E.A.T.E (Innovation, Compassion, Reliability, Empathy, Access, Teamwork, Empowerment) are now featured on the Living the Promise platform. When you submit a recognition or nomination you will be asked to choose which one of the new values best represents the recipient.
Have You Recognized a Co-worker Recently? Login to Living the Promise and show your appreciation
www.inspira.recognation.com Username – work email address | Password – employee number
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Compassion
Congratulations Employees of the Month!
Jeffrey Caldwell, access line counselor, Behavioral Health, Bridgeton “Every interaction with Jeff is a Wow experience! Jeff is always positive, even tempered, and incredibly efficient. Often, he is the first "contact" with Behavioral Health; he is frequently recognized for his compassion, kindness, empathy and follow-through. Those qualities are noticeable and appreciated by clients, supervisors and peers. Jeff is frequently recognized for going above and beyond to help.”
Reliability
Teamwork
Laura Emmons, R.N., 2 East, Vineland
Beth Henderson, clinical outcomes manager, Nursing Administration, Elmer
“Laura is an exceptional nurse who always goes above and beyond to provide the Wow experience to her patients and co-workers. Laura frequently gets praise from patients. Laura precepts new hires; she is active in committees; she is always the first to speak up in staff meetings with ways to help improve the unit and patient care; and she truly does make our patients her top priority. Laura routinely agrees to work extra to meet the staffing demands of the unit and her co-workers look to her for help with the acuity of the unit.”
Reliability Karen Smith, office clerk, Imaging Center, Tomlin Station
“Karen goes above and beyond with patients during every shift. Karen is a great friend and co-worker and her colleagues are happy to work side-by-side with her. She puts safety first by going the extra mile to train new office clerks so that they are well trained and competent and she does it will a smile.”
Innovation Beth Grimm, social worker, Case Management, LIFE
“Beth goes above and beyond assisting her team and the participants. She is positive, fair, empathetic and very knowledgeable. Beth does an exceptional job leading the family team meetings and collaborating with fellow members. You can always depend on Beth for help and collaboration!”
“Beth is always eager to lend a helping hand in any situation. She is energetic and encouraging. Beth has played an influential and supportive role in the Magnet journey both on and off the Elmer campus. Beth partners with nurses and staff at all levels to facilitate performance improvement and research projects that not only expand the professional role and growth of the staff but also improve the care of our patients.”
Innovation Jennifer Wardell, volunteer representative, Volunteers, Mullica Hill “After exhausting all means to help a patient get transportation home, Jennifer paid for an Uber for the patient. The patient tried to reimburse her, but Jennifer refused. Jennifer has shown that she is an exceptional employee and deserves this honor. She goes above and beyond every day to make our volunteers feel appreciated. Jennifer is always flexible to help cover the front desk at Mullica Hill. She interacts with a kind and caring demeanor.”
Innovation Olga Benitez, receptionist, Inspira Medical Group Cardiovascular “Olga’s co-workers love working with her. Olga has a way to brighten your day no matter what is going on. She is great with the patients and is always willing to help. Olga is bilingual and assists with communication in the practice.”
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Learning Boards
VINELAND MEDICAL IMAGING
During the department daily huddles, Maria Miletta, supervisor of Inspira Elmer and Vineland X-Ray, completes a look back and look forward on key topics and updates any action items from the Daily Safety Briefing. Throughout the day if there is an immediate safety message for staff, Maria communicates this message by Rounding to Influence. Due to social distancing and COVID-19, rounding and staff meetings look different. Sherry Diorio, safety coach and Radiology tech at Inspira Vineland X-Ray implemented a Safety Tool of the Month bulletin board to communicate action items from the monthly Safety Coach meeting and create a visual reminder for staff to incorporate HRO tools into their workday. Monica Rodriguez, office clerk, Inspira Vineland Medical Imaging, implemented an Employee Engagement and Patient Experience bulletin board, which incorporates HRO as the foundation with Safety, Quality, Engagement and Experience woven through the visuals. “We make the boards to be fun and as a daily visible reminder to keep the staff engaged,” said Miletta. “They help keep patients and staff safe.” In addition to the department’s Safety Coach and Employee Engagement and Patient Experience bulletin board, the staff place all their concerns on the department Learning Board. A recent item added to the New (red section) of the Learning Board was the need for a portable X-Ray machine. Staff requested this technology due to the increase in patients. This request was reviewed and approved by leadership and landed in the Solved (green section) of the Learning Board. The Learning Board includes Imaging Departments that are close to each other including MRI, CT and X-Ray.
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Pictured left to right are members of the Radiology Department: Omaira Bernard, technologist; Dawn Ehrler, technologist; Mark Childers, technologist; Loretta Carter, technologist; Tara Richmond, technologist; and William Roller, aide.
“The Learning Board is a great tool for staff to see their concerns work through the process. As we continue to grow as an organization, it is even more important that staff hear a consistent message. I always say communication is key and the Learning Board is a great tool to ensure things are communicated reliably through the department.” Mario Sergi, director of Radiation Oncology, Medical Imaging and Oncology Data Services
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MULLICA HILL
Learning Boards The Inspira Patient Relations department holds their daily huddle every business day for 15 minutes in the morning, and 15 minutes in the evening, both via Microsoft Teams. Their huddle consists of a daily prayer where a member of Inspira’s pastoral department provides some words of wisdom; a patient story; announcements from the team; review of specific patient cases; and the huddle ends with a “corny Dad joke”.
we stand relative to our project timelines, which is partially in thanks to Gina Martinez, one of our amazing Patient Relations managers and safety coach, who is also our Virtual Learning Board administrator. She oversees the maintenance of the Virtual Learning Board and works with her peers on the team to ensure it is up-to-date.”
Jim Cooper, network manager, Patient Relations, had this to say about his department’s Learning Board: “In 2020 we had a Learning Board in Vineland, as well as one in Mullica Hill. In an effort to take a network-approach, we worked with Katy Perez, associate project manager of Quality and Patient Safety, to centralize both Learning Boards to a Virtual Learning Board onto our Microsoft Teams’ team. Now that we have a centralized Virtual Learning Board, our staff are on the same page as to where
“One of our more recent ‘moves to the green’ is an item our team has been looking forward to for quite some time. After completing our DISC assessments, we partnered with our friends in Human Resources and Organizational Development, Dawn Gelsi-Collins and Jane Jelesiewicz, to debrief as a group and learn how we could leverage our DISC assessment feedback to most effectively communicate with not only our patients and families, but with each other!”
PATIENT RELATIONS Pictured left to right: Heather Lindstrom, safety coach and manger, Ambulatory Patient Relations; Joe Alessandrini, vice president of Clinical Services, Inspira Medical Centers Vineland & Elmer; Kristin Fox, case manager; Hal Russel, Chaplain; Lynette Newkirk, administrative director, Patient Experience; Jim Cooper, network manager, Patient Experience; Desire Alicea, Patient Relations and Interpreting manager; Erich Florentine, past executive vice president & chief people officer; Diego Cuartas, chaplain; Anna Conover, administrative assistant; Patient Relations; Lisset Ruiz, manager, Patient Relations; Gina Martinez, safety coach and Patient Relations manager; Amanda Woelfel, manager, Patient Relations.*This photo is not a reflection of this specific Learning Board story, but
rather a previously taken group photo our Patient Relations team.
Safety Tool of the Month: SBAR
SB AR
When communicating, specifically use the words – Situation, Background, Assessment, and Recommendation – so that the listener knows the natures of the information you’re giving. Situation: describe the situation or issue that is causing concern or that you wish to communicate. Background: convey key information about the patient, project, or topic. Assessment: appraise the situation, and express concern(s). Recommendation: provide suggestions and recommendations clearly, and completely.
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A “Great Catch” is defined as a near miss event that did not reach the patient because of the thoughtful actions of an employee. If you notice a “Great Catch”, login to the Living the Promise site and nominate that person for the “Great Catch” award!
TO: Patricia Nestor FROM: Donna Spross INSPIRA
Speak up for Safety Great Catch "Thank you for speaking up about patient safety when a practitioner suggested a potentially harmful treatment for a patient! Way to advocate and protect your patient. Great job!"
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Living the Promise also features new Speak up for Safety E-cards to shout out those who utilize our HRO Safety Tools and behaviors. Below are examples of some recent Speak up for Safety E-cards.
TO: Tricia Loatman FROM: Julia Powers INSPIRA
Speak up for Safety Clarifying Question "Hi Trish, thank you for reaching out with clarifying questions on identifying priority patients. Really appreciate all your safety conscious efforts! Thanks for all you do!
TO: Kerry Baltera FROM: Marlene Devito INSPIRA
Speak up for Safety Shout Out - Safety “Thank you for your "smart thinking " and sending the thin slices to PACS for the Landmarx Sinus protocol on a young patient. Because of this you were able to print the second CD and the patient did not have to be re-scanned! Re-scanning would have meant additional radiation exposure to the patient and this prevented the additional radiation exposure. Kudos Kerry!”
DAISY Award Winners VINELAND
MULLICA HILL
Krystal Smith
Dene Grinnell
R.N., 2 East
“I started on 2 East roughly about the same time as Krystal, when I switched to nightshift. She was my go-to person. I have seen her grow in confidence as a nurse. She is never afraid to speak up or step in. She advocates tremendously for her patients as well as her unit and coworkers. She builds the best rapport with her patients and you can always tell they like and trust her. She doesn’t leave until she knows they are taken care of. She makes sure families are informed. She truly doesn’t get enough credit and recognition for the amount of work, care, dedication, and compassion she provides to her job and her patients. She is a fighter, advocator, extremely hard worker and one of the most compassionate nurses I have met. For her to only be two years into her career, she has become a nurse many of us call on for help and advice. She is currently working on her Master’s in Nursing Leadership, and I can’t wait to see what the future brings her because she is a phenomenal nurse. Krystal should know how amazing and appreciated she truly is.”
MULLICA HILL
R.N., Observation Unit
“My mother has many issues and is not the easiest person to get along with. She was taken to the hospital and placed on the 4th floor in a special care unit. We were concerned for her health and about the coronavirus. We didn’t know how she would fare being left alone in the hospital, but my concerns were quickly diminished when we met the nurse that night. Dene was pleasant and compassionate. Although my mother was being difficult, Dene was able to keep her calm and content. Her pleasant demeanor, caring touch, and excellent patient evaluation skills gave me the confidence to know my mother was in good hands. Dene was engaging and informative. She explained things slowly and clearly so that my mother would better understand. She took the time, despite several other patients, to review each one of my Mom’s medications with her, answer all her questions, and never seemed rushed. Dene explained each step and made my mother feel at ease. Dene’s professionalism and compassion turned a difficult time into a wonderful experience. Dene should be recognized for her caring nature and ability to make things a bit easier on the family, knowing our mother was in good hands.”
Devon Grippe R.N., 2 East
“Devon was my nurse for 3 days. She made sure I had everything I needed. Devon would come in and get my medication fixed. She even went so far as to get my personal hygiene products so I could shower. She didn’t have to do that, but she did, and it made me feel special. This is Devon’s first year in the nursing field, and I believe she is going to do great things. She was gentle, professional, and genuine. You could tell she enjoys her job and likes helping patients.” “Devon was very nice. She went out of her way to help me. All of the nurses, doctors, and staff were great, however Devon really stood out. When my daughter stayed overnight, Devon made her feel special. She has a cheerful, upbeat attitude and truly deserves the DAISY award.”
Share Your Story! Every DAISY has petals extending from its core making it the perfect flower. The PETAL Award is a recognition program that honors and celebrates the performance, dedication and diligence of Inspira’s nursing support partners such as nursing assistants, patient support technicians, physical therapists, occupational therapists, social workers, unit clerks, and more. The PETAL Award is administered by the Nursing Department to thank those who partner with nurses in caring for our patients and families. This award aligns with our DAISY award for nursing staff, as providing the Wow experience in all aspects of care is our top priority. Click here to submit a nomination for the PETAL Award.
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