Saturday, April 20, 2013 THE NEW MEXICAN
LIFE&SCIENCE
Health Science Environment
Single father changes careers, pursues ‘new life’ as nurse at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center
A-9
EARTHTALK
Try to avoid carcinogens in your food, surroundings E/The Environmental Magazine
Fred Koch cares for patients and talks on the phone at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center on April 1. Koch previously worked as an artist before he went back to school to become a nurse so he could provide for his children after his divorce. He completed all of his schooling while being a single dad and working at the hospital. PHOTOS BY LUIS SÁNCHEZ SATURNO/THE NEW MEXICAN
CALLED TO CARE By Deborah Busemeyer For The New Mexican
F
red Koch paused in front of hospital room 3209 when he noticed a patient he had discharged moments earlier passing by on his way home. Koch, holding an IV bag in one hand, reached out with his other to shake the patient’s hand. “You take care, sir,” Koch said. Koch continued into the room with Shauna Star, who is in charge of Koch’s four-month initiation training before Koch can care for patients by himself at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center. The registered nurses worked together to increase the patient’s dose of pain medication through the IV. They were on the third floor of the hospital in unit 3200, which is considered a “stepdown” unit, meaning patients are usually stabilized and on their way home. The unit is where patients are prepped for surgery, while others there are recovering. Some won’t recover, and the nurses make sure they are comfortable in their final stages of life. “Everyone in here is someone’s brother, sister, mother, father,” Koch, 51, said between checking on patients. “You’re taking care of someone’s family, so that’s a big responsibility and an honor to do that.” Koch doesn’t shy away from big responsibility. At 48, the high school graduate who worked as an artist returned to school to pursue nursing while working full time as a medical technician and caring for his two sons, then 4 and 7. He quit his 20-year job as a goldsmith because he said the travel required to promote his high-end jewelry took him away from his children too much when his 12-year marriage ended. His decision to switch careers was also about securing a future during uncertain economic times for himself and his two sons — Charle, now 10 and in fifth grade at El Dorado Community School, and 12-year-old William, a seventh-grader at the Academy for Technology and the Classics. However, investing in school might not have been possible for Koch without the financial support he received from his employer, Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center. “St. Vincent gave me a new life,” he said. “I worked for it. They give you an opportunity if you’re willing to work for it. It’s quite a huge thing for a big corporation to do that.” Koch is one of 500 part-time and full-time nurses Christus St. Vincent employs. In March, the hospital held a ceremony honoring Koch and 11 other employees who received scholarships to support their nursing education. The medical center and St. Vincent Hospital Foundation reimburses hospital employees for tuition and living expenses, as well as awards scholarships specifically for nursing students. The hospital spent $120,000 on scholarships this year, according to hospital spokeswoman Mandi Kane. Scholarships provide each recipient with $13,500 a year, for up to two years, to cover tuition and a $1,000 monthly stipend for up to 10 months per year for two years. In addition, employees pursuing higher education are eligible for reimbursement of up to $1,500.
Generally, employees who receive scholarships are those who work in entry-level positions and are from Northern New Mexico, said Julia Vasquez, manager of organizational development at the medical center. She said the hospital usually awards 10 scholarships a year. “We would like to have more of our community being taken care of by our community,” Vasquez said. “They represent the people we are caring for. If we can give scholarships to people working entry-level jobs, it’s an advantage to us to have those folks vested in our hospital. We are looking for that community connection.” It’s hard to find scholarships that support nursing students in Santa Fe, according to Jenny Landen, director of nursing education at Santa Fe Community College. She said about half of her students have financial aid or loans, but the ones with scholarships typically are Christus employees. She encourages nursing students not to work because the full-time program is rigorous and demanding. “The reality is most of my students have to work,” she said. “A lot of them are supporting spouses and have children. Some are single parents. In this day and age, it’s rare to have a young, single student who doesn’t have financial obligations. What I see happening a lot is they end up having to work more than they should, and it’s a stress on their personal life, and I see it in how they perform academically. They get sick, fall asleep in class and struggle to keep up with their studies. “It causes a great strain on their education while they are here,” she said. Landen is working on how to increase nursing enrollment through part-time options with evening and weekend classes. “I lose a few very solid nursing candidates every semester because they need a part-time program so they can work,” Landen said. “We are looking at trying to create another option for students that would address their financial issues.” Offering part-time options could also help grow the number of nurses in the state. Increasing the number of nurses has become a critical issue as New Mexico, along with the rest of the country, grapples with nursing shortages. National health and nursing organizations forecast rising shortages due to population growth and retiring nurses. At the same time, nursing is the top occupation in terms of job growth through 2020, according to employment projections released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in February 2012. Hospitals are trying to address nursing shortages with educational strategies such as offering scholarships to workers, according to a 2006 article, “Hospitals’ Responses to Nurse Staffing Shortages,” in Health Affairs. Authors reported that 97 percent of surveyed hospitals were using such strategies. The article called for more public financing to expand nursing schools. National efforts to address nursing shortages focus on educating more nurses, but many educational institutions can’t keep up with the demand. Santa Fe Community College receives twice as many applicants as it has
spots, Landen said. When the college receives legislative money for the nursing program, Landen said she needs to spend it on her small faculty. While Landen is trying to expand educational options, she is also considering how to better support students. She said she may apply for a grant from the New Mexico Board of Nursing’s Nursing Excellence Fund to offer scholarships to students. Koch talked about his time as a student a week after he received his registered nurse license. He sat at his long dining room table, where he did homework with his sons, in the home he bought two years ago. He lives in one of the new, south-side neighborhoods that border Dinosaur Trail. His humble demeanor turns prideful when he talks about his sons and how they have separate bedrooms for the first time since his divorce. “I’m in a much better place now for me and my children,” he said. “The hospital and through their scholarship enabled me to move on with my life.” Even with the scholarship money, Koch said he might not have attempted the nursing program if he knew how hard it would be to juggle children, work and school. As a native of Ontario, Canada, his credits didn’t transfer, so he had to complete two years of prerequisites before starting his nursing education at Santa Fe Community College. He took classes yearround, worked weekends for four years and managed three 12-hour shifts a week. “What’s the alternative to all this? Failure? If you have kids, failure is just not an option,” Koch said. “You have to get yourself through life. You have to get your kids through life and give them the tools they need.” He remembers late study sessions and bleary-eyed mornings when he would wrap his sons in blankets and drive the sleeping boys in the dark to a friend’s house. They would sleep on the friend’s couch while Koch started clinical rounds at the hospital, seven hours after he had finished his last shift. “Getting the scholarship was one thing, but it was actually more than that,” Koch said. “I had the support of management to let my schedule be flexible enough that I could still work, make an income and go to school.” Koch is among the first new nurses to start work in the hospital’s float pool, which involves getting assigned to any unit that needs help that day. He finds out where to go 15 minutes before his 7 a.m. shift starts. For a former volunteer firefighter and a man who thrives on challenges, Koch appreciates learning everything he can to be an effective nurse. “Working at St. Vincent solidified what an honorable thing it is to care for another human being,” he said. “It doesn’t just touch that person but it touches that person’s family and other generations if you can help someone stay well. It’s important work.” The first in his family to have a college degree, Koch expects that nurses will be required to have bachelor’s degrees at some point. He is planning to start classes this fall to achieve his bachelor’s degree in science. “No matter where you are in life, you can succeed,” he said.
Section editor: Bruce Krasnow, 986-3034, brucek@sfnewmexican.com Design and headlines: Kristina Dunham, kdunham@sfnewmexican.com
Question: I know that some of us are genetically predisposed to get cancer, but what are some ways we can avoid known environmental triggers for it? — B. Northrup, Westport, Mass. Answer: Cancer remains the scourge of the American health care system, given that 1 in 10 of us will be diagnosed with one form or another during our lifetime. Some of us are genetically predisposed toward certain types of cancers, but there is much we can do to avoid exposure to carcinogens in our environment. According to the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit working to protect public health and the environment, a key first step in warding off cancer is lifestyle change — “stopping smoking, reducing drinking, losing weight, exercising and eating right.” The American Cancer Society reports that smoking and poor nutrition each account for about one-third of the 575,000 U.S. cancer deaths each year. But while smoking and obesity are obvious, other cancer triggers aren’t so easily pinpointed. In 2010, the President’s Cancer Panel reported that environmental toxins play a significant and under-recognized role in many cancers, causing “grievous harm” to untold numbers of Americans. And the Environmental Working Group reports that U.S. children are born “pre-polluted,” with up to 200 carcinogenic substances already in their bloodstreams at birth. The Environmental Working Group lists several ways anyone can cut his or her cancer risk. First, we can filter our tap water, which can include arsenic, chromium and harmful chemicals. Carbon filters and pitchers can reduce contaminants, while more costly reverse osmosis filters can filter out arsenic and chromium. The foods we choose also play a role in whether we develop cancer. Eating lots of fruits and vegetables is healthy, but not if they are laden with pesticides. Going organic when possible is the best way to reduce pesticide exposure. And when organic foods aren’t available, stick with produce least likely to contain pesticides Eliminating stain- and grease-proofing chemicals, such as Teflon and Scotchgard, is another way to reduce one’s cancer risks. “To avoid them,” the Environmental Working Group says, “skip greasy packaged foods and say no to optional stain treatments in the home.” And steer clear of BPA, a synthetic estrogen found in some plastic water bottles, canned infant formula and canned foods. “To avoid it, eat fewer canned foods, breast feed your baby or use powdered formula, and choose water bottles free of BPA,” says the group. Another tip is to seal wooden outdoor decks and playsets — those made before 2005 likely contain lumber “pressure treated” with carcinogenic arsenic in order to stave off insect infestations. Of course, avoiding too much sun exposure when using those decks and playsets is another important way to protect oneself.
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Food-service inspections For the period ending April 18. To file a complaint, call the state Environment Department at 827-1840. THE BURRITO SPOT, 2207 Cerrillos Road. Cited for low-risk violation for improper opening at entrance door. GONZALES COMMUNITY SCHOOL, 851 W. Alameda St. Cited for high-risk violation for problem with mop sink hose (corrected). Cited for moderate-risk violations for open back door during food preparation, insufficient use of thermometers. Cited for low-risk violations for nonworking lights, missing floor tiles. MR. POLISH, 1311 Siler Road. Previous violation corrected. MCDONALD’S, 1007 S. St. Francis Drive. No violations. STEAKSMITH, 104 Old Las Vegas Highway. Cited for low-risk violations for inadequate lighting in wash area, some walls chipped, dented or with peeling plaster. CASA REAL, 1650 Galisteo St. Cited for high-risk violations for lack of water supply at hand-wash sink (corrected), problem with eggs in refrigerator (corrected). Cited for moderate-risk violations for employee cutting tomatoes with bare hands (corrected), peeling paint on ceiling in prep area. Cited for low-risk violations for some lights not working, improper shielding of lights, openings in walls near floor, broken tile, improper base coving. TIERRA ENCANTADA CHARTER SCHOOL, 511 Alarid St. Cited for high-risk violation for problem with food temperatures. Cited for low-risk violation for particle accumulation in corners and behind tables. OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE, 2574 Camino Entrada. Cited for high-risk violations for exposed insulation, improper storage of ice scoops, spoon in jar of jam, wet rag out of sanitizer solution, employee drinking over food prep area, lids in washing station, lack of soap in restrooms, unlabeled spray bottles, food in refrigerator not in containers. Cited for moderate-risk violations for dirty areas near food equipment, open dumpster lids, rodent droppings in exterior building. Cited for low-risk violations for storing food container boxes on floor, restroom doors not self-closing, dishwashing area not sealed to the wall, dust and mold on vents, unprotected light, tiles need replacing. PIÑON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, 2921 Camino de los Caballos. Cited for moderate-risk violation for dust on vent over food-prep area. LA PLANCHA DE ELDORADO, 7 Caliente Road. Previous violation corrected. ALDANA’S RESTAURANT, 3875 Cerrillos Road. Previous violations corrected. BASKIN ROBBINS, 4056 Cerrillos Road. Previous violations corrected. TESUQUE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, 1555 Bishops Lodge Road. Cited for low-risk violations for loose ceiling tiles caused by water leak, unnecessary equipment obstructing kitchen service area.
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