Volume XIX NUMBER 2 September 2008
of
Directors
2008
President
PRESIDENT MESSAGE
Sandra
Hughes
79 Pinewood Road
Needham, MA. 02492-3311
HOME: (781) 449-6402
WORK: (617) 673-1700 VM 2735
FAX: (781) 444-1366
E-MAIL:
PRESIDENT-ELECT
VNA of Southern Worcester Country
534 School Street
Webster, MA. 01570
WORK: (508) 943-0612
E-mail:
SECRETARY
Karen Harding
111 Sam Ingalls Road
Bridgton, ME. 04009
E-mail:
woundhealer@adelphia.net
TREASURER
Donna Golden
552
Webster
Street
Rockland, MA. 02370-1214
HOME: (781) 982-0985
FAX: (781) 982-0985
E-MAIL:
jkdnd@aol.com
REGIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSONS
|
EDUCATION
CO-CHAIR
Ann Navage 80 Pond Mill Road Plantsville, CT. 06479 St. Francis Hospital & Medical Center WORK: (860) 714- 6019 E-MAIL: anavage@stfranciscare.org
EDUCATION
CO-CHAIR
Lynn Kisner 299A Cedar Swamp Road Coventry, CT. 026238 WORK: (860) 872-9163 FAX: (860) 742- 3052 E-MAIL: kisnerlandm@aol.com
Web Page
Susan Gurney Inland Hospital 200 Kennedy Memorial Drive Waterville, ME. O4901 HOME: (207) 872-5761 WORK (207) 861-3350 FAX: (207) 861-3348 E-MAIL: sgurney@roadrunner.com
|
NOMINATIONS Pat Morrissey 209 Mt. Hope Street North Attleboro, MA. 02760 Newton-Wellesley Hospital Home: (508) 643-9576 WORK: (617) 243-6872 E-MAIL: morrisseyp209@comcast.com MEMBERSHIP/Public
relations
Nola Huss 33 Range Road Apt. 3 Brunswick, ME. 04011 HOME: (207) 721-0298 Home Health Visiting Nurses of Southern Maine WORK: (207) 771-4430 FAX: (207) 879-4609 E-MAIL: nmh622suscom-maine.net
|
POLITICAL ACTION
Debra Dubuc Debra Dubuc 2 East Pond Meadow Rd Westbrook, CT 06498 VA CT Healthcare System Home: 860-399-2215 Email: debradubuc@gmail.com
NEWSLETTER EDITOR
Eileen McCann 75 Johnson Street Trumbull, CT. 06611 HOME: (203) 268-5109 Stamford Hospital WORK: (203) 276-7009 E-MAIL: EmcCann@stamhealth.org
NEWSLETTER EDITOR Jerra Marie Sullivan 304 Chases Pond Road
York, ME. 03909-5795 978-922-3000 ext
2013 Fax 978-927-5208 E-MAIL: JMSULLIV@nhs-healthlink.org
YOUTH RALLY
CHAIR Marian-Barry
Ravagni 11 Thomas Street Saugus, MA. 01906 Greater Medford Visiting Nurses Association WORK: (782) 393-0775 Ext. 714 E-MAIL: marianrn8@aol.com |
Greetings to my New England Region Colleagues,
The New England Region of WOCN has grown to over 330 members despite the rising cost of oil and the dismal economic times! Thank you, Nola Huss for chairing our membership committee.
Our education committee chaired by Sue Gurney, Ann Navage and Lynn Kisner provided us with another great spring conference. Each year we change the location for our spring conference to a different state within our region. This year, the venue was the downtown area of Freeport, Main, home of LL Bean and many other outlets! Historically, we gear our spring conference toward our professional practice, and this year was o exception. Kay Martin RN lectured us on reimbursement issues for non-routine medical supplies and Medicare’s initiative for Pressure Ulcers (Present on Admission (POA) or Hospital Acquired Conditions (HAC). Tom Bartol CDE, FNP spoke to us on how to interpret those tough to understand research findings. After which we were treated to a delightful lunch, then it was back to learning. In the afternoon we gained knowledge of opening a WOC private practice and the day finished with an open forum discussing the many ways for the WOCN to collaborate care between health care settings. Thank you, Sue, Ann, Lynn and our education committee for another successful conference. Sue has now moved from being co-chair on the education committee to work with Gail Forthoffer on our web page. Ann Navage would also like to step down, and is eagerly searching for a replacement. Any member who would be interested in working on a committee can e-mail me or anyone on the board for further information at: www.newenglandregionworn.org.
The New England Region’s fall conference will be October 16th and 17th, 2008 at the Holiday Inn in Boxborough, MA. Please plan on joining us for what should be another great conference.
The WOCN National Conference was held in June down in Sunny Orlando, FL. It was the 40th anniversary of the WOCN and one of the highlights was all the living “past presidents” at the national level were brought together on one stage to share their memories. WOCN President Jan Colwell updated the regions with the newest national information:
1. The Center for Clinical Investigation (CCI) had a record number of grant proposal submissions this year. Grant awardees are posted on the CCI website. The grants will be awarded again next year. CCI is working on a toolkit for submitting a grant proposal.
2. President Elect Phyllis Bonham is leading a task force to develop a request for proposals (RFP) for an outcomes research study. Our regional director, Kate Lawrence, will be on this task force. This specific aim of the research is to determine if care delivered by the WOC specialty nurse improves patient outcomes.
3. The WOCN is incorporated in Illinois and in order to be compliant with Illinois law the WOCN bylaws need to be reviewed and revised. One area that requires attention is the percentage of voting members that are required to vote on elections and bylaw amendments. The current percentage is 25%, which is high by national standards and to accomplish this percentage, the society has spent money and resources to get to the needed percentage of votes. Information regarding this revision will be sent to all members in the near future. The Board of Directors will not be proposing an amendment that will prevent all that want to do so. For further information, you may check the WOCN website at www.wocn.org.
The New England Region had their membership meeting in Orlando which was attended by over 50 members! Donna Loehner RN BSN CWOCN at Leahy Hospital who is on the WOCNCB (the credentialing board) came and spoke to us about the changes that have occurred over this past year. The mission of the WOCNCB is to promote the highest quality of consumer care by credentialing qualified nurses in wound, ostomy and continence and foot care. The WOCNCB has been exploring the advanced practice exam, developing a new website and advocating and setting standards for employer awards (the first of which was presented at the WOCN conference), exploring certification grants checking a benevolence fund, exploring the role of the LPN in wound/ostomy care and the possible certification for them and finally the marketing of CWOCN’s . The WOCNCB did decide not to develop a certification program for non-BSN nurses. If you would like more information on these possible initiatives, please go to their website at www.wocncb.org.
Our region has a few celebrities! Paula Bossi RN BSN CWOCN Gail Forthoffer MSN, GNP, CWOCN, Sandy Quigley, RN CWOCN CPNP, and Tom Szopa MS RN CWOCN were all nominated for Nursing Spectrum Excellence in Nursing Awards for 2008, Paula and Sandy were finalists! Congratulations to these excellent WOCN leaders! In addition, the following press release was received:
New England Rehabilitation Hospital in Portland Maine awarded its Nurse of the Year to Adrienne Andrews RN, APRN during their annual employee recognition ceremony.
Adrienne is a member of the NER WOCN and will complete her WOCN studies at Emory University in the summer of 2008.
Recipients of this award are selected from peer nominations employed at NE Rehabilitation Hospital. Nominees must demonstrate exemplary nursing skills, enviable interpersonal skills, great reliability and consistency in attendance and performance. Many nominations spoke of Adrienne’s kindness, compassion and flexibility.
In my previous message I spoke of the need to update our New England Region Website along with the possibility of having on-line voting. With the prospect of online voting we need to revise and amend the bylaws to incorporate this change. We will therefore need to have the bylaw amendments voted on by our embers at the fall membership/business meeting. More information will be sent prior to the fall meeting to update all members on these changes. If you have any questions or concerns regarding these bylaw amendments, you can e-mail me at:
Shughes787@hotmail.com. You can read more about the changes in Karen Harding’s message below.
In closing, I again thank the members of the New England Region for affording me the opportunity to lead you. I hope to see all of you in Boxborough.
A Message from our Secretary:
Dear New England Region Members:
Hello to all members!
This year at our Fall Business meeting we are voting on Bylaw changes. Your Board worked diligently to make any appropriate changes and will be presenting them to you for your vote. Rather than send out the entire set of bylaws, we elected to send you a summary of the proposed changes. Copies of the Bylaws and their exact changes are available on the New England Region website @www.newenglandregionwocn.org and will be available to you at the Fall Business Meeting.
Basically, the changes are as follows:
As previously stated, the bylaws with their proposed changes will be available for your review and vote at the Fall Business Meeting. The meeting will be held on October 16th, 2008 at 2PM. Per our present bylaws, we must present any proposed changes to your prior to the meeting.
Hope to see as many of you as possible at our Fall Conference and Business Meeting!
Respectfully submitted,
Karen Harding, RN CW, CWOCN, Secretary
Fall Elections
Every year we have a fall election. This fall the New England Region will be voting for the position of Secretary. The Secretary takes minutes for all board meetings and e-mails the minutes to the board members. The Secretary also takes the minutes for the general meeting held for all members in the fall just before the start of conference….If you are interested in this position, please contact me. My e-mail is:
Morrisseyp209@comcast.net. Most of our board meetings are done by conference call, so you don’t have to leave the comforts of your own home!
The New England Region benefits from the talents of all our members. Please consider running for an elected office of joining any of the committees. We need more members to consider joining our region and lending your talents to a leadership role. I look forward to hearing from YOU!
Pat Morrissey, Nominations Chair
Political Action News-Fall 2008
Influencing Public Policy through Grass Roots Efforts
8-23-08
Debra Dubuc, RN, MSN, APRN-BC, CWON
Chairperson- New England Region Political Action Committee
As WOCN nurses, some of you may operate on a daily basis with the belief that political action and influencing public policy is somewhat important, but is best handled by someone other than yourself. Unfortunately, this could not be farther from the truth. Our founding fathers wrote the constitution to allow for policy and legislative changes to be made by the few, but only after hearing the recommendations and ideas of the many. We are the people who are in the field and can give our legislators first hand information about how a proposed law or amendment to a current law will affect the healthcare system. Most of us wouldn’t hesitate to step up and correct a situation where a patient is in need of an advocate. We are nurses and that is inherent to our role. Yet how few of us realize that by affecting legislative and policy changes we are advocating for thousands of patients as well as for ourselves and the healthcare system in which we practice. Political action then becomes not only a right that our fore fathers fought for, but also a responsibility that each of us must rise to.
So why is it that many WOCN nurses do not become more politically active? I believe the answer is multi-factorial. Probably one of the biggest hurdles to over come is the fact that we are busy. We are trying to balance work and home responsibilities. Another reason is that we are under the misconception that it is too much or too difficult for us. We think someone with more knowledge will do it or is doing it. Maybe we aren’t sure where to start, or how to do it and many other reasons. Although all of these excuses may have some component of truth behind them, it still isn’t an adequate reason to sit back and allow changes to take place that will damage the health care system and cause regression to progress that has already been fought for and achieved.
A recent piece of legislation is an excellent example of how we can effectively link together for a common issue and very positively affect change. The bill was HR.6331- Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008. This piece of legislation was introduced on June 20, 2008 and co-sponsored by house representatives Charles Rangel (D-NY) and John Dingell (D—MI). It is an extensive 130 page document, but in a nutshell it amends Title 18 (Medicare) and Title 19 (Medicaid) programs by “extending provisions, improving beneficiary access to preventative medical services and preventative mental health services, enhancement to low income benefit programs and maintains access to care in rural areas.” In addition it improves the coverage of participants in Medigap for drug coverage, allows incentives for providers to adopt electronic prescribing, extends the 0.5% increase in bonus payment until 2010 for providers who comply with the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative, and expands access to primary care services through the addition of $100 million Medical Home Demonstration Project. Two areas which have a largest impact on WOCN practice are the portions of HR.6331 which affect Competitive Bidding and Medicare Physician Pay Cuts.
The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA) gave CMS the authority to implement five competitive bidding projects. There have been several additional pieces of legislation since then with regard to competitive bidding. In June 2002 a version of Medicare reform allowed for competitive bidding for durable medical equipment, orthotics, prosthetics and laboratory services. Under competitive bidding, suppliers would have to propose, or bid, on what services and products they could provide beneficiaries. CMS would then select providers based on price. Only those companies selected would be allowed to provide products to consumers. The overall intent was to stop Medicare fraud and to reduce the cost of providing products and services to the growing number of Medicare beneficiaries. Unfortunately unwanted side effects from competitive bidding would potentially include reduced access to equipment and supplies for beneficiaries, reduced quality of services that beneficiaries receive and the elimination of small businesses that are not able to reduce their costs enough to have bids equal to larger suppliers. In other words, the intention was noble, but the actual mechanics of the bidding process needs work and quality standard measures are still needed before the program extends to all Medicare beneficiaries nationwide. The first phase of bidding was scheduled to begin July 1, 2008 and the second phase was scheduled for early 2009. With the passage of HR.6331 both phases of competitive bidding have been delayed. The reason cited was “fairness concerns during the bidding process”. This doesn’t mean competitive bidding has ended, but rather that we will have more time to petition congress with regard to the regulations so that we can hopefully have the fairest process for both the Medicare beneficiaries and the suppliers.
The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (HR.6331) also had a large impact on how physicians and APRNs will be paid. Effective July 1, 2008 there was going to be a 10.6% cut in provider fee schedules for Medicare payments in 2008, and another 5% cut scheduled for 2009 under the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula. This was causing nearly 24 percent of physicians in all specialties to limit or not accept new Medicare patients, citing that they could not financially afford it. As a result patients were having reduced access to healthcare. With the passing of HR.6331, the cuts were removed and a 1.1% increase has been authorized for next year.
What is important to note with regard to HR.6331 was that President Bush vetoed the bill citing that he supported the objective of the legislation, but vetoed it due to the way the costs would be covered (by cutting private Medicare Advantage plans). This meant that in order for this piece of legislation to become law, both the House and Senate had to pass it with a two-thirds vote, large enough to override a presidential veto. On June 24, 2008 the House passed it 383 to 41. The Senate was having difficulty gaining enough positive votes and then went on recess for the July 4th holiday. An alert went out to nurses and physicians requesting that each contact their Senators over the holiday break and implore them to vote in favor of HR.6331. By the time the Senate had resumed their session they had received so many requests from constituents to pass HR.6331, that they voted 70 for and only 26 against the bill (4 abstained). This was the two-thirds vote necessary to pass the bill into law. On July 15, 2008 HR.6331 began law, in large part due to the grass roots effort of individuals like you and me.
The successful passage of HR.6331 is just one example of how individual people can effect change in congress. The same is true related to policies of CMS and other regulatory bodies. In order to be ready to take action when issues arise, I would like to establish an email distribution list of all New England Region WOCN members who would be willing to write a letter to their congressmen when issues arise. If you think you might be willing or interested, I ask you to send me your name, email address and identify the state in which you vote, since some issues may be based on state legislative issues. I will set up the list and whenever an issue needs action from our members I will send out an alert describing the issue along with an example letter of which could be used to send to your congressmen. If you feel unsure of how to proceed and would like more direction I suggest you start with a great new educational tool created by the WOCN Public Policy Committee, entitled “Advocacy and Grassroots Toolkit- Influencing Public Policy: Strengthening the Voice of the Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nursing Community”. It is available on the WOCN web site. To contact me please send your information to: debradubuc@gmail.com. Thanks in advance for your support
Youth Rally 2008
This year the New England Region sent 9 campers 3 counselors and our own WOCN Ilene Fleischer from Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston to San Diego State University July 7-10 For Youth Rally 2008.
We received a lovely thank you card and note from the group expressing their gratitude for all the support we have given them. I have to say after reading the agenda that included everything from a “Welcome Fiesta” with a Mariachi group to a themed event called the “Great Race” that took this group from Africa through Asia, North America, Australia and Europe and ended with a graduation ceremony where everyone received prizes thanks to Hasbro Toys. A GREAT time was had by all! We, the New England Region of WOCN’s, do this.
The thank you note referred to this “fantastic trip”,” it was a blast” and “I very much appreciate your generosity.” This is all thanks to the hard work and generous assistance of support groups, individuals, corporate sponsors and you the WOCN.
Youth Rally provides the opportunity for adolescents between the ages of 11 and 17 to interact with their peers. Campers who have IBD, continent procedures or ostomy procedures, receive education and psychosocial support that enables them to face life and its challenges. This is done in a setting that promotes positive social interaction and self esteem.
Youth Rally Camp needs our financial support in order to continue the great work they have been doing for the past 25 years. Please continue to SUPPORT the Youth Rally Auction which will be held in October at the Holiday Inn in Boxborough, MA. If every member donated as little as five dollars it would make an impact in the life of a teen. Any help you can offer will be greatly appreciated.
Please consider joining the Youth Rally Committee. Remember, its all about the kids.
Contact: Marian Barry-Ravagni @ Marian rn8@aol.com.
Thank you letter
from Ilene
Fleisher, RN for Youth Rally Counselor Sponsorship
Dear New England Region,
I recently returned from an exciting and enriching five days at the Youth Rally camp. For those of you who are not familiar with the Rally, it is a camp for children ages 11 – 17 with ostomies and changes in normal bowel and/or bladder function. This year, the Rally was held for five days in San Diego, from July 12 through July 17. The mission of the camp is that “the YRC, Youth Rally provides a non-threatening environment where adolescents with alterations of bladder and/or bowel function receive education and psychosocial support that encourages independent living.”
I was definitely eager to go, although a bit nervous as well. Volunteering at the Youth Rally camp as a WOC nurse was something I had wanted to do for years. Even though I work with adults, I thought the principles of care would be applicable and I was ready to learn more, both from the kids, other WOC RNs who were there, the staff that have worked there, and the literature that was readily available. I remember when the plane landed…I could not believe I was really there. Alone and not knowing what to expect, I got off the plane and began my journey. Looking around to see what happened next, I spotted the sign for Youth Rally 2008. I went over and received genuinely warm welcomes with large smiles from staff and counselors who were waiting for the next bus. The bus would take us to San Diego State University for the five day camp. We had Thursday and Friday to get prepared and oriented for the campers who arrived on Saturday. Meetings, responsibilities, schedules, and daily plans and activities were made. The RNs developed educational sessions with word scrambles, jeopardy, and crossword puzzles. Themes ran through all the days and we joined these, dressing in our African Safari clothes on the day we presented our session to the campers. There were a total of 14 RNs, 34 counselors (many who had previously been campers), 9 CITs, and 7 other.
Saturday July 12 arrived quickly. We were now all ready and excitedly awaited the kids. When they arrived, 101 of them (50 boys and 51 girls) with 44 who had never been to the camp before, the flow into the camp felt continuous. Most of the RNs were assigned to kids by age groups. We met each child, one on one in our nursing area, a college suite that became our nursing station with some rooms to meet individually with the kids for the next five days. Some of the diagnoses of the kids were cloacal exstrophy, bladder exstrophy, post urethral valves, chronic ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, spina bifida, neurogenic bowel and bladder, imperforate anus, VATERS/VACTERL association, spinal muscular atrophy, short bowel syndrome, Hirschsprungs, familial polyposis, prune belly, familial mediteranian fever, pseudo obstruction, traumatic injury, intestinal neuronal dysplagia, alagille syndrome and byler’s disease.
I am not sure who was more nervous at that initial meeting, me or them, but I think I hid it well and showed confidence as I met with each kid to get a brief health history, establish a rapport, identify their needs, and hear their goals for the week. I had boys and girls, ages 14 and 15. Behind that closed door, kids seemed to feel safe and shared issues, fears, challenges, and dreams…and there were tears that some shed as well. I see these kids in my mind from this first day to 5 days later and am amazed by the change – the increased socialization, self-esteem, self-confidence, and independence.
I shared a college suite with some of the kids who were assigned to me, 2 counselors, and some campers who were followed by another WOC RN –a total of 8 in my college dormitory suite. Activities over those five days included a competition called the Great Race, a Mexican themed fiesta, bowling, video games, pizza parties, swimming, rock climbing, shopping, talent show, amusement park/beach outing, camp fire, a day trip to the San Diego zoo, and a dance with a graduation party on the last night. Skits by counselors dealing with bullying, school issues, how self-confidence positively affects how others view you, and modeling behavior were done creatively and with humor. My eyes would not stay dry during this “true to life” skit.
Not only was practicing as a pediatric nurse new to me, but “being on” 24/7 was new. The RNs supported one another and I felt part of a team, and that was great. The staff and counselors were truly a special group of people, and everyone worked together to help the kids and make the week a great experience for them. I learned a lot and the kids’ enthusiasm and courage was inspirational. The support they got from one another, and the first timers surprise at seeing how they were not alone, was amazing to watch. With physical care, kids gained new skills that fostered independence in just those five days. Trepidation about making friends turned into hugs and tears as good-byes were said on the last day. Body image issues, such as always wearing pants and long sleeves turned into shorts and T shirts, shyness with swimming before arriving became jumping the waves in the ocean, activities never done such as bowling for kids in wheelchairs became 10 frames played with their teammates, physical care with appliance changes, enteral and parental feedings, and catheterizations were areas for tips, growth, and improved independence for many of the kids.
What an amazing group of people to be with – the staff, counselors, CITs, RNs, and especially the kids. The comfort and fun they had together was evident on all their faces.
It was a terrific and invaluable experience for me! And it is you, the New England Region, who I would like to thank for helping me have this great experience. Without your sponsorship and support, it would not have been possible. Most of the kids and many counselors and nurses are sponsored to attend the camp – and the campers are from all over the United States. Please visit the web site www.rally4youth.org and view some photos. Please consider making a donation to keep this camp thriving – whether it is $5, $10, $25, $100, or more, you will be helping to touch the life of a child in more ways than you can imagine and you will truly be making a difference. The philosophy is that the Youth Rally will not turn away any teen that wants to go.
To donate, please go to www.rally4youth.org and click on the “Donate” link at the top of the page
Consider volunteering your time some day….the wonderful feelings I had and you will have are hard to put into words, but ones that will stay in your heart forever.
Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Ilene Fleischer MS, RN, CWOCN
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
More Youth Rally
News…
Dear Youth Rally
Participants &
Friends,
Youth Rally
needs you!
The
Youth Rally Committee is partnering with Macy’s in Shop For A Cause on
September 20, 2008. This fundraising
event is one way that Macy’s supports nonprofit organizations
throughout the
United States. As a participating
organization, YRC will sell special $5 shopping passes to the Shop For
A Cause
event, and keep 100% of the proceeds from the passes it sells. Shopping passes can be used in every Macy’s
nationwide, and entitle pass holders to special savings on select
merchandise
throughout the store in addition to regular and sale merchandise
specials.
All
day limited exclusion savings pass includes:
*EXCLUDES:
Cosmetics and fragrances, fine and fashion watches, designer and bridge
handbags (including Coach, Dooney & Bourke, Juicy Couture and Marc
by Marc
Jacobs), designer and bridge shoes, Louis Vuitton, Polo/Ralph Lauren,
Lauren,
Tommy Bahama, Lacoste, 28 Shop, Oval Room, Martha Stewart Furniture,
Lauren Ralph
Lauren Furniture, Waterford, Lalique, Baccarat Tempur-Pedic, All-Clad,
Henckels, and Wusthof. Not valid on EDV, Macy’s Gift Cards and Gift
Certificates, special orders, previous purchases, restaurants, and
nonmerchandise-related
services, Gift Registry kiosks, gift wrap, selected licensed
departments or as
payment on credit accounts. Discount will be deducted from the current
price
(regular, sale or clearance, as applicable.) Cannot be combined with
another
savings pass or discount offer, except for new accounts (subject to
credit
approval). Valid Saturday, September 20, 2008.
Where do you
come in?
The Youth Rally
Committee is asking
campers, their families, friends and anyone else with ties to Youth
Rally to
help us sell passes. This is a
fundraising activity for anyone and everyone, and one that can have a
lot of
impact from the small efforts of a lot of people. Since
this event is taking place at every Macy’s
store in the country, we would love to have Youth Rally supported in
every
region where there are people who have been touched by Youth Rally’s
amazing
work.
If
you would like to sell passes please contact Alycia Ebbinghaus at
youth.rally.fundraising@gmail.com
“cc:” to judebb@sbcglobal.net
Please include
the number of passes you would like to sell, and your mailing address. You will receive passes, instructions for
selling, collecting money and reporting sales, and information on Shop
For A
Cause. You can always request more
passes, but dream big and think of how important Youth Rally is to you,
and how
you’ll feel knowing that you were a part of making it happen.
Thank you for
your support!
Alycia Ebbinghaus
YRC
Grantwriter
257
Congressional Lane, #111,Rockville, MD 20852
·
20% off* regular,
sale & clearance women’s, men’s & kids’ apparel &
accessories,
fine, bridge & fashion jewelry, bed & bath items, housewares,
frames,
luggage, china, crystal & silver, all kitchen & personal care
electrics
& technology items.
·
10% off*
regular, sale & clearance furniture, mattresses & rugs.
·
An additional
20% off for
opening a new Macy’s account.
· You can collect cash from individuals, or checks made out to Youth Rally Committee, Inc.
· At the end of the sale period, all cash funds collected must be consolidated into one check made out to Youth Rally Committee, Inc.
·
Please mail all
unsold
passes, checks, final number of passes you’ve sold by September 12th
to:
Alycia
Ebbinghaus
YRC
Grantwriter
257
Congressional Lane, #111
Rockville,
MD 20852
That’s it.
Pretty simple, with the chance
for a really big impact. If every person
sells 10 passes, that’s $50 to Youth Rally.
If 100 people sell 10 passes each, that’s $5000 to Youth Rally,
which
can go a long way.
If
you have any questions, please feel free to contact Alycia Ebbinghaus
at youth.rally.fundraising@gmail.com
by
Liz Lemiska BSN, RN,
CWOCN
Certified Wound, Ostomy, Continence
Nurses (CWOCNs) practicing in acute care settings may feel that the “C”
is
after “W” and “O” for a very good reason.
It is often the last area to get their attention.
Typically hospital based CWOCNs are bombarded
daily with complex wound and ostomy patient care issues with little
time
remaining for the “C” in their specialty nursing practice.
While busy CWOCNs are compelled to solve
wound and ostomy issues, their continence nursing practice is often
reduced to
periodic review and selection of incontinence care products such as
perineal
cleansers, barrier ointments, etc.
It is estimated that 15-34% of hospitalized
patients
are incontinent of urine. This fact
combined with the new CMS rulings (www.cms.hhs.gov) effective October
1, 2008
regarding hospital acquired conditions (HAC) provides a stimulus for
CWOCNs to
review their “C” practice. Both pressure
ulcers and catheter associated urinary tract infection (UTI) made the
CMS
(Center for Medicare Services) HAC (Hospital Acquired Condition) hit
list due
to their high cost, high volume and CMS’s focus on improving the
quality of
care for Medicare patients. CMS is expecting all hospitals to follow
recommended guidelines for prevention of pressure ulcers which we are
all
familiar with and can be found on these web sites: www.npuap.org
& www.hhs.gov.
Reviewing Hess and Rook’s recent article in
Ostomy
Wound Managemt, December 2007, Vol.53, Issue 12, “Understanding
Recent Regulatory Guidelines for Hospital Acquired
Catheter-Related Urinary Tract Infections and Pressure Ulcers”, can
be
helpful in cranking your continence practice up a notch!
This article can be
accessed via the web at www.o-wm.com
then search in the archives.
All of this likely means fewer hospitalized patients will have
indwelling urinary
catheters and those that do will have them for shorter periods of time,
increasing the threat to skin integrity.
The likely consequences:
1.
Increased
episodes of
incontinence associated dermatitis
2.
Increased
number of patients
at higher risk for sacral/coccygeal pressure ulcers due to moisture
exposure.
3.
Increased
number of
sacral/coccygeal facility acquired
pressure ulcers
4.
Decreased
reimbursement, CMS
will no longer cover the cost of facility acquired stage III and IV pressure ulcers
What is a prudent CWOCN
do? First hospital administrators will
want to assure that physicians, midlevel providers and nursing staff
will be
diligent and accurate when performing and documenting skin assessments
on
admission to the hospital. What is
“present
on admission” needs to be assessed and recorded. CWOCNs
are in the ideal position to educate
and re-educate all levels of hospital staff on skin assessment,
incontinence
management, prevention of skin breakdown, and accurate, timely
documentation. CWOCNs will also need to
monitor, collect,
interpret and report on skin integrity related data to care providers,
managerment and administration.
Opportunities for
implementing EBP and research abound.
Clinical research continues to be needed to grow the knowledge
in
continence nursing. Now is a opportune
time for CWOCNs to reassess their hospital’s skin care formularies,
prevention
or treatment plans/pathways, documentation tools, urine and stool
containment
devices, under-pads, adult briefs, and toileting practices of nursing
assistants, offer in-services, CEU programs.
Continence nursing is an important part of the acute care
CWOCN‘s
practice. Embrace the “C”! If we don’t,
who will?
FROM YOUR EDITORS
Please consider writing an article, projects
you are
working on for your newsletter. Remember, writing an article for your
newsletter can earn you five points towards your Professional Growth
recertifications.
For advertising rates, please contact Jerra
Sullivan or
Eileen McCann
Announcements:
Northshore
Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses are getting together on the 1st of
October
at 6pm. at the Danversport Yacht club!
Contact Jerra Sullivan at Jsulliv@nhs-healthlink.org A Program is planned with Dinner. If interested please RSVP to Jerra.
Wound Specialty Course to be Offered in Worcester
The Wicks Wound Ostomy Continence Nurse Education Program based in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania will be presenting a Wound Specialty Program in Worcester from October 27 – November 7, 2008. The program will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn in Worcester, Massachusetts.
This program is accredited by WOCN and the requirements for acceptance are the same as the full scope practice.
Requirements are as follows:
The program consists of 80 hours of classroom instruction and 60 hours of clinical practicum with an approved preceptor. Classes are held Monday – Friday. The course is approved for the awarding of contact hours through the Pennsylvania State Nurses Association.
Guest faculty from the community will participate in class presentations. The student has six months in which to complete the course.
Upon completion of the clinical requirements, the student graduates as a Wound Care Nurse and is eligible to take the National Certification Examination. Upon passing the examination, the graduate is credentialed as a Certified Wound Care Nurse (CWCN).
The student has the option to continue in the program for the Continence and Ostomy sections. They may attend on-site class in Pennsylvania or complete the Home Study Modules.
Please share this information with your staff.
Anyone interested in applying for this program can contact:
PA office 1-800-807-9425
Email: wicks@epix.net
Web site: www.wickseducational.com
Or contact
Jane E. Carmel, MSN, RN, CWOCN
Program Co-Director
Tel: 1-866-942-5733
Hi Pam – on
back page – please add
program info for FALL Conference:
New England
Region WOCN
FALL
Conference
Thursday
October
16, 2008
&
Friday
October
17, 2008
Holiday Inn
Boxborough,
MA
**FALL
clip art here
please
Registration Deadline
October 10, 2008
Registration Fee:
Thursday
Only ………………. $ 75.00
Thursday
& Friday ………….. $150.00
Friday
Only …………………. $135.00
Make check payable to:
New England Region WOCN
Reservations
must be received by September 24,
2008. Rates and availability are not guaranteed
after September 24, 2008. To make
reservations, call the hotel directly
at (978) 263-8701
Accommodations
Holiday Inn Boxborough
Woods
242 Adams Place
Boxborough, MA
Conference room rates are
$128.00 a
night, single or double occupancy, plus taxes.
Amenities
Include:
Casual and fine dining,
indoor pool,
hot tub, fitness center, sauna, nautilus, cardiovascular and weight
rooms, game
room and pool table.
Mail registration form
& payment
to:
Donna Golden
552 Webster Street
Rockland, MA
02370
Fee Includes:
Reference Materials
Thursday Evening Buffet
Friday Continental Breakfast
Luncheon
Contact
Information
Registration
Information: