I.M. Injections

There is a change in preferred IM injection sites to no longer use the dorsogluteal site. 

This poster is on the door of the medicaiton room in North Charleston. I wanted to place a picture on the blog for reference. 

Key Points:

¢  The dorsogluteal IM injection site will be removed as a medication administration option from McKesson and EPIC EMRs. 

¢  In accordance with evidence-based practice guidelines, the dorsogluteal site is not          recommended for intramuscular (IM) injection in the pediatric and adult patient populations.

¢      Rationale: The dorsogluteal site is associated with the following:

         ¢      Sciatic nerve injury

         ¢      Muscle fibrosis

         ¢      Unnecessary pain

         ¢      Inadvertent subcutaneous administration

         ¢      Weakened or amplified medication effects due to increased or decreased absorption

How will this affect your practice?

¢  Clinicians should no longer use the dorsogluteal site for administering IM injections as             recommended by evidence based practice guidelines.

EMPLOYEE SURVEY !!

Employee Survey is coming soon!

MAY 19TH - JUNE 1ST 

YOUR SURVEY AMBASSADORS:

NORTH CHARLESTON: Chrystalle Fishburne RN

MT. PLEASANT: Elizabeth Bilancione, RN

We are shooting for 100% participation....then we will have a party!!!

Employee of the Month

Patty Randinelli 

April Employee of the Month!

Please Congratulate Patty when you see her! She was nominated for April Employee of the month by Rosemarie Battaglia for her wonderful work with the Pediatric Surgery Clinic!

Pain Scale

A little humor...

My daughter sent me this....she thought we may want to change our pain scale....Our 5th vital sign is pain....lets not get to #12 before intervention! LOL!

April Staff Meetings

Time Change for Staff Meetings

This is not new for the North Charleston Facility, but all staff meetings will begin at 2:30 pm instead of 3 pm. The staff meetings are held on the 4th Wednesday (NC) and Thursday (MTP) of each month. The next staff meetings will be April 24th and 25th. 

Information will be shared from the recent Leadership meeting and information about upcoming events for our After Hours Care Program!

Winner for guessing the "Snowballs"!

Winner in Snowball contest

We have the winner of our Snowball Guessing Game! Our winner is Ashley McCrackin, 11yo, who guessed 2212. There were 2237 "snowballs" in our container. We enjoyed looking at all 195 guesses, with the lowest guess being 11 and the highest guess being 20,000,003,001! Congratulations Ashley on your prizes!

After Hours Care on Live 5 News!

Live 5 News

Dan and Cindy were on Live 5 News to promote the Valentine Day Event! Check it out!

http://youtu.be/iGhOSWEkkGg

Flu Fairy!

The Flu Fairy Visits North Charleston!

The flu fairy was so glad both clinics are doing a fabulous job of assuring our children are protected from the flu this year!

North Charleston has a New Board!

It was a long time coming....!

This was great for the start...but we needed to IMPROVE!

Our new board came in today! (It does not take much to excite us!)

Snowball Guess!

Baby It’s Cold Outside!

Guess the number of “snowballs”!

Rules:

·         Open to children age 17 and under

·         A visit is not required…just drop by and fill out a form

·         Form must include the following: Name of Child, Guess, Parents name, address, and preferred contact.

·         One entry per child

·         Child that guesses the closest without going over will be the winner

·         Winner will be announced February 14^th

·         Winner does not have to be present, but will be contacted via their parents information

Good Luck….Have fun….and stay warm!

(Prize is provided by Kohl’s and includes a Dr. Seuss stuffed animal and book for the child. Note cards and recipe book is included for the parents!)

2013

Happy New Year

2013

What a wonderful start to a New Year! Both sites are doing fabulous. I am sure everyone has heard of North Charlestons' record setting day with 52 patients on Tuesday, January 1st! Mt. Pleasant topped North Charleston on Monday, December 31st at 21 patients compared to North Charlestons 12!

That had me thinking of some comparisons...not to scare Mt. Pleasant....but.....

                                                           North Charleston                           Mt. Pleasant

Day 1                                                    0                                                      4

High number for first month                     7                                                     11

Total Pts. for first full month                    214                                                 381

Reached 20 patients                              Day 119                                          Day 35

Following that train of thought Mt. Pleasant may see between 1400 and 1600 in December of 2013. If North Charleston continues to grow at it's same rate, they will see over 2100! Scary thoughts!

*Small disclaimer....I am not a mathematician!

Giving Back Grant

Giving Back Grant

Portable SPO2 monitor

Back in October the staff was asked for ideas for equipment that they would like to have to make our patients experience better, and our jobs easier. April suggested a portable pulse ox. The Giving Back Grant wanted all submissions to positively impact the mission of  MUSC and include MUSC Pillars of Excellence (Service, People, Quality, Finance, and Growth). By highlighting MUSC's mission to "Improve health and maximize quality of life through education, research, and patient care" I was able to focus on the impact to patient care, tying in our pillar goals of people and quality.  What made the grants possible? More than 800 grateful patients that donated $49,382 to the hospital, with gifts ranging from $5 up to $1000. There were 43 applications and 15 recipients! We are so happy that we were one of those 15! Our pulse ox's are in, one for North Charleston and one for Mt. Pleasant. These totaled over $1000 so lets take care of them! (I personally think we should nick name them "The April Monitor"! its pretty, smart, and is good for our patients, just like April!)

This is why we do what we do!

This is why we do what we do....!

We had a very appreciative mom that dropped off some goodies for us today in North Charleston. Mom relayed to me that last Tuesday night she presented here with her son after we closed. The staff let her in and saw that her son was having difficulty breathing. The staff acted quickly and called 911 and took care of her son "Tommy" until EMS arrived and they were taken to MUSC Peds ER. She relayed that she felt as if we made a difference in assuring quick care was given to her child although we were closed and the staff stayed late. She wanted to share that Tommy had "croup induced asthma attack" and he is now home and doing better. She was so glad we were here for them! The staff working that night was Renee, Lori, Bethany, Jody, Cindy K., and Rickey and they had already cared for 28 patients before closing!

The Holiday Season

The Holiday Season

North Charleston After Hours is Getting Into the Christmas Spirit!

We had some wonderful visitors come and perform Christmas songs!

A Hot Chocolate Buffet!

December Education Board

Review your internet safety on the December Patient Education board done by Bethany Knox LPN!

Employee of the Month

Employee of the Month!

Our own Meredith Strehle was surprised with her employee of the month award! Who would deserve it more? Meredith was recognized for encouraging staff to think out of the box and take risks, even if things don't work out as planned. She was also applauded for being available to her staff throughout her time away after delivering baby Caroline. Meredith replied with her usual graciousness and was very grateful for the recognition by those that work along side her and within our After Hours Care program!

Mt. Pleasant Holiday Parade

Mt. Pleasant Holiday Parade

We all had such fun at the Mt. Pleasant Holiday parade. This was great for team building and that is what makes our After Hours Care group so special. We have the unique opportunity compared to other clinics to interact with our communities and when you take advantage of this, it is an experience you will never forget! We have big plans for next years holiday season!

Holiday Party

Mt. Pleasant Made Front Page of Catalyst!

Mt. Pleasant welcomes
first peds after-hours care clinic

The MUSC Children's Hospital after-hours care and specialty clinic in Mount Pleasant opened for business Nov. 5. The clinic is specifically geared toward children, up to the age of 18, who need non-urgent care.

The clinic's procedures include, but are not limited to, pediatric cardiology, pediatric genetics and heart health. The after-hours care clinic, which is the first one in the area, is hoping to serve patients during off hours. The clinic is also open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, for specific pediatric specialty clinics.

Registration representative Sophia Bacani, left, discusses operation procedures with registered nurse Cindy Dollason at the new pediatric After Hours Care & Clinic Specialties. The clinic is located at 2705 Highway 17 North, (corner of Highway 17 North and Hamlin Road). Hours of operation are 4 to 10 p.m., Monday through Friday and noon to 7 p.m., Saturday, Sunday, and holidays. For information, visit MUSCkids.com/afterhours.

Mt. Pleasant Ribbon Cutting

Local Mayors and others attended the ribbon cutting on November 5th to Celebrate our opening!