Our Annual Meeting & Spring Banquet on May 12 was a huge success - a fun celebration of National Nurses Week! Now we look forward to summer, with time for developing fall programs. Here's hoping you have some fun plans for this summer. . .
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News2Use is published monthly for KCNA members and other nurses throughout King County. To comment or submit content, email rose@kcnurses.org.
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CELEBRATE THE PROFESSION!
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KCNA Celebrates National Nurses Week in Style
King County Nurses Association (KCNA) hosted a festive event during National Nurses Week - the Annual Meeting & Spring Banquet, held Thursday, May 12 at the Ballard Bay Club on Shilshole. It was a beautiful evening, with magnificent views out onto the bay and a delicious Northwest-inspired buffet.
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KCNA President Cindy Jo Allen, Megan Alatrista, Jennifer Graves
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KCNA honored two extraordinary nurses with Shining Star Awards this year. For more details about these stellar nurses, click
here.
Megan Alatrista is an RN at the University of Washington Medical Center, where she creates a better environment for both patients and staff.
Jennifer Graves is Chief Executive at Swedish Edmonds, where she is actively engaged in all aspects of medical center operations.
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2016 Scholarship Recipients
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In addition, KCNA presented 15 scholarship awards of $3,000 each to high-achieving nursing school students. Read
more.
Auction bidding was lively, and 100% of proceeds will benefit the KCNA Scholarship Fund. This year, the auction netted a total of $11,845. Together with the earlier total from cash donations, the grand total raised is $31,895.
AND. . . fear not, it's not too late to
donate to the KCNA Scholarship Fund!
Yet Again: Nurses Most Trusted Professionals
For the 14th consecutive year, nursing was rated the most trusted profession in the Gallup poll for Honesty/Ethics in Professions in 2015.
In the latest poll, 85 percent of Americans rated nurses' honesty and ethical standards as very high or high, placing nurses 17 percentage points above any other profession.
According to the Massachusetts Nurses Association president, "The public sees how hard nurses work and how seriously they take their responsibility to advocate for safe and effective care. Nurses are the most trusted voice in health care because they fight every day to protect the health of their patients and communities."
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National Physical Fitness and Sports Month
Regular physical activity is good for everyone's health, and people of all ages and body types can be physically active. National Physical Fitness and Sports Month is a great time to spread the word about the benefits of getting active. Communities, health professionals, and families can work together to create opportunities for everyone to get more physical activity. This national health observance can help to raise awareness about the benefits of physical activity.
Here are a few ideas:
Encourage families to make small changes, like taking a walk after dinner or going for
a bike ride.
Motivate teachers and administrators to make physical activity a part of every
student's day.
Identify youth leaders who can talk to their peers about the importance of being
active.
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Nursing News and Clinical Issues
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Researchers Identify Possible Revolutionary Antidepressant
For years, scientists and doctors have known that ketamine can treat depression very rapidly, often working within hours, compared to weeks or months for widely used antidepressants. However, the drug, which is approved as an anesthetic, has major side effects - it is linked to hallucinations and dissociation, and for these reasons is abused as a club drug. Not surprisingly, this limits its use in the treatment of depression.
Now researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM) have identified a metabolite of ketamine that quickly reverses depression in mice, but without ketamine's side effects. The study was published in the journal Nature.
Brain Imaging to aid in Treating Autism
Researchers have developed a new method to map and track the function of brain circuits affected by autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in boys using brain imaging. The technique will provide clinicians and therapists with a physical measure of the progress patients are making with behavioral and/or drug therapy. The research was published in JAMA Psychiatry and focuses on the use of biomarkers, measurable indicators of a biological condition, to measure the function of the social perception circuit of the brain. The new method will allow doctors to quantify how the brain circuit is working in their patients and assess the effectiveness of a given intervention. Read more.
Robot Aids in Infection Control at Mayo
Although the rate of hospital-acquired infections has been declining in the United States, an estimated 1 in 10 patients will still contract an infection while hospitalized. So the Mayo Clinic is testing a high-tech solution - a robot that flashes bursts of ultraviolet-C light that can kill a wide variety of pathogens and penetrate areas most cleaning techniques can't reach.
And the robot has made a difference. In rooms treated by its UV light, rates of
C. difficile
have dropped by 30%. More information and a video are available
here
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New Catheter "Alerts" When Superbugs are Present
U.K. researchers have developed a prototype that could aid in the early detection of urinary tract infections caused by antibiotic-resistant superbugs. By applying a chemical coating that changes the color of urine when pathogenic bacteria are detected, researchers demonstrated the ability to anticipate infection up to 12 hours in advance of symptoms. The researchers plan to develop the prototype further in partnership with a medical device firm. For details, click here.
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Volunteer Your Time and Expertise
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RN Volunteers Needed for Study on Bullying
Susan Johnson, PhD, RN, an assistant professor of Nursing and Healthcare Leadership at UW/Tacoma, is conducting a study on workplace bullying among nurses. She is seeking to interview staff nurses who have directly witnessed or been aware of workplace bullying in their departments. The goal of the study, which has IRB approval, is to gather information that can be used to stop workplace bullying. The interviews will be conducted at a location chosen by the interviewee and will take approximately 60-90 minutes. Participants will receive a $25 gift card. If interested, contact Susan at 360-790-6397 or email
slj6@uw.edu.
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4649 Sunnyside Avenue North Room 352 Seattle, WA 98103
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