In this third issue of our SRN Newsletter, we acknowledge and celebrate our nurses who participated in Nurses month activities. You will read about our SRN Nursing winners of the Clinical and Leadership Awards, as well as those honored in the Boston Globe Salute to Nurses. We were thrilled to host the first annual Idea Incubator, where clinical teams from across the Network pitched and refined innovative ideas to improve patient outcomes and the work environment. The Idea Incubator ideas will be further developed in the upcoming months to build on our culture of nursing research at Spaulding.
We are also starting an initiative to learn more about the positive ways our nurses contribute to their communities outside their work at Spaulding. This is another important part of our Magnet Journey to better understand the leadership roles that many of our nurses have in various community organizations. In the upcoming months we will be asking our nurses to provide this information so we can get to know more about their collective contributions. Finally, I will be presenting a comprehensive Magnet update at the Board of Trustees meeting in July, to continue to spread the Magnet message at all levels of the organization. We are proud of our Spaulding nursing community- thank you for all that you do!
Maureen Banks, RN, DNP, MBA, NEA-BC, FACHE
Chief Nursing Officer & Chief Operating Officer
Spaulding Rehabilitation Network
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The Magnet Journey Update
Our Magnet journey continues to move forward. Our application has been accepted and our "official" date to submit our document for Charlestown is April 1, 2021. Now it is real! We will spend the next year and a half preparing for this and seeking out stories that demonstrate that we have a culture of excellence. We have been strengthening the depth of our Shared Governance structure by adding a New Graduate Council. We also want to hear your ideas on ways you can improve your practice environment and how you can impact patient outcomes. Email [email protected] - we would love to hear your feedback!
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SRN Nursing in Honduras
Bridget Codner, RN, doesn't take small things for granted. Having completed a mission visit to provide healthcare in Honduras, she appreciates the fact that we have access to running water 24/7 to care for our patients. In the small hospital she volunteered at in Honduras, running water was only available from 12-2pm. They also had to share medical supplies and treat patients with only the medications that were available. She learned to take nothing for granted, and that small things had a great impact on her patients.
Bridget, who is a nurse on the Comprehensive Rehab unit at SRH, recently completed an 8-day trip to Honduras with a group of 25 volunteers- other nurses, physicians, physician assistants and lay persons connected with a local church group. She estimates they cared for about 300 patients per day, diagnosing and treating conditions related to the long hours of manual labor that many Hondurans performed daily. Bridget and her team provided blood pressure medications to patients with hypertension, performed small surgeries, gave cortisone injections to patients with painful arthritis, and distributed glasses to patients who never had access to them. The patients would travel for hours to be seen in these clinics as there was only one doctor in the region connected with the small hospital that had very limited resources. Bridget returned from this mission with a new appreciation for our healthcare system in the US, and for her position at Spaulding Boston. She plans to participate in other healthcare missions in the future.
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SRN Hosts Inaugural Idea Incubator
To support our culture of research and innovation as part of our Magnet journey, SRN held the first Idea Incubator event on May 23
rd that resulted in more than
50 submissions from clinicians across the network. At the event, staff gave a 15-second pitch and then spent time brainstorming and refining their ideas with colleagues from different disciplines. Many of the teams presented their 'new and improved' ideas later in the evening- it was exciting to see the energy grow throughout the event! With SRN mentors and the support of Director of Nursing Research Andy Phillips, PhD, the next step will involve fostering the ideas presented into research for publication and possible funding at an event this fall.
There was a wide range of Incubator ideas, many involved equipment and technology while others focused on holistic practices. Twelve of the ideas were generated from staff at SCC, including nurses Tara Drake and Tammy Sanders. Tara, who also has a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts, proposed an idea that incorporates pottery to improve patients' fine motor skills. Tammy, who is also a Master Reiki practitioner, pitched an idea to use reiki to decrease patients' anxiety, increase participation in therapies and ultimately decrease their length of stay in the hospital. All of the ideas that were pitched at the Incubator event will be further developed and refined.
Thank you to all the staff who participated in the process and we look forward to seeing these ideas come to fruition!
Click here
for a complete listing of Spaulding Incubator ideas.
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SRB Nurses Honored as Nurses of the Network
Recently staff from across SRN gathered to celebrate the second annual SRN Awards for Nursing Clinical Excellence and Nursing Leadership. Over 40 peer nominations for deserving nurses were received. Special guest Jeanette Ives Erickson, RN, DNP, FAAN chief nurse emerita at Massachusetts General Hospital, Instructor at Harvard Medical School, and Professor at MGH Institute of Health Professions served as the event emcee.
After a deliberation by nursing and administrative leaders from across SRN, Portia Sumido, RN was announced as the recipient for the Nursing Clinical Excellence Award and Martha Kaniaru, RN, BSN as the recipient SRN Award for Nursing Leadership, both from Spaulding Brighton. Portia and Martha are exemplary nurses who demonstrate the very best of the nursing profession each day. Congratulations to Portia, Martha and all the SRN nominees!
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SHC Welcomes Red Sox World Series Trophy
Just before opening day, SHC nurses and staff celebrated a championship day at Spaulding Cambridge as the Red Sox 2018 World Series Trophy made a visit to the patients, families and staff. To view more pics
here.
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Brighton CNA recognized by The Boston Foundation
 Veronique O'Meally, Spaulding Brighton, spoke about JVS and its Nurse's Aide Training Program, Project Catapult.
Read more here.
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SRN Nursing Grand Rounds Series
As part of the Nurses Month celebration, Spaulding held the first-ever Nursing Grand Rounds. Director of Nursing Research Andy Phillips, PhD, presented, "Understanding Patient Behaviors within the Complex System of Healthcare" to an interdisciplinary audience of clinicians. As part of our commitment to ongoing professional development for nurses, we have planned six Grand Rounds lectures for the upcoming year.
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Advanced Clinician Profile -
Miriam Lautenschlager, RN, BSN
M
iriam
Lautenschlager RN, BSN, already feels like she has seen 'the other side' of nursing in her 3 busy years since she graduated from St. Anselm's. Miriam is a nurse on 2 South at Spaulding Hospital Cambridge, where she cares for multiple post-transplant and acute medical/surgical patients, and also worked briefly in the acute care setting at a community hospital. The difference between these two settings was tremendous. In the acute care setting, she saw a lot of nursing burnout and lack of teamwork, which makes her appreciate the precepting and constant learning that happens on 2 South. "There is so much opportunity here; if you accept the opportunities you can grow immensely as a nurse. The clinicians are always teaching us new skills to make us well-rounded nurses who can use our full authority."
Miriam also is internally motivated to advance her skills. She completed the Clinical Ladder and is now a Clinical Nurse Level 2. She was accepted to graduate school at Simmons University and is working on her MSN as a Family Nurse Practitioner. She is also enrolled in the Clinical Certified Transplant Nurse (CCTN) program to advance her knowledge working with post-transplant patients. She credits the student loan forgiveness and certification assistance programs at Spaulding for helping her on this path. "That is a big part of why I want to stay at Spaulding. I feel like I can pursue my professional interests while providing better care for our patients."
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Learn More about Climbing the Clinical Ladder!
We have several informational sessions scheduled across the Network for employees to learn more about climbing the clinical ladder. Staff will be available to provide
i
nformation about paths to advance to the next clinical step within your department (Nursing, Therapy, CM and Ambulance). All staff can learn about tuition reimbursement benefits
and
discuss opportunities for ongoing professional development.
Dates and locations for upcoming sessions:
SRB 6/27
SHC 7/3
SRH 7/18
SCC 7/10
SRB 7/23
For more information about climbing the clinical ladder please contact Chief Learning Officer Lynne Brady Wagner at [email protected].
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Student Loan Forgiveness Programs
There has been a great deal of discussion about the high cost of a college education. While there is incredible value in a professional degree, it can be a challenge to balance financial responsibilities in your first years after graduation. SRN is offering RN Loan Forgiveness programs in some sites as a retention initiative. However, all staff who work for SRN are eligible for Federal Loan Forgiveness programs because we are a not-for-profit institution. It is widely recognized that applying for federal loan forgiveness is complex. You must start by having a long standing history of responsible repayment of your loans. Please click on the links below to learn about programs you may qualify for:
Student Loan Forgiveness for Nurses in 2019
A recent story on CNBC highlighted a couple of checklists that will help you organized the information needed to apply for loan forgiveness:
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Congratulations to our Boston Globe Salute to Nurses nominees!
- Johngelyn Alleyne, Spaulding Boston
- Ann Caberoy, Spaulding Boston
- Lucy Dalusma, Spaulding Brighton
- Amanda Davis, Spaulding Brighton
- Amanda Foote, Spaulding Cambridge
- Jillian Keady, Spaulding Boston
- Miriam Lautenschlager, Spaulding Cambridge
- Mary Oberton, Spaulding Boston
- Kara Silva, Spaulding Brighton
- Holly Stein, Spaulding Cambridge
- Julia Wagner, Spaulding Cambridge
- Nora Ann Walsh, Spaulding Boston
- Wendy York, Spaulding Brighton
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