Spring-Summer 2020 DAISY Award |
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Nurses make a difference every day by providing care and compassion. The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses recognizes that care, and CHCS is proud to participate in this meaningful recognition program embraced by healthcare organizations around the world.
The DAISY Award was created by the family of J. Patrick Barnes, who died of complications of the autoimmune disease idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura (ITP) at the age of 33. During Barnes’ eight-week hospitalization, his family was awestruck by the care and compassion his nurses provided, so they set out to acknowledge the superhuman work nurses do each day.
CHCS selects DAISY Award winners twice each year through a blind selection process. Four CHCS nurses were nominated for the spring-summer 2020 DAISY Award. Congratulations to these excellent nominees:
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Caroline Cain, RN, St. Marys Community Hospital
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Crystal Haven, RN, St. Marys Community Hospital
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Ashlea Kramer, RN, Community HomeHealth
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Christie Rabe, RN, St. Marys Community Hospital
The spring-summer 2020 DAISY Awardee will be announced next week! Tune in to Facebook Live on Wednesday, August 19 at 12:00 noon to see the announcement, or read the full story in the August 20 E-Connection.
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KDHE travel-related quarantine changes
Those who have traveled to the following locations need to quarantine for 14 days after arrival in Kansas. This applies to both Kansas residents and those visiting Kansas:
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Attended/traveled to mass gathering events (out-of-state) of 500 people or greater on or after August 11. NOTE: As verified by Christina with KDHE, THIS APPLIES TO BOTH INDOOR AND OUTDOOR EVENTS.
- Cruise ship or river cruise passengers
- International travel to the following:
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Countries with a CDC Level 3 Travel Health Notice With Restrictions, including China, Iran, European Schengen area, United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and Brazil. International travelers must follow CDC guidance and protocols.
- Others needing to continue quarantining:
- Anyone subject to a travel-related quarantine for a state or country previously on the travel-related quarantine list must complete their 14-day quarantine period.
- Traveled to/from Florida between June 29 – August 11
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Associate Recognition, COVID-style
The Associate Recognition tour is complete! Thanks to all who took time to celebrate.
Reminder: We'll celebrate Hospital Week — complete with gifts, ice cream bars, and special activities — September 14-18. During our September celebration, we'll share a special edition of the E-Connection each day to recognize our associates who have reached service milestones of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 years.
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Social media policy reminder
The combination of COVID-19 and a presidential election year have made the social media landscape stressful and challenging. Everyone has many closely held opinions, and we all have work stress and disappointments to process. But CHCS trusts and expects our associates to exercise personal and professional responsibility whenever they participate in social media.
It is important to remember that when communicating as a private citizen, you will often be identified as a member of the CHCS organization, so the content of your social media and the manner in which you represent yourself reflects on CHCS and on you as a professional.
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Studies have shown that if a patient has a communicable disease and is discharged from a room, the next patient admitted to that room has an increased risk of acquiring the same disease if the room isn't cleaned properly. I have been performing some environmental rounds with an ATP machine recently and wanted to share some good news.
The ATP machine is a rapid testing method used to quickly assess the cleanliness of surfaces. As you may remember from your high school biology class, Adenosine Triphosphate, or ATP, is present in all organic material and is the universal unit of energy used in all living cells.
When I tested the isolation room in the Onaga Clinic and room 101 after a patient was discharged and a terminal clean had been completed, ALL numbers were acceptable, and many were well below the upper limits of normal. This is not easy to accomplish! I am so proud of our team!
Thanks to the nurses who assist with cleaning in the clinics between patients and to all who have a hand in ensuring that our spaces are clean. I will be conducting more tests at other locations. Thank you for your vigilance!
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3D printing news
Kansas State University issued a news release about the 3D printing partnership with CHCS and the commendation from KDHE.
The release has been picked up by many local and area news outlets. Read the story.
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Associate Zoom meeting:
Annual pay increases and evaluation process
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A Zoom meeting for associates about changes to the performance appraisal process and timing of annual pay increases is TODAY from 12:15 to 1:00.
Information on how to join the meeting was sent via email, or click the green button below to join.
If you would like to submit a question during the meeting, please email it to sarahhancock@chcsks.org or submit it via the Zoom chat.
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National Immunization Awareness Month
As COVID-19 has spread, the world has seen what happens when a disease has no vaccine. Researchers and drug developers are working hard to make sure that changes soon, but in the meantime, we should not forget that many other diseases are preventable through vaccines. August is National Immunization Awareness Month, so it’s a perfect time to make sure your family’s immunizations are up-to-date.
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Delivering the WOW! experience
Ashley Bean, Onaga RN, shared the following about a co-worker who helps deliver the WOW! experience.
One of our CNAs, Fo Daniels from Onaga Acute, is always spending her downtime doing extra things, even for other departments. This Sunday while our census was low, she went and found a vacuum and spent her afternoon vacuuming the halls and waiting area and wiping down all the handrails. She is so appreciated by her coworkers!
Thanks to Ashley for sharing, and special thanks to Fo for going above and beyond to make sure our patients and visitors have a WOW! experience here at CHCS.
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Website security update
Web hosting companies are in the process of disabling support for outdated versions of web browsers that use an old security protocol. The old browser versions are vulnerable to attack, so this is a necessary change, and it has been in the works since 2018.
Our website will no longer be accessible to outdated web browsers as of August 21. Please note:
- Problems should be minimal, because most browsers are already updated, and this change has already been rolled out by many web hosting companies.
- Associates using CHCS equipment should not experience any problems, because our browsers are updated.
- Any users who find our website inaccessible will also have trouble accessing many other sites.
- Users with unsupported browsers should receive an error message that mentions the outdated protocol (TLSv1.0 and 1.1), directs them to update their browser, or both.
If you receive a call from someone who is experiencing a problem with our website, please transfer the person to the IT Group extension, 2104. IT associates will be able to talk through updating browsers as necessary.
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Welcome!
We are happy to have the following associates joining us. Welcome to CHCS!
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Gordon Beightel, Maintenance Manager, Onaga
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Danielle Brezina-Anderson, Department Assistant, Onaga Acute
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Camden Conley, Dietary Aide, Eastridge
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Donna Ronnebaum, Cook, St. Marys Manor
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Donnie Wright, Dietary Aide, Onaga
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Kaylyn Lowery, Cook, St. Marys Manor
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Give blood August 21 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Onaga!
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Coffee Shop special
August 17-21
Black & Tan
- Chocolate, white chocolate, and caramel
- Hot, iced, or frappe
- 16 oz., $4
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Click the flyer to expand! |
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Summer is slipping away ... and so is this sale!
Stop in the Gift Shop to check out our summer sale. Select items are 25% or 50% off August 13-31.
Help us make room for fall, and get some great deals while they last!
p.s. Take a look at our NEW selection of kids' face masks!
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Note: St. Marys menus are available each morning through the Activities chronicle.
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Send items for the E-Connection or for sharing with our broader social media audience to sarahhancock@chcsks.org. Please send items by close of business on Tuesdays when possible. Ideas are welcome!
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