Here are some opportunities for continuing education (CE) for nurses. Fill out the registration forms and return to Kim. BCH is taking care of the fees for classes, as well as compensating you for your time (wahoo!).
CO Patient Crisis: Identify the Signs and Symptoms Before the Patient Crashes Seminar
(click on the link above to access registration form)
Tuesday, March 17 8:30 am to 4:30 pm
Hotel Boulderado
Managing Cardiac Issues in the Acute and Critical Care Patients
Thursday, April 16 8 am - 5 pm
Foothills Campus Leo Hill Room
(click on picture below to show form on its own page, then print).
Monday, February 23, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
TB skin test/mask fit walk-in clinics
If you are due or past-due for your annual TB skin test or N95 mask fit, you may attend one of the three clinics being held this month. No appointments are needed.
March 2 - Foothills Chairman's Room, Noon - 2 pm
March 16 & 17 - Broadway alcove outside Gene Wilson, 7:30 am - 5 pm (during the Safety Fair)
March 2 - Foothills Chairman's Room, Noon - 2 pm
March 16 & 17 - Broadway alcove outside Gene Wilson, 7:30 am - 5 pm (during the Safety Fair)
RN recognition program
Don't forget - packets for the RN recognition program are due to Kim by March 31st! Don't miss this opportunity to be recognized for all you do (and get some $$ in the process).
Glucose meter upgrade
The glucose meters have been upgraded to a newer version of the PCX. The new meters work the same way as the old ones, with minor differences. The same testing strips will still be used. Look for a poster outlining the differences and sign-off sheet on the unit.
Free Cardiac Education for Patients
If your patient wants or needs more education about cardiac disease, you can now refer them to the Cardiac Rehab lecture series. The series covers a variety of topics such as diet, exercise, and emotional support. And the best thing of all is that it's free!
The lecture series is held 4 times a year (3 sessions are left for 2009). A schedule is posted in the bathroom and education room. Patients who are interested may attend while an inpatient, or their family may attend if the patient is too sick to travel.
For now, we are doing this on a trial basis to see how many people will actually attend. The goal is to refer one or two patients per class. If you need extra fliers to give patients or families, please see Melissa.
The lecture series is held 4 times a year (3 sessions are left for 2009). A schedule is posted in the bathroom and education room. Patients who are interested may attend while an inpatient, or their family may attend if the patient is too sick to travel.
For now, we are doing this on a trial basis to see how many people will actually attend. The goal is to refer one or two patients per class. If you need extra fliers to give patients or families, please see Melissa.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Annual BCH Safety Fair
Just a friendly reminder that the Annual BCH Safety Fair is
March 16 &17
THIS IS A REQUIREMENT FOR YOUR ANNUAL COMPETENCIES.
There will be 12 stations, so plan on two hours.
Please direct all questions to Melissa
Thank You
March 16 &17
THIS IS A REQUIREMENT FOR YOUR ANNUAL COMPETENCIES.
There will be 12 stations, so plan on two hours.
Please direct all questions to Melissa
Thank You
Friday, February 13, 2009
Shhhh!
Message from Melissa:
Hello All-
There has been a lot of noise at the front nurses station recently. I know that we have students and that compounds the noise problem.
Please respectfully enforce the noise ordinance and remember that other staff, patients, and families are watching you! If you don't need to be in the front nurses station, please respect everyone enough to locate yourself to your work area.
Feedback Welcome!
Thank You
Melissa V
Originally posted as a comment, posted here for better visibility.
Hello All-
There has been a lot of noise at the front nurses station recently. I know that we have students and that compounds the noise problem.
Please respectfully enforce the noise ordinance and remember that other staff, patients, and families are watching you! If you don't need to be in the front nurses station, please respect everyone enough to locate yourself to your work area.
Feedback Welcome!
Thank You
Melissa V
Originally posted as a comment, posted here for better visibility.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Blog 101 (repost!)
In honor of the "official" blog launch, I'm re-posting some information that might be helpful to you if you are new to the world of blogs.
- On the right hand side of this page, you will find a heading for "Links". Clicking on any of the underlined words will take you to the website of the named item. I can also post links in the text of the blog like this: Google
- You can leave a comment or question without having to email me. At the bottom of each post, you will see the time the post was created, followed by "x Comments". Click on comments, and it will pop open a new window. Type the comment in the box. At the bottom of the text box, you will see choices for how you would like to identify yourself. If you have a Google account, you can select that and type in your login. Another choice is OpenID (Live Journal, WordPress, TypePad, AIM). You may also leave just your name by selecting "Name/URL". Just type in your name, the URL is not necessary to post a comment. You may also leave a comment anonymously by selecting "Anonymous". When you are finished, click "Publish your comment".
- Also on the right side of the page is a heading for "Blog Archive". By clicking on the triangles next to the text, you can expand or collapse the listing of previous blog entries. Click on the title of the post, and that particular post will be shown.
- You can search the blog by using the search box at the top of the page in the navy blue bar. Type in the keyword you want, then click "search blog".
- You can subscribe to this blog's RSS feeds by scrolling down to the bottom of the blog entries (at the bottom of the page). Click on "Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)". What is an RSS feed? This website explains it better than I can.
- This blog is public domain and can be viewed by anyone. Please keep this in mind when commenting. I have been purposefully discrete about posting identifying information about us on this site.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Skills Lab change, Journal club
The remaining skills labs for the year will be combined RN and PCA. The dates are April 14 or 16, July 21 or 23, and October 13 or 15. Please refer to the unit schedule below. Click on the picture to make it bigger. The education day in March has been moved to the 17th to coincide with the hospital-wide Safety Fair.

Journal club will be meeting Tuesday, March 17 @ 2 pm in the education room. The article to be discussed is A Model of Medication-Taking Behavior in Elderly Individuals with Chronic Disease (The Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing: Volume 22(5) September/October 2007 pp 359-365). You can pick up a copy of the article outside of Melissa's office. Contact her @ 2479 with any questions. Come to Journal Club prepared to discuss the article. Click on the picture below to view the flier enlarged.

Journal club will be meeting Tuesday, March 17 @ 2 pm in the education room. The article to be discussed is A Model of Medication-Taking Behavior in Elderly Individuals with Chronic Disease (The Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing: Volume 22(5) September/October 2007 pp 359-365). You can pick up a copy of the article outside of Melissa's office. Contact her @ 2479 with any questions. Come to Journal Club prepared to discuss the article. Click on the picture below to view the flier enlarged.

Thursday, February 5, 2009
D/C forms change, Daily Assignments
Our standard Discharge Home 3-carbon sheet has changed. It can now be found on FormsFast (do I hear a collective "YAY!"?). There is now a section at the bottom that requires us to fax a copy of the sheet to the pt's PCP. This does bring up a HIPAA issue, and there are people in administration working to clear that up. For now, the patient may opt-out of having this information sent to their PCP. It is required by the Joint Commision that we do this for continuity of care. Please remember to make appropriate copies of the DC form - one for the pt, one for the chart, and one for the med room for follow-up calls. The Spanish version of the DC form is still the same and can be found in its usual place by the UC desk.
Changes have been made to the daily nursing assignment sheet. RNs will be given ACLS assignments for the day (team leader, medication admin, chest compressions, etc.). PCAs will be given specific duties for the environment of the unit (garbage/linen, trays/water pitchers, PCX QC, etc.). If you have any feedback about this, please see Melissa or Kim.
One other reminder: please remember to turn off oxygen (wall units and portable tanks) when not in use. While the air we breathe is free, O2 most certainly is not :). Please help keep costs down by remembering to turn flowmeters off.
Changes have been made to the daily nursing assignment sheet. RNs will be given ACLS assignments for the day (team leader, medication admin, chest compressions, etc.). PCAs will be given specific duties for the environment of the unit (garbage/linen, trays/water pitchers, PCX QC, etc.). If you have any feedback about this, please see Melissa or Kim.
One other reminder: please remember to turn off oxygen (wall units and portable tanks) when not in use. While the air we breathe is free, O2 most certainly is not :). Please help keep costs down by remembering to turn flowmeters off.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Blog 101
Here are a few pointers for those of you new to the world of blogs:
- On the right hand side of this page, you will find a heading for "Links". Clicking on any of the underlined words will take you to the website of the named item. I can also post links in the text of the blog like this: Google
- You can leave a comment or question without having to email me. At the bottom of each post, you will see the time the post was created, followed by "x Comments". Click on comments, and it will pop open a new window. Type the comment in the box. At the bottom of the text box, you will see choices for how you would like to identify yourself. If you have a Google account, you can select that and type in your login. Another choice is OpenID (Live Journal, WordPress, TypePad, AIM). You may also leave just your name by selecting "Name/URL". Just type in your name, the URL is not necessary to post a comment. You may also leave a comment anonymously by selecting "Anonymous". When you are finished, click "Publish your comment".
- Also on the right side of the page is a heading for "Blog Archive". By clicking on the triangles next to the text, you can expand or collapse the listing of previous blog entries. Click on the title of the post, and that particular post will be shown.
- You can search the blog by using the search box at the top of the page in the navy blue bar. Type in the keyword you want, then click "search blog".
- You can subscribe to this blog's RSS feeds by scrolling down to the bottom of the blog entries (at the bottom of the page). Click on "Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)". What is an RSS feed? This website explains it better than I can.
- This blog is public domain and can be viewed by anyone. Please keep this in mind when commenting. I have been purposefully discrete about posting identifying information about us on this site.
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