Honoring Martin Luther King Jr.
It is a day of service, so think about ways to donate time to your community and take a moment to reflect on his words. http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
Hats Off to Our Holiday Party TEAM!
What a wonderful Holiday Party Spread! Thanks to all our hard-workers in Nutritional Services (pictured here): Director Deirdre Heisinger, Chef Tony and team. The Toy Story goodies were scrumptious. Connie Tharin lead the charge early this morning with a crew of helpers (you know who you are) who slaved over the Toy Story decorations, thank you one and all. The Cafe looked wonderful and the party was a huge success. Happy Holidays!
Greetings from our Queen Elf!
You see, elves are wired to make toys, not really play with them. We’re too busy being nimble, sprightly and filled with glee- and frankly, except for these things, we pretty much have the attention span of a hummingbird. The reindeer are the ones who know about these so-called “movies” (or as Mrs. Claus calls them—“moving pictures”.) They spend the day playing reindeer games, then gather for hot chocolate and popcorn and watch these “DVDs”. I once overheard them laughing about these Toy Story movies, and from what I can gather, they’re about some boy with a big head and his motley crew of toys. I think there’s a cowboy, cowgirl, astronaut, dinosaur, pig and some funny looking plastic vegetables with hands and feet and such. Apparently, the reindeer really enjoyed one scene where the toys have an adventure crossing the freeway to get to a toy store. I am completely perplexed. As we all know, pigs really CAN fly—so why he didn’t just fly them over one by one I will never understand.
Anyhoo, the last movie has the kid with the big head going off to Infinity and Beyond ( I think he calls it “college” though) and I guess the toys are looking for a new place to live or something? Whatever. So we decided to invite them to our Holiday Party for some jolly good fun.
Here’s the deal:
I need your assistance! I simply cannot handle being Santa’s right hand elf and take care of the other duties required. So…. I am asking for volunteers to help the children at the crafts table and the elf who takes the pictures of the children on Santa’s lap. We have pre-packaged little craft kits for them to assemble and decorate (You’re welcome), but the little tykes need help from some jolly little elves and their nimble little fingers. To be an Elf, call our Queen Elf (Liz Cottrell) 353-6563.
Annual Tree Lighting — December 6th
Be A Hero — Donate Blood!
Saint Francis held a Blood Drive today with help from the Blood Centers of the Pacific. Did you know that one out of three people will need a life-saving blood transfusion in their lifetime? Your donation may save the life of friend or loved one. If you missed today’s opportunity to donate at Saint Francis, visit www.bloodheroes.comand arrange to give at another location. Pictured here (l to r)are Donor Technician Jescinta Davis, donor Chef Tony Restauro (TR) and Employee Health Nurse Maykel Verdecia-Alonso. Great work team!
Code Dry Drill @ Saint Francis
At 6:00 AM today Saint Francis simulated a “Code Dry” Just In Time Training for Staff. In this emergency situation there is a disruption of normal water supply (e.g. broken pipe or water contamination). The Staff initiated a virtual command center in the Emergency Room followed by a full activation of an Incident Command Center in the Hoffman Room. The event attracted tremendous participation hospital wide. Notification went out over the Everbridge Communication System and SWAT team members conducted departmental rounds.
Pictured here (left to right) are Engineer Dan Schruba, Clinical Director Gloria Lau and Chief Engineer Ray Reynolds. All are pictured next to our back-up water supply: four tanks with capacity of 1250 gallons each. Good Job Team!
Meet the 2011 Values in Action Award Winner…
Congratulations to David Summers, this year’s CHW Values in Action Award for Collaboration winner. David was recognized for exemplifying the value of collaboration for all that he does for Saint Francis. He is a remarkable videographer and talented Audio-Visual Guru. He produced a 25-minute video that was presented at the Annual Employee Service Award Luncheon today and it “rocked the house.” David is one of those “can-do” persons where nothing is too impossible or too large to tackle. David is picturted here holding his award with (left to right) Beth Willy, Tom Hennessy and Abbie Yant. Congratulations David, Well Deserved!
And The Winners Are…
Saint Francis held its annual Employee Service Awards Luncheon today hosted by President/CEO Tom Hennessy and his Senior Team. There were over 150 guests, many of them were recipients of awards for 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 Years of service to Saint Francis Hospital. A highlight of the event is the announcement of the Employee of the Year Award and the Shenson Awards for Caring. Pictured here is our Employee of the Year (middle with roses) Regina Truong, RN, flanked by (left to right) Johnny Wong, RN, Yenyy Sihapanya, Gayle Chan Lee and Maykel Verdecia-Alonso. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!
Thoughts and observations while driving home from Saint Francis Memorial Hospital
I heard this declaration in my car while driving home from work. As I passed the financial district, I saw a gentleman riding his bright racing bike with a cell phone in his left hand and a Starbuck’s coffee and oversized cigar in the other. In his mind he was saving time, multi-tasking, but I wondered, was he seeing his environment?
How many times have you passed by a school where every teenager is wearing headphones that in years past would have only belonged to Secret Service agents. Our children seem intent in their listening, but who and what are they listening to?
When I arrived home and my son was engaged in a bitter combat to the end with one of his computer games. But he was alone in the room. Was he really winning?
Even at Saint Francis, a place where we care for patients and about people, I see countless people communicating by email or phone when they could get up for a minute and knock on the office next door – try communicating face-to-face and make it memorable.
One of my family friends is an infantry Captain in Afghanistan. Last week he was wounded by shrapnel in a brief firefight. Thankfully he was transitioned home and is recovering.
As our brave men and women return home from their tour overseas, I hope that we will make the time to be present– put down our earphones, look up from our iPads, X-Boxes, computers, TVs and all of the countless personal and yet, impersonal gadgets, and welcome our troops home.
They deserve our undivided attention and gratitude for a dangerous job, very well done.
They will need our time and attention-REAL TIME.
Understanding the Older Patient…
Hats Off to the Staff Nurse III/IV Education Committee for an exciting day-long educational program on caring for the older adult. Keynote Speaker, Olivia Wendy Zachary, MD, presented information on “Delerium vs. Dementia” and “Geriatric Assessment.” The session was attended by over 60 nurses and clinical staff. Also in the spotlight during the morning session were Robert Reed, RN, SN III, Tricia Cavallero, RN, SN IV, Beverly Crittendon, RN, SN IV and Deirdre Heisinger, RD, MS. They covered Safety, Fall Prevention and Nutritional Challenges. After lunch the presenters included Helene Rohde, RN, SN IV, Dana Benton, RN, CNS and Ray Miller, Pharm D. They discussed topics including Depression in Older Adults, Pain Management and Medication Considerations.
Kudos to all who presented and attended!