Our Wonderful Nurses

Everyone knows that nurses are the backbone of a hospital, and it’s no different here at GBMC.  The 1,200+ nurses across the GBMC HealthCare system work very hard.

I’m very grateful for all that our nurses do.  At least once a year we should take the time to formally recognize our nursing staff for their dedicated service. National Nurses Week is celebrated annually from May 6, also known as National Nurses Day, through May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.

There has been more and more required of nurses every year and I’m always amazed at how they keep coming back because they realize that their life work is about helping others at a very vulnerable time in their lives, which is when they are very sick.

I remember all of the nurses who, when I was a pediatric resident, helped me learn the evaluation of a very sick baby or child.  Later in my career as a doctor I had the greatest respect for nurses who worked with us in a high-volume primary care practice to help us get through the day and make sure every family got what they needed. I was very grateful for the team I worked with and nurses were a very prominent part of that team.

In healthcare, the stakes keep getting higher and the number of very complex patients keeps growing along with the age of the population. Our nurses meet this growing demand every day.

Nursing has always been a marvelous profession and it will remain a marvelous profession in the future. I’m delighted to see at GBMC that we have many younger nurses early in their career, in large part due to the forward-looking efforts of our nursing executive team led by Jody Porter, RN, DNP.  We’ve been able to recruit young nurses, train them well and mentor them, making GBMC a great place for nurses to start their career.

Our current nurse vacancy rate is just slightly above 2%, and we have consistently been below both the statewide and national nurse vacancy rates, another testament to the excellent work led by our Nursing Administration and Nurse Recruiting teams and Nursing Education staff.

How has your life, professionally or personally, been touched in a positive way by a nurse?  Please share your comments below and show our nurses how valuable they are.

This year, at the same time when we recognize our nurses, we are also celebrating National Hospital Week, also May 6 – 12.  Hospital Week, which dates back to the early 1920s, is, according to the American Hospital Association, “a celebration of the history, technology and dedicated professionals that make our facilities beacons of confidence and care.”  This year’s theme is “Making Miracles Happen Inside the Walls of GBMC,” something that our committed GBMC staff – nearly 3,900 employees across the system - does every day.

I invite you to participate in various Hospital Week events at GBMC, including:

·         Word search & GBMC trivia game on the Info Web with prizes (entries for both due to HR by Thursday, May 10)

·         Ice Cream Social on May 9, Noon - 2:00 p.m at the Emergency Department entrance and Civiletti Conference Center, and 6 – 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. – midnight, both at the ED entrance. (Ice Cream Socials or gift certificates for off-site locations are being arranged.)  Flavors this year will be vanilla, chocolate, sorbet, sugar free and dairy free. All flavors are kosher.

·         SIM (Simulation) Lab Open House May 9 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the South Chapman building.

·         Our annual GBMC Employee Health and Information Fair from 11:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on May 10 in the Civiletti Conference Center.

·         Also, managers will be distributing gifts for all employees during Hospital Week.

Towson Town Festival

This weekend, GBMC will have two booths at the annual Towsontown Spring Festival (Saturday 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. and Sunday 1 p.m. – 7 p.m.).  Stop by and play our “Scratch, win and learn” health questions game.  After you win an instant prize, you can enter to win a raffle for a $50, $100 or $150 gas card. Our double-booth is on upper West Pennsylvania Avenue in spaces 750 and 752.

Nearly New Bargains

This weekend also marks the start of GBMC’s springtime Volunteer Auxiliary Nearly New Sale. Find a bargain, hunt for a treasure, or just shop a little because proceeds benefit patient care at GBMC! Spread the word and please let your friends and family know too.

Sale dates and times:

Employee and Volunteer Day
Friday, May 4, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Public Day
Saturday, May 5, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Public Day
Sunday, May 6, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Public Day
Monday, May 7, 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Half-Price Day
Wednesday, May 9, 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Half-Price Day
Thursday, May 10, 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Bargain Bag Day (Just $5 dollar a bag!)
Saturday, May 12 , 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Congratulations Are In Order     

I wanted to take a minute to call out several units who’ve done an admirable job of patient safety efforts, going at least the past year without a Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infection. These units were recognized earlier this week at the Leadership conference

Unit 25/26*- (PostPartum)

Unit 27* - (High Risk OB)

Unit 34 - (Express Admission Unit)

Unit 35 - (Acute Care for the Elderly – Geriatrics)

Unit 38 - (PCU – Telemetry)

Unit 39* - Pediatrics Inpatient (Emergency)

Unit 45 - (Oncology)

Unit 48 - (Surgery / GYN)

Unit 54* - (SubAcute)

Unit 58* - (Orthopedics / Spine Center / Neurosurgery)

* Designates unit has not had any CLABSI incidents reported since housewide monitoring began in 2008

GBMC Recognized For Green Efforts

In recognition of GBMC HealthCare’s significant earth-friendly accomplishments, the organization has been named a winner of a Practice Greenhealth Environmental Excellence Partner for Change Award.  GBMC representatives accepted the award earlier this week at the CleanMed 2012 national environmental conference for leaders in health care sustainability in Denver. GBMC has made significant strides in our commitment to sustainability and is committed to maintaining a healthy, sustainable environment, which aligns with our mission of Health. Healing. Hope.  For more details on the award and on what specific earth-friendly steps GBMC has taken, you can read our press release.