Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Sept. 17, 2009, edition 1 / Page 7
Part of Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Health & Wellness Healthbeat Baptist selected for project to help improve health care system Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is one of the first health systems in America to team with The Joint Commission's new Center for Transforming Healthcare to use systematic methods to identify and prevent breakdowns in patient care and safety. . . The Center's first initiative focuses on hand hygiene, a critical step tn pre Lambeth venting many of the health care-associated infection^ that annually cause nearly 100,000 deaths and cost U.S. hospitals $4 billion to $29 billion to combat. The Joint Commission is the nation's leading health care accrediting organization and is dedicated to ensuring and improving health care quality. "We are proud to work with the Center to end preventable breakdowns in health care.'vsaid Donny C Lambeth, president and chief operating officer of North Carolina Baptist Hospital, part of the Medical Center. "As an aca demic medical center, it- is part of our mission to improve health care quality and safety." Wake Forest Baptist undertook a comprehensive environmental and workflow assessment to identify and overcome barriers and challenges to hand hygiene compliance in selected intensive care and medical/surgical care units. The Medical Center is piloting a radiofrequency identification system called Real Time Location System (RTLS) that monitors hand hygiene compliance. Specially made hand hygiene dispensers are wired to track the approach of employees wearing special electronic tags on their identification hadges and to record their Use of the hand hygiene dispenser. The Center's work with leading hospitals and health systems to identify, measure and tackle patient safety problem areas that will lead to the development and testing of targeted, long-lasting solutions. Fellows sought for state health disparities program Applications are now available for the the North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund's 2010 2011 NC Health Disparities fellowship, a program designed to engage talented public health and social work professionals in ongoing efforts to help close the health disparities gap in the state. HWTF has allocated $23.6 million towards the overall initiative, which includes 23 community grants and a multi-media campaign. HWTF is part nering with the Duke Global Health Institute to man age the fellowship. The two-year fellowship pro gram aims to increase awareness of health inequali ties in North Carolina by enabling a group of mid- to senior-level public health or social work profession als to effectively design, implement and evaluate interventions that address these corfiplex issues. The new class of fellows w ill complement HWTF's first class of fellows, all of whom have begun working on health projects in their communities. Those interested in the NC Health Disparities Fellowship may apply online at HWTF's Health Disparities Initiative website at: http://www.caretoactnc.com/HDFellowship.aspx. The deadline for submitting applications is Oct. 21. All mid- to senior-level public health or social work professionals are welcome to apply. Documentary spotlights infant mortality in black community The U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a documentary on the work of student peer educators seeking to raise awareness of disparities in infant mortality rates that affect Atncan American com munities. The students participated in the HHS "A Healthy Bahy Begins with You" campaign, which involves commu nity. civic and public health organizations. The video follows the peer educators as they work with high-school and middle-school stu dents. and in church and community venues, to teach people that healthy living is one of the inter ventions needed to reduce the community wide prevalence of infant mortality. Health officials define Tonya Lee the national infant mortality rate as the number of deaths per I .(XX) live births. Within the African American community, the rate is 13 infant deaths per 1,(XX) live births, company! to 6.5 infant deaths per 1,000 live births for non-Hispanic whites. Tonya Lewis Lee, bestselling author, award-win ning television producer and campaign spokesper son, produced the video. Lee's husband is filmmak er Spike Lee. "I'm so proud of what these students are accom plishing and excited by the possibility that the work we are portraying in this documentary, and the atten tion we are calling to healthy living and preconcep tion health can help us accomplish real change in our community." said Lee. "We hope this video encour ages more students, schools and communities to join Jhc>cam?ai?n/_(<ii__-^_________? _ _ I'NCG Photo A UNCG School of Nursing alumna meets SimMan during a recent reunion event. Students to study use of 'fake' patients CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT A UNCG nursing professor is working to prove her theory that the use of patient simulators are of great benefit to nursing students. Dr. Laura Fero has received a $ 10,495 grant from the National League for Nursing to explore the advantages, if any, of students using SimMan, a high fidelity patient simulator, as opposed to the standard training style that uses videotaped vignettes. She hopes to recruit about 80 final-semestef senior BSN" - nursing students for the eight-hour testing experi ence. scheduled for March 2010. Fero was a nursing administrator prior to earning her Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh. In that role, she watched new nurses struggle with their lack of experience, anxiety and decreasing orientation peri ods. "The reason 1 went back to do a Ph.D. was because 1 was convinced there was an alternative, more effective system to prepare nurses," she says. "Simulation. I believe, is that system. My goal is to put a light on how best to prepare and assess stu dents." UNCG's School of Nursing has two SimMan mannequins that can be controlled by computer to exhibit various symptoms and stages of illness. Instructors, unseen by students, provide the voices necessary to mimic the reality of the situation. The student volunteers will complete standard, written critical thinking assessments as well as an "'assessment'consistmg of a clinical scenario on video tape. They will also be tested individually in a live scenario using SimMan. Each student will review, his or her performance with a nursing instructor privately, identifying strengths and weaknesses. Fero ran a trial in March with all 92 final-semes ter senior nursing students. "The feedback was incredible," she says. "It real ly opened students' eyes about what they need to work on as they transition into full-time practice." Bon Ap petit Locally- grown produce coming to school cafeterias CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT Chartwells School Dining Services, with whom Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools has a contract to serve breakfast and lunch at all the system's schools, will take part in the "It Takes You - Eat Local" promotion Sept. 2 1 - 25. During the week, Chartwells schools across the nation will he encouraged to leature at least one or more locally-grown produce items on their menus daily. Locally grown pro duce is touted as healthier because it doesn't have to be transported great distances before it reaches breakfast, lunch and dinner plates. riiMiiga lium aica yiuwcn >ucii rmiciMJii Farm of Taylorsville, "N.C. and Deal Apple Orchards of China Grove, N.C. will be among items served to local students during the week. For the week alone, WS/FCS Child Nutrition is planning I serve over 250 cases of fresh, locally-grown apples, toma toes, corn, peppers, yellow squash, zucchini, cabbage arid egg plants. But Chartwells says its commitment to serve local produce is year-round. I he company has a partner ship with Foster Caviness, a produce distributor based in Greensboro, that prov ides produce grown at farms throughout the Piedmont/Triad. Students not following preventive flu measures CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT A North Carolina State University study finds that stu dents are not taking basic preven tative measures to protect them from HIN1 (swine flu), although it is predicted that schools will be the hardest hit this flu season. Preventive measures as simple as washing one's hands aren't being adhered to. according to the study. "Hand washing is a significant preventative measure for many communicable diseases, from res piratory diseases like HINI to foodbome illness agents, such as norovirus," says Dr. Ben Chapman, assistant professor of family and consumer sciences and food safety extension specialist at N.C. State. The new study, which exam ined student compliance with hand hygiene recommendations during an outbreak of norovirus at a university in Ontario, finds that only 17 percetjt of students fol lowed posted hand hygiene rec ommendations - but that 83 per cent of students reported that they had been in compliance. Norovirus causes gastrointestinal problems, including vomiting and diarrhea. Every year there are 30 to 40 outbreaks of norrtvirus on university campuses, affecting thousands of students. Chapman, who co-authored the research, says this is the first study to observe student hygiene behavior in the midst of an out break. Previous studies examined self-reporting data after an out break and the new research shows that the self-reporting data may be inaccurate. "The study shows that while health authorities may give people the tools we think they need to limit the spread of an outbreak, the information we're giving them is not compelling enough to change their behavior," said Chapman. "Basically, it doesn't work. But we do it again with every out break, and we're doing it now with HIM." Chapman says the study shows thai health officials need to target specific audiences, such as stu dents in a particular dorm or who eat at a particular cafeteria, and tailor their information to those audiences. Prostate Cancer Cihticl k flWfl flnGtiw flfSE?*cHi[tmtR , Oft ITIbiowtv Hehitht ^ Wake forest University- Baptist MEDICAL CENTER September is National Prostate Awareness Month. Though prostate cancer remains a formidable threat to all American men, black men are more likely to develop and die from this cancer than their white peers. According to the CDC, one in five African American men will develop prostate cancer at some point during their lives! The American Cancer Society esti mates that over 27,000 new cases of Prostate Cancer will be diagnosed in African American men in 2009, and almost 4.000 African American men will die from the disease. With these grim statistics, it is essential for black men to learn about prostate cancer so they can make appropriate health decisions. What is Prostate Cancer, and how is it detected? The prostate is a walnut sized gland that lies just below the bladder and produces semi nal fluid (the fluid that carries sperm). Prostate cancer forms when cells in the prostate con tinue to divide unchecked by the body's normal regulatory mechanisms, producing a mass of abnormal cells called a tumor. These abnormal cells can travel to other parts of the body (called metastasis) and lead to death. I What are the risks for Prostate Cancer? Risk factors for prostate cancer include: Age - the chance of devel oping prostate cancer increases after age 50; Family history - having a father or brother with prostate cancer more than doubles a man's risk; High fat diet - a diet with an abundance of meat, high-fat foods and limited fruits and vegetables appears to confer a slightly higher risk; and Race * prostate cancer occurs more often in African American men. Many men experience no symptoms initially; if they do occur, symptoms may include urinating frequently at night, having blood in the urine, diffi culty urinating, or experiencing sexual dysfunction. These symptoms may also indicate other disorders, so it is impor tant to talk to your doctor as soon as possible if you are experiencing them. Early detection leads to early treatment, which results in getting a head start on treat ing a potentially dangerous cancer. Prostate cancer screen ing is two-pronged, involving (I) a digital rectal exam, or DRE. and (2) prostate specific antigen (PSA) test. According to the American Cancer Society, health care providers should offer both PSA and DRE tests annually to all men over age 50. For those at high risk (including African American men), testing may be recommended as early as age 40 - 45 years. What are the latest treatment options for prostate earner? No two cancer cases are exactly the same; therefore, treatment will vary from per son to person. In early-stage prostate cancer? that is. cancer that has not spread beyond the prostate? there are seVeraT treatment options. These, options include: Watchful wailing: Physicians monitor prostate cancer and treat it only if it begins to cause symptoms or shows signs of growing., During the monitoring phase! PSA tests and DREs may be performed regularly. Radical prostatectomy: Radical prostatectomy is a sur Scc Cancer on A9
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Sept. 17, 2009, edition 1
7
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75