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MUSC Excellence at MUHA

Reward, Recognition team honors January employees

The MUSC Excellence Reward and Recognition team honored January Employee(s) of the Month—Cindy Jackson, 1West/Adult Emergency Department; Tracy Burgess and Cynthia Plutro, IOP—Star Ladson; Derick Jenkins, MICU; and Melissa Sergent, 2CCV.
 
Each employee received a large framed Applause certificate, balloon, mall gift certificate, and cake to share with coworkers.
  • Cindy Jackson: Jackson was chosen by the team from Applause awards submitted during January. The nomination read in part: “We had a patient in ED that ran out of medicines. We proceeded to give her a dose of medicines here and set her up for an appointment at Rutledge Tower to get her scripts filled with assistance. However, it was New Year's and she was going to be out of her meds for one day before Rutledge Tower would open. Social worker Gale Brown arranged for her to get her meds for one day to take home with her. Unfortunately, the patient did not understand and went home without her meds. Cindy Jackson, her nurse, took her meds to her at home. Both Gayle and Cindy went above and beyond to deliver excellent care.
  • Tracy Burgess, left, and Cynthia Plutro: Burgess's nomination read in part: “I am nominating Tracy Burgess due to her continued commitment and excellence not only to MUSC but more importantly to her patients. Tracy works with at-risk children and one of her patients recently had a cousin killed and is presently grieving the expected loss of her terminally ill grandmother who is on life support. Tracy not only called the family daily to check in and offer support, but she drove to Trident Hospital where the grandmother was on a ventilator to support the patient and family during the vigil to show that someone cared. Plutro's nomination read in part: “One of the patients did not receive his stimulant medication at home, because the family had run out. We did not have a physician in the building at the time to write this prescription. Cindy left and drove to the psychiatric outpatient office to pick up the prescription so this child could have a successful day.”
  • Derick Jenkins: Jenkins' nomination read: “Derick came in on a Sunday morning on his day off to visit a patient who was being transferred to New York that morning. He sat and talked with her during a time when she was very nervous. He stayed until the flight team arrived.”


  • Melissa Sergent: Sergent was nomination by Robbin Middleton: “I observed Melissa on her way to the cafeteria when she came across a visitor, Jamal Kelly (alone and wheelchair bound) in the elevator. Melissa escorted him to the cafeteria, helped him prepare his food, helped him through the lunch line, and then escorted him to the neonatal ICU to visit his baby. Melissa had never met this visitor before, but she treated him like he was her own family member. In doing all of this, she missed her own lunch break without a single complaint.”
 
Nominations can be submitted at http://www.itlab.musc.edu./cgi-bin/applause/add/add.cgi.
 
Each month the Reward and Recognition team will announce a new recognition focus. If the initiative has a specific goal to achieve, employees who reach the specified goal by the provided deadline will become eligible to win a prize via random drawings. The number of prize drawings per month will be determined by the size of the eligible group.
 
Some months, the team may choose to recognize groups of employees (i.e., night shift, new hires or individual units with notable achievements) by having an activity (pizza party or ice cream social) rather than a prize drawing. In months that criteria is set, the drawing will take place on the last Wednesday of the month at the MUSC Excellence Team Meeting. Winners will be notified and posted.
 
All eligible Medical Center employees whose AIDET (Acknowledge, Introduce, Duration, Explanation, Thank You) behavior assessment has been completed and recorded in CATTS by March 27 will be eligible for the March Employee Appreciation Day Prize drawings.

Clinical, support departments receive awards for performance

Clinical and support departments were given quarterly department awards for exceptional patient satisfaction results or for supporting the award winning clinical departments in an exemplary fashion. These departments received banners to recognize exceptional performance.
 
Departments and respective managers included: Children’s Services and Perinatal Services (8D)—Debbie Browning, interim nurse manager; Support Department (Children’s Hospital Volunteer Services)—Christine Messick, coordinator; Adult Hospital (10E)— Kristen Wachsmuth, nurse manager; Support Department (Clinical Effectiveness and Patient Safety)—Glenn Richmond, manager; IOP (Behavioral Intensive Care Unit)—Michael Hartley, nurse manager; Support Department (Dietary)—Brad Mastellar, general manager; IOP Outpatient Services (Geriatric, GERO)—Cynthia Dominick, manager; Outpatient Services & Clinics (On Campus, Pediatrics)—Pediatric Transfusion Clinic, Kathy Sellers, manager; Support Department (Rutledge Tower Ambulatory Pharmacy)—Heather Kokko, manager; Outpatient Services and Clinics (On Campus, Adult)—Hollings Cancer Center Thoracic Surgery Clinic, Rhonda Breland, manager; Support Department (Laborator Services)—Hollings Cancer Center Blood Draw, Pat Wanstreet, manager; Outpatient Services and Clinics (On Campus, Adult)—Gazes Rehab Clinic, Judi Buckman, manager; Support Department (Biomedical Engineering)—Stan Trojanowski, manager; Outpatient Services and Clinics (Off Campus, West Ashley ENT)—David White, M.D.; and Most Improved Service Area Overall (8D Children’s Hospital), Debbie Browning, interim nurse manager.

March standard of the month

Use of electronic communication devices—“I will not use any electronic communication device for personal use, while working, e.g. phone, Internet, pager, personal digital system.”
 
Ask yourself—Is this lawful and ethical, and does it conflict with our mission? Does this jeopardize patient care or cause work to be neglected? Interfere with other staff or cause added cost to MUSC?
 
Visit http://www.musc.edu/infoservices/cup.html
   

Friday, March 16, 2007
Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.