Return to Main Menu

Currents To Medical Center Employees: National Nurses Week and National Hospital Week are celebrated May 6 – 12 and May 8 – 14, respectively. Numerous activities have been scheduled to recognize accomplishments and to express appreciation for exceptional service.   Activities for Nurses Week are highlighted below in this newsletter. Please note that among other things the Nursing Excellence Awards Ceremony “Nurses Paving the Way,” will be held on Friday, May 6 at 9:30 a.m. in room 100 of the Basic Sciences Auditorium.   The Recruitment and Retention Committee did an excellent job with spearheading plans for National Hospital Week activities. At the May 3 Communications meeting Amelia Lewis of the Recruitment and Retention Committee provided a summary of events scheduled for May 8 through 14 as indicated below in this newsletter.    As we celebrate National Nurses Week and National Hospital Week, I want to thank everyone for your outstanding work in providing compassionate care and excellent service.   Thank you very much. Sincerely, W. Stuart Smith Vice President for Clinical Operations and Executive Director, MUSC Medical Center YES Campaign getting started Organizers Becky Dornisch and Kristin Romness presented details for the the Yearly Employee Support (YES) Campaign under way this spring.   “The YES Campaign is one of two employee campaigns conducted on campus each year in the months of April, May and June. The other campaign is Trident United Way in the fall,” Dornisch said. “The money raised in the YES Campaign directly supports MUSC and its programs.”   This year's goal was set at $310,000, Marilyn Schaffner, administrator for clincal services, is the campaign chair, and the leadership chair is Lyndon Key, M.D., chair and professor in the Department of Pediatrics.   “The YES Campaign is important because, as we all know, funding is becoming more and more limited. Before giving major sums of money, many philanthropists look at the level of giving within the organization they are asked to support.  We would like to show them that employees overwhelmingly support programs at MUSC.  In terms of support, we are talking more about participation than the amount of your gift,” Dornisch said.   Romness said YES brochures will be out by the beginning of the week and that pledges will be collected through the end of June. “You can make your gift to the campaign by cash, check or credit card,” she said, “by a pledge to be fulfilled by June 2006, or by the easiest way—payroll deduction.”   Describing the brochure, Romness said gifts can be designated on the back of the pledge form to any of the 450-plus funds within the Health Sciences Foundation. An active listing of the funds is in the brochure.   “One of the great funds you can support is the MUSC Family Fund, which was established in 1999 as a way for employees to benefit from their contributions to the YES Campaign. Now in its sixth year of providing grants, the fund has aided areas from education to patient care to research," she said.   This year approximately $15,000 will be awarded to fund projects and pledge forms can be returned in the envelope provided with the brochure.   To sweeten the giving experience, weekly prizes and grand prizes will be awarded—all of them donated by Costco and detailed in the brochure. The grand prize will be an executive membership at Costco and a $25 gift certificate.   “All UMA employees who contribute their YES Campaign gift to the Hospital Authority Building Fund are eligible for a dollar for dollar match. UMA will match the first $50,000 contributed to this fund.  There is no minimum or maximum gift required to utilize the match.  You can make a gift to this fund via payroll deduction or an outright gift,” Romness said. Personal Profile in Simon Web An on-line tutorial/movie on Personal Profile is available before the May 12 rollout at http://emerald.musc.edu under the training link at the bottom of the page. Full story National Hospital Week Amelia Lewis, business manager in Care Management, Research and Evaluation, announced National Hospital Week, May 8 through 14.   “This provides a wonderful opportunity for hardworking  MUSC employees to thank their patients and reach out to the community with a message of confidence and care,” she said. This year's inspirational theme is “A Calling to Care,” she said "that recognizes the faces that take our health care system to new heights of excellence.”   Outlining the week's activities, Lewis said, “We have planned a delightful, fun-filled week of events with something new each day. Mid-day snacks, morning serenades and scrapbook display will be available all week.”   Other events include an administrator greeting and proclamation of Hospital Week, a silent auction to benefit the new Medically Fragile Children Program, professional recognition awards, a karaoke stage and food court, midnight madness pizza party for night staff and MUSC discount day at the Riverdogs Stadium. Internal Communications Tactical Plan Internal Communications co-chair Paul Bush (with David Bennett) outlined the Medical Center's initiatives for review: Clearly identify the take-home message/s we want to get out Identify current and innovative mechanisms to disseminate information (particularly goals objectives, actual performance and safety initiatives to medical staff, residents, management team and staff) Define a communication plan, including time lines and continually evaluate the use of inter- and intra-nets to improve hospitalwide communication Provide access to kiosk-based PCs for staff. The committee has set up a communications Web page at http://www.musc.edu/medcenter/communication_meeting/index.htm to keep MUSC personnel informed of past, current and upcoming Hospital Communications Meetings and their content. Bush invites Medical Center employees to explore the site and use its resources. 2005 Nursing Excellence Awards Ceremony Marilyn Schaffner, administrator for clincal services, announced an invitation to  attend the Nurses Week 2005  Nursing Excellence Awards Ceremony “Nurses Paving the Way” to be held May 6, at 9:30 a.m. in the Basic Sciences Building Auditorium (Room 100).   "If your schedule permits, please join us as we recognize our new clinical nurse leaders, our unit and divisional nurses of the year and the Medical Center's nurse of the year," she said. Margaret (Maggie) Johnson, program nurse consultant with the South Carolina Board of Nursing, will speak on the topic of “Courage.”   A reception will follow the ceremony. Nurses Paving the Way 2005 Nurses Week Agenda May 6: Nurses Week Reception. 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., Room 100 Basic Science Building Auditorium. May 7: Cookie Distribution. 5 to 7 p.m. May 8: Post and Courier Nurses Week Coverage May 10: Professional Nursing Organization Fair. 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Main Hospital and MUSC Children's Hospital lobbies. College of Nursing Open House. 5 to 7 p.m., Nursing advancement opportunities, College of Nursing's Historical Library May 12: College of Nursing Open House. 10 a.m,. to noon. A ceremony featuring health care pioneers (see page 14 of The Catalyst) will be held at the CON's Historical Library.   Week events include: What is a Nurse Coloring Contest and media coverage   Friday, May 6, 2005 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 petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.