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MUSC Excellence at the Medical Center Sensitivity sign, DAISY awards announced Service: Serving the public with compassion, respect and excellence From Life to Death: The Bridge When life support is being withdrawn and death is imminent, the grief seems unbearable. Jovial day-to-day activities are out of place to mourning families. Out of respect for MUSC patients and their families, and to acknowledge their emotional needs during this solemn time, MUSC medical center is initiating a signage program. This initiative is being led by the Adult Inpatient Satisfaction Team.   The Bridge signage represents the transition from life to death. The sign will be placed on the entrance doors of intensive care units and patient rooms to alert staff of a sensitive situation taking place in that area.   When The Bridge is posted on the door, all staff should temper their demeanor out of respect for the family in mourning. The Bridge will link the family’s emotional needs with MUSC’s goal of excellence. The Bridge will be presented at the MUSC Communication Meeting and the Education Roll-Out Committee Meeting during the next two weeks with a projected Dec. 1. Internal Customer Survey The medical center is conducting its second Internal Customer Survey to allow leaders the opportunity to rate the overall service of some of the internal departments.   This survey will allow departments to identify where there are opportunities to improve, as well as give employees the chance to recognize excellence in their peers. As leaders, we need to strive to provide the best possible service to both our patients and our internal customers (each other). This survey lets us evaluate the latter. People: Fostering employee pride and loyalty June DAISY Award winner Linda Ernst, neonatal nurse practitioner, works in  Level II and received the following nomination.  “Linda is dedicated to her families, insuring they understand the plan of care and diagnosis for their infant. She has developed educational resources for us to use to assist us in sharing information with families and is learning Spanish so she can communicate better with our families. Last year, Linda went to Rush University in Chicago to look at their mothers’ milk club and find ways for us to better assist families with feeding at MUSC. She then developed a model of care that she describes as “Cue based feeding” and implemented this feeding plan at MUSC, teaching the nursing staff about feeding readiness cues and sleep needs in premature infants. This practice change has resulted in a decrease in the length of stay for our infants, with the average gestational age at discharge changing from 35 weeks to 33 weeks due to her work and dedication. Linda is dedicated to working to improve practice at MUSC and is committed to MUSC and to excellence in patient care. She is a true patient advocate and dedicated to our families. Linda never has down time because she is always in the unit looking for the families of her patients. Linda is an RN who has established herself in an advanced practice role and deserves to be recognized for willingness to put her energy into improving care.”   August DAISY Award winner Leanne Carson, Adult Emergency Department, was recognized by a colleague.   “Ms. Carson has been an excellent example of leadership under fire. She radiates calmness and control during the most stressfully acute periods in the trauma department. She is able to render care to the most acutely ill patients while coordinating nursing care for the highest flow department at MUHA. She mentors the many new staff in that area and forwards concerns to management promptly. One of the many examples of her leadership was the night the nine Charleston fire fighters were killed. Reports of all kinds were filtering in to the hospital concerning numbers of injured and dead victims. There was much curiosity in and around MUHA, including press, family and staff members. Ms. Carson calmly cleared the ED as fast as possible and prepared her staff for the possibility of mass casualties. Staff was tense and excitable, but Leanne remained calm. This assisted the staff in maintaining a professional focus and dissipated “spectator staff” from the area. The eventual arrival of fatalities with very few living victims had the quality of 911. There was much shock and concern that victims were NOT flowing into our ED. The preparation and excitement turned into chilling realization of how terrible the fire really was. Leanne attempted to rechannel that energy to the patients present, and help everyone, including Security and Public Safety, move through the incident. Ms. Carson is a trusted resource to the HSCs. We breathe easier knowing she is in charge in the Adult ED.“ Fall session town hall meetings The schedule for the medical center’s fall town hall meetings is as follows: Oct. 22, 3:30 - 4:30 p.m., IOP Auditorium; Oct. 25, 2 - 3 p.m., SEI Auditorium; Oct. 26, 11 a.m. - noon, SEI Auditorium; Oct. 29, 11 a.m. - noon, SEI Auditorium; Oct. 30, 6:45  - 7:45 a.m., Room 100, BSB Auditorium; Oct. 30, 1 - 2 p.m., SEI Auditorium; Oct. 31, 7:30  - 8:30 a.m., IOP Auditorium; Nov. 1, 2 - 3 p.m., 2 W Amphitheater; Nov. 2, 7:30 - 8:30 a.m., 2W Amphitheater; Nov.  6, 3 - 4 p.m., 2 W Amphitheater; and Nov. 7, 10 - 11 a.m., 2W Amphitheater. Attendance is encouraged.   The schedule can also be found online at http://mcintranet.musc.edu/muscexcellence. Quality: Providing quality patient care in a safe environment IDEA Campaign to Help with Infection Control Is Your Idea a Winner? In the past year, MUSC has experienced a 45 percent growth in Methicillin Resistant Staph Aureus (MRSA) and Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus (VRE) rates in the hospital.   The majority of these hospital-acquired infections are transmitted from patient to patient by contaminated hands, clothing, and equipment of health care workers. MUSC's goal for 2008 is to reduce the rates of these infections by 30 percent. To accomplish this,  ideas on how to improve hand-washing and the use of barrier precautions are needed.   On Oct. 1, the medical center kicked off an Idea Campaign to gather ideas. Ideas can be submitted online until Oct. 15. If your idea is chosen, you will be invited to join the idea implementation team. If your idea is successful, you will receive special recognition across MUSC.   Ideas can be sent to http://www.muschealth.com/survey/infectioncontrolsurvey.htm until Oct. 15. Do you have an idea that will help increase hand-washing or use of barrier precautions? Please share it today.     Friday, Oct. 12, 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.