Catching Up and Keeping Up

November 20, 2011 CATCHING UP AND KEEPING UP Last week, we took a lovely vacation out to the mountains of Giles County where my husband’s family takes a yearly hunting trip. It is great fun hiking and taking time to watch the sunset. Returning to work is never an easy feat after vacation. The electronic bubbles on our computers are always brimming over with double digit numbers of phone calls, results to be checked, refills. The red exclamation point indicates urgency and these are addressed amidst the heavy flow of patients that always characterizes a post- vacation week. And of course, the hospital is
bustling with new babies.
David and I are also completing our NRP recertification. There is a new edition of this education and it is our responsibility to keep our small unit up to date on all of the changes. We have an excellent nurse manager, Ann, in our maternal child health unit, and we handle changes together. For us, updating NRP involves not only our personal recertification, but solving the logistics of how we will get blended oxygen in our nursery, how we will incorporate an oximeter on the warmer in the OR where c-sections are done, and how we will update the nurses who are still certified with the older version. Ann did a great job and by the time I had a sick baby delivered in the wee hours of Saturday morning, we had new laminated algorithms and normal oximetry charts posted in our resuscitation area.
Our other educational event this week was an update on concussions. Thanks to support from Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters (CHKD) in Norfolk, Virginia, our community was able to hear two experts discuss Virginia’s law regarding concussions and the management of concussions. David and our director of nursing at ESRH (Eastern Shore Rural Health) worked very hard in the weeks prior to this presentation to invite all members in our community who deal with this problem. On a rainy Wednesday night, coaches from both counties, school nurses, physicians from our local private practice, our local adult neurologist, pediatric providers, school administrators, some parents and some students, gathered to hear Dr. Ralph Northam and Dr. Joel Brenner discuss concussions and return to play. It was a wonderful turnout and showed the power of community. Our local restaurant provided the space; CHKD provided a wonderful meal and speakers. We were able to discuss the barriers that we face in a small area where we do not have certified athletic trainers in our schools. We were able to work together on ideas for solutions to provide the neurocognitive testing that is important in the management of these athletes.
While we know there is never a dull moment around here, and often feel there is never a spare moment, the beauty of this place will often force us to just witness a special moment. I share two sunsets that opened and closed my week. The first is from Wind Rock in western Virginia. The second is from the overlook on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel.