Archive for the ‘Pulse’ Category

By Pulse staff

Sept. 8-9
A medical-surgical nursing review for practice enhancement and a certification course will be offered at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta. The course is for nurses preparing to take certification exams as well as those who want to improve their knowledge. The event will be in classroom 7 on the sixth floor of the 77 building. The cost is $225 and includes course materials, light breakfast, light lunch and Georgia Nurses Association contact hours. For registration and information, send e-mail to delores.carter-butler@piedmont.org or call 404-605-4741. For credit card registrations, call 1-866-900-4321.

Sept. 11
Leading Edge Conference: Advances in Cardiovascular Care will be offered in the Carroll Conference Center at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Atlanta. Robotic surgeon Dr. Sudhir Srivastava and other St. Joseph’s Hospital physicians will explore the most recent advances in cardiology and diagnostic treatments. Topics will include hypothermia post cardiac …

Continue reading PULSE: Continuing education »

By Laura Raines, Pulse editor

Current job: Professor of nursing at Georgia Baptist College of Nursing of Mercer University in Atlanta

Laura Kimble is a professor at the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing of Mercer University in Atlanta. Photo by Barry Williams, for the AJC.

Past jobs: She started her career as a cardiovascular nurse in 1980. While working at King’s Daughters Hospital in Ashland, Ky., Kimble treated a patient who worked in a steel mill and came to her with chest pains.

“He wanted to be able to walk the half-mile from the parking lot to the time clock so that he could do his job as a crane operator,” Kimble said. “That’s what led me to want to do cardiovascular research.”

A nurse educator and researcher for 25 years, she has taught at Indiana Wesleyan University, Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and Georgia State University’s Byrdine F. Lewis School of Nursing.

Recent accomplishments: Kimble was named the first recipient of the …

Continue reading PULSE: Spotlight on a Leader: Laura Kimble, Ph.D., RN, FNP-C, FAHA »

By Laura Raines, for the AJC

How far would you go to find a career that fits your passion? When do you give up the excuses, ignore the odds and surmount the obstacles to begin a career where you can make a difference?

“Now!” is the advice of three professionals who decided to make nursing their second — and last — careers.

Robert Angstadt, BSN, RN

With an MBA, Robert Angstadt, 47, had worked his way up to regional sales manager in the automotive industry. He was working six days a week, traveling constantly and not enjoying it, when a serious car crash in 2000 made him rethink his priorities.

“I wanted to do something positive and work in some kind of helping profession,” Angstadt said.

Robert Angstadt, who once was a sales manager in the automotive industry, is a nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit at Northside Hospital in Atlanta. Photo by Nick Arroyo, for the AJC

He had several family members who were teachers, but Angstadt kept remembering the nurses who touched …

Continue reading PULSE: Second time around »

VHA Georgia awarded DeKalb Medical two leadership awards at its leadership conference earlier this month at the Georgia International Convention Center in College Park.

A VHA Operational Excellence award went to the emergency room staff at the North Decatur campus for initiating processes that have decreased wait time, improved patient satisfaction and generated $11.5 million in new revenue through increased efficiency. The award was the result of a initiative begun two years ago that implemented 50 process changes to improve patient flow and satisfaction. ER waits dropped to an average of 30 minutes.

Innovations in the prevention of hospital-acquired pressure ulcers earned the North Decatur hospital a Clinical Excellence Award. New protocols have helped the hospital decrease its pressure ulcer rate from 15 percent last year to less than 1 percent (.74) this year. The national average incidence rate is 7 percent.

Brainy certification: Tracey Rogers, a physical therapist at …

Continue reading PULSE: VHA Georgia honors DeKalb Medical »

By Laura Raines, Pulse editor

In 1988, Leanne Johnston stood in the middle of a labor and delivery nursing station and declared, “I don’t need a computer; I’m a nurse.”

Now, as clinical lead senior trainer instructional designer for Kaiser Permanente of Georgia, it’s Johnston who rolls out new electronic medical records systems and trains staff how to use them.

Beth Singleton (left), manager of clinical informatics at DeKalb Medical, and clinical coordinator Rhonda Slade examine data using a mobile computer charting cart. Photo by Barry Williams, for the AJC.

With a talent for teaching, she gradually became more involved with computers and information technology, and was working in nursing informatics by 2005.

“I get tickled when I can show nurses and doctors how these systems can make their jobs easier,” said Johnston, RNC, MSN-Ed. “Since I still type with two fingers and didn’t grow up with computers, I have instant credibility with others. I tell them, ‘If I can do it, …

Continue reading PULSE: High-tech health care »

By Laura Raines, Pulse editor

When Laura Hurt became a nurse in 1969, she’d never even heard of Uzbekistan or Georgia, both former republics of the Soviet Union. Little did she know how integral those countries would become to her life.

This fall, Hurt, director of nursing operations at Emory University Hospital Midtown in Atlanta, will serve as co-principal investigator for an almost $2 million grant to develop nurses in the nation of Georgia.

It won’t be the first time her itinerary reads from Georgia to Georgia.

Nurse Laura Hurt has collected many items during her travels overseas, including a ceremonial hat and earrings from Uzbekistan, a necklace from Tiblisi, a scarf from Uzbekistan, a utility knife and ceremonial sword from Georgia. Photo by Barry Williams, for the AJC

“I was working as chief medical-surgical nurse at Grady [Memorial] Hospital in 1991 when the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services agreed to help former U.S.S.R. countries like Georgia and …

Continue reading PULSE: Georgias
on her mind »

By Laura Raines, Pulse editor

Age: 50

Occupation: Director of Imaging, Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville

Karen Kubik wears a Jones New York Suit with a purse by Marc Ecko and shoes by A. Marinelli at the Evergreen Marriott Conference Center at Stone Mountain Park. Photo by Nick Arroyo, for the AJC.

What I’m wearing: “A spring/summer light blue suit by Jones New York Suits with a straight skirt and a cinched blazer jacket that always draws compliments. A camisole top, blue striped heels by A. Marinelli and pearl and turquoise beads.”

Signature style: “Classic business suits with a contemporary flair.”

When she was a clinician, Kubik wore scrubs. Now that she works in hospital management, she dresses in a suit every day. Reading fashion magazines helps her stay abreast of seasonal trends in jewelry, shoes, scarves and purses to keep her look fresh.

“I believe that your clothes add or detract from your personal image. When you dress well, people treat you with …

Continue reading PULSE: My Style: Karen Kubik, RT-R »

By Laura Raines, Pulse editor

Job: Nurse practitioner and clinical coordinator at St. Joseph’s Heart Center for Women in Atlanta

Nurse practitioner Stacy Jaskwhich is the clinical coordinator at St. Joseph ’s Heart Center for Women. Photo by Barry Williams, for the AJC

What I do: “Mine is a one-of-a-kind job, since I give physicals and extensive consultation to our patients in what I believe is the only preventative cardiac-screening program for women in Atlanta.

“Women experience symptoms and risk factors for heart disease differently than men. Led by medical director Dr. Gina Lundberg, a preventative cardiologist, our goal is to help women learn how to protect themselves from heart disease, which is the No. 1 killer of women.

“Besides screening and counseling patients individually, we also speak at women’s groups and health fairs to raise community awareness about heart disease in women, and we also contribute to research.”

What got me interested in this: “I spent my …

Continue reading PULSE: Why I Love My Job: Stacy Jaskwhich, BSN, MSN, NP-BC »

By Laura Raines, Pulse editor

Do you enjoy solitude? Are you reserved about sharing personal information? Do your colleagues say you’re hard to get to know? Then you might be an introvert.

“Being an introvert doesn’t mean that you can’t talk to people or don’t like people,” said Joyce Ramsey-Coleman, RN, MS, MBA. “It just means that you don’t get your energy from interacting with people. You get energized from time alone.”

Joyce Ramsey-Coleman, chief nurse executive at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and vice president of nursing and patient care services at Children’s at Scottish Rite, describes herself as an introvert with a capital “I.” Photo by Barry Williams, for the AJC.

Ramsey-Coleman calls herself an introvert with a capital “I.” When she first took the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality test 15 years ago, it came as no surprise that she was classified as an introvert.

As a child, Ramsey-Coleman was comfortable playing by herself and using her imagination. …

Continue reading PULSE: Quiet strength »

We like to think of Pulse as a classic health care publication. In our 17-year existence, we’ve worked steadily to find the right mix of clinical/career information and human interest stories that you like to read.

We see no reason to alter that structure, and we intend to keep publishing stories about the latest industry trends and interesting features about what health care professionals do on and off the job.

Pulse editor Laura Raines

But even a classic needs an update now and then. One reason that favorite little black dress works so well, after all, is that it accommodates the latest accessories. A statement necklace, scarf, some heels with attitude — and you’ve got a contemporary look for today’s needs.

That said; we welcome you to a fresh, new Pulse. In concert with the redesign that The Atlanta Journal-Constitution launched earlier this year, Pulse has a new look that is more colorful, better-organized and easier to navigate — giving our “classic” publication some …

Continue reading PULSE: Editor’s Notes: The same mission with a new look »