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Network: June/July 2007
Medicine
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| (L-R) Demar Palencia and Robert Brantley |  Traveling Hand Hygiene Station Developed
Take the creativity of Sentara Norfolk General Hospital Maintenance Department staff members Demar Palencia and Robert Brantley, add a little running water, liquid and Alcare Plus soap, a roll of paper towels and some wheels, and what do you get? The Traveling Hand Hygiene Station is a unique educational tool for safety fairs and other events to demonstrate the proper steps of hand hygiene. Based at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, this new teaching tool may be reserved for special programs by any Sentara department or unit. To learn more, call Eugene Gillispie, Maintenance, at (757) 388-5885 or Jacqueline Butler, Infection Control, at (757) 388-3952.
Ethics Conference
The Sentara Center for Healthcare Ethics will host a three-day seminar entitled A Foundation in Healthcare Ethics: What is Needed to do Ethics Well? at the Marriott Newport News at City Center, June 20, 21 and 22, 2007. The program is designed to educate health care professionals who serve on ethics committees, function as ethics consultants and individuals in a clinical setting who recognize ethical dilemmas at the bedside and want to learn more. Founded in 1998, Sentara Center for Healthcare Ethics has rapidly advanced to a leadership position in ethics education, demonstrating a level of professionalism and integrity that makes it a primary source of foundation-level ethics education for professionals from a five-state region. Last year’s program drew close to 100 participants from Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, West Virginia and Florida. The conference offers continuing education credits to support multi-discipline education requirement. The deadline for registration is June 15, 2007. For more information, call (757) 388-4263.
Clinical Trial at Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital
Neurologists at Sentara Virginia Beach General are participating in a multi-center clinical trial to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of NeuroThera™, a non-invasive infrared laser device used for treating patients with ischemic stroke. The device uses infrared wavelengths to stimulate metabolic reactions in the brain, preventing brain cells from dying. The greatest potential benefit is that it can be administered to patients up to 24 hours after the onset of stroke symptoms compared to the three-hour window for traditional drug therapy. This gives stroke patients a greater window of time to prevent the debilitating effects of stroke. Dr. Sidney Mallenbaum, medical director of the Stroke Center at Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital, is the principal investigator for the trial, which may involve as many as 660 patients at 50 medical centers across the country.
First ExploreHealth with Sentara Live Surgery Webcast
Sentara debuted its first ExploreHealth with Sentara Live Surgery Webcast, Minimally Invasive Procedures for Improving Leg Circulation, on May 10 from Sentara Norfolk General Hospital’s Endovascular Suite. Drs. Marc Glickman, Gordon Stokes and Jean Panneton and Endovascular Suite staff did an excellent job with the procedure while the World Wide Web community looked on. To view the Live Webcast archive, visit www.sentara.com/explorehealth. Stay tuned, the next Live Surgery Webcast will take place this summer on da Vinci® Prostate Surgery.
Palliative Care Conference a Success
Sentara's first annual Palliative Care conference, Palliative Medicine in Everyday Practice, featured two identical sessions May 3, at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital and May 4 at Sentara CarePlex Hospital. More than 100 participants benefited from the training including physicians, nurses and health care practitioners from Sentara and other health systems. Palliative care, used in conjunction with curative treatments or alongside care aimed at comfort, addresses the needs of patients with serious illnesses, including pain and symptom management, goal setting and patient and family education. Participants particularly valued a session in which former patients and families spoke about how their hospitalizations were transformed by palliative care consultations. Tom Smith, MD, of Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center and leader of one of six Palliative Care Leadership Centers in the U.S., discussed the many applications for palliative medicine. He indicated that over 70% of acute care hospitals have palliative medicine services and he congratulated Sentara on developing a unique, system-wide approach.
New Lung Cancer Diagnostic Tool
Pulmonologist Dr. Cammie Fruci is using Endobronchial Ultrasound, or EBUS, at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital to diagnose lung tumors. This breakthrough technology offers unprecedented views of lung and lymph node tumors from inside the body, allowing precise placement of biopsy needles and accurate, early diagnoses. Inserted down the throat, EBUS uses conscious sedation and no incisions, which is good for COPD patients and other poor candidates for invasive diagnostic surgery. It is hoped that EBUS can help Sentara make strides toward treating lung cancer, which kills more Americans than breast, colon and prostate cancers combined.
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