Research Seminar Series Featured Ravi Karra

Ravi Karra was the guest speaker at the Feb. 22 Research Seminar Series held by the Department of Medicine. His topic was Vascular Guidance of Innate Heart Regeneration. Thanks to everyone who was able to join us – we had a good crowd!

If you weren’t able to join us, you can listen to the Voices of Medicine podcast that was done as a preview to his talk. To listen, click here: https://warpwire.duke.edu/w/qvQBAA.

Dodging the Rain & Celebrating

The Mentz’s and Rosen-Ward’s took a quick trip to Oak Island to celebrate Cary and Rob’s shared birthday on February 23. We are envious of anyone who managed to escape the rain in Durham this weekend. Belated happy birthday wishes to Cary Ward and Rob Mentz!

Duke Heart at the Sutherland

National Heart month is coming to a close this week. Yesterday was our keynote event, Duke Heart Day at The Sutherland in Wake Forest, NC. Special thanks to Maitreya Thakkar, Khyati Baxi and Anne Ford (obgyn) for serving as our panelists and for assisting with health screenings. Attendees enjoyed a cooking demonstration with red wine and dark chocolate, as well as opportunities to speak directly with care providers to learn more about heart disease prevention and treatments.

Our final event is coming up on Feb. 27 – we will hold a compression-only CPR training in the DMP for visitors and family members. We’ll also be teaching how to use an AED and how to perform the Heimlich maneuver.

Many thanks to each one of our volunteers who helped with events this month. Special thanks to Leatrice Martin Short for planning and execution!

Renovations to EP/Cath Waiting Area to Begin March 5

Construction will begin early next month to renovate and enhance the waiting area for the Adult Cardiac Catheterization and Electrophysiology Labs at Duke University Hospital. The renovations will expand the available seating area and add one more check-in bay. We’re also adding a consultation room and some new signage. Each modification we are making will serve to give patients and families greater comfort and more privacy, which should improve their overall experience in this particular area. We anticipate completion of the renovation by the end of fall 2019. Members of the Heart PFAC weighed in on our design. If you have any questions regarding this project, please contact Greg Shelton, Administrative Director for the Cardiovascular Invasive Labs.

 

Heart PFAC Update

The Duke Heart Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC) launched a year ago this month and the members have been fully engaged with weighing in on several projects within Duke Heart (including the renovation project to the Cath/EP waiting room area) and a number of initiatives that are launching across DUHS. We thank Brian Wofford, Vice President of Heart Operations for Durham County, and Mary Lindsay, Associate Chief Nursing Officer for Duke Heart, who –along with Georgina Dukes, our former strategic services associate–worked to get the PFAC up and running. We’d also like to thank Sue Ann Glower (wife of CT surgeon Don Glower) for serving as volunteer co-chair of the Council.

Our PFAC is one of several that have been created over the past few years at Duke as an effort to improve patient and family experiences while getting care within Duke University Health System. The members are volunteering their time to meet regularly as a group and to give their honest opinions and guidance to the leadership of Duke Heart – we appreciate the time they are giving to us; their insights are very valuable.

If you know of any patient (current or former) or any family members of a patient (current or former) who might be interested in serving on this Council, please contact Brian Wofford at brian.wofford@duke.edu. We welcome any suggestions you might have!

Don’t miss…

Boyd Hudson, one of our Duke respiratory therapists, made an important discovery regarding his heart last month while visiting the Children’s Museum of Alamance County. Two news stories are included in our links – please see “news”.

Good Catches, 3100!

The providers and staff on 3100 continue to receive Good Catch awards – thank you so much for your diligence and commitment to keeping our patients as safe as possible, especially with our latest goal of Zero Harm. This past week, Maita Encarnacion, RN and Shayne Gravitt, RN each received shout-outs – Maita for catching that a medication had been sent in the wrong form, and Shayne for finding that an incorrect drug had been dispensed. Great job!

New Clinical Leads Announced for Cardiac Invasive Labs

We are pleased to announce that Anna Mall and Vanessa Guzman have been named clinical leads for our Cardiac Invasive Labs.

Anna Mall, RN, CCRN, will become the Clinical Lead RN for the Duke University Hospital Adult Cardiac Catheterization Lab effective March 4. Anna has functioned as a staff and charge nurse for the Adult Cardiac Cath lab since 2014. Prior to that time, she worked as a critical care nurse at Duke Regional Hospital for five years. During her time at Duke, Anna has held a variety of leadership roles including serving on the Duke Heart Center Clinical Practice Council, Cath Lab Staff Advisory Committee, and several unit champion roles. She currently leads the Cath Lab Nursing Research Committee, which has an American Heart Association-accepted abstract, Understanding the Patient Experience of Pain and Discomfort During Cardiac Cath that will be presented at the AHA Quality Care and Outcomes Research Scientific Session in April. Anna has served in several volunteer leadership roles with the American Association of Critical Care Nurses since 2013, including several officer positions within the Triangle Chapter.  Recently, she served as the Chair of the Program Planning Committee for AACN’s National Teaching Institute.  She is currently serving a three-year term as the chapter advisor for Region 10/Illinois.

Anna earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois and a diploma of Nursing from Watts School of Nursing in Durham. She will complete her Masters of Science in Nursing from the University of North Carolina in December 2019.

Vanessa Guzman, BSN, RN, RCIS will become the Clinical Lead RN for the Duke University Hospital Adult Electrophysiology (EP) Lab effective March 4. Vanessa joined the Duke Heart team in December, 2013 as a staff nurse in the EP Lab and became an EP charge nurse in May, 2016. Vanessa obtained her Registered Cardiac Electrophysiology Specialist certification in June, 2017. During her time at Duke, Vanessa has held a variety of leadership roles including serving on the Invasive Labs Clinical Practice Committee, EP Mentorship Committee, EP Staff Advisory Committee, and Invasive Labs Orientation Committee. Prior to her time at Duke, Vanessa worked as a telemetry staff nurse at Nazareth Hospital in PA for three years. Vanessa earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from La Salle University in 2010.

Please join us in congratulating and welcoming Anna and Vanessa to their new roles!