North Mississippi Medical

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1 A Publication for Employees Volume 15, Number 20 October 5, 2007 W hat s Inside Backpacks...p. 2/3 Service Pins...p. 4 EOM...p. 5 Medication Safety...p. 6 Job Transfer Seminar...p. 7 Woodstock...p. 7 Pharmacists...p. 8 Logistics Center Will Save Time, Money North Mississippi Medical Center s new Logistics Center at 518 Weaver Rd. opened on Sept. 5. The 28,000-square-foot building took almost 18 months to complete and now provides goods throughout the organization. According to Mike Switzer, corporate supply chain officer, more than 700 line items were added to the inventory in the new facility, bringing the total to more than 2,000 line items. The building is located near the intersection of Green Street and Day-Brite Drive. The center keeps a 15- to 30- day supply of most items in stock, plus lead time. A pair of wire-guided forklifts are available so the operator does not need to steer while driving a load of goods down the aisle. The goods are transported in plastic reusable totes to cut down on cardboard and cellulose in the hospitals. Plastic reusable pallets are also used to transport the goods to the hospitals. The plastic pallets will save on wear and tear on the hospital floors and can be cleaned. The building is heated and cooled by a Johnson Air Rotation System, which operates without ductwork and maintains a constant 69-degree temperature. The system moves air 24 hours a day and adds up to eight stages of cooling or heating as needed. In a typical air conditioned warehouse there is a 15- to 20-degree difference from the floor to the ceiling, Switzer said. In our building there is a 1½ - 2 degree differ- Continued on page 7 Ice Cream Month Celebration...p. 8 Kenneth Fields (center) of s Supply Processing Distribution, demonstrates the TecSys warehouse management system to Wanda Della Calce (left), service line administrator for Emergency Services, and Mike Denham, service line administrator for Surgical Services.

2 Page 2 Checkup October 5, 2007 Provides Area K-3 Students With Backpacks distributed backpacks filled with school supplies to all students in grades K-3 in the Tupelo Public School District. In addition packets were given to elementary students in the Lee County and Nettleton school districts and the city and county schools served by s community hospitals in Eupora, Iuka, Pontotoc and West Point, Miss., and Hamilton, Ala. Approximately 9,500 packets were distributed this year. Dr. Randy McCoy, superintendent of the Tupelo Public School District, along with representatives Chuck Stokes and John Heer distribute backpacks to students at Lawndale Elementary School on the first day of school. Kent Rogers, administrator of - West Point, and the hospital staff celebrated the start of a new school year by donating backpacks filled with supplies to Church Hill Elementary School first-graders Brittany Bensend and Summer Smith and principal Jane Tackett. - West Point donated 950 backpacks, to students at Church Hill, East Side and West Clay elementary schools.

3 October 5, 2007 Checkup Page 3 Eupora Hospital Provides Backpacks To Elementary Students (Front row, from left) Will Cooper, Addison Mason, Andy Cooper, Hannah Smith, Darius Brown, Conner Hood and Peyton Orr; (second row, from left) Bob Jones, James Rico, Madison Crowell, Eupora Elementary School principal Dr. Wanda Porter, Hannah Ashley, Hallie Ashley, Frances Hyde and Harold Whitaker; (back row, from left) William Mixon, Madeline Mixon, Mason Powell, Christiana Boren and Lindsey Boren. Pontotoc Elementary Students Start School Year With Backpacks Pictured are (front row, from left) Anna Bailey, Kelli Carter, Landon Roye and Lauren Heath. (Back row, from left) Larry Jones, - Pontotoc Facility Operations director; Anna Guntharp, South Pontotoc Elementary School principal; and Darla Heath, RN, -Pontotoc education coordinator.

4 Page 4 Checkup October 5, 2007 The below employees recently received service pins in recognition of service milestones. Five Years Behavioral Health Center Samantha Kelly -West Point Jeanette Brown Clinics Shelley Glenn, Linda Miller, Corey Scott -Iuka Sabrina Borden, Steven Brown, Danny Jobe, Tracey Moreland, Roy Stephens NMHS Stephanie Griffin, Evelyn Harris Carolyn Bogan, Shirley Coleman, Margaret Ellis, Nivia Ligon, Janice Maxwell, William May, Susan McNutt, Kayla Orman, Marion Sykes, Jason Thomas -Pontotoc Carroll Knight, Wanda Tyes -Eupora Amy Booth, Ralph Cain Women s Hospital Ashley Williams Ten Years Baldwyn Nursing Facility Judy Petty -West Point Teresa Avant, Cathylean Darby Clinics Shannon Moore Home Health Beverly Lott -Iuka Gaylena Rhodes Service Pins Awarded NMHS Glenda Smith Mimi Cleveland, Daphne Deaton, Tammy Howell, Catherine Miller, Mary Shaffer -Eupora Ruby Sutton Fifteen Years NMHS Sally Dabbs, Clara Hurd, Dorris Ryan Sandra Chambers, Theresa Jenkins, Barbara Johnsey, Nancy Lytal, Bill Stone, Tammy Wilson Women s Hospital Lisa Wise Twenty Years -West Point Marguerite Campbell Laura Brower, Robert Mansell, Carolyn Wells Twenty-Five Years -West Point Rita Coggins David Cleveland, Ronnie Crosswhite Thirty Years Baldwyn Nursing Facility Lyle Bullock Rhonda Martin, Ramona Phillips Thirty-Five Years -Iuka Wanda Gortney, Elizabeth McDuffy Forty Years Jacky Goff

5 October 5, 2007 Checkup Page 5 Coworkers, Patients Are Best Part Of Job Linda Shields, RN, a staff nurse with North Mississippi Medical Center s Home Health Agency, has been named Employee of the Month for August. Shields joined as a nurse s aide in She said the best parts of her job are the people she works with and the patients she helps treat. In her nomination, coworkers praised Shields for her patient care. Linda is a very compassionate nurse, one coworker said in her nomination. She truly cares about her patients, families and coworkers. Linda has a positive attitude that makes her teammates feel they are her No. 1 priority, therefore providing an excellent working atmosphere, another coworker wrote. Shields, an Itawamba Agricultural High School honor graduate, earned her associate s degree from Itawamba Community College in Fulton in She worked for 12 years as an RN in neurology and neurosurgery, serving as a charge nurse for four years. Shields joined the Fulton branch of s Home Health Agency in Shields was also lauded for going the extra mile for her patients. She, with her family s help, has used her own time and resources to build ramps for wheelchair bound patients. She also gives of her time and resources to various local charities, including United Way and Project Hope. Shields has three children sons Nick, 24; and Cole, 21; and daughter Lindsey, 14. Rodger Brown, vice president of Human Resources, congratulates Linda Shields on her selection as Employee of the Month.

6 Page 6 Checkup October 5, 2007 New Software Enhances Medication Safety Nurses now have instant access to information about thousands of medications, thanks to new software on the Pyxis dispensing system throughout North Mississippi Medical Center. has used Pyxis equipment since 1999, and its new Lexi-Comp drug information database enhances patient safety. Nurses have long had access to MICROMEDIX, a similar software available through s Intranet, but Lexi-Comp makes Pyxis a one-stop shop. If I am to give a Nursing Education Coordinator Kaye Duncan, RN (right), and Ronnie Crosswhite, assistant director of Pharmacy, train 5S s Amy Seymore, RN, to use the new Lexi-Comp software. new medication that I m not familiar with, I simply type in the name of the medication and the information comes up, explained Kaye Duncan, nursing education coordinator. Then I can dispense the medication from the same machine. Now when we educate nurses, we educate them to use it. Lexi-Comp offers quick reference about drug compatibility, contraindications, brand name, IV compatibility, dosing for various ages, sound alike/look alike drugs, dietary considerations and more. The information is updated quarterly, so nurses know they are getting the latest information, added Ronnie Crosswhite, Pharmacy assistant director. Duncan noted that the feature is extremely valuable to new graduates, nurses who float from unit to unit or pick up extra shifts outside their main department, as well as those who haven t worked as patient caregivers recently. There is no way you can put all of this information into someone s head it s just too much, she said. We needed this this software.

7 October 5, 2007 Checkup Page 7 Job Transfer Seminar Scheduled For October 10 All employees are invited to attend Tips for a Successful Job Transfer, a free program to be held from 11:30 a.m.-noon Wednesday, Oct. 10, in Room 6 of the North Education Center. Tips for a Successful Job Transfer will cover where to find s job postings and necessary paperwork, as Cancer Center Staff Flashes Back to Woodstock well as steps in the transfer process. The program is the first in the Excelling in the Workplace series of 30-minute sessions designed to help employees develop to their full potential. Participants are welcome to bring their lunch. For more information, call Rosalyn Campbell at or Stephanie Griffin at August 16 was a groovy day when North Mississippi Medical Center s Cancer Center employees including (front) Cindy Edwards, (from left) Cindy Smith, Kelly Glover, Priscilla Eddie, Art Pinkerton, Steve Hersey and Dawn Ward celebrated the anniversary of Woodstock by dressing the part. Events culminated with a staff cookout that day. The original Woodstock took place Aug , Logistics Center Continued from page 1 ence from the floor to the ceiling. This is very important for goods like IV fluids, which should never be stored above 77 degrees. To avoid mispicking of goods, no two like items are placed beside, above or below the other. In addition, the building has a warehouse management system called TecSys that allows goods to be tracked from the moment they are received until they are shipped out. The system also tracks items expiration dates and lot numbers. Order pickers wear a wrist computer with a laser ring reader. This device directs the picker through the warehouse in the most efficient route to each item s location; the item is then double checked by scanning the barcode to confirm that the correct item is being picked. The wrist computers are wireless and send their signal back in real time so the device does not have to be docked for a download. Switzer believes the Logistics Center will pay for itself in less than two years through cost savings by buying directly from the manufacturer and taking advantage of buying in bulk and economic order quantities.

8 Page 8 Checkup October 5, 2007 Pharmacists Live Up To All Our Best Standard s Department of Pharmacy implemented a new policy Aug. 13 to better serve patients. As serves many patients and families, pharmacists interact in several ways: medication histories, medication dosing, monitoring medication effects and evaluating responses to medication. Effective Aug. 13, pharmacists decentralized to better provide comprehensive medication therapy management from start to finish. The Department of Pharmacy is moving toward having one pharmacist on every floor to perform patient interviews and patient care as needed. Pharmacy services will remain the same: medication histories, anticoagulation, nutrition support, pain, pharmacokinetic dose adjustments, adverse drug reaction screening, IV- PO conversions, QCCRs/med error analysis, drug information, etc. However, the model is changing to insure Pharmacy lives up to s standard of providing All our best. Rehab Services, Patients Celebrate National Ice Cream Month s Rehabilitation Services celebrated National Ice Cream Month by hosting an ice cream social recently. Patients and therapists made various flavors of ice cream using both hand crank and electric ice cream makers. Patient Thelma Dean (left) of Iuka is shown using a hand crank machine with the aid of occupational therapist Kelly Lamb. The activity helps Dean work on standing balance, upper body strength and endurance.