Newsworthy

Dear Community Partners,

Here are today’s updates:

• Nursing Excellence Celebrated During Nurses’ Week
• April Person of the Moment: Jennifer Sodergren
• Kim Nelson Shares about Life as a Clinical Dietitian
• Current Status at Stormont Vail Health

Nursing Excellence Celebrated During Nurses’ Week

Nurses at Stormont Vail Health are so appreciated for their hard work and dedication. During Nurses’ Week, we will be sharing the stories of our 2022 Nursing Excellence Award winners on the Stormont Vail Facebook page, SVnet and stormontvail.org.  Please congratulate them during this special week:

Excellence in Advance Practice Provider: Robin McKay, APRN in the Cancer Center

Excellence in Distinguished Community Service: Laura Odom, RN, Breastfeeding Clinic

Excellence in Research: Josh Ault, APRN, DNP, Medical Intensive Care Unit

Excellence in Nursing Leadership: Beth Weimer, RN, Cotton O’Neil Emporia

Excellence in Licensed Practical Nursing: Taylor Vandeloo, LPN, North Clinic, and Catherine Oberle, LPN, 7 North

Excellence in Nursing Practice: Erika Seele, RN, NICU, and Jennifer Leonard, RN, Manhattan Primary

Excellence in Nursing Mentorship: Katie Martinek, RN, Surgery, and Amber Judd, RN, Heart Center.

Excellence in Nursing Preceptorship: Ashleigh Rutherford, RN, NICU, and Taylor Weishaar, RN, 7 South

Excellence in Pandemic Response: Tanya Twombly, RN, Employee Health, and Brian Coover, RN, Learning and Talent Development

Excellent in Patient Care: Katie Kohn, PCT, Birthplace; Jenaro Fairley, PCT, Behavioral Health; Kaden Robinson, PCT, Emergency; and Tasha Bailey, PCT, 7 North

Rising Stars: Tonia Thacher, RN, Birthplace, and Christa Hill, RN, NICU.

Congratulations to each one of you for all of your efforts on behalf of our patients and communities.

Thank you to the Stormont Vail Foundation, U.S. Bank and Security Benefit for sponsoring the 2022 Excellence in Nursing Awards.

April Person of the Moment: Jennifer Sodergren

Our April 2022 Person of the Moment awardee is Jennifer Sodergren! Jenny is an Occupational Therapist and is so deserving of this award because of the passion and heartfelt care she exudes every day. This excerpt written by one of Jenny’s team members gives a fantastic example:

“Jenny was seeing a patient with a tracheostomy tube. He was using a paper towel to wipe his trach. When his paper towel was on the floor, Jenny threw it away to prevent cross contamination of the trach. However, the patient was very upset as that was his last Viva paper towel. Jenny went to the store over her lunch break and purchased him six rolls of Viva paper towels. The patient was very touched by this and appreciative of her efforts. Jenny frequently goes out of her way to show this kindness to patients and staff. Jenny helped to prevent infections and went above and beyond to show care and compassion.”

Jenny perfectly embodies the heart and soul of Stormont Vail Health and we are incredibly honored to have her on our team. Congratulations, Jenny, on being named April 2022 Person of the Moment.

Kim Nelson Shares about Life as a Clinical Dietitian

Do you or someone you know have what it takes to be a Clinical Dietitian? Come join us and work alongside amazing team members like Kim Nelson, RD, LD, CNSC.

When patients hear the word “dietitian,” many could immediately think someone is about to tell them they need to go on a diet, but that is far from the truth. Kim Nelson, the Lead Clinical Dietitian at Stormont Vail Health, wants people to know that, “We’re not putting you on a diet! The majority of the time actually, I tell the physician if they’re not eating well, let’s not restrict their diet as much as we can.”

Kim has been at Stormont Vail for 22 years and has worked with thousands of patients in different settings.

“Everyone is so different,” Kim recalled when being asked about what health services are offered by the dietetics team. “We can just help them eat well – get more calories and proteins in.” For those that are unable to safely consume an oral diet, or are not eating adequately, the dietitians are there to help determine if the patient may need to receive nutrition by tube or IV and available to assist with writing orders upon consultation.

At Stormont Vail, the Clinical Nutrition team dietitians work with team members from other departments to successfully give quality care to our community. “One of my favorite things is feeling that I can make a difference for some of these people and the comradery with staff and physicians. We do rounds with the trauma team and ICU. So, you get to know people, you don’t feel like you’re just doing it yourself.”

We are grateful to have people like Kim on our team who are dedicated to improving the health of our community!

Current Status at Stormont Vail Health

• 10 inpatients are COVID-19 positive.
• 69% of recent COVID-19 admissions are unvaccinated or had last dose/booster more than 6 months ago.
• COVID-19 inpatient discharges (previous week): 10. Deaths: 0
• 6 COVID-19 positive patients in the outpatient Enhanced Primary Care program.
• 10.5% of people tested for COVID-19 at Stormont Vail facilities the past seven days were positive. Up from 7.1% last week.
• 8 team members and 1 provider on contact leave for COVID-19. Total of 9, compared to 12 last week.
• 103,880 vaccinations (included boosters) administered.
• To schedule a COVID-19 vaccine appointment:
  • Use online scheduling assistant at stormontvail.org/covid19/vaccine
  • Call (785) 270-4786.

We together,
Dr. Kenagy