Welcome to the FMCH Tuesday Talk. Please continue to send us your announcements, celebrations, and accomplishments to [email protected]. |
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Table of Contents
Upcoming Events
Focus of the Week - Clinical
Announcements
Department Member Recognition
Frankly Speaking Podcast
Clinical Services Spotlight
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Upcoming Events
FMCH Grand Rounds
Tuesday, May 10th, 12:00 - 1:00 pm. Robert Klugman, MD, and Benjamin Eovaldi, DO, present: "Primary Care Guidance for Firefighter Health Exams".
Meeting ID: 191 986 273 Passcode: FMCH
FMCH Grand Rounds
Tuesday, May 17th, 12:00 - 1:00 pm. Laurel Banach, MD, and Maegan Pollard, MD, present: "Post-ICU Care in the Inpatient Setting and Post Discharge".
Meeting ID: 191 986 273 Passcode: FMCH
Spring Department of Family Medicine and Community Health Faculty Retreat:
Vision 2030 - The Next Chapter for FMCH
Save the Date: Friday - May 20, 2022
8:00am-6:00pm
Plan for in-person retreat at South Street Campus, Shrewsbury
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Focus of the Week - Clinical
System changes in Employee Protective Gear in the Healthcare Environment
As of Monday, May 2nd, the following minimum-required Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) are in effect:
- All UMass Memorial workforce members must use a UMass Memorial-provided procedural mask while working in either a clinical care area or a non-clinical care area. This means masks must once again be worn in administrative/business areas and break rooms.
- Procedural masks may only be removed if:
- The employee is alone in an enclosed space (e.g., alone in a room with the door closed) or outside.
- The employee is working in a cubicle distanced greater than 6 feet from other caregivers.
- The employee is eating and socially distanced from other caregivers. The procedural mask should be replaced as soon as possible.
**Please note that this change impacts non-clinical care areas such as administrative suites and non-hospital office locations as well as clinical care areas. Most recently, masks were not required in non-clinical care areas.
This change to the minimum-required PPE will be in effect for at least four (4) weeks. If the rate of caregivers with COVID-19 continues to increase, additional requirements may be announced.
Please Stay Vigilant
Please protect yourself and others from COVID-19. We know everyone is exhausted from two-plus years of the pandemic. Unfortunately, COVID-19 is still a reality, and as such, we need to act appropriately when infection levels increase to protect our patients and each other. Each time a caregiver tests positive, it requires a colleague to fill their shoes while the caregiver goes out on leave.
Workforce Burnout vs. Moral Injury and Distress
Healthcare institutions across the country monitor burnout of their healthcare workers from administrative staff to the top leadership.
Burnout is defined as the result of unmanaged workplace stress. Key components consist of the following:
- Extreme exhaustion.
- Feeling overwhelmed.
- Being detached from work.
- Feeling ineffective and losing interest in work.
- A sense of lack of accomplishments.
Moral injury is a term that has been applied to veterans of combat and increasingly to health care providers. Moral injury occurs when individuals are forced to make decisions that cause them to shift their moral compass. The health care worker may feel they are not able to carry out their responsibility to the patient with resulting injury to the individual's moral conscience and values.
- Potential impact on the healthcare worker during or post-COVID includes:
o PTSD or Trauma effect.
o Depression.
o Resentment towards those in authority to take a situation in hand.
Wellness and FMCH
The wellness committee is calling you to join us on the 4th Friday each month as we strategize about improving the health and wellness of our healthcare providers. If you are interested in joining us, please email Dr. Shahida Fareed at [email protected] or Dr. Josephine Fowler at [email protected]. One of the key areas to improve wellness this year has been improving EPIC skills. Keep watch for the next Epic training session. Thanks to the EPIC Task Force for their continued efforts.
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Announcements
Mike Ennis is accepting nominations for the annual Ann Nemitz Award, given to a student in the graduating class who emulates Ann’s values and is going into Family Medicine. The spirit of this award emanates from the way Ann Nemitz practiced medicine. Her guiding principle, from which all of her behavior followed, was that it was truly "a privilege to serve" others. Ann was humble, self-forgetting, and compassionate. A staunch patient and student/resident advocate, Ann naturally put others first and approached everyone with kindness and respect. She laughed at herself. She was a passionate activist for family medicine, particularly women's health and family-centered maternity care. Contact Mike at [email protected].
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Department Member Recognition
Jennifer Reidy was recognized for her leadership in a recent report, Beyond the Hidden Curriculum, issued by the Massachusetts Coalition for Serious Illness. The Massachusetts Medical Schools’ Collaboration, convened by the Coalition, conducted eight focus groups with medical students to understand their training in serious illness communication and palliative care. The report is available here: https://www.maseriouscare.org/news/beyond-hidden-curriculum-students-speak-about-their-training-serious-illness-communication Jennifer and Suzanne Mitchell are collaborating with others, including medical students, on a manuscript for peer-review publication.
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Frankly Speaking Podcast
A weekly Podcast series covering newsworthy topics in primary care medicine.
Please join us for an overview: Recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) can be a frustrating problem for both patients and clinicians. Antibiotics are often used, but a prevailing concern is that the overuse of antibiotics may lead to more resistant bacteria. This podcast discusses methenamine hippurate as an important nonantibiotic alternative for UTI prophylaxis. Guest: Alan Ehrlich, MD, FAAFP, presents: "Recurrent UTIs-Prevention Without Antibiotics". - Frankly Speaking Ep 274.
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Clinical Services Spotlight: |
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COVID-19 UPDATES
COVID US
- New cases in the daily average, US 57,020.
- New deaths daily average 307.
- Hospitalizations daily average 7,475.
- Total confirmed cases in the US, 81,227,576 with 991,178 deaths.
COVID MA
- Worcester County COVID cases are up 67.6%.
- Massachusetts has 6,290 new COVID cases over 3 days.
- Total confirmed cases 1,624,296.
- The 7-day average of percent positivity is 5.15%.
- There are 459 hospitalizations with 37 in the ICU and 13 intubated.
- To date, there are 19,142 confirmed deaths from COVID for MA.
COVID UMMMC
- The 7-day average of percent positivity is 16.4%, up from 12.9% this time last week.
- The in-house COVID 7-day average is 30 patients. 73 percent of the 30 are fully vaccinated.
- To date, there has been 47,937 confirmed cases from March 15, 2020, to May 3, 2022.
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Wellness Resources
The Caring for the Caregiver Program provides resources such as the Caregiver Support Line (508-334-HELP) and The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) which offers a variety of services and supports (including virtual peer support and wellness tips. EAP can be accessed at 866-263-3525, or www.LiveandWorkWell.com, [company code UmassMemorial]. More information is available on the Caring for the Caregiver page.
Wellness
You are invited to become a member of the Department Wellness Committee. Key goals for this year include improving the efficiency of use with the Electronic Health Record. Watch your email for future training sessions.
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Yoga Classes with Dr. Liz Erban
Last class will be March 2nd, and then a brief hiatus/pause, with classes resuming on May 4th, 2022.
Great time to join!
This is a great time to join, new members always welcome. Start your mid week with some relaxing yoga!
Please join department members for early morning gentle yoga, Wednesday mornings 6:30am via Zoom.
Join Zoom Meeting ID: 923 9393 3653 Passcode: 764113
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Zumba with Dr. Anna Zheng
Thursdays 5:45pm: In-person or ZOOM
Please join department members Thursday evenings at 5:45pm**(30 Anna Street: tall & spacious indoor location) and get moving with Zumba. Please note details and any changes via webpage: http://annazheng.zumba.com/. ZOOM still an option for all classes.
Much appreciation to Dr. Anna Zheng for hosting these outstanding classes. New to the class? Please email Dr. Zheng at [email protected] to register, complete brief health screen if it's your first class and the ZOOM link.
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