Dear Team,
As we settle into 2021, our focus this month is celebrating diversity. We all have unique roles in the healthcare system, but no matter how different our work is, we share a common purpose: caring for those we serve.
We are reminded of the parable of the blind men and an elephant. (A group of blind men had never seen an elephant before and learned about the elephant by touching it. Each blind man felt a different part of the elephant's body, but only one part. They described the elephant based on their limited experience and each account was very different.) We often base the “truth” on our subjective experience, not recognizing that other’s experiences are equally as true. Let’s work together to listen to one another, honor our differences, and leverage our unique perspectives to think more creatively when solving problems.
We'd like to update you on COVID-19 vaccinations:
- We encourage you to get vaccinated when you can. If you have questions or concerns about the vaccine, please reach out to us - we are happy to discuss and want you to feel comfortable and safe.
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Sign up here to get your vaccination: Vax Trax | UVA Health
- If you are not yet in the group that is eligible for the vaccine, your time is coming! Stay tuned for more information from Blue Ridge Health District, VDH and/or the broader University.
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We now have buttons that show that you've been vaccinated. The communication and culture representative in your clinical area will contact you about how to get yours.
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Need some tips about how to talk about the vaccine? Here's a toolkit
We also want to wish you a Happy Valentine's Day on the 14th of this month. The message of this special day is a timely reminder for all of us to focus on caring not only for the patients and families that we serve, but also for each other and our loved ones. These are crazy times, and we will get through this together.
Finally, please take a few minutes to complete this year’s Communication and Culture Survey. We want to know how you are doing, what your experience is like at work, and what we should be focusing on this year. The survey will close on February 28th.
From our hearts to yours (cheesy, but true!),
Jim, Liz, Karin, Billy, Ann, Jennifer, & Jef
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Hear from Dr. James Nataro on the latest updates regarding the UVA Children's Hospital strategic planning process.
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COVID-19 Children’s Corner |
Learn about the latest updates on COVID-19, including epidemiology, variants, vaccines, immunity and more, from Debbie-Ann Shirley, Division Head of Pediatric Infectious Disease.
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Expressions & Reflections: Stories, Poetry, and Art
From Dr. Joanne Mendoza, Pediatric Hospitalist & Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Officer:
I am excited to announce the beginning of a new program called "Expressions & Reflections". The goal of Expressions & Reflections is to help us reconnect with our purpose in medicine. 2020 was a challenging year, and we want to provide a space for sharing lessons learned within our Children's Hospital.
Topics could include, but are not limited to: wellness, racism, violence, bias, resiliency, advocacy, burnout, equality, LGBTTQQIAAP, kindness, mistreatment, mentorship, peer support, or any fascinating, sad, happy, brave, complex, or inspiring experiences.
We will include a monthly feature in this newsletter (with a limit of 500 words) and would love you to submit stories, poetry, and art.
We want to hear from you! Please email me submissions.
I look forward to enjoying your work,
Joanne
P.S. Please see below as an example. This is a piece I wrote and submitted to the PHM Conference earlier this month.
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Expressions & Reflections |
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Purple Butterflies - A Reflection on Why I'm a Pediatric Hospitalist
by Dr. Joanne Mendoza
“I’m so glad it’s you, I’m worried about her” said M’s mother, S. I had taken care of M many times in the last few years as her complex medical conditions were advancing and she’d had innumerable surgeries. The team examined her and I got a pit in my stomach. I called the neurosurgery attending directly. “I’m worried about M. She was admitted overnight, her pupils are uneven. She’s not herself. She’s non-verbal. Vitals have been stable. We’ve ordered a stat CT”. He answered, “She’s the one that we’ve had to fix her shunts so many times, right?” The pit deepened. “I’ll be right over.”
The resident pulled up the images and I cursed for the first time ever in front of trainees. As we stepped back into M’s room to update mom about ICU transfer we ran a blood pressure. It was up. Her heart rate dropped. Oh no oh no oh no. We called the emergency response team. Controlled chaos. Hypertonic saline. Lift the head of the bed. Nurse to nurse sign out. Resident to PICU resident sign out. Hospitalist to Intensivist sign out. The Neurosurgeon arrived. His eyes met mine across the room and I stopped breathing for a second. As smoothly as possible she was wheeled across to the ICU and the discussions began about the futility of intervention.
Purple butterflies. Long beautiful hair. A big family. Music. 18 years of a full life, more days spent in the hospital and under the knife than any other child in their sphere. Loved going to school. Wore flowers in her hair.
I tried to stop by for a couple of days but the number of people caring for her were multiplying as the number of drips increased. I finally got to see M and S. In a time of COVID where we are separated by masks, goggles, and gloves I held M’s hand. She was swollen. Her head shaved. Her mother and I embraced. I cried. I cry now. She should have had a room filled with family members to say goodbye but instead it was quiet save for the machines. I apologized that I couldn’t come by sooner and S said she knew I’d been praying for them. I had.
M is survived by her parents; two brothers; three paternal brothers; two paternal sisters; her grandmothers; her great grandmother; one uncle; one aunt; one god sister; and a host of other uncles, aunts, cousins, other relatives and friends. M was preceded in death by twin siblings.
Is her story the one of purple butterflies and a full life, or a terrible intracranial abscess? How do I describe the professional boundaries we must maintain whilst holding space for relationship? Where is the line between knowledge of futility and hoping for a miracle? How do we teach seeing the patient as a person and not a collection of diagnoses? How do we manifest physical connection during a time of paper thin separation?
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Together We Make a Difference |
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Theme of the Month:
Diversity
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Quotes of the Week
February 1: "Diversity is the mix. Inclusion is making the mix work." ~ Andre Tapia (M&M’s)
February 8: "Diversity: the art of thinking independently together.” ~ Malcolm Forbes
February 15: "Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend." ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
February 22: "Diversity is the one true thing we all have in common...celebrate it every day." ~ Winston Churchill
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Professional Recognition & Health Awareness Days
- National Black History Month
- International Prenatal Infection Prevention Month
- Children’s Mental Health Week (February 1-7)
- African Heritage and Health Week (February 1-7)
- National Play Therapy Week (February 7-13)
- National Women’s Physician Day (February 3)
- Resident Appreciation Day (February 26)
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Why Diversity Makes Us Great
"True diversity makes a team richer and stronger. I love that our team is made up of learners of all stages, and work in all areas of the Children's Hospital, yet work together. They may have been born across the globe and around the country, in cities and rural towns, fill different roles in the hospital from HUC, EVS, nursing, therapies, physicians and more, they all come together, respecting what each brings to caring for our patients here at UVA." ~ Lynn McDaniel, Director, Pediatric Hospital Medicine Service
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Different Sizes
Our team members come in all sizes.
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Different Backgrounds
One is native born American, one an immigrant. One speaks Afrikaans, one is learning the language.
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Different Passions
Team members from Acute Pediatrics, Bedside Nursing, and Child Life.
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Action for Happiness: February |
Check out the February calendar from Action for Happiness for ideas on how we can focus on doing our best to be a good friend to all. An act of kindness and connection ripples out and impacts on so many more people than we realize, and it also boosts our own happy hormones!
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CHRC Speaker Series
Friday, February 5, 12:00 - 1:00pm
“From Bench to Bedside to Community in Type 1 Diabetes”
Stephen S. Rich, PhD, FAHA, Harrison Professor of Public Health Sciences, UVA, Director, Center for Public Health Genomics
Meeting ID: 936 0435 1581
Passcode: 574068
Friday February 12, 12:00 - 1:00pm
Special Seminar, Faculty candidate: “Long-term Memory of Adverse Prenatal Micronutrient Environment on Offspring”
Dr. Masako Suzuki, D.V.M., PhD, M.S., Assistant Professor, Computational and Translational Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Meeting ID: 931 5266 0554
Passcode: 236270
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Medical Center Hour
Medical Center Hour is a Zoom Webinar series: Zoom link & Passcode: 763749
Wednesday, February 3
Jessie Stewart Richardson Memorial Lecture/Medicine Grand Rounds
THE MORAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH
Donald C. Berwick MD MPP, President Emeritus and Senior Fellow, Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Boston MA; Lecturer, Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA
Co-presented with Office of Quality and Performance Improvement, UVA Health
Wednesday, February 10
History of the Health Sciences Lecture
THE DOCTORS BLACKWELL: HOW TWO PIONEERING SISTERS BROUGHT MEDICINE TO WOMEN AND WOMEN TO MEDICINE
Janice P. Nimura MA, author, The Doctors Blackwell, New York NY
Co-presented with Historical Collections, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library
Wednesday, February 17
A John F. Anderson Memorial Lecture
LGBTQ-INCLUSIVE HOSPICE AND PALLIATIVE CARE—TRANSFORMING PRACTICE
Kimberly D. Acquaviva PhD MSW CSE, Betty Norman Norris Professor of Nursing, UVA
Co-presented with Compassionate Care Initiative, School of Nursing
Wednesday, February 24
Ellis C. Moore Memorial Lecture
WHY DOCTORS WRITE
Daniel M. Becker MD MPH MFA, Professor Emeritus of Medicine, UVA
Benjamin Martin MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, UVA
Irène Mathieu MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, UVA
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Congratulations!
Congratulations to Dr. Jennifer Burnsed on being elected to the Society for Pediatric Research! Her work focuses on behavioral and cognitive deficits after hypoxia & ischemia in a mouse model. Learn more about Dr. Burnsed's work here.
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Have a story idea? Let us know!
Working on an exciting new project? Want to spread the word about your clinic? Know a team member that should be recognized? We can help!
WCH Communication and Culture Workgroup
The WCH Communication and Culture workgroup focuses on team-building, keeping us all in touch with the meaning of our work, giving us all common language and common goals, and helping to ensure that every member of our team, regardless of role, feels welcomed, included, respected, heard, and valued. We are always seeking new members, new ideas, and feedback!
Please help us spread the word
Know someone who would enjoy our newsletter? Please forward this email. Want to be added to the list to receive monthly updates? Please email us.
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