News and Accomplishments from the UCSD Nurses
Meloddie Neel, RN, has been recognized as the 2nd Annual recipient of the Gracia Juarez Memorial Congress Scholarship Award presented by the San Diego Chapter of the Oncology Nursing Society. The award was established to recognize an oncology nurse who is a member of the chapter, has attended the Annual Congress of the Oncology Nursing Society, and has shared her experience with her colleagues through a formal presentation or a publication. UCSD's BMT unit (3 West) has produced the first two recipients of this award, the first being Ronnah Pascua, RN, in 2006.
Tammy Laraway and Ronnie Rillera from the Thornton Intensive care unit recently received their certification in critical care nursing (CCRN) from the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN).
Five nurses from 11 West passed the Medical Surgical Certification Exam given by the American Nurses Credentialing Center Commission on Certification on October 13, 2007. Newly credentialed Medical Surgical Nurses are Bonnie Bourque, Carmelita Gudoy, Rachel Fluty, Juanita Villegas, and Fanny Villatoro, bringing the certification rate of the 11 West nursing staff to 37 per cent compared to the Magnet benchmark of 23.6 per cent.
Congratulations to all these nurses and to their units for supporting and encouraging them.
Fran Teplick, MSN, RN, BC, CNS, Perinatal Clinical Nurse Specialist at UCSD Medical Center, Hillcrest, has had two oral presentations and a poster accepted for presentation at the 32nd Annual PPFA/Drexel University Women's Health Conference: The Challenges of Providing Health Care to Women Today...and Tomorrow in Atlantic City, New Jersey, February 19-22, 2008. Fran will present "As the Cesarean Section Rate Increases, So Does the Rate of Placenta Accreta" and "Improving Perinatal Care for a High Risk Population: Surrogate Families." The title of her Poster is "Implementation of Rapid HIV Testing in Labor and Delivery." Jan Hebert, Manager of the Infant Special Care Center, has passed the ANCC Nursing Administration Certification Examination. American Nurses Credentialing center is a subsidiary of the American Nurses Association and is the leading nurses’ credentialing organization in the United States. Linda Levy, Director for Woman and Infant Services, has passed the ANCC Advanced Nursing Administration Certification examination. Congratulations to a group of Magnet Stars!
Ronnah Pascua Montemayor, 2007 UCSD Nurse of the Year, has been invited to present an oral presentation, "A Unit-Based Shared Governance Model of Nursing Leadership," at the International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare 2008. The event is sponsored by the British Medical Journal and will take place April 22-25 in Paris, France. Grace Gelacio, RN BSN, Nephrology programs, has received her CNN certification by passing the Nephrology Nurse Certification Exam on October 13. To be eligible to sit the exam, a nurse must have a BSN, a minimum of 2 years dialysis experience, and have completed 30 CEUs in nephrology nursing. Grace has 16 years of dialysis experience and has been working in the Acute Dialysis unit for 2 and a-half years. Grace is proficient in Hemodialysis, Continuous Renal Replacement therapies, Peritoneal Dialysis, and Apheresis.
Congratulations to staff members from the 6th floor at UCSD Medical Center, Hillcrest, who participated in the 2007 AIDS Walk on Sept. 30. They joined the team "UCSD Communities" and helped raise over $14,000. The UCSD team was the second largest fundraising group this year. Check out the pictures on 6E and 6W.
Congratulations to Irea Pink, RN, Clinical Coordinator, Vascular Service, and Hepatic and Renal Transplant team member, on her promotion from CNII to CNIII. Irea presented a wonderful project to ensure all renal and hepatic transplant patients have the correct ABO Verification for the procedure. Irea is a role model who demonstrates the essential qualities of caring and compassion. Congratulations to Anna Johnson, RN, RNC, Labor and Delivery, who has attained Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) certification in Obstetrical Nursing.
Two UCSD Nurses, Gabriela Riviello, RNP, Trauma Division, and Leann Cortimiglia, RNC/CWS CN3, Burn Center, served as primary medical Providers representing UCSD during the United Cerebral Palsy Bike Marathon on Sept. 8 and 9 in San Diego County. The two-day event, with 135 people riding 200 miles, raised over $200,000 for the UCP fund. Cortimiglia also represented UCSD Regional Burn Center at the National Meeting for Cultivating Partnerships in Juvenile Firesetter Intervention on Sept. 17 – 19 in Portland Oregon. She presented two programs, Burn Center Involvement in Coalitions, and Cultural Considerations in Burn Centers and Firesetter Programs, to over 175 international police, fire personnel, fire marshals, and other involved disciplines.
Congratulations to the following Infant Special Care nurses at UCSD Medical Center, Elaine Woodard RN-C, Virginia Jones RN-C and Julie Korte RN-C, who were all promoted to CNIII for their work in improving discharge teaching, planning and preparedness to new mothers.
Congratulations to Tania Miller, RN on 6 East for getting her Medical-Surgical Certification. Tania has a very positive attitude towards patient care and has been instrumental in the development of the diabetes assessment and teaching tool.
Congratulations on their accomplishments to 5 IMU staff members Lisa Tran, RN, who recently became the first in the unit to win accreditation by passing the Progressive Critical Care Nurse (PCCN) exams, and to April Te, RN, who passed the Critical Care Registered Nurse (CCRN) exams.
Congratulations to Nanette Sabio and Haydee Vinzon, who received nursing degrees in the Phillippines and came to UCSD eight years ago to work as Clinical Care Providers on Thornton’s 3 East. Nanette and Heidi have now passed the NCLEX to become licensed RNs in the United States. They are both staying on as staff nurses on 3 East. Sarah Bonome, RN came to UCSD two years ago as a traveler and stayed to join our staff. Sarah has been chosen to be 3 East’s new Assistant Nurse Manager.
Congratulations to Sam Byars, staff nurse on the Blood and Marrow Transplant Unit (3 West) at Thornton for passing the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation's Oncology Certified Nurse (OCN) exam, and to Meloddie Neel, staff nurse on 3 West at Thornton for having her abstract 'Eliminating Mislabeled Specimens" accepted as a podium presentation for the Association of California Nurse Leaders Meeting in San Diego in October. Del Nidea, R.N., from 11 East in Hillcrest, has demonstrated her commitment to the Power of Excellence by obtaining certification in Medical-Surgical Nursing from the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses.