emergency room nursing nurses - rapides foundation · michot, whose calm, empathetic demeanor is an...

hey are on the frontlines of healthcare. Whether working at a critically ill patient’s bedside, or checking a child’s temperatureat school, or teaching classes at a university, nurses are in the vanguard as deliverers of medical

intervention and education.In Central Louisiana, nurses can be found in a variety of traditional as well as non-traditional roles.

They are working in the typical places you would expect – hospitals and doctors’ offices – but nursesare also important employees in business and industry, public health, schools and universities, andmental health facilities. Many nurses, practicing, retired or non-practicing, are serving communitynonprofit agencies and religious organizations as leaders and advocates who bring a valuablehealthcare perspective to projects.

a publication of the rapides foundation winter 2002

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@ &Health Well-Being

Florence Nightingale and More

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Burton Michot, RN (left)emergency room nursingstaff supervisor with CindyVanlangendonck, BSN, RN,director of nursing atHuey P. Long Medical Centerin Pineville.

Nurses

F O C U S : N U R S I N G I N C E N L A

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Foundation-funded projects have benefited fromthe leadership of nurses, and we want thisinvolvement to continue. In addition, we want toaddress issues that affect the area’s nursingworkforce, both today and in the future.”

Issues such as recruitment and retention ofnurses, as well as educational opportunities, areof particular interest. Like the rest of the nation,Central Louisiana is currently experiencing ashortage of nurses. According to the AmericanNurses Association, a recent report from theBureau of Labor Statistics says more than a millionnew nurses will be needed by the year 2010. Thenumbers warn of a double whammy for thefuture: too few young people are entering theprofession, and nurses are approaching retirementage at an alarming rate.

“The average age here for RNs is 45 years old,and even higher in some other places,” explainedJo Lynn Wallace. In her job at Rapides RegionalMedical Center, she deals with the challenges offilling hospital nursing slots and retainingexperienced nurses.

“In the literature, it’s predicted that by the year2010, we will have half the RNs we’ll need to serve

our population nationwide.”And it’s not just hospitalnurses that are in shortsupply, said Wallace. Nursingfaculty positions, whichrequire master’s degrees, arealso going begging in manyareas. How to recruit and retainnurses? Educating studentsin elementary and highschool, as well as the generalpublic, about theopportunities in nursing is agood start, agreed bothWallace and CindyVanlangendonck, BSN, RN,director of nursing at HueyP. Long Medical Center inPineville. A recent nationalpoll Vanlangendonckreferred to showed thatyoung students do not

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“Nursing is the broadest, most flexible careeryou could have,” said Jo Lynn Wallace, RN, MSN,vice president and chief nursing officer at RapidesRegional Medical Center. Today’s nurse canchoose from among manydifferent jobs, dependingupon his or her educationand experience. Besides thetraditional jobs, there arespecialized occupationssuch as nurse practitioners,anesthetists and otherpositions that can meangreater responsibility andhigher salaries. The RapidesFoundation recognizes theimportance of nurses aspartners in fulfilling itsmission to promote thehealth and well-being ofCentral Louisianacommunities. “Nursescontribute so much to ourarea’s quality of life in many,many ways,” said Joe Rosier,president and CEO of TheRapides Foundation. “Many

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The nation’s nurses rankedsecond for their honesty and

integrity in a CNN/USAToday/Gallup Poll conducted in

late November. Eighty-fourpercent of Americans rated them“high” or “very high,” just behindfire fighters. Nurses had previouslyrated first for two years in a row,after being added to the list of

choices in 1999.

Nurses rankNo. 2 in recent

Gallup “Honestyand Ethics” poll

American Nurses Association

Nurses

Jo Lynn Wallace, RN, MSN, (standing) vice president and chief nursingofficer at Rapides Regional Medical Center meets with MarshaWhite, RNC, MSN, (left) and Paula Bailey-Stokes, RN, BSN.

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perceive nursing as an occupation they wouldconsider pursuing; respondents saw nursing as“scary, stressful, technical, and a woman’s jobwithout career advancement opportunities.”

There are local efforts underway, joining localhospitals, The Rapides Foundation and highereducation officials, to look at the current andfuture nursing workforce needs of CentralLouisiana.

Besides creating better awareness of the valueof a nursing career, enhancing the workenvironment and compensation for nurses mustbe addressed by those who employ healthcareworkers.

“The institution has to have attractive featuresfor all workers, not just nurses,” said Wallace. Thosefactors include such issues as workload,management and supervision and financialcompensation. “They have to like their supervisor,and to feel like at least 75% of their job isrewarding.” Salary (which for RNs in Louisiana averagesfrom $35,000-45,000 per year) is not the numberone reason nurses give when they leave a postin a hospital setting, according to Wallace. Themore compelling issues apparently revolvearound workload and satisfaction withsupervisors. “If you don’t have a strong managementteam, then you’re going to lose nurses.”Additionally, when the patient/nurse ratio exceedsmore than six to eight patients per nurse, jobsatisfaction suffers. Recent nurse strikes inhospitals in Oregon and New York State havecentered on dissatisfaction over highpatient/nurse ratios, as well as compensation andretirement benefits. Another incentive to keep hospital nurses inclinical work is to offer a compensation ladderthat rewards nurses for increasing their clinicalexpertise. “Once nurses become experts, youwant to motivate them to stay at the bedside,”said Wallace. “We have salaries for bedside nursesthat are equal to or greater than those for nursemanagers.”

“We need sharp, intuitive people as nurses,”pointed out Huey P. Long’s Vanlangendonck. Withadvances in technology and medicines, shebelieves that a hospital nurse’s job today is morechallenging than ever.

She has been a nurse since the mid 70s, andin her nursing director’s job at HPL she’sresponsible for the management of about 170nurses, which she acknowledges is a “constantjuggling act.” It’s her job to “provide patients withthe highest quality of nursing care” while at thesame time addressing the needs and desires ofemployees and keeping an eye on her budget.“I am the resource for the nurses to get the jobdone,” she said.

Vanlangendonck has seen the nursingprofession change over the years. “It’s becomemore of a business,” she said. “Nursing care hasalways been a service, but we are more mindfulof the business aspect now.” Additionally, shesaid, there is more movement in the workforceamong jobs and even careers.

Both Wallace at RRMC and Vanlangendonckat HPL pointed out how the typical hospitalpatient profile has also changed over time. Manyprocedures and minor surgeries are handled onan outpatient basis now that once would haverequired a hospital stay. Thus, those people whodo end up hospitalized are sicker, and need moreof a nurse’s attention. Nursing, while not an easy occupation, has itsown unique rewards. “You have to work hard,but you get so much gratification from doing it,”said Wallace. “The ability to help someone indistress – it’s just hard to beat that.”

Both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senatehave recently passed versions of the NurseReinvestment Act (HR 3487 and S 1864), legislationaimed at recruiting and retaining more nurses into thenursing workforce. Both bills provide authority forscholarships and loan repayments for nursing students,and public service announcements to promote nursingas a career. These two bills will be conferenced in 2002.

American Nurses Association

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Nurses in traditional roles

www.rapidesfoundation.org

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urton Michot’s path to becoming anemergency room nurse wasn’t a straightshot, he admits. He’s worked as a prison

guard and then as an emergency medicaltechnician (EMT) at the state penitentiary at Angola.Watching nurses at work there piqued Michot’sinterest, and a new career was born.

“I began to see the roles nurses played, andthought that looked much more exciting thanbeing an EMT,” he recalls, so he went to nursingschool at LSUA while continuing to work fulltimeat the prison.

Entering a field that has traditionally been, andcontinues to be, dominated by women didn’t fazeMichot, whose calm, empathetic demeanor is anasset in a hospital setting. He believes giving youngpeople the chance to directly observe what nursesdo might help encourage more interest in nursingcareers for both genders.

Today Michot has the job of supervising theemergency room nursing staff at Huey P. LongMedical Center in Pineville. Working in anemergency room can involve everything fromtreating minor abrasions to life-threatening gunshotwounds, he explains, and it produces high stresswith resulting high turnover rates for employees.

Yet Michot feels he’s in the right place, pointingto the invigorating atmosphere of the emergencyroom, as well as the respect and satisfaction ofproviding hands-on help to patients. “That’s what’sreally rewarding – being right there in someone’shour of desperate need. That’s what I became anurse for.

“I really can’t see doing anything else now.”

HourHeeding the

of need

“That’s what’s really rewarding –being right there in someone’shour of desperate need. That’swhat I became a nurse for.”

Burton Michot, RN

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Burton Michot, RN, emergency room nursing staff supervisor atHuey P. Long Medical Center in Pineville.


shot records, colds and counseling. And she loveswhat she does.

“The kids really boost me a lot – they are soappreciative and loving.”

She has been a nurse for 11 years, choosingthe career because, “something was pulling metoward that,” she remembers. After graduatingfrom LSUA in 1990, she worked as an emergencyroom nurse and later as a public health nurse.When Texada went to work for the Grant ParishSchool Board, she was the sole nurse in the schoolsystem there. “It was overwhelming at first,” she said, dealingwith nine schools scattered throughout theparish. Now there are three RNs employed by theboard, and Texada is assigned to one school.

Still, there is much to do in that one school.

hawn Texada always liked the teachingaspect of nursing, even when working asan emergency room nurse and later as a

public health nurse.“If you better educate people about their

healthcare, they’re more likely to comply withhealth advice given by professionals,” she said.

She gets ample opportunity to blend nursingand education in her present job as school nurseat South Grant Elementary School, a K-6 gradeschool in Dry Prong. Her days may involveeverything from giving hearing and visionscreening tests to demonstrating proper handwashing techniques and good dental healthpractices.

Texada juggles multiple tasks, helping kidswith head lice and headaches, broken bones and


Nursing in Cenla


Chawn Texada, RN,ADN, school nurseat South GrantElementary School.



Health & EducationSchool nurse job blends

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“I’ve seen 876 sick kids since school started,checked 700 children for head lice and done 250vision and hearing tests.”

Those vision and hearing screenings areimportant, she said, and grantfunds from The RapidesFoundation helped to purchaseseveral of the testing machinesused in the schools. Additionalgrant money to purchase healthvideos and equipment used bythe school nurses was obtainedfrom the Cabrini HospitalFoundation.

As a school nurse, Texadainterfaces with not only parents,teachers and students, but alsodoctors, public and mental health professionalsand sometimes child protection officials. Theneeds of children with special or serious healthconditions must be addressed within the schoolsetting.

“More kids are attending school now with

(continued from page 5) more complex medical conditions than everbefore,” explained Texada, citing feeding tubesand catheters as examples. “People must betrained to work with them.”

She also works within her professional group,the Louisiana School Nurses Organization, serving

on the board and as treasurer, stayingon top of issues relevant to her career.Texada further broadened herperspective recently by participatingin The Rapides Foundation’s 2001Leadership for a Healthy Cenla class.“It was extremely helpful,” she said.“Before, I had no idea of all theresources we have here. It’s exciting toknow there are ways to do big things,projects that can affect our communityforever.”

Right now, Texada is happy to bein a position to affect the many little people whocome in the schoolhouse door every morning.

“This job gives me the satisfaction of knowingI’ve touched these children’s lives in some way,to be kind to them and to serve as a positive rolemodel that may affect them down the line.”


The Rapides Foundation is a philanthropic

organization that provides grants to organizations

throughout an 11 parish service area that share the

Foundation’s mission to improve the health and

well-being of Central Louisiana.

The Rapides Foundation

w w w . r a p i d e s f o u n d a t i o n . o r g

VERNON

ALLEN

RAPIDES

WINN

GRANT

NATCHITOCHES

CONCORDIA

CATAHOULA

EVANGELINE

LASALLE

AVOYELLES

There are income guidelines todetermine eligibility for theprogram’s services; if a familyqualifies for Medicaid or LaCHIP(the state’s children’s insuranceprogram), they are automaticallyeligible.

Hilger believes she and herfellow nurses in the program aredispensing education as much

as medical care to the families who come seekinghelp.

“They look to us for much of the informationthey get, so we are an important source to them.You are very much a teacher here; you have to stayknowledgeable to pass the information on to thepatients and to answer their questions.”

Hilger, who has been with the Office of PublicHealth since 1990, said she chose to pursue a nursingcareer as a high school senior, after her motherdeveloped a serious condition that required a longhospital stay. She was impressed with the nurseswho cared for her mother, and she knew she neededto stay close to home. After obtaining an associatedegree from LSUA and working for a time, she laterwent to NSU and got her BSN.

She believes that nursing continues to be a goodcareer choice for those who have the “rightmotivations,” and who “are willing to work hard.”

“The monetary rewards are not bad, and you feelgood at the end of the day, most days, about whatyou did.” She pointed out the opportunities ineducation, schools, and home health – “just so manythings you can do that aren’t what peopletraditionally think of when they think about nursing.There are so many different kinds of ways to nurse.”

But, she cautioned, “I do think we need to worryabout the future of nursing because we really aregetting short again.”

hildren’s health issues are also central to therole Cindy Hilger, BSN, RN, plays as supervisorof Children’s Special Health Services for the

Louisiana Office of Public Health. Her responsibilitiescover Region VI, an eight-parish area of CentralLouisiana, and the program is currently housed in theparish health unit building on Texas Avenue inAlexandria.

“We do medical clinics for children – from birthto age 21 – with special health needs,” she explained,“and we provide multi-disciplinary support servicesand referrals for the families.” The program contractswith physicians locally and from throughout the stateto provide patients specialized medical care inregularly scheduled clinic sessions.

“My role here is to coordinate all these services,”she explained. “Basically, it’s kind of like the offices ofmany different medical specialties all rolled up intoone.” Because of transportation and financialproblems, most of the families served by the programwould have difficulty accessing these specialistswhose offices are in New Orleans, Shreveport or otherdistant cities, she added.

“This is a wonderful program that a lot of peopledon’t know about,” she said. “We see children withserious diagnoses, such as muscular dystrophy,cerebral palsy, and cardiac conditions. Our patientsare getting a benefit that most people who don’tqualify for the program can’t even get in Alexandria.”

Cindy Hilger, BSN, RN, supervisor of Children’sSpecial Health Services (Region VI) for theLouisiana Office of Public Health.

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Focuses on FamiliesPublic Health Nurse

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Jayne Heath, RN,CS, FNP, in frontof her 40-foot Bluebird bus/office.

er office is a 40-foot Bluebird bus and herclients come to her on bicycles, inwheelchairs, by foot and even once on a

riding lawnmower.It may look a little unconventional, but for the

medically-underserved in Rapides Parish, the rollingclinic Jayne Heath, RN,CS, FNP, operates is awelcome sight each week.

“The bus is customized to be a doctor’s officeand medical clinic, with an exam room, lab area,admitting room and hearing screening booth,” sheexplained. A program of CHRISTUS St. FrancesCabrini Hospital in Alexandria, the mobile clinic hasbeen operating for five years, with service sites nowin Cheneyville, Deville and the Clifton-ChoctawCommunity between Alexandria and Leesville.

“We see everything,” said Heath, who holdscertification as an advanced practice nurse andfamily nurse practitioner, “both acute and chronicproblems, from sore throats, to backaches, togastrointestinal problems and high blood pressure.”She and a mobile unit coordinator travel four daysa week, and see anywhere from 12 to 25 patientsa day. Along with treating patients, the twocollaborate with patients’ physicians and monitorfollow-up visits as needed.

“We want to treat people holistically,” sheexplained, with an understanding of family healthhistory and social dynamics that influence apatient’s health and well-being. Most of theirpatients do not have cars, and some don’t haveelectricity or phone service.

HealthcareH

Non-traditional nursing roles



ombine medical knowledge, nursingexperience, information technology, arelentless curiosity and altruism, and what

do you get?Annelle Tanner, RN, MSN, EdD, physician’s wife –

a woman who is embracing the changing face ofthe nursing profession.

“The world of nursing is exploding into so manymore areas – it’s phenomenal,” she said. Tanner,whose early nursing career focused on maternal

and child health and education, now sees herself asa researcher. She is currently working on a projectfunded by The Rapides Foundation that is studyingbarriers to healthcare access in Central Louisiana.The project is directed by the Central Louisiana AHECoffice (Area Health Education Center), in collaborationwith University of Louisiana, Lafayette and theLouisiana Rural Health Access Program out ofLSUHSC-New Orleans.

Tanner’s duties, in addition to coordinating theoverall project, have included conducting interviewsto gain information about experiences people havehad in getting the medical care they need, includingissues of transportation, insurance, medication costs,and others. Details about providers, demand,institutions and utilization are being gathered. Oncethe research is complete, the data, along with any

RewardsNursing in Cenla

Annelle Tanner, RN, MSN, EdD, works on her laptop to help findthe answers she needs.

analysis and commentary, will be presented to theFoundation for its further use. The project, she said,mirrors “Healthy People 2010,” a national effort todevelop health indicators in communities all overthe country.

Tanner, whose husband Martin is a localobstetrician and gynecologist, is also currentlyworking on a study of fetal and infant mortality andmorbidity in Rapides Parish, a project that has


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“I really like to deal withquestions for which you haveto go dig for the answers –and then see it all put togetherin the end.”

Annelle Tanner, RN, MSN, EdD


Finding the

of Research


explains, toting up thecosts of test equipmentand supplies andmedication. The costs ofstaying on top of thedisease can bestaggering for people oflimited means. Withdiabetes, too much sugarstays in the bloodstream,and, without propermanagement, the diseasecan wreak havocthroughout the body,damaging theheart/blood circulation,kidneys, eyes, feet andteeth.

Brady works withHuey P. Long MedicalCenter to identifypatients who may benefit

from the home visitor program; she then contactsthem to determine how she might offer help. Thatmay mean bringing them a glucometer and teststrips to check their blood sugar, or assisting themwith obtaining low-cost medicines through CMAP

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ennifer Brady, RN, exudes enthusiasmwhen she talks about her work in a newpublic health project designed to help

diabetics manage their disease.Working from an office in Hope Development

Center, a faith-based childcare center serving low-income children in Alexandria, Brady spends herdays seeking out, educating and assisting peoplewho have type 2 diabetes and are having problemsassociated with their condition. She visits patientsin their homes, bringing them test kits to checktheir blood glucose levels, educational materialsand plenty of compassion.

“I do a lot of teaching,” she says. A grant fromThe Rapides Foundation is funding Brady’s work,in association with The Extra Mile, state Office ofPublic Health and Huey P. Long Medical Center.

“Diabetes is a very expensive disease,” she

Nursing in Cenla



Home visitshelp diabetics

J “With diabetes, too much sugarstays in the bloodstream, and,without proper management,the disease can wreak havocthroughout the body, damagingthe heart/blood circulation,kidneys, eyes, feet and teeth.”

Jennifer Brady, RNDiabetic Management Program Nurse


Jennifer Brady, RN, checks on a diabetic patient.

departments, but enjoyed bedside nursing best.She liked working with other healthcare

professionals to give patients the best outcomepossible. “No one person does it all; it takeseverybody working together.”

Her experience as a nurse, as well as hercontinued desire to help others, brings Dempseynaturally into volunteerism today. She has workedwith the Red Cross, the American HeartAssociation, Central State Hospital and her church,True Vine Missionary Baptist Church in Alexandria.She was honored in 1990 with a volunteer workeraward by the Rapides Senior Volunteer Program(RSVP).

It’s in the context of her church that she hasbecome a leader in starting wellness and seniorcitizens’ programs. Called SAGE (Seniors Agingwith Grace and Energy), the group received agrant from The Rapides Foundation about a yearago; there are now regular exercise classes,speakers on health-related topics, CPR classesand other services geared to seniors.

“There are a lot of seniors out there who wantsomewhere to go,” she says. “It’s really nice. Thisgets them out of the house.” The program, she

says, has helped people control their weight,reduce their blood pressure and address otherhealth problems.

Dempsey also has been at the forefront inthe development of a new multi-purposecommunity resource center being built by theCity of Alexandria on a Broadway Avenue sitenear her church. The senior wellness programnow housed at True Vine is expected to moveinto the community center when completed.“We’ve been working on that for six years.”

Though her work no longer puts DaisyDempsey at a patient’s bedside, she’s a nursewho continues to stay on her feet, putting serviceto others in motion.


Nursing in Cenla


dentified in a recent newspaper article as a“community mover and shaker,” Daisy

Dempsey hasn’t let retirement from a longnursing career slow her down. In fact, she’s awoman in perpetual motion, from moving seniorcitizens toward healthier lifestyles to movingpublic officials forward on needed projects.

All that forward motion began at an early age.Growing up in the rural Rapides Parishcommunity of Poland, Dempsey remembers hermother helping strangers who found their wayto her family’s door, giving them “hoecakes,scrambled eggs, bread,” whatever she had. Thatspirit of giving, she says, “was instilled in me” atan early age, and probably helped lead her tobecome an LPN later in life.

“I always wanted to become a nurse,” she says.“I liked helping people.” After finishing LPN schoolin 1967 (attending the first integrated nursingclass at Huey P. Long Medical Center), Dempseywent to work at Central State Hospital, where shestayed for 27 years. She worked in several different

Nurses as community leaders

From Nursing toVolunteerism

Daisy Dempsey (above), retired LPN,organizes elderly physical fitness classes atTrue Vine Baptist Church in South Alexandria.

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with her physician husband, Morrison movedback to Alexandria. In the late 1970s, shebecame a volunteer with local mental healthorganizations. “It seemed to fall into place here in ourcommunity to volunteer in areas of mentalhealth, since I had experience in this fieldand felt comfortable volunteering in it.”

Morrison joined the board of directorsof the Alexandria Guidance Center, whichlater evolved into the Mental Health Centerof Central Louisiana, a state agency in theOffice of Mental Health. She still serves onthis committee, now called the Region VIMental Health Advisory Council, and recentlywas its chairman. She also serves as arepresentative from Region VI to theLouisiana Mental Health Planning Council,

which oversees allocation of federal block grantfunds earmarked for mental health.

Morrison says her training and experience as anurse, even though it came long ago, has helpedher be a more effective leader, mother, contributorand advocate for health-related issues and projects.

“It’s given me great satisfaction being a mentorand friend to mental health consumers over theyears,” she said. “Without my knowledge and nursingexperience, this would not have been possible.”

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s a young nursing graduate in the 1960s,Alexandria native and communityvolunteer Charlot Pitts Morrison,

BSN, RN, worked in an acute psychiatric unit inSeattle, Washington.

That early experience was gratifying. “In nursingschool, (at Texas Women’s University in Denton) myfavorite rotation of study and work was in psychiatry,”she said. After marriage and travel in the Air Force

Nursing in Cenla

Charlot Pitts Morrison (right), BSN, RN, communityvolunteer works with Herbie Lou Flynn, ExecutiveDirector of The Extra Mile, Region VI, Inc.

mentalCommunity leadership in

health

A

“It’s given me great satisfactionbeing a mentor and friend tomental health consumers overthe years.”

Charlot Pitts Morrison, BSN, RN



(AEDs) for cardiac arrest victims. The focus of both her day job and

volunteer work is fast medical responseto save lives. Through teaching and

administering continuing educationcoursework, she says she enjoys seeingnurses improve their skills andknowledge, so they can go backto their communities and makea difference. “It makes us feel we’re helping

them to progress,” said Lacombe. That’sespecially important for nurses in ruralareas where medical facilities andprofessionals may be scarce.Improving access to emergency

medical care is also at the heart of thevolunteer work Lacombe does. She is

co-chair of the local Operation Heartbeat committee,a group working with the American HeartAssociation and The Rapides Foundation to getportable AED equipment and training into CentralLouisiana communities. She shares that committeeleadership role with Dr. Emmanuel Witherspoon, anemergency room physician at Rapides Regional.

“The AED program has been very, very beneficialto the community,” she said. As more and more of

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n her job as education coordinator for theemergency room at Rapides Regional MedicalCenter, Shawn Lacombe, RN, BSN, helps ensure

ER nurses have the training they need to giveprompt, excellent care to patients in the hospital.

As a volunteer, she is helping improve emergencytreatment outside the hospital through thedistribution of automated external defibrillators


Shawn Lacombe, RN, BSN,emergency room nurse atRapides Regional Medical Centerand co-chair of the localOperation Heartbeat committee.

ER

I(continued)


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Nursing in Cenla

blossomed into a new program sponsored byRegion VI of the Louisiana Office of Public Health topromote healthier pregnancies and babies.

“I really like to deal with questions for which youhave to go dig for the answers,” she said, “and thensee it all put together in the end.”

The bottom line of these projects, she said, is to

Research(continued from page 9)

the lifesaving units get used by fire fighters andpolicemen, and “when the public sees people beingsaved by the AEDs, the community will begin toreally see the value of the program.” The device isused to administer an electric shock to a heart attackvictim in order to restore normal heart rhythm.

Besides her work on the AED committee,Lacombe’s leadership skills also come into play inother areas. She teaches CPR classes both in andoutside the hospital, serves on a nurse recruitmentand retention committee within the hospital, andis president of the state organization of emergencyroom nurses.

She is concerned with getting more nurses intothe field, and retaining those already in the workforce. “We have to find ways to make nursing moreenticing to students. I think we need to get themwhen they’re young, even before college,” she said.Important issues include salaries and workingconditions, she said.

For Lacombe, her career choice has been a goodone, with satisfactions unique to the emergencyroom.

“In the emergency room, we often see criticalcases in which there are not always good outcomes,”said Lacombe, who has been a nurse at Rapidessince 1988. “But when the outcomes are good, that’svery rewarding.”

“Emergency room nurses have to be realadaptable, to be able to adjust and shift gears quickly.It’s not suited to everyone. But for me, the more Igot into it, the more I found my place and I knewthat was what I was supposed to do.”

Beyond the ER(continued from page 13)

“It has been very rewarding working towardbringing about much-needed changes,” she added,“especially to help crush the stigma associated withmental illness.” She noted that a grant from TheRapides Foundation to The Extra Mile helped fundan “anti-stigma” mental health public awarenesscampaign about three years ago.

There are also ample opportunities for nurses inthe field of mental healthcare, she said, with bothpaid and volunteer positions available in socialservice agencies, hospitals and private clinics, forexample. “I have frequently encouraged a nursingassistant or licensed practical nurse to reach outand return to nursing school when I see the potentialis there for them to become an RN.”

“Nurses can serve as role models for youngpeople, offering them the spark they need to followtheir path.”

Mental Health(continued from page 12)

improve the quality of life for families in our area. “Iwant to see individuals get the healthcare theyneed,” she said. “A lot of my concern is for children,whose chances for healthy, fulfilling lives can benegatively affected early in their lives.”

Tanner believes nurses “impact so many differentaspects of life in a positive way.” Traditionally, “nursesare able to work with patients at a more holisticlevel, responding to a lot of different needs.”

Nurses can typically always find positions in theworkforce, and today, there is so much more varietyin the kinds of jobs available, says Tanner. She pointsto the new field of “nursing informatics,” whichblends the sciences of nursing, computers andinformation management, as an exciting, emergingcareer track for nurses. Jobs in this area deal withstatistics, databases and demographics to analyzehealth issues or present consumer information inan electronic format. She has taught classes on thistopic at NSU, ULL and Louisiana College.

“It’s really on the cutting edge of healthcare.”


Nursing in Cenla


(Cenla Medication Access Program), also a projectof The Rapides Foundation.

The people she sees “are so grateful,” says Brady.“These are people who are really struggling.”

The rewards of helping such patients improvetheir quality of life are great, she says. “I really feelgood about what I do.” Brady says she enjoys beingable to use her nursing training to “recognize thedisease process, to evaluate and assess andproblem-solve.”

Brady, who chose nursing after marriage andmotherhood, has experience in hospital nursingas well as in public health. She says her job now issimilar to that of the home health nurse, thoughit’s a free service to patients and involves moreadvocacy work.

It’s a non-traditional role for a nurse, she admits,but one that fits her well. “I love what I do.”


Home visits

Jennifer Brady, RN, spends her days seeking out, educating andassisting people who have type 2 diabetes and are having problemsassociated with their condition.

Healthcare on Wheels

Heath, who got her BSN in Iowa, worked atCabrini Hospital for a number of years in telemetry,ICU, cardiology and preventive medicine, movingup into management positions as time went on.Yet a desire for more autonomy and more directpatient care led her to go back to school and geta master’s degree as a nurse practitioner andcertification in advanced practice nursing.

Nurse practitioners in Louisiana have limitedprescriptive authority, can order tests and candiagnose and treat patients, according to Heath.“We can do about 85 percent of what a familypractice physician can do,” she said. “But we canspend more time educating patients, which is nice.”

“We’ve had patients tell us they don’t knowwhat they would do if we were not here,” she said.“They seem to acknowledge the need andappreciate our presence.”


Jayne Heath, RN,CS, FNP, receives patient informationfrom her healthcare office on wheels.

Initiative GrantsLouisiana Technical College (Alexandria) $40,000 1 yrTotal Quality Management training for collaborative project with Procter & Gamble, Watkins Engineering and Inland Industrial ContractorsNorthwestern State University Department of Continuing Studies 100,000 1 yrMatching funds for expansion of CLIMB Network with Alliance Compressors and ConAgra to include internships and fellowshipsVillage of Forest Hill 75,000 2 yrsEstablishment of web site and trade show by nurseryman's association

Mini-Grants and Technical Assistance Grants (one year or less)Arts Council of Central Louisiana $7,000Develop and implement youth and adult educational efforts in support of Fiddler on the Roof productionAvoyelles Parish Medical Alliance 3,800Support volunteer-led school-based health education effortsCentral Louisiana Girl Scouts 10,000Pilot program for junior high girls facing risky situations (drug and alcohol use, smoking, teen pregnancy)First United Methodist Church, Pineville 10,000Matching funds for volunteer-led home repair programNew St. Mark Baptist Church 5,000Tutoring program for students enrolled in Alexandria/Pineville schoolsPineville Concerned Citizens for Lakeside/Wardville Communities 7,000Community awareness and educational activitiesTask Force for Children’s Arts 5,000Matching funds for development and maintenance of web page for youth art displayTown of Pollock 10,000Technical assistance for feasibility study of museum structure and organizationTown of Urania 10,000Matching funds for establishment of walking trailTrue Vine Missionary Baptist Church 10,000Pilot program for teen pregnancy reduction effort

Responsive GrantsInner-City Revitalization Corporation $500,000 3 yrsMatching funds for affordable housing subdivision in partnership with Habitat for HumanityLegal Service of Central Louisiana 60,000 2 yrsExpansion of paralegal services for women seeking orders of protection to include Evangeline ParishRapides Children's Advocacy Center 93,000 2 yrsIntensive volunteer recruitment and retention program focusing on recruitment of minority volunteersSouthern Mutual Help Association 225,000 3 yrsEstablishment of nonprofit affordable housing efforts in Avoyelles and Evangeline Parishes

*Health Initiative Grants were not considered during this time period.

w e l l n e s s . t o g e t h e r .16

is published by The Rapides Foundation

The Rapides Foundation continuesa legacy of community healthcare

initiated in 1903.

President/CEO:Joseph R. Rosier, Jr., CPA, CFA

Editor:Vicki Bernard

Contributing Writer:Melanie Torbett

For additional copies or to be addedto the mailing list contact:

The Rapides FoundationP.O. Box 11937

Alexandria, LA 71315-1937

Tel: 318-443-3394Fax: 318-443-8312

Toll Free: 1-800-994-3394Internet: www.rapidesfoundation.orge-mail: [email protected]

PRESORTEDSTANDARD

U.S. POSTAGE PAIDALEXANDRIA, LAPERMIT NO. 65

G r a n t U p d a t e :

The Rapides Foundation Grants from October - December 2001*

&&Health Well-Being

emergency room nursing nurses - rapides foundation · michot, whose calm, empathetic demeanor is an...

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