October 2008
This edition:
Children's Hospital Clinics: Challenges and Opportunities
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With more than 30 clinics on four floors under her direction, Rosemarie Battaglia, MSN, RN, knows a thing or two about challenges.
As the manager of Children's Services Ambulatory Care at MUSC, Battaglia oversees 32 primary and specialty care clinics, including infectious disease, neurology, orthopedics, pediatric developmental, endocrinology, genetics, hematology/oncology, day services, pulmonary, urology, rheumatology, adolescent medicine, gastroenterology, orthopedics, neurosurgery, primary care, pediatric transplant, surgery pediatric forensics, sickle cell, Down syndrome, spina bifida, sweat-testing, NICU grads, international adoption, pediatric phlebotomy and lactation.
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Dear faculty, Children's Hospital staff and other friends,
When you come into the Children's Hospital or its clinics, you will be treated as friend. Sometimes, it is hard to see that people are providing help when it means taking blood, splinting a leg, or cooling down a hyperthermic patient. The wonderful thing about a children's hospital is there are children. This reminds us of our responsibility of the most vulnerable part of population, those too young to take care of themselves. However, children's hospitals are not just for taking care of babies. We frequently take care of seriously injured teenagers when they have had accidental or purposeful trauma. Sometimes, this is very hard to take. People like Rosemarie Battaglia and the many nurses that move patients in and out, do procedures, and calm and provide a calming influence.
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Clearly, no matter how well we take care of the seriously ill patients in the hospital, their overall care will be significantly compromised if a successful transition to the outpatient setting does not take place. First and foremost to that transition is for the physician to begin planning for discharge many days prior to when it will occur, typically at the time of admission. The planning involves coordination of all the services the patient will need post-discharge, as well as assuring education of the family and their post discharge providers takes place. So the question arises, what are the key components for the physician to assure a smooth transition occurs?
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Can stem cells help fix "broken" hearts?
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In response to a recent "call" put out by the National Institutes of Health for research using stem cells to repair "broken" hearts, researcher Rob Gourdie has put together a team of experts within MUSC's Department of Cell Biology.
"We're looking at the role of stem cells in the heart's response to injury, such as might occur during surgery or disease," explains Dr. Gourdie, who is principal investigator of the proposed study.
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Green Tea and Obesity: A Google vs. PubMed Throwdown
I popped into my Facebook page last week, and saw an advertisement featuring Oprah Winfrey. She was touting the benefits of green tea for weight loss, with a Dr. Nicholas Perricone. Interesting, I thought, since Dr. Maria had just asked me to write something on just this subject! What is the evidence, I wondered, for green tea being an effective weight loss agent?
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Keeping Kids Lean! Keeping Kids Healthy!
Making food and exercise decisions for health is a lifetime process. When presented with the topic of "Keeping Kids Lean," I kept coming back to the attitude needed to even begin the dreaded "diet". Diet is a four letter word with the word "die" in it. It implies that you are either "on it" or "off it". This black and white approach can sometimes lead to failure. The goal of the Lean Team is the prevention and treatment of childhood obesity through individual, family, and community change. This means embracing everyone with an attitude of health. Let's begin with "Keeping Kids Healthy". The following suggestions are for everyone!
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A special thanks to the following individuals for their efforts in putting together Kids Connection each month.
Editor-in-Chief: Bernard L. Maria, MD/MBA
Editorial Assistant: Jennifer Cherock, Trio Solutions, Inc.
Publishers: Brian Dadin, Roxanne Hicks, Trio Solutions, Inc.
Feature Writer: Mary Sue Lawrence
Contributing Writers:
Lyndon Key,
Bernard Maria,
Philip Saul,
John Sanders,
Laura Cousineau
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