PHSKidsThrive: Give military members a handshake, a hug, a smile or another act of kindness today in honor of Armed Forces Day. 21 hours ago from HootSuite
Pediatric Home Service has always lived by the mission of ‘taking care of the child‘, we have made it our goal to always provide the best care for our patients and their families, every single day. In our new Patient Spotlight segment you’ll read stories and see pictures of some very special kiddos and their families. PHS kids truly do thrive and we’re excited to be able to share their stories.
Jenni shortly after the accident in 2002
Coming a Long Way
When Jenni was in a car accident in 2002 that left her paralyzed from the neck down and dependent on a vent, she wasn’t sure she would ever be able to leave the house and her bedroom. But now, at 25 and as a former Ms. Wheelchair Minnesota 2011, it’s clear that her early predictions weren’t true.
Jenni spends her days the way many young adults do – going to college, blogging, painting. She just happens to do them in a way that most are not used to. Thanks to speech recognition software, she is able to write papers, control her electronics, and blog about her everyday life and ambitions while exuding an amazing positive energy at The Site That Breathes. An avid artist before the accident, she also learned to paint using her mouth during her time at Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare and continues to create watercolors today.
Motivating Others
“The fact that my breath was taken away doesn’t mean that this moment in my lifetime wasn’t meant to happen,” Jenni says. She is currently attending college and working toward a degree in communications and journalism, while also spending time advocating for people with disabilities and doing motivational speaking. PHS is proud to supply all of the equipment and provide respiratory therapy that keeps Jenni out and about, living her life and inspiring others.
Jenni in 2011
Just the Beginning
Since her injury, Jenni has had the opportunity to do things she never thought possible, including riding in the sidecar of a motorcycle and all the adventures that serving as Ms. Wheelchair Minnesota 2011 brought. At PHS, we know the amazing things she’s done are just the beginning and we continue to be inspired by her zeal for life. We can’t wait to see where Jenni goes next.
It can be easy to get caught up in the festivities and excitement centered around this time of year. All of the countless errands, the parties, the cookies, and the presents to buy. But ultimately all of that leads to the most important part of the holiday season, spending time with your loved ones.
Thinking about our jobs here at Pediatric Home Service I am overcome with gratitude. I am grateful for the role we get to play in our families lives. Every single person in PHS from the warehouse, to the pharmacy, the administrative team, to the billers, play a role in safely getting medically-complex children out of the hospitals and at home with their family. This transition from hospital to home is a miracle every time that it happens, but I believe the holidays give everyone around here that little extra boost of motivation to get kids home in time for the special day. There is nothing like having everyone at home celebrating and making lifelong memories.
We understand this transition can be scary and overwhelming for our families and we want to thank you for putting your trust in PHS to be a part of your extended family on this journey. We recognize how special it is to have your child at home with you. And we feel blessed to be a part of that. Enjoy your holidays and know that your child’s safety and comfort is our #1 goal and we are never more than a phone call away. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
I know I speak for everyone at PHS when I say Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a very blessed New Year to each and everyone of you.
The reality that faces many parents of medically-fragile, technology-dependent children is one that is little known by the general public. On this week’s Mom Enough webcast PHS Medical Director, Dr. Roy Maynard shed’s light on the challenges and considerations these parents and their families face before and after discharge from the hospital.
Some of the “things to consider” that Dr. Maynard touches on throughout the interview are:
Dr. Maynard with Marti and Erin Erickson in the studio
Do you and your family have the capability to provide the level of care that your child needs at home?
Are you going to be willing to go through all of the training to understand the your child’s illness, the different pieces of equipment, how they work and how to troubleshoot?
Do you have trained family resources or community resources that can help you out in emergency situation if your in-home nursing misses a shift?
How will your medically-fragile child affect your relationship with your other children? How do you find balance between you healthy and medically-fragile children?
How will this impact finances? A lot of these children exhaust their private healthcare very quickly. The PHS Medical Social Work is a great resource for our families who need financial assistance.
Your child’s stability- no child can go home from the hospital unless they are stable.
Your house must have air and heat, a ventilated child will not tolerate overheating. Air conditioning is a luxury to many people, you need to be sure the environment you bring your child into is safe for their cares.
Does your house have the proper electrical set-up for the equipment your child will be coming home with? Will you need to ground any outlets, or rewire to ensure consistent power?
Many families have backup generators in the house in the event of an outage, will you need to get one of those?
Your power company needs to be aware that you have a technology dependent child in the home, and in the event of an outage that your home needs to be made a priority.
Are you comfortable with the idea of nurses in your home up to 24 hours a day 7 days a week?
These are only a few of the many, many considerations and challenges that face families bringing home a medically-fragile child from the hospital but it gives those out there without any exposure to this world, an idea of the world of homecare can be like. You can learn more about homecare on the Pediatric Home Service website, facebook page, or by listening to the full webcast.
One extremely important piece to remember in this situation is that families in these situations are never alone. PHS is here to help navigate the tricky healthcare waters. We provide services to keep children home, safe and thriving all while keeping families together. PHS has put together a list of things to consider before discharge to help families through the process to ensure they have covered as many of the bases as possible before going home.
Are you the parent of a technology-dependent, medically-fragile child? Does this sound familiar to you? What were some of your best resources when you first went home? What were some of the unexpected challenges?
August 5–11 is Home Parenteral Nutrition (HPN) Awareness Week.With the goal of demystifying HPN and helping others better understand what HPN patients go though on a daily basis, the Oley Foundation has come up with plenty of ways you can get involved throughout the week and we’d like to share some of them with you!
The awareness we are able to spread as a group over the week will be largely up to you! You are the heart of the effort, and your experiences are key in creating understanding and hope in others. Contact your local media, post your story on the PHS Facebook page, upload a YouTube video, or send us your story via email (dmakerson@pediatrichomeservice.com) so we can post it in our blog and share with all the PHS followers—the more we all work together to spread the word, the larger an impact we can have.
Be sure to use HPN Awareness Week logo as Facebook profile photo; and join in on any discussions!
Sunday, Awareness:
explain what home parenteral nutrition is and how it has helped you. Tell your family, friends and co-workers
distribute and wear HPN Awareness Week buttons (available through Oley)
post on Web sites, blogs
Monday, Outreach:
share Oley materials with someone with a similar diagnosis
Tuesday, Advocacy:
send letters to elected officials; write to local media (samples at oley.org)
write a letter to the editor
Wednesday, Education:
how to travel with HPN, share some facts about HPN and/or Oley, etc.
write a letter to the editor
Thursday, Networking:
explain how knowing others on HPN has helped you, introduce Oley (and RCs), how to connect to others
share information packets with doctors, other organizations, etc. (available through Oley)
Third item of embedded list
Friday, Understanding:
address misconceptions (HPN can be administered at home, can help one feel stronger, etc.)
letter to editor
talk to family, friends, co-workers
Saturday, Awareness:
share a positive experience you have experienced because of HPN, and what made it positive
Please use the HPN Awareness Week logo whenever it’s appropriate. It will be great if everyone could use it as a Facebook profile photos August 5–11! Use it on your blogs and e-mails.
If you have Facebook, Twitter, etc., please share this message with fellow HPNers.
Wednesday June 20- Saturday June 23 were dedicated to all things SMA. The Twin Cities were lucky to be the hosts of the 2012 National Spinal Muscular Atrophy Conference. With over 1,100 attendees the conference was a great success and was jam packed with fun and learning, PHS was excited to be there every step of the way.
PHS Respiratory Therapist, Carrie, shows conference attendee's an electronic percussor
There were many sessions, events and activities keeping attended busy over the 4 day conference, including:
40 Vendors, a record number for the conference. PHS was happy to participate as a vendor discussing services, technology, equipment and cares for SMA patients.
The first ever SMA Family and Research Dance Party! (The kids sure were exhausted the next day)
38 workshop sessions for SMA families and professionals.
The Meet-N-Greet where families connected with one another at the very start of the conference.
A Family Fun Fest with over 30 carnival games for all of the children.
Over 200 SMA Researchers who attended the 16th Annual SMA Research Meeting, joined in the Researcher Relay Race where SMA Researchers raced in manual wheelchairs with some of the children.
The Children’s Program, which allowed parents to attend workshop session and where over 250 children enjoyed activities, movies, games and craft projects.
A Researcher Q and A session for parents to hear about the most up to date research news.
Believe it or not, the weekend was not only about fun. There was a lot of learning that took place as well. We recently received the link to all of the presentations that have been posted online thus far from the conference. So, if you weren’t able to attend, or if there was one workshop you couldn’t make it to, now is your chance to watch what you missed. Click here to be taken to the Families of SMA website where PDFs, PowerPoint presentations and videos of the sessions have been posted.
PHS understands what a whirlwind life becomes when preparing to leave the hospital with a medically-fragile child. We met with a few of our experts, PHS Medical Director, Dr. Roy Maynard and PHS family mom and Infusion nurse, Jill Wall, RN, BSN, CRNI as well as included input from the entire clinical team to compile a list of tips for families to consider when getting ready to leave the hospital. Once the process is in place for a patient to leave the hospital and they are stable and ready to go, things can move rather quickly. The tips below will help get you organized and ensure you have necessary information from the hospital staff before you leave, ensuring you won’t have to make extra phone calls to track down information later.
What to consider before leaving the hospital:
All contact info on one piece of paper. Ask the hospital for one single piece of paper that has the contact information for your primary care doctor and all the different specialists who will be following your child after discharge, and when to call them. The hospital may give you individual cards, but a single sheet with all relevant contact information is much handier.
Interview to find good a good fit. Interview both a DME company and nursing agency before making selections. Find a company you feel comfortable working with. If you know your child is chronically ill and will need long-term nursing care, be sure to ask the agency if they will stay with you over the long term.
Train family/friends that will care for the child. Encourage family members and friends to go through hospital training to provide suitable backup when needed. Better yet, identify KEY people who will be in the home consistently staying up-to-date on the care your child needs and how to administer each care.
Organize vaccinations. Make sure vaccinations are up-to-date before going home and ask for a copy of the schedule to keep in your personal records.
Learn about your coverage. Learn to work within insurance limits or find other payment options. At-home insurance coverage will be different than in the hospital and there will likely be extra expenses not covered by insurance. Contact your insurance provider before discharge for specifics about in-home care for your plan.
Learn as much as you can while in hospital. Build your confidence by spending as much time as possible, including overnights, with “care by parent” under hospital staff guidance at the hospital.
Get as much sleep as possible the night before discharge. Although we mention spending overnights at the hospital in the point above, try to go home early the night before discharge and get a FULL, restful night’s sleep. Your child is safe in the hospital for one night and you will need and appreciate that uninterrupted night after bringing your child home.
Adjust medication schedules to home schedule. If the doctor has not suggested it already, ask if medication/feeding schedules can be safely rearranged to simplify the workload at home (for example, could an infant on electrolyte supplementation go from 4x/day to 3x/day or 2x/day?). While still in the hospital ask to adjust the schedules to the way it will be done at home at least one week before discharge. This will give you and your child time to acclimate.
Have your home set up prior to discharge. PHS helps families with high-tech patients sort through equipment and supplies so that you don’t come home to boxes full of unfamiliar products.
And lastly, never feel alone. PHS and the hospital staff are always there to help you through the process of transitioning to home. You can see a full list of tips like the ones above here, where we cover tips for you after you’ve arrived at home, as well as tips to reduce stress and strain on you, and your family. Do you have any other tips or thoughts that you’d like to add to the list? We know the families who have already been through the process are the real experts and we’d love to hear from you!
Summertime brings so many fun events for PHS Sharing Care volunteers. In the past few weeks we have given back by hosting a blood drive here at PHS in conjunction with Memorial Blood Centers as well as by volunteering with the Children’s Hospitals and Clinics Baby Steps 3K. Both events were a great success. See below for more information and some fun pictures! You can always stay up-to-date with PHS activities on our facebook page. Be sure to check it out!
Each year PHS hosts two blood drives in coordination with Memorial Blood Centers. This is the second drive where we’ve added a bit of competition. We now have ‘The Quick Draw’ traveling trophy that goes to the donor with the fastest donation time (SAFELY!!!) Donating was easy and the competition was a ton of fun, we’re already looking forward to our next drive. Thank you to Memorial Blood Centers for making sure our competition is fun, yet still safe. PHS blood drives are open to the public as well. Keep an eye out on our facebook page for sign up information. Drives are held twice a year in May and November!
PHS was excited to be able to participate as sponsors and volunteers for the Children’s Hospitals and ClinicsBaby Steps 3K. The event is a way for families with children who have “graduated” from the Children’s NICU to get together, raise money and have A LOT of fun! The event took place June 2nd at the MN State Fairgrounds. With over 1,800 attendees and around $83,000 raised, there were 115 family teams that participated this year. The beautiful weather helped the day go without a hitch!
Throughout the past week PHS has been celebrating Healthcare Technology Management Week (May 20-26, 2012). Healthcare Technology Management Week is an annual celebration designed to raise awareness of and appreciation for the critical work of health care technology management professionals who protect patient safety and reduce health care costs. Our team of Biomedical staff are the best around. In fact, the state of Minnesota has only 99 Certified Biomedical Equipment Technicians, and 3 of those 99, work at PHS.
PHS has always been a company at the forefront of technology, our biomedical staff ensures all the equipment going to a patient home meets and often exceeds manufacture standards. According to Mike Vogel, Biomedical Supervisor at PHS there is an unwritten rule to determine when any piece of equipment is ready to leave PHS for use on a patient, “each technician must ask themselves one question, ‘would you feel comfortable with your child depending on this piece of equipment?‘ If the answer is yes, and we’ve meet manufacturer guidelines, then we know that piece of equipment is ready to help one of our patients.” PHS Biomedical staff research, recommend, install, inspect, and repair medical devices and other complicated medical systems.
All week, our Biomedical Department has been hosting games and trivia to give PHS staff a look into what this busy department does. We wanted to share a few of the most striking statics with you. This department of only 7 people are able to accomplish so much and are a vital piece in ensuring our patients thrive in the home.
Average number of years worked at PHS by the 7 Biomedical employees?
8.4 years
Average number of serialized items that pass through the Biomedical each month?
609
Average number of new equipment added to inventory each month?
82
Number of Certified Biomedical Equipment Technicians working at PHS?
3- Mike, Corey, and Matt
Number of Trilogy 100 Ventilators that PHS owns?
104
Thank you to each employee in the biomedical department for all the work they do in making sure each child thrives at home.
PHS understands how stressful it can be when a piece of equipment isn’t working properly, and we want to help resolve any issues as soon as possible for you. So, once a month, PHS Respiratory Therapist, John Sheahan posts a tip on how to troubleshoot a common error with a piece of equipment.
This month we will finish up on the most common alarms you may receive when using the Infinity Teal and Infinity Orange food pump.
Alarm Message: Push Run to Feed
Problem: Food Pump paused for more than 2 minutes.
What to do:
1. To start feeding: press RUN/PAUSE keypad button two times or
2. To turn Food Pump OFF, hold ON/OFF keypad button
Alarm Message: Shut Door
Problem: Door is open
What to do:
1. Push in latch and close Food Pump door completely.
2. Call PHS at 651-642-1825 if latch is broken see earlier Troubleshooting Tip here.
Alarm Message: ER01-ER99 or ERRA-ERRZ
Problem: Many factors can cause this alarm message.
What to do:
1. Hold ON/OFF keypad button until Food Pump turns OFF.
2. Hold ON/OFF keypad button until Food Pump turns ON.
3. Call PHS if same message reappears in display window.
If the volume delivered by the Food Pump in NOT the same as the dose set
Reasons: Formula or Breast Milk was NOT correctly measured before placed in feeding bag, or a small amount (12.5 mL) of Formula or Breast Milk in Feeding Bag Tubing is not delivered to child.
What to do:
1. Make sure Formula or Breast Milk is correctly measured before placing in Feeding Bag.
2. Be sure to add an extra 30 mL of Formula or Breast Milk into Feeding Bag at the beginning of each feeding.
3. Call PHS in problem continues.
John Sheahan, RRT-NPS, LRT is a Licensed Respiratory Therapist at PHS and would love to hear from you if you have a tip that you’ve found helps when working with your equipment, or have an idea for a Troubleshooting Tip post. Share your tip or idea through a comment here or an email to John at jcsheahan@pediatrichomeservice.com.
Just over one year ago PHS launched our newest service, Private Duty Nursing (PDNS). We are excited to look back over the past year at all that has taken place since bringing our first PDNS patient home on January 18th, 2011. Allowing children the opportunity to thrive at home with their family while still receiving the highest quality and safest healthcare available to them is what makes us tick. Adding private duty nursing to our services has allowed PHS to complete the circle of homecare services for any medically-fragile, technology dependent child and their family.
One phone call can take care of so much. A parent can place a supply order, check on the last lab draw results, troubleshoot any concern with equipment or supplies and schedule the next IV nurse visit, all in one call. The same is true for the healthcare professionals that we partner with daily. One phone call to PHS and we will coordinate all services needed to get a child out of the hospital and to the comfort of their home. Including training the family and any caregivers on all equipment. All the while staying in constant communication with the physician to ensure the everyone always has the latest information.
Here are a few fun facts about the first year of Private Duty Nursing at PHS:
Number of field nurse assessments (PDNS Shift and PDNS Seizure)? 9,070!!
Number of Patients that have been on PDNS service? 37
Number of current field nurses? 110
Geographically; where is our furthest patient located? Brainerd
How many homes have 2 or more patients in the same home? 2
The picture shows our amazing internal PDNS staff that keep the ship moving, and although they are not pictured, the incredible 110 field nurses round out the PDNS department. It truly takes a team to take care of the child and we happen to think we’ve come up with a winning team.
We want to take a moment to thank each family that has invited PHS staff into your home and allowed us the opportunity to care for your child. Each one is a blessing and we love partnering with you to keep your children safe, happy and healthy at home- just where they belong.
