The very best nurses go above and beyond for their patients and so Its with great pleasure I interview three who are receiving recognition for their excellence through Independence Blue Cross’ Celebrate Caring – their annual campaign to recognize outstanding nurses in the Greater Philadelphia region. I speak to Allison Denman, MS, BSN, RN, SANE-A – Philadelphia Sexual Assault Response Center, Jasmine Hudson, MSN, CRNP, AGACNP-BC – Penn Medicine, Francis Doran, BSN, RN – Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania/Penn Medicine as well as Koleen Cavanaugh, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Independence Blue Cross.
- Ibx.com/nurses (https://www.ibx.com/htdocs/custom/celebrate-caring/index.html)
- IG: @independencebluecross
- LI: @Independence Blue Cross
- FB: @Independence Blue Cross
- #CelebrateCaring
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
When my mom was in her finalmonths of life, she was cared for
by the most extraordinary nurses. Iwill be forever grateful for their kindness and
their guidance as I navigated one ofthe most difficult challenges of life, which
is the passing of a loved one. I just feel so happy to tell
you about the Celebrate Caring program,which is Independence Blue Cross's annual campaign to
(00:21):
recognize outstanding nurses in the Greater Philadelphiaregion. Since twenty nineteen, Celebrate Caring
has received thousands of nominations for outstandingnurses. Independence has had the privilege of
highlighting more than sixty nurses through CelebrateCaring, story telling and celebrations. So
today we're going to talk about CelebrateCaring and also we're going to talk to
(00:43):
the nurses that are being honored thisyear. And so joining me is Colleen
Kavanaugh. She's Senior vice president andChief Marketing Officer for Independence Blue Cross.
Alison Denman, she is a clinicaldirector nurse manager for the Philadelphie's Sexual Assault
Response Center. Francis Duran, whois a cardiac intensive care unit registered nurse
(01:04):
at pen Medicine, and Jasmine Hudsonin patient diabetes nurse practitioner at pen Medicine.
So welcome to all of you,but I begin with Colleen Cavanaugh,
so refresh us for those who don'tknow what is Independence Blue Crosses Celebrate Caring,
Lorraine, thanks again for partnering withus. Celebrate Caring is a campaign.
(01:25):
As you said that Independence Blue crosshas been doing since twenty nineteen,
so this is our sixth year ofthe campaign, and really the campaign is
about highlighting the amazing work that nursesdo. Similar to the story you shared
about your mom, I think everyperson here in the Philadelphia area can tell
a similar story about how a nursehas touched their lives. They are such
(01:46):
giving, selfless people and every yearthrough the campaign we meet amazing nurses that
are doing more than just treating patients. That is probably the core responsibility why
they became a nurse. But thenurses that we pick our really making a
difference in the lives their patients,their patients' families, and in the lives
of people in the community, whichis really what we want to highlight.
(02:07):
How they are the backbone of healthcareand really the backbone of our communities.
And this year is extra special becausethis year, we've announced the Sunshine Award
to honor Paula Sunshine, who isour previous chief marketing officer. Was her
idea to start this campaign and reallyhonor our nurses here in the Philadelphia region,
and she recently passed away from cancer, so we thought it was such
(02:30):
a fitting honor to be able toname the award after her. And then
she has just such a beautiful lastname with Sunshine, because really, I
think nurses are that ray of sunshineand hope as people are going through these
really difficult times in their life.Well, I'll get back to you in
just a second, Colleen, butI would like to speak with the nurses
because you are, in fact angelson this planet and I do appreciate all
(02:51):
the work that you do. Solet's go down the line and speak to
each of you about what your feelingswere when you found out that you were
going to be honored. So I'mgoing to start with Alison Denman. Allison,
how did you find out and whatwas your reaction? Well, I
got a phone call and I wasin my clinic and I just kind of
was like really, and I meanpleasantly surprised and very grateful but you know,
(03:15):
it's not often to have this typeof recognition, So I'm just excited
to be here and celebrate my othercolleagues in nursing. Great. What about
you, Frances, what was yourreaction when you found out that you were
receiving this acknowledgment. At first,I was very stunned. I didn't know
if it was true or not,and it was very fauchus in the beginning.
(03:38):
But I was very excited afterwards.And I was also coming off over
my clinical shift and it was verysurprising to be honored for the nursing care
that I provide to others. Oh, that's great. So you thought you
were being pranked, but then yourealized you weren't, and then it was
a wonderful thing. So Jasmine,what about you? What was your reaction?
My initial reaction after it received thephone call was I guess it was
(04:01):
like a mixture of shock and excitement. I think those feelings were also kind
of followed up with an immense senseof gratitude and honor to have recognized and
nominated for the such an award.It was very humbling. Actually, Allison,
tell us a little bit about yourwork. You work for the Philadelphia
Sexual Assault Response Center, So Ican imagine that there are going to be
(04:25):
a lot of individuals who are experiencingtrauma and going through some difficult times.
Tell us more about what you do, sure, so I'll shorten our clinics
named a p s ARC just toget the mouthful out of there. But
we're Philadelphia's only resource for sexual assaultexaminations for adults and older adolescents in the
(04:46):
city and it's been that way sinceabout two thousand and eleven. So I
personally oversee Philadelphia's only team of sexualassault nurse examiners, which is an immense
privilege and honor to be able tonot only work side these nurses, but
to also support them in everything thatthey do, But other than providing direct
care to these survivors who come intoour clinic, I also provide service with
(05:10):
the court system as a fact anexpert witness, to make sure that the
courts are educated on what this typeof work is and the necessary definitions to
understand the practice. And I thinkeven more importantly is a lot of outreach
that I've been doing not only tothe community, but I don't want to
say more importantly so, but moreprofoundly or more focused is with our other
(05:33):
nursing colleagues and clinicians in the community, even if they are not going to
be providing this type of care.We want to make sure that clinicians in
any setting are able to compassionately andyou know, with the correct resources,
refer patients as needed, while alsosupporting themselves through the vicarious trauma of having
(05:53):
that nature of disclosure brought to theirdoorstep. It's not often that we focus
on the wellness of nurse is inthe bedside environment and the trauma that they
experience. So that's been a reallybig focus of ours, and also revitalizing
the forensic nursing community, not justlocally but unfortunately across a couple states apparently.
But yeah, that's what we do. Yeah, that's very very important
(06:15):
work. Francis, let's turn toyou. You are a cardiac intensive care
unit nurse, but you also volunteeryour time to provide wound care to the
homeless and vulnerable in the Kensington area. So tell us more about what you
do. I mean, certainly youwork in a traditional environment, but you
also work out in the community.Tell us more. Over the past year
(06:36):
and several months, I've been workingat the quartak ICU. We provide immense
care to a lot of patients thatare kind of like sometimes their last steps
in life, and we help provideeven with various facilities that can't handle certain
patient care. We accept very verysick patients from all over, especially the
(06:57):
Tri State area, and we provideopportunities to see if they can potentially give
them the hope for like advanced therapies, orthotopic heart transplants, so we really
try to work them up to seeif they can have another chance in life,
like extending their lifetime and given themmore opportunities at life through the intensive
care unit and hopefully get a newart as well as a nurse. Over
(07:19):
the years, I've done a lotof woom care, especially at my previous
job, and there's a lot ofwork that needs to be done down there.
Not every single time they kind ofget the complete care they need in
the hospital settings, and sometimes theydon't get the proper education of how to
keep on dressing their wounds. Sowe kind of go down there and help
(07:40):
with providing supplies. We have likean Amazon wish list and stuff like that.
We go down and provide opportunities likea bridge to help them get into
the hospital systems, to get rehab, to get womb care, they get
the right nutrition, We help mediatethat and get them seen in hospital settings,
and we try to follow with themby calling the hospital system as well
(08:01):
to try to help them as bestas we can not get really sick and
die, because at some degree theyalso were just like every one of us,
where they had lives. Yeah,there are people that we're children once.
They're somebody's brother, they're someone's sister, maybe someone's mother, someone's father,
And sometimes I think we do forgetthat when we look at folks who
(08:22):
are experienced in substance use disorder,and it's wonderful that you're doing the work
that you're doing. I'd like toturn to Jasmine. Jasmine, you work
with the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetesand Metabolism at pen Medicine, serving in
patient Diabetes consul team at the Hospitalat the University of Pennsylvania. So you
deal with a lot of folks whoare on a particular journey. We have
(08:43):
an epidemic of diabetes, don't we. We do, Yeah, tell us
more so, you're right about that. Recent studies show that diabetes are affecting
around thirty eight billion Americans within theUS. It is something that I feel
as a nurse practitioner in the hospital. You know, a lot of the
patients that come into the hospital,diabetes tend to be a little secondary unless
(09:07):
they're coming in to the hospital withacute crisis. Most of the time,
our patients are coming in for surgeryor you know, some type of illness,
the diabetes tends to be on theback burner. But with our patients
in an inpatient setting, under youknow, physical stress of being in the
hospital or clinically being stressed from beingill, blood sugars tend to rise.
(09:28):
So the role that I play inthe hospital is allowing diabetes not to be
front and center for the patient.You know, allowing patients to have well
managed blood sugars that will reduce theirrisk for infection in the hospital, will
increase their chances of proper wound healingor incisional healing, but also reducing the
(09:48):
risk for mortality and morbidity in thehospital with poorly controlled blood glucose. Pauline,
You've just heard these three individuals sharetheir stories, and I'm sure you
read about the and certainly have readthrough many nominations for this particular award.
I wonder if you could tell usa little more about why it's so important
to tell their story. I thinkjust even listening to our nurses here today,
(10:13):
just the depth and breadth of nursingand the impact it has. As
I said earlier on the community,I mean, we are looking at three
individual nurses here that are dealing insuch varied parts of nursing, and I
think that that's what's important here toreally show the scope of nursing and what
a critical part they play in thehealthcare system, even beyond those in clinical
(10:37):
settings. We actually have nurses atIndependence Blue Cross that support the work that
we do here, working directly withour members to help through healthcare journeys.
So, you know, we reallywant to shine that light because of the
importance in the role that they playand ensuring people. We heard a lot
about helping people. You know,they are in critical situations. How are
(10:58):
we helping them to get to thathelp healthiest step for them? You know,
how are we supporting their healing?And not just from a physical perspective,
but we were also hearing about therole nurses play and that on the
mental side of things too. Reallythat whole person health and making sure that
we are treating the whole person isanother critical aspect of what we do as
(11:18):
a health insurer here in the Philadelphiaregion is ensuring that it's not just we're
not just looking at those physical issuesthat people are facing, but really looking
at what are they dealing with holistically, mentally, physically as well as maybe
what are some of those social determinantsof health that are barriers that they have
to accessing the care that we need. And we saw how that's being addressed
through each one of our nurses aswell, So, you know, highlighting
(11:41):
what nurses do really play so closelyto what we do as a health insurance
carry of improving the health and wellbeingof the people and communities we serve.
I'd like to go back to thenurses and really from my experience speaking to
the Celebrate Caring Caring awardees in thepast, it's so clear to me that
this is not a job, thisis a calling, this is a mission.
(12:03):
And I wonder if each of youcould share with us what is it
about the work that you do thattruly inspires you, because I know it's
got to be tough. You're oftenseeing people at their very worst. You're
often called to give compassion and kindnessat times when you know your life might
be a little stressed out yourself,but you're able to give that something to
(12:24):
that patient. And I wonder ifyou could talk a little more about the
calling. What drew you to thisprofession and what is it that you get
out of it? What is itfor you that you receive from the work
that you do. Allison, So, I came into forensic nursing originally starting
an emergency medicine as an EMT inrural and suburban Pennsylvania. Shout out to
(12:46):
Kutztown and what was previously Trapped FireCompany now Freedom Valley, and we work
with people who experience all nature oftrauma in that setting. But something that
was always curious to me, especiallyas a survivor of violence, is you
know, the roadmapping of recovery inthe intersection of medicine with justice systems,
including alternate roots of justice. Andit's absolutely no mistake that no less than
(13:11):
sixty five percent of healthcare providers ingeneral enter the caregiving profession because they have
experienced some nature of harm either personallyor within their households in their developmental stages,
and that really gives us some reallygoofy hardwiring in our brain. But
part of that is a vigilance topermit no further harm and to certainly help
(13:33):
people in ways that we've seen others, including ourselves, be failed by systems
at large, and nursing in particularhas such a wide capacity of caregiving,
not only providing direct service to thesepatients, but also advocating in really unique
and pertinent ways. And that's justkind of the short of it. Beautifully
(13:54):
expressed Francis, what about you?What dore you to nursing? What do
you get out of the profession thatyou've tond So, I do have a
story as like as a kid whereI was like probably less than maybe twelve
years old, ten years old,where I found something unconscious on the side
of like a like a lake thatwas actually unresponsive, and I was I
(14:16):
was too young at that time toeven do anything, but at the time
I felt like I should have beenable to do something, and that sometimes
that sometimes still gets at me sometimesthroughout college. I even did my bachelor's
a biology degree. I thought i'dbut switching the nursing during that period,
and I didn't, but I wastrying to pursue either PA school or med
school if they're being on lifeguards.But I actually became a life guard for
(14:39):
that as well. And the satisficationof like helping somebody and like preventing something
from happening was like such a foodreward inside. I guess and I decided
that I want to do something healthcarerelated. I was jumping around pass I
didn't really know which way I wasreally going. Decided I'm doing nursing,
and I felt like I could stillreach the same degree of helping people in
(15:01):
the same way as a nurse ifI did advanced degrees. There's a lot
of satisfication of like seeing the thingsthat you do to somebody and seeing progress
and seeing the change that like youknow somebody's going up and you do ask
for something or you do something thatyou know is going to prevent something from
them to the wrong way. Thatgratification of seeing you doing that and seeing
(15:22):
that person's life change and eventually getout of the hospital, especially in that
critical of its critical care setting,is a lot of relief. It's very
satisfying, right it's satisfying to seethat because of something that you did,
they're suffering was eased. Jasmine,what about you? What is it that
drew you to nursing and what doyou get out of this profession. So
both of my parents are registered nurses. I would say they've had a profound
(15:46):
influence on me. I remember growingup witnessing them deliver compassionate and quality care
to their patients. My dad,growing up, owned a hospice agency,
so you know, witnessing him beingable to help his patients that were essentially
in their most vulnerable state and togive their life meaning and a quality of
(16:07):
life right in that season. Itjust impacted me in such a profound way.
And my mom as well, sheworked in long term care, so
honestly, it was just quite natural. It motivated me to follow in their
footsteps and pursue a career where Icould also make a meaningful difference with nursing.
I guess what sustains me is everyday I can honestly say I feel
(16:30):
a deep sense of satisfaction with mypatients, with teaching my patients right about
diabetes and living a meaningful life ofdiabetes, and being able to witness them
grasp concepts and feel empowered to makechanges in their lives. It motivates me
each and every day to show upand give my best to my patients.
That's wonderful. Each of you hadthe opportunity to give a twenty five hundred
(16:53):
dollars donation to a nonprofit organization ofyour choice in addition to getting a five
hundred dollars gift, So I wonderif you can share with us which nonprofit
you chose to contribute to anison.I selected Salvation Army New Day, who
does a great deal of boots onthe groundwork with our survivors of sex trafficking,
specifically here in the city of Philadelphia, and they provide a great deal
(17:17):
of support in alternate roots of justice, so legal support, housing, childcare,
transportation, counseling options, a lotof things that are unfortunately get kept
from the specific population through something thatwould take a whole other conversation to explain.
But I've just been really impressed withtheir care and even if a penny
could go to them to make adifference, I am excited to see what
(17:41):
good will come of that. Ohthat's great, Francis. What about you
who did you contribute to? Iwould like to contribute to the Kenston Project,
the group I work for. It'sa really good foundation that was made
in honor of Dawn Slaughder lists thatpass away from an accidental overdose in twenty
twenty. And that money would golike a really really long way with that
(18:03):
organization because it's like two hundred tothree dollars a week providing supplies and homemade
food and just stuff to support themdown there. And I think that will
go a long way. And thenalso like the same thing with transportation and
stuff like that. We provide transportation, we give them you have to be
like we run off food sometimes wetry to buy them food and stuff like
that. So that would go likea long way with progressing them to get
(18:26):
more help with getting the wind carethey need, not getting as septic and
infectious as they are, with howbed rooms get And I think that would
help a lot with that organization.I think that money would go a long
way with them. That's awesome,Jasmine. What about you? So I
selected two organizations to donate to.The first organization I selected was Children's Literacy
(18:49):
Initiative and the second an organization calledMotivated Community Resource Center. So I believe
that limited literacy can be a significantbarrier to patients ability to access healthcare,
obtaining health care related information, oreven you know, using medication safely.
I think it's important to address theroots of poor health literacy by recognizing the
(19:11):
importance of early childhood education. TheChildren's Literacy Initiative it works within the Philadelphia
community in the Philadelphia School District withteachers teaching ages pre K through fifth grade
instructing on early literacy so that childrencan become the best leaders for tomorrow.
Whereas the Motivated Community Resource Center,which is located in West Philly. I've
(19:33):
worked a lot with this organization inthe community. I feel it really has
its finger on the pulse with itscommunity's needs, and I honestly really believe
in its mission. This organization itpours into the community on a daily whether
it be through the weekly pantry providingfood and clothing to those in need,
cooking classes, healthy cooking classes forseniors. It hosts annual health fares and
(19:57):
back to school fairs, and alsoafter school programs for the youth. So
for me, it was simply ano brainer with selecting these two organizations that's
great, well, Colleen. Asusual, I'm incredibly moved and inspired by
these three individuals, and it's justwonderful that Independence Blue Cross is giving them
their props because they certainly more thandeserve it. If people want to find
(20:19):
out more about Celebrate Caring, tosee more about their stories, and how
do they find out more about allthis information, so people can go to
ibx dot com slash nurses to learnmore about Alison, Francis and Jasmine and
all the incredible work that they're doing. Thank you as well for everything that
you do for your patients, theirfamilies, the community, and the amazing
(20:42):
work that you do every day tirelesslyto improve the lives and the community here
in the Philadelphia area. So thankyou and thank you Loreen for having all
of us here today. Yeah,it's been my pleasure and my honor.
Colleen Kavanaugh, Senior Vice President andChief Marketing Officer for Independence Blue Cross.
Alison denman Is she is clinical directorand nurse manager for Philadelphia Sexual Assault Response
(21:03):
Center. Francis Duran, who isCardiac Intensive care Unit registered nurse at Penn
Medicine, also volunteer out on thestreets of Kensington Jasmine Hudson, inpatient diabetes
nurse practitioner Penn Medicine. These areall the recipients of the Independence Blue Cross's
annual campaign to recognize outstanding nurses inthe Greater Philadelphia area. It's called Celebrate
(21:26):
Caring. Thank you all for joiningus here today, and thank you for
everything that you do. We totallyappreciate you and we're so glad that you're
being honored. So thank you,thank you, thank you.
When my mom was in her finalmonths of life, she was cared for
by the most extraordinary nurses. Iwill be forever grateful for their kindness and
their guidance as I navigated one ofthe most difficult challenges of life, which
is the passing of a loved one. I just feel so happy to tell
you about the Celebrate Caring program,which is Independence Blue Cross's annual campaign to
(00:21):
recognize outstanding nurses in the Greater Philadelphiaregion. Since twenty nineteen, Celebrate Caring
has received thousands of nominations for outstandingnurses. Independence has had the privilege of
highlighting more than sixty nurses through CelebrateCaring, story telling and celebrations. So
today we're going to talk about CelebrateCaring and also we're going to talk to
(00:43):
the nurses that are being honored thisyear. And so joining me is Colleen
Kavanaugh. She's Senior vice president andChief Marketing Officer for Independence Blue Cross.
Alison Denman, she is a clinicaldirector nurse manager for the Philadelphie's Sexual Assault
Response Center. Francis Duran, whois a cardiac intensive care unit registered nurse
(01:04):
at pen Medicine, and Jasmine Hudsonin patient diabetes nurse practitioner at pen Medicine.
So welcome to all of you,but I begin with Colleen Cavanaugh,
so refresh us for those who don'tknow what is Independence Blue Crosses Celebrate Caring,
Lorraine, thanks again for partnering withus. Celebrate Caring is a campaign.
(01:25):
As you said that Independence Blue crosshas been doing since twenty nineteen,
so this is our sixth year ofthe campaign, and really the campaign is
about highlighting the amazing work that nursesdo. Similar to the story you shared
about your mom, I think everyperson here in the Philadelphia area can tell
a similar story about how a nursehas touched their lives. They are such
(01:46):
giving, selfless people and every yearthrough the campaign we meet amazing nurses that
are doing more than just treating patients. That is probably the core responsibility why
they became a nurse. But thenurses that we pick our really making a
difference in the lives their patients,their patients' families, and in the lives
of people in the community, whichis really what we want to highlight.
(02:07):
How they are the backbone of healthcareand really the backbone of our communities.
And this year is extra special becausethis year, we've announced the Sunshine Award
to honor Paula Sunshine, who isour previous chief marketing officer. Was her
idea to start this campaign and reallyhonor our nurses here in the Philadelphia region,
and she recently passed away from cancer, so we thought it was such
(02:30):
a fitting honor to be able toname the award after her. And then
she has just such a beautiful lastname with Sunshine, because really, I
think nurses are that ray of sunshineand hope as people are going through these
really difficult times in their life.Well, I'll get back to you in
just a second, Colleen, butI would like to speak with the nurses
because you are, in fact angelson this planet and I do appreciate all
(02:51):
the work that you do. Solet's go down the line and speak to
each of you about what your feelingswere when you found out that you were
going to be honored. So I'mgoing to start with Alison Denman. Allison,
how did you find out and whatwas your reaction? Well, I
got a phone call and I wasin my clinic and I just kind of
was like really, and I meanpleasantly surprised and very grateful but you know,
(03:15):
it's not often to have this typeof recognition, So I'm just excited
to be here and celebrate my othercolleagues in nursing. Great. What about
you, Frances, what was yourreaction when you found out that you were
receiving this acknowledgment. At first,I was very stunned. I didn't know
if it was true or not,and it was very fauchus in the beginning.
(03:38):
But I was very excited afterwards.And I was also coming off over
my clinical shift and it was verysurprising to be honored for the nursing care
that I provide to others. Oh, that's great. So you thought you
were being pranked, but then yourealized you weren't, and then it was
a wonderful thing. So Jasmine,what about you? What was your reaction?
My initial reaction after it received thephone call was I guess it was
(04:01):
like a mixture of shock and excitement. I think those feelings were also kind
of followed up with an immense senseof gratitude and honor to have recognized and
nominated for the such an award.It was very humbling. Actually, Allison,
tell us a little bit about yourwork. You work for the Philadelphia
Sexual Assault Response Center, So Ican imagine that there are going to be
(04:25):
a lot of individuals who are experiencingtrauma and going through some difficult times.
Tell us more about what you do, sure, so I'll shorten our clinics
named a p s ARC just toget the mouthful out of there. But
we're Philadelphia's only resource for sexual assaultexaminations for adults and older adolescents in the
(04:46):
city and it's been that way sinceabout two thousand and eleven. So I
personally oversee Philadelphia's only team of sexualassault nurse examiners, which is an immense
privilege and honor to be able tonot only work side these nurses, but
to also support them in everything thatthey do, But other than providing direct
care to these survivors who come intoour clinic, I also provide service with
(05:10):
the court system as a fact anexpert witness, to make sure that the
courts are educated on what this typeof work is and the necessary definitions to
understand the practice. And I thinkeven more importantly is a lot of outreach
that I've been doing not only tothe community, but I don't want to
say more importantly so, but moreprofoundly or more focused is with our other
(05:33):
nursing colleagues and clinicians in the community, even if they are not going to
be providing this type of care.We want to make sure that clinicians in
any setting are able to compassionately andyou know, with the correct resources,
refer patients as needed, while alsosupporting themselves through the vicarious trauma of having
(05:53):
that nature of disclosure brought to theirdoorstep. It's not often that we focus
on the wellness of nurse is inthe bedside environment and the trauma that they
experience. So that's been a reallybig focus of ours, and also revitalizing
the forensic nursing community, not justlocally but unfortunately across a couple states apparently.
But yeah, that's what we do. Yeah, that's very very important
(06:15):
work. Francis, let's turn toyou. You are a cardiac intensive care
unit nurse, but you also volunteeryour time to provide wound care to the
homeless and vulnerable in the Kensington area. So tell us more about what you
do. I mean, certainly youwork in a traditional environment, but you
also work out in the community.Tell us more. Over the past year
(06:36):
and several months, I've been workingat the quartak ICU. We provide immense
care to a lot of patients thatare kind of like sometimes their last steps
in life, and we help provideeven with various facilities that can't handle certain
patient care. We accept very verysick patients from all over, especially the
(06:57):
Tri State area, and we provideopportunities to see if they can potentially give
them the hope for like advanced therapies, orthotopic heart transplants, so we really
try to work them up to seeif they can have another chance in life,
like extending their lifetime and given themmore opportunities at life through the intensive
care unit and hopefully get a newart as well as a nurse. Over
(07:19):
the years, I've done a lotof woom care, especially at my previous
job, and there's a lot ofwork that needs to be done down there.
Not every single time they kind ofget the complete care they need in
the hospital settings, and sometimes theydon't get the proper education of how to
keep on dressing their wounds. Sowe kind of go down there and help
(07:40):
with providing supplies. We have likean Amazon wish list and stuff like that.
We go down and provide opportunities likea bridge to help them get into
the hospital systems, to get rehab, to get womb care, they get
the right nutrition, We help mediatethat and get them seen in hospital settings,
and we try to follow with themby calling the hospital system as well
(08:01):
to try to help them as bestas we can not get really sick and
die, because at some degree theyalso were just like every one of us,
where they had lives. Yeah,there are people that we're children once.
They're somebody's brother, they're someone's sister, maybe someone's mother, someone's father,
And sometimes I think we do forgetthat when we look at folks who
(08:22):
are experienced in substance use disorder,and it's wonderful that you're doing the work
that you're doing. I'd like toturn to Jasmine. Jasmine, you work
with the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetesand Metabolism at pen Medicine, serving in
patient Diabetes consul team at the Hospitalat the University of Pennsylvania. So you
deal with a lot of folks whoare on a particular journey. We have
(08:43):
an epidemic of diabetes, don't we. We do, Yeah, tell us
more so, you're right about that. Recent studies show that diabetes are affecting
around thirty eight billion Americans within theUS. It is something that I feel
as a nurse practitioner in the hospital. You know, a lot of the
patients that come into the hospital,diabetes tend to be a little secondary unless
(09:07):
they're coming in to the hospital withacute crisis. Most of the time,
our patients are coming in for surgeryor you know, some type of illness,
the diabetes tends to be on theback burner. But with our patients
in an inpatient setting, under youknow, physical stress of being in the
hospital or clinically being stressed from beingill, blood sugars tend to rise.
(09:28):
So the role that I play inthe hospital is allowing diabetes not to be
front and center for the patient.You know, allowing patients to have well
managed blood sugars that will reduce theirrisk for infection in the hospital, will
increase their chances of proper wound healingor incisional healing, but also reducing the
(09:48):
risk for mortality and morbidity in thehospital with poorly controlled blood glucose. Pauline,
You've just heard these three individuals sharetheir stories, and I'm sure you
read about the and certainly have readthrough many nominations for this particular award.
I wonder if you could tell usa little more about why it's so important
to tell their story. I thinkjust even listening to our nurses here today,
(10:13):
just the depth and breadth of nursingand the impact it has. As
I said earlier on the community,I mean, we are looking at three
individual nurses here that are dealing insuch varied parts of nursing, and I
think that that's what's important here toreally show the scope of nursing and what
a critical part they play in thehealthcare system, even beyond those in clinical
(10:37):
settings. We actually have nurses atIndependence Blue Cross that support the work that
we do here, working directly withour members to help through healthcare journeys.
So, you know, we reallywant to shine that light because of the
importance in the role that they playand ensuring people. We heard a lot
about helping people. You know,they are in critical situations. How are
(10:58):
we helping them to get to thathelp healthiest step for them? You know,
how are we supporting their healing?And not just from a physical perspective,
but we were also hearing about therole nurses play and that on the
mental side of things too. Reallythat whole person health and making sure that
we are treating the whole person isanother critical aspect of what we do as
(11:18):
a health insurer here in the Philadelphiaregion is ensuring that it's not just we're
not just looking at those physical issuesthat people are facing, but really looking
at what are they dealing with holistically, mentally, physically as well as maybe
what are some of those social determinantsof health that are barriers that they have
to accessing the care that we need. And we saw how that's being addressed
through each one of our nurses aswell, So, you know, highlighting
(11:41):
what nurses do really play so closelyto what we do as a health insurance
carry of improving the health and wellbeingof the people and communities we serve.
I'd like to go back to thenurses and really from my experience speaking to
the Celebrate Caring Caring awardees in thepast, it's so clear to me that
this is not a job, thisis a calling, this is a mission.
(12:03):
And I wonder if each of youcould share with us what is it
about the work that you do thattruly inspires you, because I know it's
got to be tough. You're oftenseeing people at their very worst. You're
often called to give compassion and kindnessat times when you know your life might
be a little stressed out yourself,but you're able to give that something to
(12:24):
that patient. And I wonder ifyou could talk a little more about the
calling. What drew you to thisprofession and what is it that you get
out of it? What is itfor you that you receive from the work
that you do. Allison, So, I came into forensic nursing originally starting
an emergency medicine as an EMT inrural and suburban Pennsylvania. Shout out to
(12:46):
Kutztown and what was previously Trapped FireCompany now Freedom Valley, and we work
with people who experience all nature oftrauma in that setting. But something that
was always curious to me, especiallyas a survivor of violence, is you
know, the roadmapping of recovery inthe intersection of medicine with justice systems,
including alternate roots of justice. Andit's absolutely no mistake that no less than
(13:11):
sixty five percent of healthcare providers ingeneral enter the caregiving profession because they have
experienced some nature of harm either personallyor within their households in their developmental stages,
and that really gives us some reallygoofy hardwiring in our brain. But
part of that is a vigilance topermit no further harm and to certainly help
(13:33):
people in ways that we've seen others, including ourselves, be failed by systems
at large, and nursing in particularhas such a wide capacity of caregiving,
not only providing direct service to thesepatients, but also advocating in really unique
and pertinent ways. And that's justkind of the short of it. Beautifully
(13:54):
expressed Francis, what about you?What dore you to nursing? What do
you get out of the profession thatyou've tond So, I do have a
story as like as a kid whereI was like probably less than maybe twelve
years old, ten years old,where I found something unconscious on the side
of like a like a lake thatwas actually unresponsive, and I was I
(14:16):
was too young at that time toeven do anything, but at the time
I felt like I should have beenable to do something, and that sometimes
that sometimes still gets at me sometimesthroughout college. I even did my bachelor's
a biology degree. I thought i'dbut switching the nursing during that period,
and I didn't, but I wastrying to pursue either PA school or med
school if they're being on lifeguards.But I actually became a life guard for
(14:39):
that as well. And the satisficationof like helping somebody and like preventing something
from happening was like such a foodreward inside. I guess and I decided
that I want to do something healthcarerelated. I was jumping around pass I
didn't really know which way I wasreally going. Decided I'm doing nursing,
and I felt like I could stillreach the same degree of helping people in
(15:01):
the same way as a nurse ifI did advanced degrees. There's a lot
of satisfication of like seeing the thingsthat you do to somebody and seeing progress
and seeing the change that like youknow somebody's going up and you do ask
for something or you do something thatyou know is going to prevent something from
them to the wrong way. Thatgratification of seeing you doing that and seeing
(15:22):
that person's life change and eventually getout of the hospital, especially in that
critical of its critical care setting,is a lot of relief. It's very
satisfying, right it's satisfying to seethat because of something that you did,
they're suffering was eased. Jasmine,what about you? What is it that
drew you to nursing and what doyou get out of this profession. So
both of my parents are registered nurses. I would say they've had a profound
(15:46):
influence on me. I remember growingup witnessing them deliver compassionate and quality care
to their patients. My dad,growing up, owned a hospice agency,
so you know, witnessing him beingable to help his patients that were essentially
in their most vulnerable state and togive their life meaning and a quality of
(16:07):
life right in that season. Itjust impacted me in such a profound way.
And my mom as well, sheworked in long term care, so
honestly, it was just quite natural. It motivated me to follow in their
footsteps and pursue a career where Icould also make a meaningful difference with nursing.
I guess what sustains me is everyday I can honestly say I feel
(16:30):
a deep sense of satisfaction with mypatients, with teaching my patients right about
diabetes and living a meaningful life ofdiabetes, and being able to witness them
grasp concepts and feel empowered to makechanges in their lives. It motivates me
each and every day to show upand give my best to my patients.
That's wonderful. Each of you hadthe opportunity to give a twenty five hundred
(16:53):
dollars donation to a nonprofit organization ofyour choice in addition to getting a five
hundred dollars gift, So I wonderif you can share with us which nonprofit
you chose to contribute to anison.I selected Salvation Army New Day, who
does a great deal of boots onthe groundwork with our survivors of sex trafficking,
specifically here in the city of Philadelphia, and they provide a great deal
(17:17):
of support in alternate roots of justice, so legal support, housing, childcare,
transportation, counseling options, a lotof things that are unfortunately get kept
from the specific population through something thatwould take a whole other conversation to explain.
But I've just been really impressed withtheir care and even if a penny
could go to them to make adifference, I am excited to see what
(17:41):
good will come of that. Ohthat's great, Francis. What about you
who did you contribute to? Iwould like to contribute to the Kenston Project,
the group I work for. It'sa really good foundation that was made
in honor of Dawn Slaughder lists thatpass away from an accidental overdose in twenty
twenty. And that money would golike a really really long way with that
(18:03):
organization because it's like two hundred tothree dollars a week providing supplies and homemade
food and just stuff to support themdown there. And I think that will
go a long way. And thenalso like the same thing with transportation and
stuff like that. We provide transportation, we give them you have to be
like we run off food sometimes wetry to buy them food and stuff like
that. So that would go likea long way with progressing them to get
(18:26):
more help with getting the wind carethey need, not getting as septic and
infectious as they are, with howbed rooms get And I think that would
help a lot with that organization.I think that money would go a long
way with them. That's awesome,Jasmine. What about you? So I
selected two organizations to donate to.The first organization I selected was Children's Literacy
(18:49):
Initiative and the second an organization calledMotivated Community Resource Center. So I believe
that limited literacy can be a significantbarrier to patients ability to access healthcare,
obtaining health care related information, oreven you know, using medication safely.
I think it's important to address theroots of poor health literacy by recognizing the
(19:11):
importance of early childhood education. TheChildren's Literacy Initiative it works within the Philadelphia
community in the Philadelphia School District withteachers teaching ages pre K through fifth grade
instructing on early literacy so that childrencan become the best leaders for tomorrow.
Whereas the Motivated Community Resource Center,which is located in West Philly. I've
(19:33):
worked a lot with this organization inthe community. I feel it really has
its finger on the pulse with itscommunity's needs, and I honestly really believe
in its mission. This organization itpours into the community on a daily whether
it be through the weekly pantry providingfood and clothing to those in need,
cooking classes, healthy cooking classes forseniors. It hosts annual health fares and
(19:57):
back to school fairs, and alsoafter school programs for the youth. So
for me, it was simply ano brainer with selecting these two organizations that's
great, well, Colleen. Asusual, I'm incredibly moved and inspired by
these three individuals, and it's justwonderful that Independence Blue Cross is giving them
their props because they certainly more thandeserve it. If people want to find
(20:19):
out more about Celebrate Caring, tosee more about their stories, and how
do they find out more about allthis information, so people can go to
ibx dot com slash nurses to learnmore about Alison, Francis and Jasmine and
all the incredible work that they're doing. Thank you as well for everything that
you do for your patients, theirfamilies, the community, and the amazing
(20:42):
work that you do every day tirelesslyto improve the lives and the community here
in the Philadelphia area. So thankyou and thank you Loreen for having all
of us here today. Yeah,it's been my pleasure and my honor.
Colleen Kavanaugh, Senior Vice President andChief Marketing Officer for Independence Blue Cross.
Alison denman Is she is clinical directorand nurse manager for Philadelphia Sexual Assault Response
(21:03):
Center. Francis Duran, who isCardiac Intensive care Unit registered nurse at Penn
Medicine, also volunteer out on thestreets of Kensington Jasmine Hudson, inpatient diabetes
nurse practitioner Penn Medicine. These areall the recipients of the Independence Blue Cross's
annual campaign to recognize outstanding nurses inthe Greater Philadelphia area. It's called Celebrate
(21:26):
Caring. Thank you all for joiningus here today, and thank you for
everything that you do. We totallyappreciate you and we're so glad that you're
being honored. So thank you,thank you, thank you.
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