Women in the Arts: Medical Center's exhibit showcases female artists from Kentucky

by Billy Hicks, The Daily News, originally published on 4/12/2012

The Medical Center will host the 22nd annual Women in the Arts exhibition this weekend at the hospital’s auditorium.

The exhibit will showcase female artists from Kentucky ages 18 and older and hosts a Special Purchase award, which gives the winner, determined by the exhibition committee and a juror, a cash prize, essentially to purchase the painting for display at the center.

The Medical Center’s director of community wellness, Linda Rush, said the exhibit is a good way to add atmosphere to the building.

“It started as a way to give visitors something nice to enjoy while they visited,” she said. “Then we found that it was also enjoyed by the employees and patients and was very therapeutic for them.”

Defending Special Purchase award winner Nell Peperis knows the joy of having patients look at her artwork. She said she has had about nine paintings purchased by the center to display, in addition to last year’s award-winning still-life painting of pears.

“Sometimes it’s work that motivates me, but sometimes I get requests to paint, sometimes I get the feeling I want to paint something,” Peperis said. “But there’s also the enjoyment of having someone appreciate the work you do that appeals to me, like when a patient who is sick forgets their illness for a bit while looking at my work.”

Misha Ambrosia, an artist enrolled in the last six exhibitions, recalled her first time winning the Special Purchase award and why she enjoys the event.

“There’s a lot of really talented women artists here, and it’s really nice to share an art show with them, share and talk, meet their significant others,” she said. “It’s always nice to have your artwork represented in the hospital. The year I won the Special Purchase award, my painting featured a patient there and she wanted to be wheeled down so she could see herself, and that made her really happy. How many artists can say that?”

The public exhibit runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Copyright 2012 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)

Baby steps: Gaumard ‘Newborn HAL’ simulator helps Medical Center staff train for emergencies

by Alyssa Harvey, The Daily News, originally published on 4/7/2012

With the click of a mouse, Debbie Smith could make the baby have a seizure, have trouble breathing or turn blue.

Smith, nursery and neonatal intensive care unit charge nurse at The Medical Center, was demonstrating the hospital’s new Gaumard “Newborn HAL” simulator.

“It’s like a baby doll that has a computer programmed inside it. We can program scenarios,” she said. “We can make the heart beat faster or slower. It has the ability to turn blue, and that signals to the staff to treat it as if the baby’s color is blue. We can practice positive pressure breathing. If it’s done too vigorously it can pop a hole in the lungs.”

The simulator, which helps staff learn how to handle high-risk clinical emergencies in a risk-free environment, also “breathes,” kicks and cries. It can be a boy or a girl. Employees can practice routine skills, such as starting IVs and catherization. The Medical Center is nearly finished training various staff, including labor and delivery and NICU nurses and respiratory therapists, according to obstetrics clinical manager Amber Herman.

“Ten percent of babies born here will need a little assistance. This gives the staff the ability to approach the baby. Not everything is cut and dry,” she said. “It can help work out some of the kinks in their training and react appropriately. There has been a lot of positive feedback. This shows the value we all hold in their professional growth.”

Smith agreed. The staff who have trained seemed to respond to the simulator as they would in a real-life situation.

“In the past, we had a baby doll to do those skills, but we have to tell them (the scenarios),” she said. “It didn’t seem that real.”

There are also trainings with the emergency room staff at the other facilities of Commonwealth Health Corp., the parent company of The Medical Center, Herman said.

“They may end up delivering in those ERs,” she said. “They can practice on the simulator.”

The simulator is used with initial employee orientation in the NICU, ongoing competency assessment and continuing education for medical personnel. Doctors have shown an interest in it. Paramedics may also train with the simulator and have it tailored to situations they may face in their environment, Smith said.

“We can customize it to individuals. With paramedics, their work is in the field whereas we have this equipment (at the hospital), so we practice with the equipment,” Smith said. “It fosters a community between the disciplines.”

The newborn simulator was purchased in part by a $14,500 grant from WHAS Crusade for Children. The total cost was $22,500. The Crusade for Children website at www.whascrusade.org says the grants are made to nonprofit agencies, schools and hospitals that help children with special needs up to age 18. The term “special needs” is defined as physical, mental, emotional and medical needs.

“We’re very grateful for Crusade for Children,” Smith said.

The “Newborn HAL” will help the hospital give better service to southcentral Kentucky, Smith said.

“Our community will see the benefits of it over time,” she said. “I think it’ll get better and better.”

Copyright 2012 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)