Five Alton Memorial Nurses Honored in Clinical Ladder Program

PHOTO BY DAVE WHALEY
Alton Memorial Hospital nurses, left to right, Bette Fay, Meghan Arnold, Cris Chesnut, Stephanie Watson and Susan Means were honored recently for their advancement in the Professional Nursing Development Program.

(Alton, IL - Decmeber 7, 2009) � Five Alton Memorial Hospital nurses were honored recently for their advancement in the Professional Nursing Development Program.

Meghan Arnold of the Surgical Care Unit is the newest nurse to apply for and receive Level I in the program; Christine Chesnut and Stephanie Watson, both Emergency Department nurses, progressed from Level I to Level II; Bette Fay and Susan Means of OB upgraded to Level III.

Established at AMH in 2005, the Professional Nursing Development Program uses a point system to recognize nurses for providing outstanding care to patients and families within a clinical area. Along with the recognition, a monetary award is given -- $1,500 for Level I, $3,000 for Level II and $5,000 for Level III. AMH now has 14 nurses in the program � five at Level I, six at Level II and five at Level III.

Arnold graduated with her associate degree from Lewis and Clark Community College in 2002. She worked on a busy primary care unit in Royal Oak, Mich., before coming to AMH in 2008.

�There is no down time for Meghan,� says her manager, Vicki Rothe. �She is at the bedside educating her patients and families or giving another team member a hand. She has set an example of what our expectations are and how to achieve them.�

Arnold�s exemplar described her care of a patient with extensive abdominal surgery, and how she cared for him and his family. She received credit for courses taken at Kaplan University in pursuit of her BSN, for a poster presentation given to staff, for working as charge nurse for more than 100 hours, for being a member of the CWI Care Coordination team and for serving as her unit�s United Way campaign chairperson. Chesnut has worked at AMH for 17 years, primarily in the ED. She graduated from St. Francis School of Nursing in Peoria in 1982 and has returned to school for her BSN from Maryville College.

�Cris is a fabulous patient advocate, often going above and beyond to make sure every base is covered and the patient is safe,� says co-worker Jessica Axley.

In her exemplar, Cris wrote about caring for a homeless patient who was successfully resuscitated in the ED. �You can never be completely ready for what will come through the doors of the ED, and that is why I love the area,� she says. �You have to always be ready as much as you can for the unknown.�

Chesnut provided presentations and assisted with annual competencies, obtained certification (not required) in APLES (Advanced Pediatric Life Support) and ABLS (Advanced Burn Life Support), precepted new staff, served on many committees and participated in several community events, including the hospital�s Diabetes Fair.

Watson graduated from LCCC in 2004 and is enrolled in the BSN to MSN program at Saint Louis University. �Stephanie does an excellent job of caring for patients in the ED environment,� says Dr. Rodger Hanko, an ED physician at AMH. �She is knowledgeable, caring and efficient.�

Watson described caring for an elderly lady who was experiencing a heart attack and who subsequently arrested in the catheter lab, where Watson assisted in a successful resuscitation. The patient ended up fully recovering.

"It�s times like this that make me realize nursing is my calling,� she says. �I love my job. I love saving lives.�

Watson received credit for some academic courses, some staff presentations and posters on MRSA, hand washing and sterile technique for urinary catheter insertion, serving on the United Way Campaign and several community activities including the KSHE blood drive.

Fay has grown up at AMH. She started as a CNA in 1971, worked as an LPN from 1974-90, graduated from LCCC in 1990 and has worked in the OB unit since that time. She obtained her BSN from McKendree in 2007 and is working on her Masters at Webster University.

Co-worker Marchelle Pittman describes Fay as being a � take-charge type of person who can always be depended upon to jump right in and help when needed.� Fay�s exemplar described that very attribute, when she helped deliver a baby in the AMH ground floor hallway on July 14, 2009.

Fay received credit for academic courses, educating staff with poster presentations on medication reconciliation, cord blood collection, being a neonatal resuscitation instructor, serving as a MidAmerica Transplant Coordinator, many hours of relief charge nurse, serving on many committees, and being very actively involved in many community activities such as the Heart Walk, team captain of the Jingle Bell Run to benefit the Arthritis Foundation, and helping with the hospital�s Heart Fair and Diabetes Fair.

Means graduated from Olin School of Practical Nursing in 1988, from LCCC in 1991 and