|
TB Notes Newsletter
No. 4, 2007
HIGHLIGHTS FROM STATE AND LOCAL PROGRAMS
Delaware’s Lang TB Clinic Team Selected as Finalist
for the Governor’s 2006 Team Excellence Award
In an average year, the Lang TB
Clinic at the Hudson State Service Center in Newark,
Delaware, will conduct 16 to 18 contact investigations,
provide directly observed therapy (DOT) for all TB
patients, and each month will provide preventive
treatment for another 250–300 Delawareans with latent TB
infection (LTBI). Most of their clients are among the
most underserved and vulnerable in the state: low
income, non-English speaking Hispanics, blacks,
foreign-born persons, and undocumented immigrants. The
Lang Clinic team, composed of three nurses, an outreach
worker, and support staff, handle this workload with
great aplomb.
In 2006, Jeannie Rodman, MSN, RN, program nurse
consultant, decided to submit a nomination for the second annual
Delaware Governor’s Team Excellence Award based on their efforts
during a contact investigation.
The
Delaware Governor’s Team Excellence Award honors the efforts of
teams of 6 or more individuals from the state’s workforce of
approximately 12,000 full-time employees. Of the 26 teams entered,
five finalists received special honors. The Lang Clinic Team was
recognized as a finalist, at a ceremony held on July 21, 2007, in
Dover, Delaware.
“The Delaware Governor’s Team Excellence Award
criteria are very specific, with a definite slant toward the sort of
effort that can be showcased with lots of charts and graphs,” said
Ms. Rodman. “I knew we would be up against some very sophisticated
efforts, and wondered if we had a chance against that sort of
razzle-dazzle. What we do is not glamorous, but it is the
essence of public service, and we had some amazing results. This
particular effort was complicated by the need to incorporate two
important newer roles in Delaware’s Division of Public Health (DPH)
– that of the Medical Director and the Office of Health Risk
Communication, in response to media attention.”
This particular team effort centered around a
challenging contact investigation that began in June 2006, when a
kitchen worker in a popular Wilmington-area restaurant was diagnosed
with active TB. The worker, a non-English speaking Hispanic male,
had been ill for many months. Close contacts, including co-workers,
family, and friends, numbered more than 100. Within 3 weeks, in
spite of language and potential trust barriers, all contacts had
been screened, including chest x-rays for those at highest risk.
High-risk contacts were placed on preventive therapy, and the source
patient was on his way to recovery. Thanks to a quick and effective
response of the team, no disease transmission is known to have
occurred.
Lang
TB Clinic Team (left to right): Jacqueline Holland, RN, BSN;
Katherine Deitcher, RN, BSN; Marie O’Leary, RN, BSN, Nursing
Supervisor; Nila Boone, Social Services Specialist; Nilda Martinez,
Social Service Technician; and Susan Keegan, RN, BSN, Clinic
Manager. Not pictured are Marcia Brinker, RN, BSN, and John Chabalko,
MD, pulmonary consultant.
The investigation was complicated when a family
member of the restaurant employee called the local newspaper,
igniting a storm of media attention. The clinic’s response to this
challenge involved dozens of e-mails and last-minute conference
calls with DPH leadership and the Office of Health Risk
Communications (OHRC), wedged between the usual business of the
clinic and the extraordinary effort involved in the investigation.
The team emerged from the crisis having helped develop a decision
tree regarding lines of communication and responsibility within the
DPH leadership, which in turn led to an updated communications
policy.
This cohesive and talented team serves as a
testament to the leadership of Nursing Supervisor Marie O’Leary, RN,
and Clinic Manager Susan Keegan, RN. New Castle County Public Health
competes for nurses with the large health care systems of the
Wilmington and Philadelphia area, yet the Lang TB Clinic manages to
maintain a savvy, well-educated, and energized team of
professionals. Ms. O’Leary accomplishes this by fostering an
atmosphere of trust and by engaging team members with her passion
and fascination for the complexities of the disease and a devotion
to excellence.
—Submitted by
Jeannie Rodman, MSN, RN
Tuberculosis Nurse Consultant
Delaware Division of Public Health
Last Reviewed: 05/18/2008 Content Source: Division of Tuberculosis Elimination
National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention
|