Kudos - APIC-DFW Members - 2009
Kudos - APIC-DFW Members - 2009
SUE SEBAZCO AND ARLINGTON MEMORIAL FEATUREDIN NURSES LOUNGE FOR "GOING GREEN"
Kim Newman Honored at APIC CONVENTION


Kim Newman with Chris Nutty, APIC President

Kim Newman with Kathy Warye, APIC Executive Director and Bill Rutala, MD


LINDA MILLER and ANJU VARGHESE cited as contributors
Neurologic Complications Associated with Novel Influenza A (H1N1) Virus Infection in Children
ICT Honors Two of Our Chapter Members

Brenda Helms, RN, BSN, MBA/HCM

Brenda Helms, BSN, MBA/HCM, is infection control/employee health coordinator at The Heart Hospital-Baylor in Plano, Texas. “Brenda watches for issues before they are evident to the rest of us to prevent them from becoming a problem,” says nominator Susan Dorval, RN, director of healthcare improvement. “She noticed that we had an increase in positive urine cultures in July 2007. She formed a PI team and found several issues that could have been causing the increase. She developed care bundles for Foley catheters and provided aggressive education for the staff. She submitted an abstract to the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) regarding her project and was accepted to present a poster at the national conference. While at the conference, she was asked if her facility would like to become a mentoring facility for the IHI. An application for mentorship was submitted and accepted. She has shared her Foley bundles with anyone who asks, including a facility in Australia.” Helms serves on the board of directors for the Texas Society of Infection Control and Prevention. She is active in the Dallas/Fort Worth chapter of APIC and serves on three committees, two of which she is chairperson. Her service to her colleagues includes mentoring new infection preventionists, and her community service includes providing education about community-acquired MRSA and hand hygiene at public health screenings.

Thomas Button, RN, BSN, CNA-BC, CIC

Thomas Button, RN, BSN, MA, CIC, is director of infection prevention at Medical Center of McKinney in McKinney, Texas and is president-elect of the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of APIC. “Tom is a leader who is skilled at assisting and enabling the bedside nurse in infection prevention as well as enabling other infection preventionists to learn and grow in their duties,” says nominator Janet Glowicz, RN, MPH, CIC, director of infection prevention at Denton Regional Medical Center in Denton, Texas. Glowicz points to several of Button’s achievements: “The intensive care unit at his facility has experienced periods as long as 18 months without a ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) case, and Tom’s work has been accepted at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.” Button oversees the active surveillance cultures of various risk groups so that control measures can be put in place as soon as possible, and his experience came in handy. “Recently norovirus made an appearance at Medical Center McKinney,” Glowicz recalls. “Tom rallied the troops and prevented the illness from spreading to other units, and a minimal number of persons were affected. Tom has submitted this outbreak for presentation at the APIC national conference.”
Three APIC-DFW Members among Great 100 Nurses

Lygia Dunsworth
Nancy Viamonte
Dorothy Bartz
Three Baylor Poster Abstracts Accepted for APIC 2009 Conference

Judy Prescott
Fide Valencia
Connie Izzo ~ Janette Brown
Allen Peden
Raising the Bar on Hand Hygiene Compliance:  A Leadership Lead System-Wide Initiative
Primary Author: Judy Prescott, RN, BSN, CIC
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
Primary Author: Janette Brown, RN, BSN
Benefits of Infection Preventionist with Floor Nurse Councils
Primary Author: Fidelina Valencia, RN, BSN
Abstract accepted for a system initiative of the Baylor Health Care System Infection Prevention and Control Council


Judy Prescott
Vanessa Morgan
Patti Hightower
Brady Allen
A Development of a Template for Annual Evaluation, Risk Assessment and Planning: A Large System’s Strategy

Contributing Authors: Judy Prescott, RN, BSN, CIC , Manager, Epidemiology, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, TX; Vanessa Morgan, RN, MSN, CIC , Manager, Infection Control, Baylor Medical Center - Irving, Irving, TX; Patti Duer-Hightower, RN, BSN, CIC , Infection Control Coordinator, Baylor Speciality Hospital, Dallas, TX; Brady Allen, RN, BSN, CIC ; Infection Control Coordinator, Baylor Regional Medical Center at Grapevine, Grapevine, TX