Back-to-school bully basics

You packed the backpack. You made a lunch. You picked the right back-to-school outfit. You talked about all the things your kiddo will learn this year and how to act on the first day of school. And you snapped a photo as your youngster headed off to school this morning.

But did you think to discuss how to deal with a bully?

It’s hard to think about your child being teased or tormented, but the sad reality is that in North Texas complaints about bullying continue to rise.

So what’s a parent to do?

Amazingly, it’s really the little things that help.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services suggests that the first thing parents can do is talk to their children. Ask subtle questions like who do you sit with at lunch? Or ask are there kids at school you don’t like? You’d be amazed the conversations those seemingly simple questions can generate.

“Taking an active interest in children’s friendships and activities can make a difference in spotting signs of bullying early,” Ross Teemant, a licensed clinical social worker and clinical manager at Texas Health Springwood Hospital. “Monitoring your child’s behaviors and noticing subtle behavior shifts can be among the first signs of problems at school.”

Keeping a close eye out and ear open for signs of trouble is crucial because many times children are too afraid to share the information even with a close parent.

If the subtle observations and chats don’t work, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services suggests looking for possible warning signs that a child is being bullied. Those signs include:
• Unexplained cuts and bruises;
• Few friends;
• Lost interest in school;
• Trouble sleeping;
• Frequent complaints of headaches, stomachaches or other pains;
• Low self esteem; and
• Loss of appetite.

Even if your child isn’t being bullied, it’s important to show by example the right behaviors. Letting children see healthy friendships and engaging in activities together can make a big difference.

With a new school year the slate is blank. So when the kiddos hop off the school bus today or you sit down to dinner, try starting a simple conversation. You may be surprised at how fruitful it can be.

Jennifer Erickson
Sr. Public Relations Specialist
Texas Health HEB

Young mother gets back to life quickly with robotic surgery

Tammi McAlister woke up from her recent robotic hysterectomy and didn’t require any pain medication. Sound like a dream? Luckily for McAlister it wasn’t just as dream.

The 33-year-old’s surgery was the first performed using the da Vinci® SI robotic surgical system at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Hurst-Euless-Bedford.

Not only did she experience minimal pain, but in less than a week she was back at her 10-year-old son’s baseball games and living life normally. McAlister said that after watching it take six long weeks for her sister to recover from a traditional hysterectomy she decided to research her options. After doing her homework she saw that recovery times with robotic hysterectomies typically are much shorter than even laparascopic procedures.

“I felt having it done robotically was definitely the way to go if you have to have it done,” she said. “I think I took one pain pill. I feel fine. I keep telling my sister you should have done it this way.”

The da Vinci® robot enables surgeons to make small one centimeter incisions and perform total laparoscopic hysterectomies, rather than the larger incisions used previously. And because the procedures are done with such small incisions patients tend to recover faster and with less pain.

“We have seen great success with the first cases completed at Texas Health HEB,” said Dr. Mark Messing, a gynecologic oncology surgeon on the medical staff at Texas Health HEB who performed McAlister’s surgery.

Earlier this week McAlister got to see the da Vinci® robot and even practice using it. Texas Health HEB had a mobile unit on site for employees and the community to test. McAlister said that it a little odd to see a similar robot to the one Dr. Messing used in her surgery, but thought it was fascinating to get to maneuver the machine herself. (See photo at right of McAlister looking at the robot in action.)

In addition to gynecological surgery, the da Vinci® Surgical System can be used to treat endometriosis, fibroid tumors, plus a variety of cancers, such as gynecologic cancer. The $1.7 million robot provides 3D HD vision capabilities, plus hand-eye instrumentation and movement for controlled precision and accuracy. The da Vinci® system is controlled by surgeons seated at a console next to the patient's bedside.

Volunteers learn the ABCs of CPR

Can you name the ABC’s in an emergency? In this case I don’t mean the alphabet, but rather airway, breathing, circulation – otherwise known as the tests to see if someone needs CPR.

Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Hurst-Euless-Bedford volunteers recently got a refresher course on cardiopulmonary resuscitation, more commonly known as CPR. The education department at Texas Health HEB offered the class for free to the volunteers to thank them for their service to the hospital. About 18 volunteers were trained in July.

CPR is used when a person goes into cardiac arrest. An estimated 918 people die of heart disease each day in the United States, according to the American Heart Association.

These days automated external defibrillators are posted at schools, airports and other venues. But if an AED isn’t around, performing CPR after calling 911 can be the most effective way to help save someone’s life. Volunteers learned CPR for adults, children and infants, along with how to save a person who is choking and how to use an AED.

If you find yourself in a situation where a person isn’t breathing or isn’t conscious call 911 first. Then open the person’s airway by gently lifting the chin. Watch for 10 seconds to determine if the person is breathing. If not, give the person two full breaths and then do compressions with the heal of your hand pressing the person’s sternum. Recent research has show that using the beat of “Staying Alive” is a good measure to complete compression at the ideal speed.
CPR should be continued until help arrives.

To sign up for a CPR class at Texas Health HEB, visit www.texashealth.org/classes or call 1-877-THR-WELL. For more information on CPR, click here.

Jennifer Erickson
Sr. Public Relations Specialist
Texas Health HEB

Baby-Friendly approach paying dividends

This year’s theme for World Breastfeeding Week, “Breastfeeding: Just Ten Steps, The Baby Friendly Way!,” is so appropriate for Texas Health Resources.

In August 2008, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Allen became the first Baby Friendly Hospital in Texas, quickly followed by Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Hurst-Euless-Bedford and Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Stephenville. And in 2010 Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth and Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital achieved the designation. And actually Texas Health hospitals are the only ones in Texas and less than 100 hospitals in the United States to achieve the Baby-Friendly Hospital designation from the World Health Organization. Other Texas Health hospitals are currently working on the designation too.

Texas Health Resources made a commitment to the community to provide an environment within the organization that supports families and breastfeeding in the best way possible following the “Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding.”

But there are myths and misunderstandings about what this means for families giving birth at Texas Health hospitals. Our facilities ensure that all staff caring for mothers and babies have the skills necessary to support the parents in their feeding decisions.
• After the birth, babies are held skin to skin with their mother. This helps provide the most nurturing experience for both. Babies held skin to skin: cry less, regulate heart rate, respiratory rate, body temperature and glucose levels more efficiently.
• By providing rooming-in, our hospitals allow parents to quickly become the experts in the care of their baby. Mothers are tuning into their baby’s needs, and families are encouraged to take an active part in the nurturing of not only the newborn, but also the new mother.
• For families choosing to breastfeed, our care model provides the most supportive environment, encouraging cue-based exclusive breastfeeding.

At Texas Health HEB we’ve seen great improvements for our patients after implementing those seemingly simple steps. Our readmission rate for babies with jaundice has decreased by about 60 percent meaning babies are healthy and at home with their parents rather than facing stays in our neonatal intensive care unit for follow-up care. And our rate of exclusive breastfeeding success by moms choosing to breastfeed has increased to 65- to 70-percent from 10 percent before implementing these steps. This means that moms are going home comfortable with the breastfeeding process, which helps to eliminate some stresses of the having a newborn.

Our commitment is to improve the health the people in the communities we serve. Research is very clear on the health benefits of breastfeeding for both mother and baby. For mothers choosing breastfeeding, they will not find a more supportive environment than a Texas Health hospital.

As a mother and grandmother myself along with being a nurse and lactation consultant, I know firsthand that parenting is not just about how we feed our babies. It’s also how we care for and love them in many other ways. This is our primary reason for providing “Baby Friendly” care.

Laura Burnett, RN, BSN
International Board Certified Lactation Consultant
Nursing Supervisor, Women's Services
Texas Health HEB

What I did on my summer vacation…

For 14-year-old Kris Paranandi getting to test drive the da Vinci® surgical robot was the cap on a summer of learning about the medical field.

Paranandi is part of the Junior Volunteer program at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Hurst-Euless-Bedford. He’s interested in the cardiology field and has spent the summer helping in that area of the hospital. “For someone interested in the medical field this program is a great way to see how people work,” he said. “You could see it on TV, but firsthand experience is always better.”

On Tuesday morning, Paranandi (featured in second from the left of the photo) and nine other Junior Volunteers got to test their video game skills using the da Vinci robot. The da Vinci® system is controlled by surgeons seated at a console next to the patient's bedside. The $1.7 million robot provides 3D HD vision capabilities, plus hand-eye instrumentation and movement for controlled precision and accuracy.

Paranandi said that initially he was skeptical that the robot would work so well. But after controlling the robot with his hands, Paranandi said that he was fascinated to see how it worked. “I’m surprised how easily it mimics movement and how fast it was to learn to use,” he said. “It took a few minutes to get used to the movement, but it was like playing video games or playing with a stack of Legos.”


He also was surprised that using the controllers felt like you were really picking up the objects in the viewfinder. “It’s so intuitive you forget that you’re using a robot,” he said.