100 Day Challenge: One Team’s Success and Struggle Continues

As I’ve mentioned before, our team has been participating in the Live Healthy America 100 Day Challenge to lose weight.

One member of the team, Shelly Davis, has successfully lost 25 pounds. Davis, pictured here is a scheduler in the Wound Care Clinic at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Hurst-Euless-Bedford. She credits her weight loss primarily to cutting regular soda drinks out of her diet.

Another member has lost over 10 pounds by eating a low carb diet.

Others of us have struggled to lose weight at all, or worse yet, have gained weight.

UGH!

So we are regrouping, re-strategizing and planning to finish up in a blaze of glory. So far we have eliminated Mount Sugar from the break room, cleaned out the fridge and the freezer, and some team members are increasing exercise by taking the stairs, parking a little further out in the parking lot, walking over to the main hospital campus on nice days instead of driving.

Share-A-Healthy-Snack day is being planned as this is typed.

Stay tuned for our glorious finish! And in the meantime please share any tips you have for maintaining a health lifestyle and losing weight. We’re looking for all the help we can get!

Leslie Crawford, RDLD
Diabetes educator and nutrition counselor
Texas Health HEB

It's that time again already?

Don't forget to change your clocks this weekend for Daylight Savings Time.

While losing an hour's sleep doesn’t seem like much, over time, its affects can add up.

A sleep problem lasting longer than 30 days could mean you’ve joined the ranks of millions already suffering from sleep disorders.

“A sleep deficit shouldn’t be considered merely a nuisance that makes people feel bad,” said Dr. Saima Rashid, a physician on the medical staff at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Hurst-Euless-Bedford. “Insufficient sleep has been linked to the development and management of chronic diseases and conditions, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and depression.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control, chronic sleep problems caused by a sleep disorder or poor sleep hygiene affect an estimated 70 million Americans. When Daylight Savings Time begins Sunday, March 14, at 2 a.m., and the clocks “spring” forward one hour, many people may have trouble adjusting to a new sleep schedule.

National Sleep Awareness Week, an annual public education and awareness campaign to promote the importance of sleep, recommends:

Adults:
• Go to bed at the same time each night and rise at the same time each morning.
• Make sure your bedroom is a quiet, dark, and relaxing environment.
• Make sure your bed is comfortable and use it only for sleeping and not for other activities, such as reading, watching TV, or listening to music
• Physical activity may help promote sleep, but not within a few hours of bedtime.
• Avoid large meals before bedtime.

Adolescents/Young Adults:
• Avoid caffeinated drinks after lunch.
• Avoid bright light in the evening.
• Avoid arousing activities around bedtime, such as heavy study, text messaging and prolonged conversations.
• Expose yourself to bright light upon awakening in the morning.
• While sleeping in on weekends is permissible, it should not be more than 2–3 hours past your usual wake time, to avoid disrupting your circadian rhythm governing sleepiness and wakefulness.
• Avoid pulling an “all-nighter” to study.

"How's your Mom?"

Wouldn’t it be nice if the people caring for you at the hospital treated you like a member of their own family? Patients often come to us in crisis, sick and scared, needing both medical and emotional care. At Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Hurst-Euless-Bedford, our “How’s your Mom” patient satisfaction campaign reminds caregivers to treat every patient like they would their own parents.

Every area of the hospital has a role to play in helping our patients and families navigate the often complex healthcare system, from the ER to registration or the lab. We strive to deliver compassionate, quality care with every encounter, but like all human beings, sometimes we miss the mark. We don’t always know it, so feedback from our patients and families helps us know where we need to improve. Patients may receive a patient satisfaction survey after discharge or after receiving an outpatient service, such as x-rays or lab tests. For patients or families still in the hospital, our patient advocate can assist with any concerns or questions.

Our hospital leadership, including the president and chief nursing officer, review all patient comments weekly. Staff who are complimented by name in a patient satisfaction survey each receive a “thank you” note from our hospital president thanking them for making a patient’s journey a little bit easier.

We know going to the hospital is never convenient and is rarely something you look forward to — at Texas Health HEB, we strive to make the experience as human and compassionate as possible.

Lisa Starnes, MBA, APR
Business Development Specialist
Texas Health HEB