NEW YORK NURSE: October 2009
Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) RNs Karen Beckman and Donna Oddo spoke at a recent press conference announcing further enhancements to the Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner (SAFE) Center of Excellence at ECMC.
A grant from the New York State Crime Victims Board provided funding for new equipment and clinician training at the center, in addition to an increased public awareness campaign. The Adult Regional Trauma Center of ECMC was the first hospital in Western New York to create a SAFE Center in 2004, and since its inception specially trained and certified Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE) have provided care to more than 125 victims annually, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Beckman, an ER clinical nurse specialist, spoke about the SAFE Center and SANE program. Oddo, the Emergency Department Unit Manager, read a resolution dedicating the renovated emergency examination room in memory of Sandra Kowalewski, also a NYSNA member. As one of the original certified SANEs at the center, she passed the national certification exam while undergoing chemotherapy for incurable pancreatic cancer. She succumbed to the disease in November 2007.
Kowalewski also was certified as a flight nurse and an advanced trauma care nurse. She was described as “the epitome of an ER nurse, providing high-quality care to patients and their families . . . someone who has given so much to ECMC, the Emergency Department, and victims of sexual assault.”
José Mapalad Planillo, a member of the NYSNA Board of Directors and a clinical nurse in the Adult Intensive Care Unit at New York Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan, recently reported that NYSNA members comprise most of the the current leadership of the New York City Chapter of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (NYCAACN). The chapter, founded in 1972, is dedicated to creating a healthcare system driven by the needs of patients and families where critical care nurses make their optimal contribution. NYSNA members serving as NYCAACN officers include Planillo, president; Felice Rosen, Mount Sinai Hospital, president-elect; Diane Murgia, St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, treasurer-elect; Susan Nevins, Mount Sinai Hospital, board member; Mary Ann Jones-Johnson, Mount Sinai Hospital, board member; and Solomon Soloncha, St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, recording secretary. Their terms run through June 2010.
One of the members in the cover photo of our September issue was misidentified. Our apologies to Velta Simmonds, a NYSNA nurse at Maimonides Medical Center and member at large on the executive committee of the NYSNA Behavioral Health Practice Focus Group. We regret the error.