NEW YORK NURSE: July/August 2010
The New York City Health & Hospital Corporation (HHC) has named Woodhull Medical Center RN Judith Cutchin 2010 Corporate Nurse of the Year. Cutchin is a head nurse in oncology, diagnostic service and coordinator of the rapid response team (RRT). She has been employed by HHC for nineteen years, and has developed a broad experience in a number of wide-ranging roles including staff nurse in the Emergency Department, head gastrointestinal nurse, and a preceptor for new employees in Infusion Therapy and Rapid Response Team Management. The resource person for med/surg and psychiatry, Cutchin also coordinates the IHI Collaborative for RRT. Always instrumental in health promotion, she assisted in the development of the Point of Dispensing Prophylactic Medication team, dispensing medication to the “at risk” community in their homes. She is described by her employer as “a coach and mentor to all members of the staff. Nursing Administration can always count on her to serve and act as a resource…her passion and commitment to the nursing profession shines through in all that she does.”
Ann Kurth, a New York University professor and director of Global Health Initiatives, will be conducting research at a New York University-supported clinic in Mombasa, Kenya, with a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The $100,000 Grand Challenges Explorations grant is one of 78 announced by the Foundation, as part of an initiative to explore bold and largely unproven ways to improve health in developing countries. The grant will support Kurth’s research study, titled “Enhancing Innate Vaginal Defenses to Reduce the Risk of HIV.” To receive funding, she demonstrated how her idea falls outside current scientific paradigms and the project’s potential to significantly advance global health. She plans to test the hypothesis that eliminating intravaginal practices such as douching will allow the return of healthy vaginal flora conditions, and that by restoring and maintaining a healthy environment, the incidence of pelvic inflammatory disease and HIV infection can be reduced. “Even if the risk is lowered just slightly, given the high prevalence of harmful intravaginal practices in sub-Saharan Africa, the population-attributable HIV risk reduction from this approach could be significant,” Kurth said.
NYSNA RNs Bimla Singh and Nicole Golden were recently on hand at a press conference following an extremely rare heart-liver transplant at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. Juan Farias was cleared to go home ten days after surgery, but not before stopping to thank the nurses and physicians who gave him a second chance at life. Farias, a landscaper, was referred to Montefiore for treatment of coronary artery disease and advanced heart failure. His condition was so severe his only chance for survival was a heart transplant. Additionally, tests revealed a rare enzyme deficiency in his liver, which would also need replacement. After waiting for a suitable match for three weeks, the 12-hour operation took place — the first ever performed at the hospital. Only 11 such operations were performed nationwide in 2009.