What's Up Newsletter

How many nurses can say they started practicing before the development of penicillin, the polio vaccine, and intravenous (IVs) systems of replacing fluids? Beverly Nicholas, RN, BA, M.ED, can! Beverly, a staff nurse working in the Family Health Clinics, recently celebrated her 84th birthday on July 3, 2008. She proudly recalls the many changes that have taken place in nursing since she graduated in 1945.

In the early 1940’s, World War II was still going strong. Women had very few career options at that time. As Beverly didn’t want to be a teacher or a secretary, Beverly Nicholas - Gold Star recipient

she signed up to get her Diploma in Nursing in 1942. Nursing training at the time was very different from the training required now. Although tuition was free, the hospital still got their money’s worth. Beverly, like all the nursing students, lived on-site and worked eight hour-days, seven days a week in the hospital. That’s not counting the nursing classes she had to attend.

While in training, Beverly joined the Naval Cadet Corp and spent six months working in the Oak Knoll Naval Hospital in Oakland. The hospital was the receiving agency for injured soldiers coming home from the South Pacific during World War II. Beverly remembered caring for many infected, gangrene bedsores. There was just not enough staff to turn them and certainly not the technology we have now to help manage those wounds. Working before the IV system, Beverly recalls giving patients their “IV” fluids through the thigh muscle. The nurses would have to frequently stop the drips and apply heat to the thigh muscle long enough to reduce the swelling caused by the treatment. No PICC lines, normal saline flushes, or IV pumps/tubing in stock!

She graduated from the Presentation School of Nursing in Aberdeen, South Dakota in 1945 and worked in South Dakota in public health, administration, and as a private duty nurse for almost twelve Beverly Nicholas has a career that spans the generations years. In 1956 she and her family left South Dakota and headed for California where she worked as a surgical, emergency, and school nurse. She worked for the Anaheim Union High School District until her retirement in 1986. Along the way, she received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Nursing in 1963 from California State University, Long Beach and a Masters in Education in 1976 from Pepperdine University. As a school nurse, Beverly remembers working on vaccination campaigns: lining up all the students, putting droplets of the oral polio vaccine on sugar cubes, and passing them to the students. Syringes, medical records, or other documents not required!

Before she retired from Anaheim Union High School District, Beverly started working part-time with the Health Care Agency (HCA) to give immunizations. That was back in 1981 and she is now observing her 27th year with the County. These days, Beverly works two days a week at the Buena Park clinic. Away from work, Beverly stays busy with her family, including her two children and two grandchildren. She is very handy with needlework and has made funeral shrouds to donate to families with stillborn babies. She also makes dolls and blankets and donates them to hospitals.

Orange County Emergency Medical Services Assistant Medical Director Dr. Ken Miller has been appointed to a three-year term on the National Advisory Council for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

The National Advisory Council was established to ensure effective and ongoing coordination of Federal preparedness, protection, response, recovery, and mitigation for natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters. The Council assists FEMA in carrying out its missions by providing advice and recommendations in the development and revision of the national preparedness goal, the national preparedness system, the National Incident Management System, the National Response Framework, and other related plans and strategies. Dr. Miller serves on the Council’s Special Populations subcommittee, which complements his work with the Health Care Agency on important issues including special populations shelters, alternative care sites and care and reception sites opened for evacuees.

Anh Nguyen

Hat’s off to Anh Nguyen, a research analyst in HCA’s Office of Quality Management, on the publishing of two more books in the Vietnamese language. The books are entitled Kiếp Người (the human fate) and Ngọn Đèn Chưa Thắp (the lamp is not lit yet), which she co-authored with a friend, Ngô Tịnh Yên. Anh has published five books and also contributes her writings to several well known Vietnamese magazines.

Valentine Kamara

Valentine Kamara was recently promoted to a Senior Analyst position with HCA Information Technology (IT). Val has been with the County of Orange Health Care Agency since 2001. Starting out as a contract Desktop Technician, Val quickly became a valuable member of the team and was brought on as a full time County employee. Before coming to the County, Val was a Math and Applied Science teacher for the Pasadena Unified School District. With a degree in Production/Mechanical Engineering, Val says his education and background has served him well in the field of Information Technology.

In his new role, Val’s current focus is strategic planning, including IT Policies and Procedures, disaster recovery, and business continuity planning. Though we won’t see him out and about in the programs fixing desktops, HCA will benefit from his planning and long range efforts. Recently, Val received a certification in ITIL, a certification that is a foundation for best practices in IT service and is recognized worldwide.

The planned relocation of the Special Diseases Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) and HIV Screening Clinics, and expansion of the HIV Ambulatory Care Clinic at the 17th Street facility later this year, provides Public Health Services with a new opportunity and a challenge—finding the right names for the program’s STD/HIV Testing and HIV Ambulatory Care clinics that promote a safe, discreet environment for care and testing services.

According to Program Manager Irene Magana, clients have expressed concerns about the current name and are uncomfortable entering a clinic that by its very name discloses the reason for their visit. At the clinic’s entrance in the main hallway, a sign over the door reads Special Diseases Clinic (STD/HIV). “The current name has been seen as a barrier to service within the community,” says Ms. Magana. “We are looking for a name that will welcome clients in a safe and discrete way, and will establish a stronger community connection.”

Ideally, the new names would be finalized in the coming months before the STD/HIV screening services move to their new space across the hall and the HIV Ambulatory Care Clinic is expanded in the current area. “We want to tap into the creative talents of HCA’s staff to come up with a new name that is descriptive of the services we provide and at the same time is sensitive to our clients. We strive to provide services in a confidential, culturally competent and nonjudgmental environment,” Ms. Magana stated.

If you have an idea on new names for the Special Diseases STD Screening and Treatment Clinic, or the HIV Ambulatory Care Clinic, please e-mail your suggestion to Natalie Silva at nsilva@ochca.com.

The mental health issues being experienced by American soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the impact on their families, have been widely covered in the media and the subject of much discussion in Congress. Now, a new project involving HCA Behavioral Health Services is designed to give mental health and community service providers the tools and resources they need to effectively care for veterans and their families.

Another Kind of Valor is an integrated DVD/CD learning system that utilizes dramatic vignettes to launch the user into a CD based learning experience. It is also designed for group interaction that utilizes the experience and expertise of the participants in combination with the materials and interviews featuring subject matter experts. Behavioral Health Services Deputy Agency Director Mark Refowitz committed the Agency’s resources for the project and HCA’s involvement has been coordinated by Kevin Smith, Division Manager for Adult Mental Health Services. He has worked closely with producer/ director Dan E. Weisburd, who has an extensive film and television resume, as well as over 25 years of experience as an advocate for the mentally ill and his own experience serving as a Captain in the Air Force during the 1950’s. Smith and Weisburd also collaborated several years ago on another CD based project called On Your Watch, which deals with the issue of jail suicide prevention.

While the Veterans Administration provides mental health services to returning veterans, many are seeking help from community mental health providers, who may not have the background and experience to effectively provide needed assistance. According to Smith, the Another Kind of Valor project went into high gear in October 2007 and involved conducting interviews with experts from around the country. These materials and interviews cover challenging issues including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, suicide, and domestic violence, as well as helping community providers connect returning veterans with the benefits and services they need to re-integrate into society. The Another Kind of Valor project was made possible by State funding and was produced in association with the California Department of Mental Health and the California Institute for Mental Health. Another Kind of Valor is intended as a resource for mental health professionals as well as professionals from a number of other disciplines, including police officers, emergency responders, judges, teachers, doctors and veterans who help other veterans.

Have you ever had that mid morning need to wiggle your feet? Shake out your hands? Get up from your desk, and move to a jazzy beat? Well, an estimated 50 of your HCA coworkers felt that same urge to move and groove, so they were trained on July 10 to serve as Lift Off! Facilitators. Now, they are coming back to their worksites to lead their office mates in Lift Off! physical activity breaks.

What is Lift Off!, you ask? Lift Off! is a 10-minute physical activity break designed to integrate daily physical activity into the workplace setting. Activities include a series of basic exercises that can be easily performed by individuals of varied fitness levels at varying levels of intensity, with minimal risk of injury. Music is an important part of these exercises since it helps maintain rhythm, promotes group interaction and makes the activity fun!

Over a year ago, more than 50 other HCA staff became facilitators of Lift Off! As a result, interest in Lift Off! grew and now Lift Off! is implemented in numerous programs throughout the Agency.

In partnership with UCLA’s School of Public Health Center to Eliminate Health Disparities (CEHD), Public Health, Health Promotion sponsored two Facilitator Trainings. The approximately 50 staff members, pictured at the HCA Learning Center, discovered that Lift Off! helps create a positive work environment and supports the health and well being of their coworkers. In fact, physical activity as brief as 10 minutes can be beneficial and can be combined with additional physical activity to satisfy the recommended amounts of daily physical activity. In other words, it’s not just fun, it’s good for you too!

If becoming a Lift Off! Facilitator sounds interesting to you, contact Frank Hernández at 714-796-8022 or fhernandez@ochca.com for future Lift Off! Trainings.

Big changes are in store beginning August 23 when you dial a ‘714’ telephone number, because that’s the day that the new 657 area co Graphic of a man dialing a phone number

de makes its debut.

The California Public Utilities Commission approved the so-called area code overlay because we were running out of available phone numbers within the 714 area code. The new area code, 657, will serve the same cities that are within the 714 area code, providing enough new phone numbers to meet the growing demand. What this all means is that beginning August 23, you will have to dial 1 plus 714 plus the seven digit telephone number to call a number in the 714 area code (for example, 1+714+834-XXXX). Depending on your location, you may also need to dial ‘9’ first for an outside line.

The Public Utilities Commission slogan also provides guidance for those with questions about the change – When in Doubt, Dial it Out!


Public Health’s Tobacco Use Prevention Program (TUPP) unveiled three additional winning entries in the “Tobacco and Hollywood” student art contest during the month of June. The winning entries were submitted by (left to right) Kayla Enos from the Orange County High School for the Arts, Melissa Markowitz of Huntington Beach High School and Lilia Vega, also from the Orange County High School for the Arts. The contest educates students and the public about the impact that smoking in movies has on tobacco use by youth. Winning entrants are rewarded with the display of their artwork on bus shelters around Orange County.

What’s UP is a newsletter for employees of the County of Orange, CA, Health Care Agency.

Editors
Tricia Landquist
Howard Sutter
Anne Fialcowitz

Phone (714) 834-6644
E-mail tlandquist@ochca.com
FAX (714) 834-7644
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