September 29, 2020

The US Constitution, Article 1, Section 2, mandates that every ten years, the country must conduct a count of its population. Today, that count is done by the non-partisan, US Census Bureau for every state and our five US Territories.

Besides knowing how many people live in the United States and our territories, the census informs elected officials, health authorities, school boards, and civic leaders about the communities they serve and the needs of its residents. The 2020 Census will determine how over $800 billion in federal tax dollars gets allocated and apportions how many elected representatives we have in Congress and creates new districts for future office holders. The Census helps state and local leaders decide where schools and health clinics are built, what infrastructure and transportation projects should be prioritized, and informs us of the composition of US households across our great country. For these reasons and others, it is critically important that we all respond to this year’s census.

The average census response rate for the US is 88 percent, but as of early September 2020, Texas is behind this average at 85 percent. This lower response rate means Texas could forgo crucial funding and resources which could then be redirected to other states with a higher response rate.

Every member of our One Amazing Team should perform this civic duty and respond to the 2020 Census questionnaire before the September 30 deadline. We urge you to encourage your family and friends to do the same.

There are four easy ways to respond to the Census and it only takes two minutes to complete!
Secure Internet: For the first time this year, the Census will be available online.
https://2020census.gov/en/ways-to-respond/responding-online.html
Respond by phone: The census phone lines are available at 1-800-923-8282.
https://2020census.gov/en/ways-to-respond/responding-by-phone.html
A significant undercount would dramatically deprive our region of vital public and private resources for the next ten years! Go to https://www.2020census.gov now and get counted!

Although focused efforts to train employees in the area of cultural competency ends on Wednesday, the health plan will continue to make this mission a priority throughout the year.

The past eight weeks have created space for self-reflection and team discussions around culture. However, the importance of this topic will have an effect that is sure to ripple past the September 30 course deadline.

Stephanie Lyons, an Enterprise Systems Manager, said she has appreciated the recent spotlight that the course has placed on these topics. The spotlight has confirmed her previous efforts to embrace the diversity of her team and allow everyone to benefit from it.

“In late 2019 we began a lunch series called Tasty Fridays,” Lyons said. “It was a time when everyone was encouraged to bring a dish that was unique to their home country or culture. We all could partake, which led to natural discussions around the food and family traditions.”

Lyons said talking about culture was ideal and imperative because her team comes from a variety of countries and continents.

She added that she can appreciate working for an organization that does well in this area and continues to improve. “My team works with Member Services and Marketing and Community Outreach – both areas that are first-contact areas for our members. Those teams work hard to meet diverse language and culture needs. Overall, I think the health plan does a great job at being culturally competent for our membership and each other.”

Take-Aways
  • All health plan employees must take the Cultural Competency course, available on HealthStream by Wednesday, September 30.
  • The 15 national Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) standards can be found here.
  • To review past Connect stories on this effort, click the following links: Team Discussions, Ideas, Cultural Competency Week, Hayes on The Health Plan.

Melissa Campbell, a transport nurse for Texas Children’s Kangaroo Crew, shares the critical role of our transport team and how their training, passion and shared commitment to patient safety helps keep them strong no matter what challenges they face along the way. Read more

September 28, 2020

The countdown clock is ticking. Texas Children’s Nursing will host its next virtual town hall from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 1. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be no live event at the Pavilion for Women Conference Center as we have done in previous years. The town hall will be hosted virtually via Microsoft Teams Live to keep everyone safe and to ensure we maintain social distancing.

Hosted by Chief Nursing Officer Mary Jo Andre’, the town hall will include a discussion of our COVID-19 response, nursing quality outcomes, Joint Commission plans, and system updates. Participants are encouraged to pre-submit their questions for the town hall by emailing it to info@voiceofnursing.org.

“With so many participants expected to attend the livestream, we will not be able to answer questions real-time via chat,” said Andre. “We will respond to as many pre-submitted questions as time permits during the town hall. All other questions will be responded to via email or “Ask the CNO” feature on the Voice of Nursing blog. Your feedback is critical to helping us enhance our processes and outcomes.”

As always, patient care is our first priority, and we know not all nurses will be able to participate in the virtual town hall livestream. However, nurses can still participate by viewing the town hall on-demand. The link to the town hall recording will be available on the Voice of Nursing blog the day after the event.

Click here to view the flyer for more information on town hall including how to access the link to the livestream. Remember, you don’t need the Microsoft Teams Live app to view the town hall. You can click on the link, or copy and paste it into your browser – and choose the “Watch on the Web Instead” option.

We are in this together  

The following passage was written by Texas Children’s Chaplain James Denham. 

Over the past 6 months, I have been struck by one word over and over again – “we.”  It is used all over the place in our communications and our encouragements, but it has not been overused. In fact, I hope it is used even more.

When the word “we” has been used in this column, it has been used not just to refer to us as a group of people, or as a categorical description.  “We” implies a togetherness.  It implies that no matter what our category is in this place and in our families, no matter our role, we are together.  We laugh together.  We wear masks together.  We stand up for justice for our communities together.  We cry together.  We grieve together.  We celebrate treatment progresses and family milestones together. “We” implies that we are stronger together than we are individually.  “We” implies that your heart and mine and everyone else’s is inextricably linked together.

As the chaplains here at Texas Children’s, we have been more than blessed to watch your togetherness at work, even as we apart physically.  We see your resilience even if you don’t.  We have watched you dare to smile, even when you yourself may not have felt so joyful. We have watched your tirelessness, even when you felt exhausted.  We have been moved by your shared hope for a thriving future, even when it has been hard.  We have watched your enduring love for others, even when you felt so drained.  In other words, we see the “we” of the people here and the people we serve.  Often, when we ask mothers and fathers and caregivers how they get through tough times, they don’t have elaborate answers and most of time say it’s simply because they love their kids. It is true for you too!  We have continued providing, caring, researching, hoping, working, adjusting, treating, problem solving, and serving because we are in this together.  Our unity and togetherness compel us to do and move forward, even when we don’t know how to keep on.

We continue to be gifted with the opportunity to see our togetherness. We chaplains have loved writing these words of encouragement and pointing out just how beautiful our unity is.  That unity, that togetherness will continue and it will continue to compel you and us, no matter how long or drawn out this pandemic will be.  In the Winnie the Pooh story where he and Christopher Robin are talking, Pooh-Bear expresses his uncertainty of being apart. Christopher Robin says, “Oh, Pooh. If ever there’s a tomorrow when we’re not together, there’s something you must remember. You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is even if we’re apart, I’ll always be with you.”  Yes!  Even when we feel hard pressed …YOU, and WE, are braver, stronger, and smarter than we could ever give ourselves, because as Christopher Robin implies, our presence remains with each other in every moment and so we stand together and unified by our spirit and connection to each other.  We give each other great hope!

This is our last Words of the Week, and we have been immensely blessed to encourage one another in these past few months.  In these reflections, we have written about our resilience through appreciating the ordinary, random acts of kindness, the power of play, our support systems, our courage, and our spirituality.  But in all of it, in every message, was a deep, resounding, resilient “we” that endures! In our ongoing work, in our ongoing life, may we continue to find strength always in that togetherness!

 

 

September 24, 2020

This week on Mark Wallace’s blog, he takes a look at how the pandemic has inspired all forms of leadership. Read more

September 22, 2020

Lauren Cavallaro shares how the challenges brought on by COVID-19 has helped her and her colleagues in the Emergency Center become a stronger team as they continue to adapt to new patient care processes during this unprecedented time. Read more