Le Bonheur Children's Hospital

Our Pediatric Critical Care Medicine Symposium will be Friday, Sept. 20! We will discuss evidence-based trends and practices that aid in the treatment of critically ill children in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, as well as the cardiorespiratory and neurocritical care issues that are present in Emergency Department and Critical Care settings. Register for this conference today: https://lnkd.in/eXi7JeCS

At Le Bonheur’s Germantown Emergency Department (ED), a 9-year-old patient was treated for severe asthma exacerbation. Through the course of his treatment, the care team made the decision to transport him to Downtown Memphis to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). The patient’s mother expressed her desire to drive her son to the hospital herself and refused transport via ambulance. The physician tried to explain transporting him without an ambulance could be detrimental. Technician Valerie “Rene” Nelson had a different approach and carried out the MLH Power of One mission of making a connection, listening to understand and honoring commitments. After establishing a positive relationship with the mother, Nelson went back to learn more about the reasoning to refuse an ambulance. She learned that the mother was worried about leaving her car in Germantown, so Nelson offered to ride in the ambulance with the patient while the mother drove separately. Nelson recently received the #PowerOfOne Award for going above and beyond to support, understanding and a plan that considered everyone involved. Thank you for all that you do! #lebonheurproud #lebonheurchildrenshospital

Ten-year-old George Brewer was rarely sick, but the headaches he started experiencing were so severe that he could not stop vomiting. Kevin and Cindy Brewer rushed their son to Le Bonheur Children’s Emergency Department, where he underwent a series of tests and MRIs. His diagnosis: a brain tumor that needed to be removed. The tumor was caught early, and surgery was successful. Le Bonheur helped save their son during one of the scariest times of their lives. It left the Brewers with a question: what could they do to give back to the hospital that had given so much to their family? The answer came unexpectedly. Cindy and Kevin Brewer along with Kent Underwood, co-owners of LEO Events, a Memphis-based events management agency, were approached by one of their employees with an idea. She had been researching Ryan Seacrest Foundation, a nonprofit started by American Idol’s Ryan Seacrest. Seacrest was building state-of-the-art broadcast studios in children’s hospitals across the country — allowing patients to get away from the burdens of being hospitalized for a while to be entertained. What if they tried to get one for Le Bonheur? Read how Kevin and Cindy Brewer helped Le Bonheur partner with the Ryan Seacrest Foundation to receive a studio in the hospital for our latest edition of Securing The Promise: https://lnkd.in/gnVKHpVs

COVID cases climbed worldwide this summer, and Shelby County hasn't been spared by the latest uptick. Nick Hysmith, MD, MBA, MS, FAAP, Medical Director of Infection Prevention at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital and an associate professor of pediatrics at University of Tennessee-Health Science Center College of Medicine said he's "starting to see COVID as more of a routine viral illness," and that there's a lot herd immunity right now overall. Hysmith talked with The Daily Memphian about how COVID looks more like other common respiratory viruses in this article: https://lnkd.in/eespf5Qs

When a baby in her care needed an MRI at night, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) nurse AnnaBelle Johnson volunteered to take care of the baby, along with the machines and medications the child needed. Since the child had been unstable in health, she made sure the baby had a good bath after receiving the MRI. The next morning, Johnson transformed into the Easter bunny at work. After seeing other babies in the NICU, she visited the baby's room as herself. The family had received very tough news about the MRI. She comforted the family with hugs and explained the miracles she had seen within the NICU. A few weeks later when the baby was more stable and only required a feeding tube, the family was moved into a new room. Johnson was a charge nurse one night and arranged for the family of three to have dinner together. She went out of her way multiple times to ensure the child and family were provided with the best care possible. Johnson recently received a Daisy Award for going above and beyond in her work. This is just an example of the work she does every day for our patients at Le Bonheur. Visit https://lnkd.in/gBa-8cbE to learn more about our Nursing department. #lebonheurproud #lebonheurchildrenshospital

We held our inaugural School Nurse Conference here at Le Bonheur Children's last month. The conference served as an opportunity for local school nurses to receive additional training to help serve their students by offering current education and resources, as well as formal Continuing Nursing Education (CNE) hours to school nurses as they participated in the day-long training. We had more than 100 local school nurses attend our conference to learn about resources related to mental health, cardiac risks in sports, gangs, and vaping among students. We look forward to hosting another conference for our school nurses next year!

Terri Finkel, MD, PhD, Pediatrician-In-Chief and Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital and Interim Chair of the Department of Pediatrics and tenured professor at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, has devoted her career to working with critically ill children and finding ways to ease their pain. Since the 1990s, Finkel received about a dozen patents and millions of dollars in federal and private funding to study immune dysfunction in autoimmune and infectious diseases. But her recent win for Tennessee children with genetic diseases might be the biggest yet for Finkel. She advocated before the Tennessee Legislature for House Bill 1826 and Senate Bill 1762, which became effective July 1. The new law requires TennCare to cover rapid whole-genome sequencing of children who show signs of rare genetic diseases, which will help sick children get diagnosed quicker for better health outcomes while also providing cost savings related to fewer hospital days and less prolonged testing. You can read The Daily Memphian article by Aisling Maki to learn more about Finkel's work to push this law forward here: https://lnkd.in/eCPTz_EX #lebonheurproud #lebonheurchildrenshospital

Nature Photographer Curt Hart visited our Le Bonheur Children's patients for a Story Time in our Family Resource Center to share the magical world of bees! The book, written by past The University of Memphis President Shirley Raines and photographed by Hart, was a hit among our young patients. He shared other books from the series published by Flowerpot Press about birds and woodland creatures as our patients enjoyed story time with snacks and nature-themed crafts. As the sponsor for our Story Time, Flowerpot Press also donated books to Le Bonheur! Thank you to Mr. Hart for visiting our patients and reading to them, and to Flowerpot Press for their generous donation.

Join us for the 7th Annual Gastroenterology and Nutrition Symposium on Friday, Sept. 13! The theme for this year's event is "Feeding Issues." This course is a multidisciplinary approach to the comprehensive nutrition care of pediatric patients. Attendees will learn the nutrition interventions for infants, children and adolescents with a variety of common diseases. The course will focus on the nutrition management of various diseases by organ system with a special focus on some of the current issues in nutrition in the pediatric patient and what the available literature recommends. If you aren't able to attend in person, there is a virtual option for this event. You can view the schedule for this event and register here: https://lnkd.in/eH8A4i_Z

This Saturday, Aug. 31 is the 2nd Annual Healthier 901 Fest from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Shelby Farms Park. There will be cooking demos by celebrity chefs, surprise giveaways, live music and healthy food trucks. This year, we’re adding more ways for you to stay healthy including a new Find Your Fit Zone to kickstart your fitness journey, an enhanced Family Zone with low-impact activity options and plenty of seating. Don't miss your chance to burn calories, win prizes and enjoy an unforgettable day of health and wellness with your community!