Vim & Vigor - Winter 2013 - Community Healthcare - (Page 56)
Getting Babies
'Back' to
Sleep
By eliSe SimS
providers about ways to reduce risk for SUIDs and other
sleep-related causes of infant death.
Nurses unite to spread message
of safer sleep practices
B
Keeping BaBies safe
online
abies in cribs are sleeping safer and their
parents have greater peace of mind, thanks
to vigilant efforts of the nursing staff at
Community Healthcare System hospitals. Nurse
educators have been spreading the message of safe sleeping
methods for babies in an effort to move Lake County from last
position as the Indiana county with the highest number of
sudden unexpected infant deaths (SUIDs).
"Safe sleep practices are taught from the get-go," says
Mary Puntillo, RNC-NIC, RNC-LRN, neonatal clinician at
Community Hospital. "We are committed to spreading the
message of baby 'Back to Sleep; By Myself; in a Naked Crib.'
We use HALO® SleepSacks™ for babies born at our hospitals.
The sleeper sack is a soft wearable blanket with a swaddle
feature that replaces loose blankets in a crib. New moms are
seeing it, hearing it from the moment baby is born, and we're
teaching it in our communities with Taking Care of Baby and
Grandparent classes so that hopefully, they will do the same
at home."
For her efforts, Puntillo has been named a "Safe to Sleep"
Champion by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute
of Child Health and Human Development. The Safe to Sleep
campaign (previously known as the Back to Sleep campaign) strives to educate parents, caregivers and healthcare
Community Healthcare System nurses spread the message of
safer sleep practices at Babies R Us (from left to right): Hope
Robinson, RN-C; Pam Krasowski, RN; and Teresa DeYoung, RN.
56
WINTE R 2 013
SUIDs are, for the most part, preventable and are a result
of unsafe sleep practices. According to First Candle, one of
the nation's leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to the
survival of babies through the first years of life and a Safe to
Sleep campaign collaborator, there are 4,500 SUIDs per year
in the U.S. Eighty to 90 percent of those deaths are from
babies sleeping in an unsafe environment.
With Community Healthcare System hospitals-
Community Hospital in Munster, St. Catherine Hospital in
East Chicago and St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart-leading
Lake County in infant deliveries, the hospitals' nursery staff
has taken a leadership stance in keeping babies safe. By taking education and awareness to another level, one by one,
families-and other area hospitals-are beginning to follow
the new recommended guidelines.
Besides teaching in the Taking Care of Baby and
Grandparents classes, Puntillo and co-NICU staff nurses
Teresa DeYoung, RN; Hope Robinson, RN-C; and Pam
Krasowski, RN, have reached out to the community spreading the word through Baby Fairs at Babies R Us. This past
June, Puntillo brought the Safe to Sleep message before the
Northwest Indiana Patient Safety Coalition. The coalition is
made up of healthcare leaders from Northwest Indiana facilities who work toward health and safety issues across the age
span. Numerous hospitals and clinics are represented, along
with two university nursing programs.
"We're proud that our nurses have made the decision to spread the word about proper sleep environments
and take a leading role in preventing the tragic deaths
of babies," says John Gorski, chief operating officer of
Community Healthcare System.
Are You a New Mom?
Talk to your doctor about other ways to keep your baby safe.
Need a physician? Log on to www.comhs.org
and click "find a physician" to search our directory.
http://www.comhs.org
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Winter 2013 - Community Healthcare
Vim & Vigor - Winter 2013 - Community Healthcare
Contents
Community Message
Community Briefs
Timely Answers, Quality Treatment
Breathing for Bonnie
Powered by Patients
Got Excuses?
Managing Your Health with a DIY Tool Kit
Is It the Stress Talking?
The Wonderful World of Greens
Knee-to-Know Basics
On the Cover
Run for Your Life
14 Good-for-You Gifts
Special Delivery
Virtual Health
SPOTLIGHT ON: Community Hospital
SPOTLIGHT ON: St. Catherine Hospital
SPOTLIGHT ON: St. Mary Medical Center
Getting Babies ‘Back’ to Sleep
Vim & Vigor - Winter 2013 - Community Healthcare
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