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Show ! I . .. ' I' i X x ' ; ; . X- 7 ' ' X - t : -' ' ' I X. ' K'4 4 I I: ; : , i; J f NEW DEPARTMENT heads at the Ashley Valley Medical Center are Adreana McDonald, mater- nity care; Jams Nelson, medical surgery and Virginia Eweil, emergency room. for better pcofienf cor On the surface little has changed at the Ashley Valley Medical Center since Hospital Corporation of America bought the facility last June from the county, but internally there are several differences which patients or visitors usually don't see. One of the most recent changes has been in the nursing staff at the hospital which has been departmentalized." As with much larger hospitals, nurses are now assigned to work either in operation recovery or in maternity care. Presently the critical care and emergency room departments have not been totally formed because of the shortage of personnel. The reason for departmentalizing the X x - - . VU REGISTERED NURSE Mary Hatch, prepares an IV in the Medical Surgical Department at the Ashley Valley Medical Center. t nursing staff is to "increase contact time with patients, and it makes nurses more accountable," Lynne Gagon, head nurse, said. With the departmentalizing of the nursing staff, patients receive twice the contact with nurses than they did with the other system. 'There can also be a lot more patient education by departments," Mrs. Gagon said. Television programs dealing with , special area of health education ' now be developed tobelS the patient s rooms for each deDL ment, Mrs. Gagon said. Part Departmental heads are ah.. McDonald, maternity care t Nelson, medical surgery ar,d Vfi Ewell, emergency room. 1 "These department heads win k much more aware of what L department needs," Mrs GaL "This allows for fine tuingo&ir skills and allows things the staff hi never Deen able to do." a' Mrs. Gagon extensively praised , function of HCA as a pool of resourc in which department heads can information from. ' "I feel a lot more comfortabl. knowing we are not alone if a probW comes up," she said. "We can refer tl problem to other HCA hospitals to . how they solved it " y Another area where the hospital has excelled is in the x-ray department1' Because of the investment in some advanced equipment, the x-rav department has been able to minimize the exposure of patients to radiation required in x-rays. The source of the reduced emission is a Flare Earth material which amplifies am-plifies x-rays thus required lest radiation. Recently the department was monitored by an independent firm which substanciated that the depart ment was using the lowest amount oj radiation in the state for x-rays. , "'. X " V ld I - r PAT TADISH instructs nurses on infection control at the Ashley -Valley Medical Center. |