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Marsh Regional Blood Center is in critical need of type O-negative blood. Due to our hospitals treating several different trauma cases over the last two weeks, the supply has been severely depleted. O-negative blood is extremely important because it can be transfused to anyone, regardless of blood type. Because it is universal, it’s what our hospitals use in trauma cases, and it is carried on rescue aircraft for in-flight transfusion, if necessary. (Unfortunately, those who have type O-negative can only receive O-negative, so it is vital to have a supply for that population, as well.) Marsh Blood is asking for donations at any of their three centers or through any of the upcoming blood drives. All O-negative donors from Thursday, Nov. 3, through Sunday, Nov. 20, will receive a long-sleeve holiday T-shirt plus a $10 Food City card. Appointments are preferred for in-center donations, but walk-ins are welcome. Appointments can be made by calling the…

We follow evidence-based practice to make the best clinical decisions for our patients – a key to improving patient outcomes and overall healthcare quality. To make the latest evidence-based practice resources accessible for all team members, Ballad Health offers EBSCO (Elton B. Stephens Company) on the Ballad Health intranet main page and within Epic. With a single click, team members can access medical databases, expert-based clinical decision support content and also a nursing resource called Dynamic Health. Dynamic Health for nurses Dynamic Health is designed to help nurses and allied health professionals master skills, obtain fast answers to questions and foster a culture of evidence-based practice and critical thinking, with opportunities for continuing education. It is an evidence-based system with patient skills videos, information about nursing skills and resources on tests, labs, disease processes, conditions and treatments. There’s also a detailed drug guide for health professionals and resources about physical/occupational therapies, speech, nutrition and social…

The performance appraisal period for Ballad Health starts on Friday, Sept. 2, so it is important to start thinking about this essential work now. General information on the performance appraisal period: Annual performance appraisals are to be completed between Sept. 2 and Nov. 30 for Ballad Health team members. The 12-month period for which team members’ performance is being reviewed is Sept. 1, 2021, through Aug. 31, 2022. Team members hired after July 31, 2022, will not be included in the appraisal process this year. No peer rating or self-assessments will occur this year. Any alternate raters selected for the responsibility of evaluating team member performance will also be responsible for final sign-off to close the team member appraisal. Reviews for the performance appraisals should take place in person, when possible, but can also be done remotely again this year. Additional information on this process can be accessed on the OD intranet site. These leader resources include…

More than 9,000 of our team members are using Ballad Teams, our mobile team member app. Have you downloaded it yet? Ballad Teams offers important system news, B-Well powered by Sharecare and easy access to an array of other useful resources like your pay statements, PTO balance, team member discounts, IT support and benefits, as well as a link to log into Smart Square scheduling. We continue to add new features. For any team members who downloaded Ballad Teams previously but have since lost the app – perhaps from updates to your phone, or you may have a new phone altogether – or if you’ve never had the app before, here’s how to get it. Installing or reinstalling the app To do so, follow this link for instructions. For iPhone/Apple devices, you will need a code to download the app. The code is provided by following the above link. NOTE: Only one code should be needed per Apple…

As we work to strengthen our nursing workforce, Ballad Health is looking for some of our experienced nurses to join our Nurse Mentorship Program and serve as mentors for our nurse residents. The program promotes professional development for our new nurses, which benefits all our clinical teams by improving nursing skills, satisfaction and retention – and it ultimately helps improve patient outcomes. There is no substitute for experience, but this sharing of wisdom is the best substitute as our new nurses develop. Becoming a Nurse Mentor is a chance to invest in the future of nursing. Serving as a Nurse Mentor is voluntary and not a paid duty, but it does provide an opportunity for financial incentive through the PACE program. What does a Nurse Mentor do? The Nurse Mentor will be assigned a mentee (new nurse) and will set up the agenda for the initial meeting. The mentor will communicate on a consistent basis,…

As you may know, we recently rolled out Everbridge for emergency team member notifications. Everbridge is an international leader in emergency communications and is used in multiple industries, including healthcare, to coordinate notifications during emergent events. This is the system that Ballad Health uses to communicate critical information during events such as a pandemic, natural disasters, manmade disasters, power outages or workplace violence. Starting this month, the Everbridge team will be running monthly tests of communication channels. If you are signed up for alerts, you will receive an announcement by email, as well as by text or by phone call if you have opted in for notifications through those methods. These emails will come from Ballad Health Emergency Alerts, at noreply@everbridge.net. How do I sign up for facility updates? If you are not registered for emergency updates for your facility, you can click the link in the test email to update your account settings. If…