2007 Neuroscience Nurses Week
Local Activities

Piedmont Hospital (courtesy of Jean Pruitt)

From left to right: Senator Don Thomas MD chairman of the Health and Humans Services Committee, Amy Perez RN, MN AANN local member and Stroke Educator Piedmont Hospital, Jean Pruitt RN President AANN Peachtree Chapter, and Dare Domico RN PhD Treasurer AANN.
The Picture was taken during presentation a by Neurologist Douglas Stuart, M.D. and State Senator Don Thomas, M.D. for Stroke Day 2007: Prevent, Detect, Survive on May 24, 2007 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Richard H. Rich Auditorium 77 Building, Piedmont Hospital. A Stroke Health Fair was offered to the general public 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. with FREE blood pressure, glucose and lipid screenings!
Exhibit booths include: The American Stroke Association . The Fuqua Heart Center for Prevention . Diabetes Resource Center . Center for Rehabilitation Medicine . Sixty Plus Older Adults . The Health and Fitness Club . Rehabilitation Services . Nutrition Services . Visiting Nurse Health System
Review of Neuroscience Nurses Week for 2007 including text of Proclamation
Save The Date Reminder for Stroke Health Fair

Emory University Hospital - Neuroscience ICU (courtesy of Ray Quintero)

Lisa Whaley RN @ Emory is presented with a chocolate brain courtesy of AANN Peachtree

Lisa Whaley & her brain

WellStar Kennestone Hospital (courtesy of Suzanne Mays)

At Kennestone, we started the Neuroscience Nurse Week Celebration on Monday by decorating the wall opposite the staff elevators, letting all staff that came to the 7th floor know that this week was National Neurscience Nurses Week 2007. We had a poster about "why I like my unit" as well as a banner, and several miniature posters about current neuro topics from the 2007 AANN annual meeting earlier this month. Also, every staff member of the Neuroscience Unit received a t-shirt with the AANN 2007 logo promoting this special week.
Each day of the week, we held a drawing for one of 7 gift baskets. These baskets were filled with gift cards and coupons for various treats such as Georgia Aquarium tickets, a 30-minute massage, a Starbucks Gift card, Free Bowling from US Play, AMC Movie passes, and more. The drawing was open to the Neuroscience Unit staff. We also had smaller "door prizes" each day of the week.
On Tuesday, lunch from Moe's Southwest Grill was provided by the physicians of the Craniospinal Institute, Dr.'s Moore and Chitale. On Wednesday, we provided muffins to our sister unit, 7 South. They are the ortho-neuro-tele unit. We also gave them a gift basket from the Peachtree Chapter AANN filled with miniature candies, and a note about how to join our chapter. The two ICU units also received these candy gift baskets. The night shift of the Neuro Unit was treated to a "build-your-own ice cream sundae or strawberry shortcake" party. On Thursday the evening the staff was treated to professional massages (10-15 minute chair massage). Also, more muffins!
On Friday, lunch from Chic-fil-A was provided by Dr.'s Holtz and Gillette. The staff wore their new t-shirts to promote Neuroscience Nurses Week. We also had more professional massages that day. On Saturday, the Peachtree Chapter AANN gave us a chocolate "brain",and a chocolate bar from the confectionery _Shakolat_. We immediately called our Rapid Response CNRN from ICU, Angela Dietz, to assist us in some 'brain surgery'. We successfully carved the chocolate brain into bite-size pieces (how'd that jalapeno get in that brain?). The Peachtree Chapter AANN also provided boxes of York Peppermint patties to the two ICU units at Kennestone. We capped off the afternoon with lunch from Olive Garden.
All in all, the week was filled with promoting Neurscience nurses as a special group of people who work very hard to care for a very special patient population.