Critical Care Hiring Event

I hope everyone had a great weekend. The weather is finally beginning to warm up in Florida. The temperature read 75 degrees on Sunday! If any of you are from the Northern states and are looking for a climate change, you should definitely consider Florida!

We have an employment event going on called our “Critical Care Hiring Event”. The event is for experienced Critical Care Nurses and lasts through March 26th. When you visit the site, www.floridahospitalcareers.com/criticalcarerns, you have the opportunity to fill out information about your work experience which goes directly to a nurse recruiter. The exciting news is that when you send us your information on the website, you will not wait to hear from us - you will be contacted in 24 business hours!

This is a great opportunity to join our Florida Hospital Heroes. We have the following immediate openings:

-Neurosurgical Assistant Nurse Manager

-Neurosurgical RN (Full Time Days & Nights)

-Brain Attack Coordinator

-Cardiac ICU

-Cardio Respiratory Care

-ICU/PCU

-And others

If you are not a critical care nurse, but would like the opportunity to work with us, please visit http://www.floridahospitalcareers.com/.

Laughter Yoga

Have you ever been stressed or overwhelmed? Just the other day, I was worrying about something completely insignificant - how was I going to get the house cleaned and start dinner before our company arrived? I had just gotten back from the grocery store and as I was unloading the groceries, I realized I had forgotten the most important ingredient for the meal – chicken. At that point, I started laughing.

A famous author once wrote, “Laughter is by definition healthy.” The Old Testament also states that, “Laughter is the best medicine.” In my case, laughing at myself calmed me down and decreased my anxiety.

Scientific studies have shown that laughter has both therapeutic and preventative health benefits. As you laugh, your body decreases cortisol (a stress hormone), lowers blood pressure, and improves circulation and respiration. It also releases endorphins and enhances alertness, memory and creativity. There is even evidence that frequent laughter can increase longevity and boost the immune system.

Last month, 15 Florida Hospital employees chuckled and giggled their way to lower stress levels and better health during the first ever Laughter Yoga session. Patricia Conklin, BS, from our Leadership Development department is a Certified Laughter Yoga Leader. The one-hour class combined simple laughter exercises with playfulness and yoga-style diaphragmatic (or “belly”) breathing techniques.

“Together, the laughter and yoga breathing help to flush stale air from the lungs and bring more oxygen to the body and brain,” Conklin said as she described the benefits to the Laughter Yoga.

Jane Mulberry, BS, RN is a nursing supervisor at Winter Park Memorial Hospital. She was one of the initial 15 participants said that, “The Laughter Yoga class was great fun! Now, some of the nurses and I laugh as we greet each other (just like we did in the class). I enjoyed the class so much that I’d like to see it incorporated in our diet on a regular basis because it would make some of the stress at work decrease. Laughter is powerful medicine—and something we all get too little of!”

The next Laughter Yoga class is taught February 1st and under the class description the requirement states: “No sense of humor required – only a willingness to laugh!”

If you would like to work for an organization that seeks to invest in their employees through innovative means, please visit http://www.floridahospitalcareers.com/.

Merry Christmas from Florida Hospital!

It's hard to believe Christmas is upon us - 2009 has certainly flown by! I hope you are able to slow down and spend some time this holiday season to reflect on the wonderful things that have happened this year. In my family, 2009 had some great high points. I started work at Florida Hospital, celebrated my 1-year wedding anniversary, and made a surprise visit to California for my father’s 60th birthday, just to name a few.

Florida Hospital also celebrated significant milestones this year.

Florida Hospital:

1. Celebrated a successful accreditation visit from the Joint Commission.

2. Added a new Internal Medicine Residency Program.

3. Honored employees who reached 5, 10, 15, 20, etc. years of service at the 45th Annual Service Awards Banquet.

4. Celebrated its 100th Liver Transplant and held the 1st annual Transplant Reunion to celebrate patients, organ donors, physicians, nurses, family and friends.

5. FHTVNews sparked a “Wash Your Hands” phenomenon across all hospital campuses that emphasized patient safety.

6. Employees raised over $120,000 for the American Heart Association Heart Walk.

7. Partnered with the Burnham Institute for Medical Research at Lake Nona to advance Central Florida as a hub for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity research. They also broke ground this year on a medical office building that will house the research facility at the FH Orlando campus.

8. Contributed 2,554 backpacks for the Backpacks for Kids Campaign.

9. Ranked #17 in Orlando Sentinel’s Top 100 Companies for Working Families

10. Celebrated the 1-year anniversary of the Ginsburg Tower which houses the Cardiovascular Institute.

11. Added a new 30,000 sq ft. surgical suite at FH Altamonte and added a new outpatient surgery center at FH East Orlando.

12. Broke ground to expand The Baby Place at Winter Park which will double the size and allow for 3,500 deliveries each year after completion. Celebration Health and FH Kissimmee are also expanding to add patient beds and a medical office building.

13. Launched two great new websites: http://www.floridahospitalnursing.com/ which is designed to enhance communication among team members and the community and http://www.floridahospitalalumni.com/ which is a resource for previous employees to get back in touch with Florida Hospital.

From our Florida Hospital family to yours,
Merry Christmas!

Please share your 2009 milestones below.

Heroes

By now, you might be asking, “What’s this blog title all about?”

Florida Hospital Hires Heroes?
Yes, we do.

We make sure we place the right people into the right positions for a reason. We believe you have the opportunity to touch everyone you come into contact with: patients, families, physicians, co-workers, even strangers walking down the hall.

Your interactions with people have a huge impact on them, and you might not ever know. You are a hero in someone’s eyes.

Each week I will spotlight how our nurses are heroes and inspire people through their passion for nursing.

If you know a nurse who is a hero and has touched you or your family’s lives, or a nurse hero that should be recognized for all they do, please leave a comment below.

Happy Monday!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend. It’s hard to believe the holidays are already upon us. It seems like just yesterday I was watching 4th of July fireworks. Time flies when you’re having fun!

If you’re like me, then you’ve already made your first batch of holiday cookies. Luckily, I do not feel too guilty about eating them because I am doing a holiday workout program through Florida Hospital.

During October, Florida Hospital offered employees a program called “Move It”. It was designed to increase exercise before Thanksgiving and into the holidays. A Wellness Coordinator kept in contact with me and sent tips on how to exercise and eat healthy for the entire month of October. The goal was to get employees to exercise at least 30 minutes a day for 20 days in October. If we met this goal, we were entered into a drawing to win a gift certificate to Florida Hospital’s own Eden Spa – a full service spa. Someone on my team in HR actually won the gift certificate!!! She is rewarding herself with a Warm Stone Message. Florida Hospital is offering the same program for the month of December.

Balance is a part of our Florida Hospital values. We describe balance as harmony in ones professional, personal and community life as well as in one’s own mind, body, and spirit.

In my next post, I will discuss another program called Healthy 100. It’s a program designed to take you on a journey to living longer, healthier, happier lives. For a sneak preview, visit http://www.healthy100.org/.

If you are interested in the wonderful wellness programs Florida Hospital offers its employees and would like to join our team, please visit www.floridahospitalcareers.com.