A Joint
Commission
Stroke Center
There are only 18 Joint Commissioncertified
Stroke Centers in North
Carolina. One is at FirstHealth Moore
Regional Hospital.
Moore Regional’s stroke care
program earned the Joint Commission’s
Gold Seal of Approval after an
on-site review in February 2009.
The designation, which is based on
the American Stroke Association’s
guidelines for stroke care, recognizes
programs that have made exceptional
efforts to ensure better outcomes for
stroke patients.
According to neurologist and Stroke
Center medical director Bruce Solomon,
D.O., the Stroke Center designation
acknowledges Moore Regional’s
commitment to provide quality stroke
care to the communities it serves.
“The Stroke Center designation has
been the culmination of the hard work
and commitment by our nursing staff,
nursing administration and physicians
who are involved with caring for
people with stroke,” Dr. Solomon
says. “This designation will assure our
patients that the best possible care is
being given to our patients. We are
proud to be able to provide the service
we would want for our own families.”
Moore Regional Hospital treated
more than 470 stroke patients in
2008, providing care in the Emergency
Department, the Medical/Neurology
Intensive Care Unit, the Neurology
Nursing unit and Rehabilitation Services
with the support of almost every other
department in the hospital.
The paramedics and EMTs of Moore
County EMS and FirstHealth Regional
EMS are also important members of
the stroke care team.
“If you look at our continuum
of care, you see that we provide
everything that most stroke patients
need,” says Joy Martin, R.N., the
hospital’s stroke coordinator and
chair of the Stroke Performance
Improvement team. “Our patients
can be confident in what we do here.
We have protocols in place, they are
followed, and we do them well.” |
April 29, 2008, began as a typical Tuesday for
Seven Lakes resident T. Ray Jackson. He
was working as an EMT, as he is given to
do, at the Seven Lakes EMS Squad when his
leg began to ache. Because of a past history
of blood clots, he approached the paramedics on duty and
announced, “Ladies, we’re going to the hospital.”
Minutes later, he was in the Emergency Department
at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital, where he was
examined, found to be OK and released. Unfortunately,
the story didn’t end there.
That evening, while watching the news, Jackson
attempted to get out of his recliner and, as wife Joanne
recalls, sort of slithered to the floor. She called 911, and
he was once again on his way to the hospital.
Jackson, who recalls little about the next several days,
had had a stroke. With the event, he joined more than
700,000 Americans who had a similar medical emergency
last year.
All things considered, Jackson is relatively lucky. Except
for a few speech and comprehension problems and the
temporary loss of some peripheral vision, he has essentially
recovered and now volunteers with the stroke program at
Moore Regional. Many people aren’t nearly so fortunate.
Although the number of stroke deaths fell by 14 percent
between 1995 and 2005, stroke remains the third leading
cause of death in the United States and THE leading
cause of serious, long-term disability in adults.
Jackson had his own strength of will and the care
he received at Moore Regional in his favor. “He got
wonderful care,” says Joanne. “You couldn’t have asked
for better care in either place (inpatient and outpatient).”
Jackson’s hospitalization, which included a brief stay in
Inpatient Rehab, lasted only a few days. He followed that
up with several weeks of outpatient speech and vision therapy, and now rides
a stationary bike and walks with Joanne to improve his coordination.
A vocal advocate of improved services to stroke patients, Jackson also spends
one day a week calling former stroke patients and/or their families about the
care they received at Moore Regional.
“T. Ray approached us to help volunteer specifically with stroke patients,”
says Joy Martin, R.N., the hospital’s stroke coordinator. “As a survivor, he
strongly felt a desire to give back, so our need for discharge phone calls to be
done for our stroke patients was a win-win for both of us. His insight into how
we are doing with our stroke patients has been very helpful.”
When asked a few months ago to speak to some local nursing students,
Jackson prepared several pages of text about his experience and what he has
since learned. In that information,
he explained the life-changing
experience of stroke by comparing
a stroke-affected brain to a filing
system gone awry.
“I like to think of the brain as
a large filing cabinet,” he said. “It
stores a tremendous number of
files of information about what
has happened to the body over the
years…When you are looking for a
thought or an idea or a memory, you
scan the filing cabinets and identify
the correct drawer. Once you find the
correct drawer, you can look through
the files and select the one that is
appropriate to the problem at hand.
If that does not provide the necessary
information, you put your brain back
on scan and start again. The problem
is when a stroke occurs, these file
drawers are slammed shut and the
needed information is not readily
available.”
The warning
signs of stroke:
- Sudden numbness or
weakness of the face, arm or
leg, especially on one side of
the body
- Sudden confusion, trouble
speaking or understanding
- Sudden trouble seeing in one
or both eyes
- Sudden trouble walking,
dizziness, loss of balance or
coordination
- Sudden, severe headache with
no known cause
- If you’re with someone who
may be having stroke symptoms,
call 911 immediately.
|
Q. What is tPA, and how can it help
someone who is having a stroke?
A. Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is known as
a “clot-busting drug” because of its ability to dissolve
blood clots. In 1996, the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration approved its use for the treatment
of ischemic strokes (those caused by clots) in the
first three hours after the start of stroke symptoms.
Because of the narrow time element involved, it is
very important for people who think they are having
a stroke to seek immediate help by calling 911.
If given properly, tPA can greatly reduce the
effects of stroke and reduce permanent disability—
but ONLY if given within the appropriate
timeframe. Because a risk of bleeding is involved,
tPA administration is considered a complex
procedure and is done through an IV line in the arm
by hospital personnel. |
