From the Editor
November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month—check out Lung Cancer Alliance, American Cancer Society, and the American Lung Association.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death and the second most common cancer among both men and women in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since about 90% of lung cancers are linked with cigarette smoking, much of the promotional effort is directed toward encouraging people to quit smoking.
Back in the 1990s, when my late husband was hospitalized after a serious accident, I was flummoxed by the high percentage of his health care workers—especially respiratory therapists!—who were smokers.
I was glad recently to read about a 2014 UCLA study that tracked changes in smoking prevalence among nurses and other health care professionals between 2003 and 2011, and found that the proportion of registered nurses who smoke dropped by more than a third during that period. Read more…
In this newsletter we bring you news, videos, apps, and a crossword puzzle about the lungs and lung surgery.
This month we’re spotlighting former NIFA stand-out student/graduate, instructor of 5 years, and now Director of RNFA Perioperative College Programs—Troy Batchelor!
Scroll on down for the latest RNFA job offerings and NIFA’s favorite links.
Enjoy!
News
e-Cigarettes Not So Harmless?
Two recent cases are among the first to highlight severe lung injuries physicians say are related to the use of e-cigarettes and other vaping devices.
Read more…
Rule Changes May Lead to More Lung Transplants for Kids
A new study shows that changing the way donor lungs are allocated and shared could result in almost twice as many lung transplants for pediatric patients.
Read more…
Studying Lung Transplant Rejection
The long-term success of lung transplants lags far behind that seen with heart, liver and kidney transplants. A new $7.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will enable lung transplant surgeons and researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis to investigate different immunological aspects of lung transplant tolerance. Photo: Robert Boston
Read more…
Videos
Video Assisted Thoracic Surgery
In this video, Scott J. Swanson, MD, Director of Minimally Invasive Thoracic Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Chief Surgical Officer at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center, demonstrates a minimally invasive right upper lobe resection—a major advance in lung cancer surgery. VATS lobectomy enables patients with complex co-existing conditions to undergo surgery without complication. Also, patients are more able to receive subsequent chemotherapy as they are less fatigued from this minimally invasive procedure.
Robotic Lung Surgery
This video highlights a Robotic Right Upper Lobectomy for lung cancer and the successful biopsy of lobe mass using robotic surgery. This procedure was successfully performed by Dr. Albert DiMeo, MD, Chief of Robotic and Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery of St. Vincent’s Medical Center, Bridgeport, CT.
Test your knowledge of the lungs and lung surgery with this month’s crossword puzzle.When you’re ready to check your answers follow this link to see how well you did. Good luck!
Living Lung™ (for iPad2 or newer)
A real-time 3D medical education and patient communication tool featuring detailed anatomical respiratory models. Living Lung was developed for the iPad by a team of anatomists, certified medical illustrators, animators, and programmers using actual human CT imaging data and the most accurate 3D modeling technology available. Read more…
Staff Spotlight: Troy Batchelor
Troy Batchelor, RN, BSN, CNOR, RNFA, is no stranger to NIFA. A 2010 graduate of NIFA’s RNFA program, he started working as a student instructor prior to graduating, and has been an instructor on and off ever since.
This month Troy joins the team at NIFA’s Denver headquarters as Director of Perioperative and RNFA College Programs.
“Every student in our program has to be associated with one of the several colleges we’re affiliated with,” he explains. “I’m here to facilitate any issues that come up as our students go through those college programs. I will also help develop future programs as well as continuing to work in the classroom as an instructor.”
How did he decide to become a nurse in the first place?
“I wanted a job where I could get through school quickly and be able to support my family,” he says. “I was drawn to the technical and procedural side of nursing. When I was able to get into the operating room it was a perfect fit.”
After nursing school Troy worked nights for about a year and a half on a busy orthopedic floor in a trauma hospital in North Carolina. It was there that some of the doctors helped him get into the OR.
“The downside was that that OR did not have a training program, so it was a difficult educational process,” he continues. After working there for about 5 years, he moved to California and eventually became an RNFA. In California he worked for about 12 years in a variety of OR settings, getting wide-ranging experience in different types of surgery. Just before moving to Colorado, he was working in an outpatient, hospital-attached surgery center as a full-time RNFA.
After the heat of Southern California, he’s glad to be back in cool Colorado, the state where he was born. And he’s happy to have the opportunity to continue teaching full time at NIFA.
“I love teaching others what I know,” he says. “I really enjoy watching someone ‘get it’ when they have been struggling. I like trying to come up with new ways to try to explain things so I can reach more people.”
Job Front
Click here for the RNFA job postings we’ve collected for you this month.
NIFA – Office Hours
Monday-Friday 8:00am – 4:00pm
Practice Resources
Here are several of the most-in-demand sites for our students, prospective students and grads:
ACS Surgery News: Specialty News and Commentaries, Videos and More
AORN Legislative Map: What’s Happening in My State
RNFA Scope of Practice by State (PDF)
ACS List of Cases that Require an Assistant at Surgery (PDF)
AORN Perioperative Bookstore
Perioperative Nurse Links (state nursing boards & professional associations