Opened in late 2019, the De George Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) will soon see a program expansion so that Jupiter Medical Center, in partnership with Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, can care for smaller, more vulnerable newborns. Thanks to a generous $1 million gift from The Frank DiMino Family Foundation, Jupiter Medical Center will bolster its programs to care for babies as small as 2.2 pounds.

“We are incredibly grateful for the support from the Frank DiMino Family Foundation,” said Dr. Amit Rastogi, president and CEO of Jupiter Medical Center. “Their generous gift enables us to increase the acuity of care for premature newborns and will change lives in our community.”
 
Over the past decade, Jupiter Medical Center, in collaboration with Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, has invested heavily in expanding its NICU. The Frank DiMino Family Foundation’s contribution allows the hospital to build out additional, postpartum and antepartum space. The gift also paves the way for increasing subspecialty coverage, and allows Jupiter Medical Center to add a nurse educator to offer nurses PICC certification and to provide support staff with special training. Additionally, the hospital will use the funds to hire an in-house laborist to assist mothers in emergencies when their OB/GYN is enroute to the hospital.
 
“We are honored to work with Jupiter Medical Center to give newborns and their families access to the best possible care close to home,” said Frank DiMino. These funds will go directly toward providing more life-changing programs and services to support those in need, and ensure they receive quality health care.


While nearly every healthcare system is coping with a shortage of nurses and the increasing difficulty retaining ones already on staff, there are strategic approaches that can be implemented to address these ongoing workforce issues. At Memorial Healthcare System (MHS), we have had success by making education and professional growth key components of the effort to attract, retain, and grow-our-own RNs for difficult to recruit specialties.

Scholarship Opportunities
To attract nursing students and new graduates, we’re offering scholarship programs to assist students seeking Bachelor of Science (BSN) or Associate of Science to Bachelor of Science (ASN to BSN) nursing degrees. Recipients are then guaranteed acceptance into our Vizient/AACN Nurse Residency Program™, a one-year structured program that supports them as they transition from the academic learning environment to professional nursing practice settings. We’ve also established pre-licensure partnerships with local academic institutions to attract top-performing nursing students via our STAR and EXCEL programs. These partnerships enable students to gain valuable clinical experience in a variety of departments while also providing opportunities for professional role socialization, interaction with nurse leaders, and an insider’s perspective into the culture of our organization. These have proven to be attractive incentives for STAR and EXCEL students that are also given preference when applying to the nursing residency program.
 
New Graduate Nurse Residency Program
New graduate nurses are being hired into a wide range of clinical units throughout Memorial Healthcare System. The residency program includes an evidence-based curriculum with monthly education seminars, group cohesiveness support activities, and completion of an evidence-based research project. Regularly-updated seminars focus on professional role development, clinical leadership skills, critical thinking, clinical judgment, nursing quality indicators, evidence-based practice, documentation, and resiliency. At a time when the national average for new nurse retention after one year of practice is 82.5%, the Memorial Nurse Residency program’s first-year retention is 95.1%, exceeding even the Vizient/AACN benchmark of 91%.
 
Fellowship Training
Meanwhile, our RN Fellowship Program meets two key workforce objectives: retaining experienced nurses and recruiting/developing specialty RN practitioners. With an increasing number of nurses graduating from our residency program and other experienced RNs expressing interest in learning new specialty areas, the fellowship program offers a structured, evidence-based program to successfully transition nurses with at least one year of acute care experience. The program also provides a continual pipeline to meet the growing needs of specialty practice areas that include critical care, emergency, oncology, surgical services, and family birthplace. It is open to both internal and external candidates.
 
The focus on employee growth and development has been key to retaining Memorial’s high quality, experienced RN workforce. For current employees, the RN Fellowship Program is a formalized professional development opportunity and retention incentive for RNs desiring a transition to specialty practice. The program also includes significant external outreach to recruit candidates that meet specialty needs. Highlights include a robust orientation to specialty practice that involves classroom training, simulation, and hands-on practice in the clinical environment. Bi-monthly seminars focus on professional growth, evidence-based practices, and leadership skills. RN Fellows are provided group support within their specialty cohort and access to a designated nurse educator. Specialty preceptor education focuses on understanding and meeting the unique needs of the experienced RN as they transition their practice to new specialty areas. RN Fellows have the opportunity to impact clinical practice by developing and completing an evidence-based practice project. The program also provides a unique invitation to a specialty certification review course upon completion of the fellowship as a further incentive for RN Fellows to grow their expertise in specialty practice.
 
The combination of COVID-19’s impact, baby boomer nurses retiring, and the ongoing shortage of new nurses entering the profession has made it more difficult to maintain a staff of quality caregivers, but the task is not impossible. Leaders just need to be more creative in their approach to identifying, recruiting, and retaining the best candidates.


Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center announces the appointment of Denise Kvapil, MSN, BSN, to Chief Nursing and Operations Officer.

Prior to her appointment, Kvapil served as the Chief Nursing Officer at the hospital. In her role, she was responsible for overseeing and coordinating the daily operations of Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center’s nursing departments. She ensured the hospital’s tradition of delivering high quality patient care is, and will continue to be maintained.
 
Before joining the team at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center, Kvapil served as the Vice President of Patient Care Operations / Chief Nursing Officer at Christ Hospital in Jersey City, NJ. She has over 25 years of experience in the healthcare field and hospital administration. Kvapil is a graduate of Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey, and earned her Masters of Science in Nursing from South University. 


Hospital walls don’t confine this nurse scholar from applying her hands-on research findings gained from healing experiences in the adult populations of critical care units, long-term care facilities and community groups focused on the needs of aging, marginalized, vulnerable and underserved populations.

Tamara Adonis-Rizzo, MSN, APRN, GNP-BC, and current PhD candidate was born in Haiti and survived yellow fever, thanks to courageous nurses who helped her fight and beat the odds. She credits these nurses with the legacy of planting the seed for her to embark on a lifetime commitment to nursing care and scholarship. Following that initial triumph over disease she enjoyed her early youth in Haiti growing up in a multigenerational family and has long admired the tenacity and healthy aging of both her grandmothers. Her family moved to New Jersey when she was a pre-teen. After earning her BSN from Seton Hall University and starting her career in nursing with a focus in pulmonology and critical care; she moved to sunnier skies in Florida. Here she received her MSN Gerontology Nurse Practitioner at Florida Atlantic University (FAU), is a board-certified gerontology nurse practitioner and a current PhD candidate.
 
Throughout her career, in addition to her on-going patient load as a nurse practitioner she has also been an innovative advocate for promoting wellness and healthy living among older adults and minorities adding culturally-appropriate education and tools to the healing process.
 
For example, when the COVID-19 crisis hit, she was able to pair her work and masters research experiences on the annual flu vaccine with knowledgeable community and church affiliated connections to battle the pandemic obliteration of social interactions among seniors. This isolation was compounded by a technology gap, so she partnered with the FAU Memory and Wellness Center to support seniors by providing access to an Uber line so older members can stay connected via telephone during the pandemic. A support group was led by the wellness center Nurse Practitioners and group leader.
 
She relied on her working ties and outreach with the Black Nurse Practitioners of Palm Beach County Association, the Haitian-American Nurse Association, the Genesis Community Clinic Health Center and Caridad Center, along with the Palm Beach County Commission. Together plans were quickly implemented to coordinate registrations and administer vaccines for those unable to access technology to sign up for appointments.
 
“I used my connections as a vehicle to increase access to COVID testing and vaccinations in vulnerable older populations,” Rizzo said. “We knew who could not maneuver through the technological pathways for registration and made arrangements to speed up the process for them.”
 
She also worked to replace cancelled on-site fitness and healthy aging support groups with a university sponsored Memory Café, a regular weekly interaction of 25-30 participants over phone lines to connect and inspire Haitian older adults to maintain a focus on preventive health and maintenance. Additionally, an awareness of older adults who were more savvy with technology allowed her to create a train-the-trainer program to empower older adults to connect with each other and avoid or at least alert health professionals of some mental or physical health issues that loneliness can cause.
 
A member of the Haitian Catholic Church since 1995, she describes her involvement with the Haitian-American older adult population serving as the health ministry coordinator since 2006, providing a pathway to outreach, health programs and health mission trips to the Dominican Republic servicing Haitian refugees there.
 
According to Rizzo, aging does not necessarily need to be accented by debilitating illness and dementia. Older adults are resilient and can thrive with the benefits of a wholistic approach to health. One serious health event can lead to a domino effect in wellness, she explained.
 
“My model of nursing care is to apply my knowledge of the clinical, social, cultural, environmental and personal aspects of healing and prevention… not just providing responsive catch-up nursing care to treat disease symptoms,” she explained.
 
A published author, advanced clinician, health advocate, educator, mentor and preceptor, Rizzo is also proud of being a mom of three thriving young adult sons. She lives and breathes her mission to lead and support efforts to improve the quality of life in aging minority populations.


The Health Care District of Palm Beach County recently welcomed Juliza Kramer to the new role of Marketing and Branding Manager. In her new role, Kramer will focus on growing the Health Care District’s presence in the community and expanding initiatives to engage current and new patients to the safety net system’s diverse health care services.

“I am excited and humbled by the opportunity to serve our community and spread the word about all of the amazing work the Health Care District has been doing,” said Kramer, who has over ten years of experience in marketing and branding in Palm Beach County. “I look forward to raising awareness about all of the quality services we offer in the county that has always been my home.”
 
Kramer brings a strong public relations background and experience in both the private and non-profit sectors. The new position is timely as the Health Care District serves in roles never contemplated before the pandemic, such as meeting the need in the community for access to COVID-19 vaccinations and testing.