CRESTVIEW — North Okaloosa County mothers-to-be hoping to cut a few weeks off their pregnancies for other than non-medical reasons better find another facility than Crestview’s hometown hospital for elective inducements and cesarean deliveries.

That’s because North Okaloosa Medical Center has embraced the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the March of Dimes “39 Weeks” initiative for reducing the number of elective early deliveries.

“We’re in the business of healthy babies and we want to make sure babies are not delivered before 39 weeks, which gives us healthy organs, healthy eyes, healthy everything and more weight,” NOMC Chief of Nursing Nina Perez said.

The program aims to reduce the number of “convenience” deliveries, March of Dimes Community Director Dannon Byrd said.

“Mothers say, ‘Oh, it’s so uncomfortable,’ or ‘My doctor’s going out of town, let’s schedule a C-section,’” Byrd said. “Thirty-nine is a magic number for babies. Anything less than that and they’re at greater risk for poor organ and eye development.”

March of Dimes Division Director Michele Redmond said the recognition is given very selectively. Fort Walton Beach Medical Center is the only other hospital in Okaloosa County to receive it.

“There are only several of these that have been given and we’re so excited because we want our area to be the best when it comes to healthy babies,” she said.

ACOG representative Dr. Julie DeCesare of Florida State University and Sacred Heart Hospital said the recognition will assure mothers-to-be that the community hospital is committed to their babies’ health.

“We know in terms of infant mortality we’ve been going in the wrong direction so we hope programs like this will get it going in the right direction,” DeCesare said.

“It’s a good thing for the community,” hospital Chief Executive Officer David Fuller said. “The biggest thing is making sure our youngest, tiniest citizens get a good start and stay inside of mama as long as possible to get a healthier start in life.”

Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview hospital aims to reduce elective early deliveries (VIDEO)

GAINESVILLE ─ To paraphrase an old TV show title, Perhaps “Father (does) Know Best.”

Female students who said their dads were “involved” in their lives as teens are more likely to use protection when having sex in college, a positive sign for fathers in an era of increasingly single-parent homes, according to new University of Florida research.

For her master’s thesis in the UF/IFAS Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Caroline Payne-Purvis analyzed responses from 748 college students in an introductory course at a large public southeastern university. About 60 percent were females, and 40 percent male.

Students answered 73 questions, which tried to find out, among other things, aspects of the participants’ adolescent years, their parents’ level of involvement when the students still lived at home, how often they now engage in sexual behaviors, including intercourse and their contraception use during various sexual behaviors.

Payne-Purvis found female students who said their father was “involved” in their lives as teens used condoms more frequently during intercourse.

Females who reported higher rates of father involvement reported engaging in sexual intercourse less frequently and with fewer partners. Furthermore, the more involved mothers were doing a female college student’s adolescence, the more often the young women used hormonal contraceptives.

Payne-Purvis, now an assistant professor in health and kinesiology at the Mississippi University for Women, said it’s hard to explain the finding. One possible explanation she offers in the paper is that the presence of a father figure in females’ adolescent lives reduces the desire for male attention outside the home.

“The main lesson to take from this study is that in an era of single families, high divorce rates and dual working families, fathers continue to have an impact on their daughters’ lives,” she said. “Additionally, it indicates that situations and relationships from one’s adolescence carry over into early adulthood.”

In the paper, published in the Journal of Adolescent and Family Health, Payne-Purvis wrote that mothers have historically taught their daughters about sex, while fathers have educated their sons about the birds and the bees.

Payne-Purvis’ study was part of a larger examination of contraceptive use among college students. She wrote the paper with Professor Rosemary Barnett and Associate Professor Larry Forthun, both in the UF/IFAS’ family, youth and community sciences department.  

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Father's involvement with daughters may lead to safer sex

CRESTVIEW — North Okaloosa Medical Center's staff has seen a growing number of flu-symptomatic patients in the emergency room since late November, according to a hospital spokesperson.

Numerous patients have also been admitted for treatment of flu-related complications.

Flu activity in the U.S. commonly peaks between December and February, but can continue as late as May.

In the meantime, it's not too late to get the flu shot. Even if the flu season peaks soon, the virus will still be around for months.

Here are three tips to stay safe:

•Vaccinate. Get the flu shot for yourself and everyone in your family. It’s available at your doctor’s office and many urgent care centers in the area, with many offering same-day appointments.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend everyone older than 6 months, except people with severe egg allergies, be immunized. Both shot and nasal spray vaccine forms are safe and effective and rarely have side effects.

"Vaccination is the simplest step you can take to protect yourself," said Vicente Mendez, M.D., North Okaloosa Physician Group. "More often than not, the patients I see who have the flu did not take this action to protect themselves or their family."

•Get treatment. If you do get the flu, your doctor or an urgent care center can prescribe antiviral medication to treat flu illness and prevent serious flu complications.

Children, the elderly, pregnant women and people with chronic illnesses are particularly vulnerable to catching the flu and experiencing complications. It’s important to treat high-risk individuals promptly to avoid hospitalization.

Antiviral medication works best when begun within 48 hours of getting sick, but can still be beneficial when given later in the course of illness. These drugs can also lessen serious flu complications.

•Prevention. Avoid sick people and wash your hands frequently to reduce the spread of germs. Cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze, and resist touching your eyes, mouth and nose.

In addition, avoid close contact with people who have the flu or symptoms; and, if you’re sick with the flu, stay home from work or school to prevent spreading it to others.

“Though this year’s flu vaccination is not a perfect tool, it’s the best way to protect against flu infection,” Mendez said. "Caregivers at our clinic and North Okaloosa Medical Center take the safety of our patients seriously, and we’ve had a high participation rate with voluntary vaccination efforts among our clinicians and physicians."

DID YOU KNOW?

Flu is one of the nation's leading causes of death, with roughly 24,000 people a year dying from flu and its complications.

Latest figures released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show the flu hitting hard in all but seven states this year.

MORE DETAILS

Visit the flu section at www.northokaloosa.com.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Flu season in full swing, but shots still available

CRESTVIEW — Administrators at Caring Hearts demand more from their nursing staff than just the prerequisite minimum of two years of pediatric experience.

They want nurses who really love tending to medically complex and medically fragile children.

“It takes a special kind of person to work here,” Caring Hearts administrator and Director of Nursing Connie Irwin said.

“In a hospital, you see a patient and then they go home. Here, you can see them progress. That’s the reward. As a nurse, that’s something you don’t usually see in a hospital,” Irwin said.

Caring Hearts vice president Dr. Amanda Wheeler said the facility’s prescribed pediatric extended care is a medical service assured by state legislation.

Costs are often fully covered by Medicaid, but surprisingly, many families don’t know about the service to take advantage of it, Irwin said.

“There are so many people who qualify for the service who don’t know we exist,” Irwin said.

A SPECIAL KIND OF DAY CARE

The 28 children under the care of Irwin and her staff mostly look, sound and play like most other kids. And Caring Hearts, at casual glance, seems like most other day care facilities.

Kids’ toys and belongings are stashed tidily in cubbies, bright graphics enhance the rooms, colorful toys encourage individual development, and group activities build social skills.

“It looks like a regular day care, but when you look at their charts, you’re like, ‘Oh my God, some of these kids are lucky to be alive,’” Wheeler said. “There’s nothing like seeing kids who weren’t supposed to survive, or not supposed to walk or talk, exceeding expectations.”

Wheeler’s parents, Betty and Gabriel Tejerina, founded the company of prescribed pediatric extended care facilities, opening the Crestview office at the invitation of Sacred Heart Hospital in 2005.

DAILY NURSING ASSESSMENTS

Each child receives a daily head-to-toe nursing assessment.

“When you have medically complex children, you have to do these assessments that parents may not be able to do,” Wheeler said.

“A lot of parent education goes on here,” Irwin added.

In a quiet corner, a group of children sat eagerly around a medical technician as she read a Christmas story. This week, the kids had a pajama party and watched “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

During the day, kids are often removed from activities for medical treatments or speech, physical or occupational therapy.

On a recent morning, while three kids nearby drew pictures on erasable tablets, a boy with a huge ear-to-ear smile and bushy brown hair worked hard decorating Christmas cookies.

On closer examination, an intravenous tube could be seen running into his arm.

“I got a shot!” he said proudly, noting he didn’t cry at all.

“That’s because you’re a big boy,” registered nurse Emily Loflin told him encouragingly.

The kids see nothing unusual in other children who have physical differences, use wheel chairs or wear medical equipment.

“The children are very accepting of each other,” Wheeler said.

And Caring Hearts fosters an atmosphere to encourage that acceptance.

“We try to make sure they have the best day possible, from the time they get on the transportation until it’s time to go home,” Irwin said.

PRESCRIBED PEDIATRIC EXTENDED CARE

Caring Hearts is Crestview’s only PPEC facility. Services are covered by Medicaid, and allow parents the opportunity to return to school or jobs while skilled nursing staff tend their medically complex or fragile children. For information contact Connie Irwin, RN, 380 Medcrest Dr., 689-1376, cirwin@caringheartsfl.com.

Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview’s only day care for medically complex children