The National Institute of Whole Health (http://www.niwh.org), the pioneer of Whole Health Education ® and Whole Person Care™, today announced they will be hosting a workshop series conducted by Eva Selhub, MD, the NIWH newest faculty presenter and author of The Love Response: Strengthen Your Natural Ability to Heal (Ballantine Books, 2009). Starting on March 19, 2011 at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, Selhub will be conducting a public workshop series, Techniques to Regain Your Sanity & Reclaim Your Health. 

For health and medical professionals, as well as consumers, Techniques to Regain Your Sanity & Reclaim Your Health will instruct individuals in how to address and treat stress, stress physiology and the related physical, mental and emotional problems that people and patients experience daily. The workshop series provides a practical program that provides a framework, tools and techniques to rid the body of the ravaging effects of life’s everyday stressors, overcome hurtful past events and shape an empowered personal future. 

Techniques to Regain Your Sanity & Reclaim Your Health will address how to change one’s physiology quickly and lastingly through the deliberate evocation of a series of biochemical reactions in the body that lower blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and adrenaline levels; counteract the unhealthy effects of fear and stress; and allow us to experience the myriad health benefits of nature’s own antidote–love and affection. Participants will also learn how to become aware of thoughts, physical and emotional attitudes, actions and behaviors without judgment, in order to move beyond conditioned responses to find calm and peace.

 A mixture of lecture and experiential exercises will enrich the learning, and practitioners will be able to use these techniques with their patients immediately in their practice. Continuing education contact hours are available for nurses and allied health professionals. 

A staff member of Harvard Medical School, Selhub served from 1999 until the end of 2007 as Medical Director of Mind/Body Medical Institute founded by the pioneer of mind/body research, Herbert Benson, MD, now part of the world-renowned Massachusetts General Hospital. Newly named The Benson-Henry Institute for Mind/Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (BHI), Dr. Selhub now serves as a Clinical Associate for BHI/MGH. She has lectured throughout the United States and in Europe and trained healthcare professionals from all over the world. As an expert in the stress physiology and the mind/body approach to patient care, she has been involved in the training of healthcare professionals from all over the world. Dr. Selhub’s lectures are based on the mind/body connection, the physiology of stress and coping, their relationship to illness and on enhancing the love that heals. 

The workshops will be conducted on March 19, 2011, April 2, 2011 and April 23, 2011 from 9 am – noon at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton, MA, located at 2014 Washington Street. With the exception of the lecture on April 2, all will take place on the 2^nd floor of the Shipley Auditorium. The April 2 event will be held in the Allen Riddle room, which is located off the Hospital’s parking garage.

 Admission is $29 per person per workshop and reservations are required. For more information, visit www.niwh.org or to register call 888-354-HEAL (4325).

About the National Institute of Whole Health

Founded in 1977 and headquartered in Wellesley, MA, the National Institute of Whole Health (NIWH) offers the most respected and credentialed integrative whole health certification programs in the US. NIWH’s offerings include the Norman Cousins Award nominated Best Practice Whole Health Education certification program. The Whole Health Educator program for Nurses, endorsed by the American Holistic Nurses Association along with the Whole Health Nutrition Educator certification program and Whole Health Coaching certification program, can be completed via on-line distance learning. Recognized nationally as the pioneers of Whole Health Education®, the school has instructed thousands of students from varying health occupations from all over the U.S., and now offers on-line distance learning with students located on five continents. For more information, visit www.niwh.org  or call (888) 354-HEAL (4325).

“We are thrilled to receive this recognition from the American College of Surgeons,” said Frederick Millham, MD, Chair of Surgery, Newton-Wellesley Hospital. “Our entire surgical staff works tirelessly each day to provide the highest quality of care to our patients while ensuring the highest level of patient safety.” 

The ACS NSQIP recognition program commends a select group of hospitals for  achieving exemplary outcome performances related to patient management in five clinical areas: DVT (deep vein thrombosis, thrombophlebitis and pulmonary embolism); cardiac incidents (cardiac arrest and myocardial infarction); Pneumonia; SSI (surgical site infections-superficial and deep incisional and organ-space SSIs); or urinary tract infection. The 26 hospitals commended achieved the distinction of attaining exemplary results in two or more of the five areas listed above. Risk-adjusted data from the June 2010 ACS NSQIP Semiannual Report were used to determine which hospitals demonstrated exemplary outcomes. 

ACS NSQIP is the only nationally validated quality improvement program that measures and enhances the care of surgical patients. This program measures the actual surgical results 30 days postoperatively as well as risk adjusts patient characteristics to compensate for differences among patient populations and acuity levels. The goal of ACS NSQIP is to reduce surgical morbidity (infection or illness related to a surgical procedure) and surgical mortality (death related to a surgical procedure) and to provide a firm foundation for surgeons to apply what is known as the “best scientific evidence” to the practice of surgery. Furthermore, when adverse effects from surgical procedures are reduced and/or eliminated, a reduction in health care costs follows. ACS NSQIP is a major program of the American College of Surgeons and is currently used in over 300 hospitals.

Newton-Wellesley Hospital’s Department of Surgery is a vibrant, growing department with over 230 members, representing all sub-specialties. The department is capable of meeting the vast majority of needs of patients requiring surgical procedures. The collaborative relationship that exists among surgeons, nurses and administrators enables us to provide personalized service.

Currently, our operating rooms handle 15,000 cases per year, of which 70% are outpatient. Our ultra-modern surgical suites contain the latest in technology allowing our surgical staff, access to lasers, to stereotactic neurosurgery to the laparoscopy and arthroscopy. Our ambulatory surgery center is considered one of the finest in the nation according to The Riker Institute of Surgery and the Picker Institute Survey.  Surgeons from throughout New England visit Newton-Wellesley to view the future of surgery.

Newton-Wellesley Hospital is a full system member of Partners HealthCare System, Inc. PHCS), a nonprofit organization that includes acute care hospitals Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s/Faulkner Hospitals, The North Shore Medical Center, and specialty hospitals McLean Hospital and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, as well as Dana-Farber/Partners CancerCare, and the community-based doctors and hospitals of Partners Community HealthCare, Inc.

 Newton-Wellesley Hospital provides a wide range of services, including medical, surgical, obstetrical, orthopaedic, neonatal, pediatric, emergency and psychiatric care. Newton-Wellesley has been serving its community for over a century. The medical staff of the Hospital includes nearly 1,000 physicians practicing a full range of specialties. NWH is a major teaching hospital for Tufts University School of Medicine and also has established post-graduate training programs for Harvard Medical School residents.

Check us out on: Facebook (www.nwh.org/facebook), Twitter (www.nwh.org/twitter), and You Tube (www.nwh.org/youtube).

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Newton-Wellesley Hospital has already begun displaying the current average ER wait times on the hospital’s website, www.nwh.org. The ER wait time is automatically updated every five minutes and represents the average time it takes for a patient to be placed into a treatment room to be seen by the ER practitioner on duty. Patients are triaged on arrival by a registered nurse and are then seen by an emergency medicine provider based on severity. Those determined to require immediate attention will go directly to a room. The service is meant for patients with urgent complaints, but not for those with life-threatening emergencies.

“We are happy to be able to offer our patients the tools they need to access important health information fast,” said Mark Lemons, MD, Chair, Emergency Medicine, Newton-Wellesley Hospital. “Our patient population is technologically savvy, so we thought this would be quite beneficial to them in our continuous effort to provide high quality care.”

At the end of October the Hospital  rolled out its new iPhone application that will feature ER wait times, a pre-registration function, maps and directions, general information about Newton-Wellesley Hospital and more. In addition to the “app,” many smart phone users will have access to a new mobile version of www.nwh.org for easier site navigation.

According to industry experts, there is definitely an advantage to publishing ER wait times “live” versus a texting service. “Not everyone has texting capabilities and even if they do, they have to remember the text number or look it up, which wastes valuable time,” said Sandra Fancher, Vice President of Client Strategy at MedTouch. “Utilizing a mobile app also allows patients to obtain other useful information – not just ER wait times.”

Newton-Wellesley Hospital is a full system member of Partners HealthCare System, Inc. PHCS), a nonprofit organization that includes acute care hospitals Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s/Faulkner Hospitals, The North Shore Medical Center, and specialty hospitals McLean Hospital and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, as well as Dana-Farber/Partners CancerCare, and the community-based doctors and hospitals of Partners Community HealthCare, Inc.

Newton-Wellesley Hospital provides a wide range of services, including medical, surgical, obstetrical, orthopaedic, neonatal, pediatric, emergency and psychiatric care. Newton-Wellesley has been serving its community for over a century. The medical staff of the Hospital includes nearly 1,000 physicians practicing a full range of specialties. NWH is a major teaching hospital for Tufts University School of Medicine and also has established post-graduate training programs for Harvard Medical School residents.

Check us out on: Facebook (www.nwh.org/facebook), Twitter (www.nwh.org/twitter), and You Tube (www.nwh.org/youtube).

Having radiation oncology available on the Newton-Wellesley Hospital campus facilitates the collaborative approach with MGH and provides multidisciplinary care for cancer patients. Patients’ quality of life will be enhanced, because they can now receive all of their treatment at a convenient location in familiar surroundings. The Vernon Cancer Center will also allow patients access to advanced cancer care from Newton-Wellesley oncologists – close to home.