Post #5: TIL, Career Exploration

Today I learned…

Today I learned that occupational therapy offers a higher salary in other parts of the country than it does in Omaha, Nebraska. The median salary for our city is $51,550 while the national median salary is $75,400. I also learned that there are very few schools nationwide that offer an occupational therapy program for a doctoral level degree. The salary for this profession was lower than I thought it would be, mostly because of the stereotype that doctors get paid so much. It was also nice to learn that the average occupational therapist works 40 hours a week. There is usually no on call time for occupational therapists and they generally only work week days. The growth rate of the field is much higher than I would have guessed. There is a high demand for occupational therapists.

Post #4: TIL, National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs)

Today I Learned...

Today I learned about the National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs). The NPSGs were established in 2003 to reduce the risk of preventable accidents from occurring. The Joint Commission, which is made up of several different medical individuals who oversee these goals. Their goal is to promote specific improvements in patient safety. The data that is considered when creating these goals is based upon data from the Sentinel Event Database. This group reviews issues identified by the sentinel event and other data. NPSGs only apply to  those who provide care specific to each goal. Each NPSG  contains three parts: the goal number and statement of the goal, the reason or reasons that the goal was created, and the elements of performance to make sure the goal is being put into place correctly.

The first goal involves correct patient identification. It require that a medical professional must use two patient identifiers. The second goal is staff communication improvement and says that it is important to get lab results to the right people in a timely manner. NPSG number three is in relation to using medicines safely. It is imperative to label any medicines that are not labeled before starting a procedure. Also important is keeping accurate patient records. The next goal is  to use alarms safely. This includes making sure alarms can be heard easily and responded to in a timely manner. Identifying patient risks and noting any behaviors that might cause harm to a patient is the next NPSG. The last goal is preventing mistakes in surgery. This means confirming that the correct surgery is being performed on the correct patient on the correct part of their body.

Post #3: TIL HIPAA

Today I learned that violations of HIPPA can lead to serious consequences. The minimum fine is $100. The maximum fine is $50,000 and $1.5 million annually. If the violation is determined to be criminal, 1 year of jail time can be required. Blacklisting can also occur by the facility that the violation occurs at. Blacklisting is when you commit a violation and your name goes on a list that is spread throughout other facilities to prevent them from hiring you. This is important as a health care professional because knowing the legal consequences of your actions will help you determine the best thing to do in certain situations.

I also what violations to HIPPA can consist of. A breach of HIPPA is when confidential information is shared to someone who isn't on a need-to-know basis without consent of the person who the information is about. To avoid accidentally breaching HIPPA, make sure you don't have conversations containing confidential information in public places where the information can be overheard. Also make sure, when you are leaving a message on an answering machine, to only leave your name and phone number and not to share any private information about the patient because you never know who will be receiving that message. Another thing that requires caution is faxing information. A confidentiality cover sheet must be used to notify the recipient that the information contained is confidential. This is very important in health care because it explains how to avoid breaching HIPPA.

Another thing I learned about today was PHI and ePHI. Protected Health Information and electronic Health Information include name, birth date, physical condition, phone number, address, email, social security number, photos, room number, and finger or voice print. These things all need to be kept confidential. If any of these things are shared with someone other than the individual they concern, official consent needs to be maintained, usually meaning a signature must be obtained from whoever the information is about saying that they consent to releasing the information to the person in question. It is important to know that these things are to kept private so that we do not accidentally release confidential information because we didn't know that it wasn't supposed to be shared with others.

TIL 9/9/2015

9/9/2015: Today I Learned...
Today I learned the shortcut to change the spacing in a word document. Ctrl+1 changes the highlighted text to single spacing and ctrl+2 changes the highlighted text to double spacing. Past teachers have always told me to go through several menus to get to the spacing options. This way is much faster and easier.

I also learned about bubbl.us. I think this will be very useful throughout the year to map out connections between things. It is a great visual aid. I have used it before but I learned more about it and relearned some things that I had forgotten. I think I will use this for classes outside of academy as well as when it is required at the hospital.

A third thing that I learned is about research websites. When ".com" is at the end of a URL, it stands for commercial. This means that they are making money in some way. Information found on these sites is generally not as reliable as information found on sites with ".gov",".org", or ".edu" at the end of their URLs. These abbreviations mean government, organization, and education. This knowledge will be very useful especially when researching things in the medical field when being wrong about a fact you read on the internet can majorly effect the health of a patient.

To me, professionalism's most important characteristics are trust, dependability, and maturity.

A little about me

9/2/2015

Hello! My name is Cameran. I enjoy spending time with family and friends. I like to play guitar and listen to music. Sometimes I cover and record or perform song with my friends. Along with performing, I am involved in the production aspect of our school drama program. I run the lights and sound for a lot of the plays and musicals that are put on at my school. I also like watching soccer. I like to kick the ball around with friends once in a while too.

At the Health Academy, I hope to get an idea of what kind of career I want to have. There are many jobs in the health care field and I’m hoping that by the end of my time at the Academy, I will have a better sense of what I want to do for a living. I also hope to get a head start with some things on the education side of things. Getting my CNA and CMA during high school will start me off on the right foot to begin a career in medicine. I plan to go to college with a major in medicine, but I don’t know yet what I would like to focus on.