A Study of Epidemiology

From the Worksheet that I provided for you, proceed to the Blackout Syndrome website. You will need to do a lot of reading today in different scenarios to devise an intelligible set of hypotheses on your worksheet. 

All answers will be completed on this worksheet. If you need help from your fellow health care workers (classmates), please ask them.  
This assignment is due FRIDAY this week!

March 27, 2013: Hello Health Occupations!

Hello All! Today is a day to really check your grades and make sure you are on track for the quarter! Check with me if you are missing something, and I can either get you a copy or make you a copy (hopefully!)

Go to this site

for the blood typing game from Nobel Prize. Read the introduction. Watch the intro video if you want....and don't kill any patients! Try the game here 

Try both the quiz game with random patients. What was your score? Email it to me.

Try also the Mission Based Game. With this one, you can enter your email...if you don't have one, maybe you can play with someone else? You can “erase” your email afterward....but it appears that the email is not used for any bad.

Wednesday, March 20th: Instructions (Countdown to SLC...1 day)

Hello Everyone!

Well, we're back in the lab today. I need everyone to do the following today:

1) If you are going to Great Falls tomorrow, you need to print off a copy of the event guidelines. To do that (even if you are a HOSA Bowler or doing another team event), go to this site, find your event...and print off applicable information. You MUST HAVE THIS with you . The judges will check! :)

2) Everyone needs to do the following due next Tuesday! Go to this site and read through it. These are but a few examples of medical mistakes that have led to patient injuries or death -- and have led further to changes in the way physicians in the United States practice medicine. Recognizing that all of these mistakes could have been prevented, the federal government and various medical academies have developed guidelines for prevention and treatment of many diseases.
     a)Please write a two-paragraph reflection on how important it is that these medical mistakes were considered when deciding legislation.Write about two more mistakes out there that should warrant new legislation?

2. If you are not attending conference, make sure you have completed your
a)Diabetes Case Study
b)Ethical Scenarios

3)Make sure you've completed your living will! I will be putting this in as a third quarter grade. END OF THIRD QUARTER is MARCH 28th! So, you need to make sure you have all items completed.

4)Also if you have an upcoming job shadow, you MUST complete the online training!

Instructions for ONLINE TRAINING for job shadow

Once you complete your online training, we can set you up to job shadow. I'd like you to finish your online training, so we can get everyone scheduled by March 27th:

HealthStream Instructions

1. Open the internet
2. Go to this website
3. The computer must allow pop-ups to use this program. To do this, click on the TOOLS tab at the top of your screen. Click on POP-UP BLOCKER, and then click on TURN OFF POP-UP BLOCKER. If it already has the pop up blocker off, leave it off.
4. You should now be at the log-in page of HealthStream. The log-in directions displayed on the screen DO NOT pertain to you as a high school student.

**Your user ID is the first letter of your first name and your full last name. The initial password is EDUCATION. Please change your password after your first
log-in. To change your password, click on the “my profile” tab and then click on “manage account information”.

i.e. Cheyanne Sparks… user ID:csparks

5. Enter your user ID and password, click the log-in button
6. An informational screen will appear, click continue to enter into your learning portal
7. You should now be at a page with a titled tab “My Learning.” Under “Assigned Learning” you will see the courses to be completed. These are highlighted in blue. The courses must be completed within 60 days.
8. Click on the course you want to complete and you will be taken to a page titled “Course Details”. This will list the educational course in blue, which must be completed first. Click on the titled course, and begin. Most of the courses have an audio component included (optional).
9. Click on the exam, and complete.
10.Once you have successfully passed the exam you can click on the “my transcript” tab. Select the completed course. Under “Continuing Education Credit Information” click “view certificate”
11.Print the completion certificate to turn into your teacher.

To log in...you need to put in your first letter of your first name and your last name. For instance, my name is Angela Hammang, so my username is ahammang

Your password is EDUCATION (in all caps).

Good LUCK! Bring me your results soon, so we can get you scheduled for your job shadow! :)

Ethical Scenarios

Discuss whether the appropriate actions were taken in each of the following scenarios. Support your answer with references to the AMA ethical guidelines or the general code of ethics for health care workers found in your text book.

1. A local politician was admitted to the hospital for chest pain. That night, the politician's nurse talked about his situation at home with her husband (including his high blood alcohol level). The husband thought he had a duty to the public to warn them of the politician’s alleged alcohol problem. The next day the newspaper printed a damaging story about him quoting from an anonymous source.

2. Jamie, the nurse aid, was ordered to measure blood sugar readings on several patients. She had never been formally trained to operate the glucometer but agreed to take the readings. She had trouble getting the blood glucometer to register Mr. Sweet's blood sugar reading. She had several other patients waiting for her help, so she looked at his last 2 readings and recorded a number in between.

3. Mr. B. is dying of cancer. His wife calmly explains to the doctor that she knows he would not want to suffer so much and asks for him to be given a lethal dose of morphine. The doctor expresses empathy for Mrs. B and his family but explains that she cannot ethically nor legally carry out the wishes of Mr. B.

4. A doctor has determined that an unborn fetus is severely deformed and will not likely live more than a few weeks after birth. Furthermore, the condition will most certainly threaten the life of the mother during childbirth. Upon sharing the news with his patient, she refuses an abortion stating that it is against her moral and religious beliefs. The doctor continues to persuade and pressure his patient until she reluctantly agrees to the procedure.

5. Mr. X suffered a knee injury while downhill skiing. The doctor performed a thorough physical exam and has determined that Mr. X has strained but not severely damaged the ligaments in his knee. She instructs Mr. X to rest the knee and provides a referral to physical therapy. Mr. X is furious with the doctor and insists that she order an MRI. Despite the patient’s argument the doctor upholds her diagnosis and does not order the MRI.

6. Dr. Z is assisting during a routine surgery when the patient unexpectedly dies. The patient has declared herself as an organ donor. Dr. Z happens to have a patient that is on the waiting list for a heart transplant. He shares this information with the head surgeon and the procedure is quickly underway to determine if Dr. Z’s patient is a match for the available donor organ.

7. Dr. DNA has performed genetic testing on Mr. and Mrs. Smith to determine the probability that they may pass a family genetic disorder to their offspring. Mr. Smith’s employer learns of the test and requests a copy of the results. Dr. DNA informs the employer that the results are confidential and cannot legally or ethically share the results.

8. Mrs. O’Leary’s nurse enters her room to find her unconscious, not breathing, and without a pulse. The nurse is aware of the Do Not Resuscitate order in Mrs. O’Leary’s chart. However, she is certain that Mrs. O’Leary has only been unconscious for a minute or less and feels that she can revive the patient. The nurse activates a code blue. Mrs. O’Leary’s pulse is quickly regained after defibrillation as the nurse had suspected.

9. While performing a routine physical Dr. XYZ notices bruising on her patient’s arm. She asks about the injury and the patient reports that her boyfriend is abusive. Dr. XYZ feels that the injury is minor and plans to check back with the patient when she sees her again in six months.

10. While eating lunch with several other nurses, Buffy shares a story of her patient that was “so fat she couldn’t fit on the commode and smelled worse than something you’d find in a barn yard.”

Advanced Directives and Living Wills

For your reference (you got a copy of this last week)...here's an example of what someone's living will declaration might look like...now you write yours! :) Print it, sign it, date it, have two classmates sign it, and turn it in tomorrow.

Living Will Declaration

I, the undersigned, do fully recognize that death is as much a reality as birth, growth, maturity, and old age-it is the one certainty of life. If the time comes when I can no longer take part in decisions for my future, let this statement stand as an expression of my wishes, while i am still of sound mind.

If I should have an incurable or irreversible illness, accident, or condition that will cause my death within a relatively short time, it is my desire that my life not be prolonged by administration of life-sustaining procedures. If my condition is terminal and I am unable to participate in decisions regarding my medical treatment, I direct that __________________will make the decision of whether or not to withhold or withdraw procedures that merely prlong the dying process and are not necessary to my comfort or freedom from pain. By this declaration I am not asking you to withhold food or drink. It is my intention that this declaration shall be valid until revoked by me.

This request is made after careful consideration. I hope that you who care for me will feel morally and legally bound to follow its mandate. I recognize that this appears to place a heavy responsibility upon you, but it is with the intention of relieving you of such responsibility and of placing it upon myself in accordance with my strong convictions, that this statement is made:

DATED this ________________day of ________________, 2013

_________________________________________(signature)

_________________________________________(Witness #1)

_________________________________________(Witness #2)

Diabetes Case Study/Competitive Events Studying!

Monday, March 4th!

I hope you are all well. I am in sunny Billings enjoying Key Club convention.

The objectives are easy today:

1)If you are studying for competitive events, then you MUST study for competitive events. You test NEXT week, and it is important that you use this time wisely. On a previous post, I listed a BUNCH of websites, quizlets you can go to to study your event! Please use these and search for more study tools. Also go onto the hosa website, click on the "competitive events guidelines" link, scroll down and find your event(s). Figure out ways that you can prepare for your tests!  Even though you are allowed to go to convention regardless of your score, you want to do well and represent your school well! :)

2)If you are NOT studying for competitive events, then you are going to complete a diabetes case study online. Type your answers on a separate piece of paper and turn them in by Friday.
     a) Go to the Diabetes Case Study
     b) Read the scenario, then proceed through the objectives, page 1, etc.
     c) All the while please complete the questions (you'll be able to answer them through your research and clicking on  links that the case study recommends).
     d) Answer all questions (word document or written on paper)
     e) Send them to Mrs. H's email (hammanga@gmail.com) and/or hand the hard copy in.
     f) DON'T be afraid to learn something new! You must dive in to learn anything new though! :) Have fun :)