Allied Health Work Force Shortages Pose Concern: An Insight

A deficiency of health workers in many countries of the world is a chief barrier for health care systems as they pose serious challenges to the way and manner into which response are given to the prevalence of chronic diseases.

Such diseases as Covid-19 pandemic, avian influenza and other challenges, according to a latest report by the World Health Organization no doubt called for an increase in number of health and medical personnel across the globe.

 The United States is equally hugely affected by this shortage as well. Acute personnel shortages occur in allied health professions such as medical technology and respiratory therapy. Enough numbers of these practitioners are not always available to deal with the regular flow of patient needs that must be met.

 Also disturbing is the risk posed by bio-terrorism and the additional anxiety that such acts would place on a system that is already under strain. In a situation like this, laboratory technicians and respiratory therapists would be in high demand. Laboratory tests would be obligatory to ascertain how victims have been affected and to what extent, and breathing difficulties would have to be attended to by qualified technicians.

 Nursing shortages have also received much public interest recently. Depending on what professions and levels are included, allied health is as large as or larger than nursing. Similar to nursing, many applicants to allied health programs are denied admission because of shortages of faculty, clinical training sites and related funds.

 Many students are attracted to a career in a health profession, but the costs of obtaining an education are becoming more of a barrier. Funding for education by the states is at its lowest in 25 years, and provision per student has decreased significantly due to improved enrollment and inflation in the economy. Total tax revenues have declined as a percentage of state wealth.

Another factor is the increased expenses for Medicaid programs, which continue to require a larger share of the overall budget in each state.

 As a means of addressing the situation, the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions is working with several other organizations to advance S. 473, the Allied Health Professions Reinvestment Act of 2005, and H.R. 215, a companion bill. This proposed legislation is calculated to furnish a remedy for the allied health work-force problems. If something isn't done soon, the organization warns, there will be an alarming growth in adverse effects in patients because of a scarce supply of allied health caregivers.

Thank you

 

WHO AM I?

Having a greater knowledge of what one’s capability is, is one of the prerequisites of eventful living.  The act of asking insightful questions like this will undoubtedly open a wide vista for an individual to plan for whatever  he/she is aspiring to achieve in life. 

If you are able to ask yourself this question as often as possible, this will give you the opportunity of knowing “who you were, who you are and what you stand to become in future”.

Asking this question is a clear indication that you are a dreamer, who knows what stands your way of becoming someone great in life.

Who am I? is a question that gives you purpose of life, direction, vision and goals to what is achievable for every trying soul. As an individual you should cultivate the habit of asking yourself this leading question to serve as guide in your life engagement. Asking this question alone is not going to give you the required information needed to succeed in life but by providing answers to the question asked.

Provision of right answers without begging the question will go a long way in giving you insight of what the future holds for you. Begging the question involves not giving direct answer to the question or procrastinating away your time without any definite direction. DON’T DO IT!!!

Another aspects to take cognizance of are the likely skills that you are going to develop by asking yourself this question and answering it accordingly. 

The skills are Academic skills, Thinking skills, Interpersonal skills, Teamwork skills, Technical skills, Communication skills, Proper workplace behaviour,  effective performance and productivity disposition, good work ethics, obedience to rules and regulation, among others. All these will guide you  to your goals and objectives set to achieve in life.

• Academic skills will prompt you to work hard by facing your study as expected  of you (in as much you have goals you are targeting in life)
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• Thinking skills will propel you to think critically and positively before you embark on any job or disposition. By doing this you will be able to weigh the pros and cons of your action before doing anything at all
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• Interpersonal skills will make you relate with people with regards and respect for their personality. This on the other hand will open a new vista for you because people will love you for whatever you are doing and will be ready to assist you  when you need help. Empathy and positive regards is a virtue that everybody supposed to cultivate towards their fellow human being.
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• Teamwork skills involve thinking about any joint decision that has  to do with group work. Don’t isolate yourself from others, believe that “there is no I in group work”. Everybody has its own relevance in group work and you must understand this fact. This will assist you in developing good communication skills.
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• Ø  Communication skills involve ability to communicate effectively to bring about positive results. Good communication skills can go a long way getting message across to your fellow human being without any problem.
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• Proper workplace behaviour is another opportunity you can derive while developing yourself to meet up with the challenges of purposive lifestyle, when you ask yourself a probing that can prompt you to go extra mile to be an achiever.   
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•  Having developed all these virtues will make you understand and exhibit good work ethics. Good work ethics involve working towards setting and achieving corporate goals. Understand and stick to assignments until the results are achieved. You will also imbibe the habit of loyalty to your organisation. 
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 Ask yourself this question, provide answer to the question and look out for people of high integrity and fashion your life alongside the way they fashion theirs in a way that are profitable to them. Look out for how to improve yourself on daily basis. Do your best and pray for God’s guidance.

Build your tomorrow, Build your life, Build your Future; because there is no destination called FUTURE! It starts NOW!!!

On a final note, take enough rest and be cheerful.  

A Nursing Resume Should Show How Qualified You Are For The Job And Your Personal Skills Possessed.

Writing a good resume to get your dream is highly essential to the extent that there is tendency of securing the job you aspire to do by at least 60%, if you write an all-inclusive resume. 

 What every employer is looking for is a specific set of skills and expertise that set them apart from other candidates aspiring for the same job. These skills and expertise should match the skills necessary to perform a particular job in any specific  career field.

 Basically there are some essential items that a well-written resume should have. Your resume should contain your full name, campus and permanent address, telephone numbers and email addresses. Apart from the listed items a nursing resume should include the following information:

 You must provide a well-written career and job objective which shows your sense of direction to the job in question.

 Your resume should have the names of each of your former employers, their addresses and your corresponding job titles.

 Your resume should give a brief description about the employer, the company’s products especially if they are not well-known.

 Clearly state your educational attainment, your class of degree, any training you have attended before and licenses as well as academic honours, scholarships and extracurricular activities. Provision of all these information will go a long way in presenting as more than qualified for the job

The number of staff that you manage or  work with (if applicable)

 Clearly state your educational attainment, your class of degree, any training you have attended before and licenses as well as academic honours, scholarships and extracurricular activities. Provision of all these information will go a long way in presenting as more than qualified for the job

 You have to highlight your duties and responsibilities as a registered nurse, including planning, assessing and evaluating patient care, record keeping, the type of work or ward and routine tasks you have to carry out during the course of performing your duties etc.

 The level on interactions your department has with other departments, external agencies and health care professionals must be clearly explained, while your contribution to enhanced your department progress should be clearly state.

 Your resume must clearly show that you are a specialized professional nurse, by demonstrating what type of individual you are and give as much details as possible of the skills and experience you possessed.

 Present a narrative statement of your value, interest, capability such as the experience with a comprehensive background like paediatric, oncology, long-term care and ICU/ER, knowledge of Medicare home health regulations and JCAHO standards/reimbursement requirements, registered nurse with 10 years of track record providing quality, patient centered care in home, hospital, nursing home, hospice and private office settings etc.

Highlight any other achievements you might have had in the past that might have benefited your department and obviously your organization in general. This will show you to be more innovative and possess ability to make things happen with little supervision. This is one of the qualities being given much credence before being considered for employment in any field or career and this is most highly needed in any specialized career field like Nursing.  

 If you take the important points listed above into consideration you are going to provide a well-written resume and this is likely going to give you edge over other candidates you are competing with. And, this may help you secure the job by getting more recognition by the employer even before the interview session.

 Thank you and good luck.  

 

How To Achieve Greatness In Medical Careers Field

How To Achieve Greatness In Medical Career Fields

Do you want to be one of the great people ever produced by the exalted medical careers field? Over the years the importance accorded to all medical practitioners has made it the first choice in terms of the different careers field available to us today. 

The medical field has been known to always offer wonderful career opportunities and seems to provide not only job security but favorable incomes in many facets of the medical environment. The demand for the profession is increasing by the day and unless people quit getting sick, it appears there won’t be any problems in the future finding a need for the medical professional.

 Careers in the medical field vary from one country to another and this lead to various areas of specialization within the profession it is quite interesting to know that you can certainly find many different opportunities once you find yourself in this career field. You can go into mental health or family practice as a tech, doctor, or nurse. You can set your own hours with a career that offers flex-time, part-time, and full-time opportunities. You can equally be your own boss in many areas of the medical field especially if you are a physician or psychologist in private practice. The career possibilities that you can venture into are limitless.

 In the mental health field, registered nurses are in high demand. Psychologists and Psychiatrists can find a job with ease. Social workers are in high demand in mental hospitals and drug treatment centers. Psych techs are also in high demand now within mental health facilities and many psych techs are paid up to sixteen dollars an hour in larger cities and that’s for someone who has a high school diploma or better still if you have the opportunity to attend seminars, training, conferences, and any other learning through on the job training!

 Careers for nurse practitioners and physician assistants are in high demand. Many physician assistants and nurse practitioners are making as much as family physicians if they are in the right field. Surgery Physician Assistants make over $100,000 in some areas and most of them have a three or four-day work week which can give a career opportunity a lot of appeals.

 In pediatrics, the opportunities available to you as a medical practitioner are wide open. Careers for child psychologists and nurses are not also to be played with because of their importance in and out of hospital complexes. The physicians who are ready to go to work in private practice or as an important part of a family group practice will be pleasantly surprised with their working environments in most cases. You will see that you are most welcome in any area you find yourself.

Dermatology offers registered nurses, PAs, and medical techs many possibilities, and often the dermatology offices are closed either on Monday or Friday which again, offers appeal. Dermatologists draw good salaries and career-minded physicians can work alone in private practice or in a group.

 There are so many careers to consider in the medical field. If you aren’t sure of the many possibilities, then take a look at our comprehensive list below. The following opportunities are available and make great career choices with most of them in high demand!

•   Medical techs such as psych techs, radiology techs, and medical techs
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•   Nursing opportunities ranging from registered nurses to LPN and CNA possibilities 
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• Physicians ranging from Pediatricians to Psychiatrists 
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•  Medical transcribing
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• Counseling and crisis work for psychologists and psychiatrists
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• Medical records and billing opportunities for clerical work and auditing
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•   Clerical work in many capacities.
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 When you begin your search for a career, look online at the Occupational Handbook placed online by the US Labor board and see if you can find a career that’s not only in high demand but one which will satisfy your long-term goals for salary and educational requirements. Be familiar with your career opportunities before you lock yourself into a permanent career choice.

There are many other medical field opportunities and there are many opportunities for food service employees too. Medical personnel in the hospitals count on the food service within the deli or cafeteria twenty-four hours a day. People who want stability in their careers in the food service industry often choose food service careers within the medical industry. They need job security and find the salaries are often far better than those realized in the restaurants in the surrounding areas.

 

The Facts about Nursing Profession: What You Need To know About the Profession

Do you want to familiarize yourself with the basic facts about nursing profession but couldn’t get as much information needed as possible? Then, reading this article will give you more information about the fact you need to know to be successful while doing the job.  Most people say it is a career about caring. Others say it is a job about professional administration of medications and cure to patients. Some say it is the duty to work out predicaments by using critical thinking skills. However, whatever the perceptions of the generality of the people might be towards the profession, the fact still remains that Nursing is a profession that brings about considerable improvement to people welfare and lifestyle.

In whatever way you want to call it, nursing is, indeed, a conglomeration of all these beliefs and the faculty of many other skills. Nursing merges all the elements of professional treatment, compassion, and medical attention into one vigorous and feasible occupation. Nurses demonstrate all the remarkable characteristics of a person knowledgeable in patient care.

For this reason, many people all over the world continues to find a way of entering the job and thereby pursuing their career in nursing. So for those who want to establish a successful career in this in-demand and exciting job, there are quite a number of things you need to know first.

1. In the United States, 88% of the employed registered nurses are white or Caucasians. The remaining 12% are from non-Caucasians backgrounds; most of them came from non-Hispanic or African-American/Black race.

2. While most students pursue a career in nursing, the statistics show that most hospitals, particularly in the United States, are having problems in nursing shortage. This alarming condition is manifested by a growing number of retired nurses while the health care arena is continuously multiplying due to an excessive population growth in most areas. Nursing shortage is, in fact, a worldwide phenomenon. Countries like Canada, Philippines, Australia, Western Europe, Africa, and South America have reported significant nursing shortages.

3. The nursing profession started out by early missionaries and primarily during the early Christian era where members of the church provided nursing care to the sick as well as other members of their congregations. Though not professionally systematic at first, most of the activities of early nurses were focused on proper hygiene and comfort needs which are still being practiced up-to-date.

4. Historically, more women have been known to prefer nursing as a career. In fact, nursing was known to be a career exclusively for women until today before things changed. There have been statistical reports that show considerable increase in the number of men that registered as professional nurses. This just implies that men can also be passionate and caring contrary to what the society have labeled them as strong and formidable human beings.

5. It was in the year 1860 when Nightingale School at St. Thomas Hospital in London, the first training school for nurses, was built. Florence Nightingale was the one responsible in this momentous event. No wonder she was then acclaimed "The Founder of Modern Nursing."

6. Linda Richards was the first trained nurse in the United States. In 1873, she graduated from New England Hospital for Women and Children in Boston. Being one of the proponents of nursing, she opened the first training school for nurses in Japan and started a nurse training school at the Methodist Episcopal Hospital in Philadelphia.

7. Nursing shortages can be a frightening cause of higher morbidity rate. According to a 1998 research, hospitals with more registered nurses on staff and with higher ratios of nurses to patients had smaller number of deaths compared to those that do not have larger staff of registered nurses. With this, nursing shortages must be resolved as soon as possible to curb a boost in morbidity.

8. Nowadays, most hospitals are more and more becoming large intensive care units with cardiac monitoring, respiratory assistance and intensive treatments are notably part of the typical patient's therapy. And so, escalated demands in skilled and specialized nurses are in the offing.

With all the listed points above, there is no doubt that nursing profession is not merely a profession with greater demands in terms of workforce and responsibilities but more of a humanitarian skill dealing with more compassion than technicalities. Thus, the above listed facts about nursing mentioned are not plain issues about the said profession; it is more about life itself and how nurses are deeply valued.