Tag: Fewer Hospitalizations and Treatments

Nursing Roles and Duties

Nurses play an important part in any hospital. You can’t imagine a hospital or a hospice care without them. They have so many roles that any hospital would find it hard to deal with their patients without them.

They don’t just roam around a hospital and assist those in need of help. Nurses have specific roles to do for their patients. Their duties may have evolved over time, but nurses are no longer mere assistants to doctors and medical specialists. A hospital care is not complete without a nurse.

Care Provider
First of all, nurses provide care to their patients. And that includes attending to their personal needs at times.

Comforter
Nurses are great comforters, too. Their patients need that more than giving a precise medical diagnosis. When a nurse provides comfort to a patient; that will make his patient feel better.

Communicator
Nurses should be able to communicate to their patients as well. If they can talk to them, establish lines of communication, their patients’ time inside a hospital would be worthwhile.

Coach
They can be a teacher, if need be. This happens when explaining difficult terms used with medicine. If a nurse provides coaching to his patient, things inside the hospital would be a whole lot better.

Client Advocate
Nurses should be able to treat their patients as the most important person in the hospital. It is not the hospital who is paying them but their patients. So, providing care and comfort to them should be their main duty.

This is a short list of the many roles nurses do inside a hospital. They may use a combination of these roles, depending on the need of the patient, but nurses are there to give special medical attention to those who are in need of one.

Hospital Jobs    

A hospital is a place for patients and doctors. But jobs in a hospital are not limited to just health care. According to forbes.com, hospitals employ more than 5 million people and they are all hardly doctors. America’s general medical and surgical hospitals have one-third jobs that are non-medical.

In a hospital, there are clinical and non-clinical jobs in all levels and types. Clinical hospital jobs are those which provide direct patient care, such as nurse, doctors, or allied personnel. Meanwhile, non-clinical hospital jobs are administrative or management types of roles, from the janitors to the executives.

Some of the clinical hospital jobs include physicians (ER doctors, surgeons, hospitalists), nurses (CRNA, RN, LPN/LVN, CNS, techs (Radiology Tech, Ultrasound Tech, Surgical Tech), therapists (Physical Therapist, Radiation Therapist), medical assistants, pharmacists, medical lab technologists, and dietician.

The examples of non-clinical hospital jobs include case managers (social workers), accountants, human resources and recruiting, executives (CEO, CFO, CIO), information technologists, and administrative assistants.

Working in a hospital might be attractive to you if you enjoy working with people and being around a lot of other people. And if you like a bit of a challenge in the work place every day, you are bound to experience that as an average hospital has hundreds of employees and patients coming in on a daily basis. Also, hospital jobs are relatively secure. If you are looking for a work place where there is more hiring than firing, then you might want to consider working in a hospital.

Of course, there are also downsides to working in a hospital. It is probably not the most progressive place to work as hospital environments do not change much over the years. Other than medical technology, not much changes in the hospital environment. Aside from that, hospital politics is also an issue. And more importantly, you need to keep in mind that many sick people, including those with infectious disease s, come through the door.

Financing Hospital Care in the United States

Since the 60’s, Medical costs have risen dramatically in the U.S. The greatest increase comes from hospital care. Most hospitals have been granted large wage increase and installed expensive modern equipments. To meet these large expenditures, hospitals raised charges to their services by about 600 percent.

There are three main methods of financing hospital care in the country: (1) private insurance, (2) government funding, and (3) customer payments.

Private Insurance. Approximately 80% of Americans have health insurance of some kind. The employee, employer, and the government pays a certain amount for medical benefits. Private health insurance are offered either by insurance companies, medical service plans, employers, or organizations.

Medical service plans provide service benefits. This service is a direct payment to the physician or hospital for medical care. On the other hand, Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO’s) provide nearly complete health care services for a monthly or annual fee. Despite the complete services provided, patient’s options are limited or are bonded by the HMO’s restrictions. There are also employers who pay for the health care cost for their employees rather than buying insurance.

Government Funding. About 40 percent of all health care cost is paid by the government. Of course, the Federal government pays for the larger portion. Hospitals that receive such funding are those managed by the Public Health Service and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Medicare is the biggest government funded health care program in the U.S. IT helps senior citizens pay for out patient, nursing and hospital care.

Customer Payments. Most insurance do no pay for cost of medicine, medical appliances, dental , and eyeglasses. Some only cover a portion of the outpatient care. Patients will need to cover part of the cost themselves. Nearly 25% of health care cost is paid by patients.

Hospital Associated Pneumonia Prevention

Hospital associated pneumonia has become a great concern nowadays. According to WHO, pneumonia acquired from hospitals’ morbidity and mortality rates are staggering high. For those who are not aware, pneumonia that starts in the hospital tends to be more serious than other lung infections.

This growing concern is due to several factors. Usually, the infection spreads when patients use respirators – machine for breathing. During hospital stay, patients are more vulnerable to germs or viruses since they are not well enough to fit the off. Patients who are more prone to this disease in the hospital are those who had surgeries, chemo therapy (cancer treatment with low immunity), have chronic lung disease, elderly, and alcoholic.

Germs are also passed from one health care staff to another through hand contact or clothing. This is why they are required to wear gloves and masks when on duty. There are also other ways to avoid the dreadful disease.

The best way to stop the spread of germs is through frequent hand washing, stay at home when sick, and boost immunity. People who need to visit their loved ones in the hospital must make sure that they have taken steps in preventing the spread of germs: bring hand sanitizer, wear masks and gloves, and never bring an infant or child. If you have contact with a person in the hospital, never place your hand from your face. When someone coughs or sneezes, cover your nose and mouth with clean tissue or hanky. Do the same when you sneeze or cough as well.

In-patients who are very young and old or very ill at greater risk of such infections. To prevent the spread of germs, get up-to-date vaccination. Ask your doctor about flu and anti-viral vaccinations available. With good preventive measures, you can ensure to have a disease-free life.

Hospice Care Benefits

Hospice care is a philosophy of care that embraces comfort and self-respect at the end of life. It is a complete form of care, meaning that it addresses the physical, emotional, spiritual and social needs of the affected person and their family. Hospice care is a Medicare benefit that has been shown to reduce healthcare involvement and frequent hospitalizations. It doesn’t prolong death and it doesn’t advance it. Hospice instead improves the total well being for the affected person as they near the end of life, while offering useful support and information for family members. Some family members feel strongly about when it’s the right time to schedule hospice care, while others are more hesitant. Let’s discuss many of the benefits to hospice care so that you can make an informed decision for your beloved.

Comprehensive Care – Hospice includes a group of professionals: physicians, social workers, nurses, home health aides, chaplains and volunteers. This helps the affected person and their family get the personalized care that they need, as well as answers and support. This dynamic group also makes sure that no needs are left uncared for.

Continuous Care – The clock never stops on hospice care. Care is offered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Families always have access to care for their beloved and patients never have to be left unattended. This means that caregivers can take the breaks they need while knowing that their beloved is cared for.

Reduced Expenses – Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance covers the cost of hospice care. Without it, family members may be responsible for paying for medications, healthcare supplies and healthcare equipment.

Fewer Hospitalizations and Treatments – Hospice care can avoid the need for unnecessary treatments and hospitalizations. When an individual is brought to the hospital, the goal is generally to ‘save’ the affected person. However, when end of life is near and doesn’t need to be prolonged with healthcare involvement, hospice care is very useful and will support the affected person and family’s wishes.