Grand Arbor Tour
1/23/2020
Knute Nelson has seven different facilities those including Grand Arbor, Crystal Brook, Nelson Gables, Franciscan Sisters, Care Center, Home Care and Hospice. All of these facilities are connected with Knute Nelson. Knute Nelson serves many different types of care at each of these facilities to meet the needs of each individual that's needing to assistance at one of their sites. They serve six levels of care to residents in their facilities which is Independent Apartments, Assisted living, enhanced assisted living, memory care, home care and hospice care. Each resident is assessed to see where would be best for them individually. Some questions that I am planning on asking is how many residents do you have total? And what is the main difference between assisted living and enhanced assisted living?
Alomere Hospital Tour
2/4/2020
Alomere has six different departments that we are able to tour. Those being the OB unit, the rehab unit, the respiratory therapy unit, the ER department, the lab and Heartland Orthopedic department. The OB unit is where the birthing place and the nursery is. This department is where babies are born. They even have a c-section suite right up in the OB department. The rehab center is where they do different types of rehabilitation such as physical and even speech rehab. The respiratory department deal with people with respiratory issues such as smokers they help them breath better and sometimes assist in breathing for a patient. The Emergency room is where injured or critically ill patients go for a fast speedy care. The lab is where they deal with blood, different bodily testings and even with parasites found in the human body for testing. Heartland Orthopedics is where they deal with bones. They can do things such as casting and splinting to therapy to surgeries. Some questions that I plan to ask is in the OB department what time of the year is the most busy in the OB department. Another question that I would ask is in the respiratory department is if they see a lot of kids now who are vaping and if so how fast has that trend been going?
C- section Suite Tour
2/27/2020
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We are going to be able to tour the c-section suite there at the Alomere hospital. During a surgery there can be up to seven different team members present in the room. There is obviously the surgeon who is the main person performing the surgery. There is an anesthesiologist who can administer pain medications and anesthesia. There can be a CRNA which is a step under an anesthesiologist which can administer pain medications and anesthesia as well but not all of the same that an anesthesiologist is allowed to administer. There is at least one OR nurse in the room. An OR nurse is responsible for the patient and the patients needs. There always is a surgical technician that sets up the operating room with supplies and gets to stand next to surgeon to pass them tools during the surgery. A physician's assistant also can be present during a surgery and they act as the surgeon's assistant. If there is new medical technology that is present for the surgery and the surgeon does not know how to use the technology there can also be a medical device company representative that can be in the room to help use the equipment. Some questions I have to be able to ask these individuals is I would ask the surgeon what the most complicated surgery has been for them. Another question I have to ask would be the anesthesiologist and the CRNA to see how their job differs.
Service Excellence
3/6/2020
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We are going to meet the leadership team members of Alomere Hospital. We will meet the CEO, the director of patient services and chief nursing officer, the director of community relations and development, the director of human resources, the ER director, the administrator for Heartland Orthopedic specialists, the chief medical officer and the lab director. All of these people are the people who run the hospital and help to make sure that everything in the hospital is doing good. They all work together to make a good and healthy environment for their workers and for the patients that come into Alomere. They are the business side of the hospital so they aren't getting that patient contact like their healthcare professionals do but without each of them a part of the hospital would be missing and they would not be able to run the hospital smoothly. The CEO of a company is the one who makes the major decisions for the company. The director of patient services and chief nursing officer is the one who is in charge of the nursing management. The director of community relations and development is the person who plans events and that makes sure everyone who works there is getting along. The director of human resources is the person who manages budgets and hires employees. The ER director is the person who is in charge of the people in the emergency room. The Administrator of Heartland Orthopedics resolves information requests. The Chief medical officer is the one who oversees effective management in hospital to ensure patients get highest level of care. And the lab director is the overall administrator in the lab and oversees all employees and tests that are run in the lab.
Casting & Splinting
3/12/2020
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The purpose of casting and splinting is to support and protect injured bones, ligaments, tendons and other tissues. It helps heal broken bones by keeping the ends together and keeping it straight. Some complications that can occur due to casting and splinting is ischemia which is when blood supply is restricted to tissues causing there to be a lack of oxygen in the part of the body that is casted. Another complication that can come from casting and splinting is pressure sores which is damaged skin from staying in a position for a long period of time. Two benefits of splinting is that its fast and easy to apply and that its easiest and fastest to be able to take off. Some reasons why splinting can be a disadvantage is that it causes lack of excessive motion which can be uncomfortable, and it limits what people can do which can be very frustrating. The advantage of casting is that it provides more stabilization for the broken bone. A disadvantage of a cast is that it takes longer to apply a cast rather than a splint. Some questions that I am going to ask the Heartland Orthopedic specialists is how long is a typical splint on a patient for? And where is the hardest spot to have to apply a cast on a patient?