Education Plan of County Community Hospital, Research Paper Example

Part 1 – Hospital staff education

Nonprofit or state hospitals are the main forms of health care providers in the United States. (CBO 2006) The GAO study (2003) found that although there were more nonprofit and government-owned hospitals in the United States than for-profit ones, the operating expenses of nonprofit hospitals were also greater. Although both institutes have the same structure; an executive board, there are some main differences. Nonprofit hospitals provide health services for the public, they receive substantial tax exemptions.

Hospitals are aimed at providing acute help for the public, deal with temporary diseases and health problems. (David, 2003.)

Designing a training plan for community hospitals needs to be built around the needs of the public. Assessments need to be carried out regarding the most common acute treatments and procedure carried out in the hospital. The training provided needs to be in line with the demand and the previously determined development areas.

Therefore, the following steps need to be taken:

1. Evaluating the public needs and collecting demographic statistics (most common health problems, age and conditions of patients, tests and support needed)
2. Evaluating the level of training nurses already have received (is hospital staff currently able to effectively able to provide training and advice for the public regarding the health problems? Which aspect of health care is the most demanding?)
3. Identifying the gaps in the knowledge of the oublic, based on the most common identified acute health problems the hospital currently deals with

Any County Health Department has had an increase of admittance for bowel and indigestion problems, tuberculosis diagnosis and prevention, influenza vaccination and lower back pain. Therefore, the training provided would be aimed at the middle-aged population’s main problems, as the statistics have shown that the majority of patients being admitted to Any County Health Department were between 40 and 50.

Tubercolosis

As based on the survey distributed in the largest local supermarket in the catchment area of the community hospital revealed that over 40 percent of the respondents smoked and had little engagement in outdoor activities, the need for tuberculosis awareness and prevention courses was evident.

Influenza vaccination

The majority of respondents suffered a viral or flue infection in the past year, and they were not confident that the vaccination was safe and effective to prevent them from becoming ill. They were worried about the side effects of the vaccination; therefore, there was a need for adequate information to be delivered for the public to deal with common misconceptions. It is evident from hospital statistics that complications of viral and flue infections contribute towards many complications needing acute hospital care.

Bowel and indigestion problems

The public expressed their concern about healthy eating and choosing the right meals containing both fiber and vitamins. As the demographics of the population show that the majority of the patients were between 40 and 50; the time when IBS and other digestion symptoms occur the most often, it would be beneficial for patients to get advice on healthy eating and the importance of nutrition to prevent digestion problems.

Lower back pain

Lower back pain was a chronic problem in the population, and 30 percent of respondents were off work because of this health problem for at least two days. This course would cover the basics of healthy living, eating, vitamins, nutrition and simple to follow exercise plans to help people avoid rheumatic, joint pain and trapped nerves. As many people worked in offices, there was a need for providing training setting up a 5-10 minute daily exercise plan to avoid complications.

Part 2 – Answers to another Student

Example student 1:

The four seminars designed to provide the knowledge to hospital staff are covering various health care problems. In order to avoid making the training sessions being too overwhelming for hospital staff, it is essential to choose the number and characteristics of specialist staff to be trained on each and every topic. The targeting of each session needs to be focused on the age and demographic groups. For example; one group of staff would be providing the education for teenagers and under 25 patients about personal hygiene and sexually transmitted illnesses, while another would cover healthy living principles, and a third one would be responsible for diabetes education. The existing experience and training level of staff needs to be considered, as a more extensive knowledge will be needed for educating the public about diabetes than personal hygiene.

Example Student 2:

I think that the highest value training sessions the student created was the one related to illness prevention and nutrition. It is commonly known that prevention costs the health care industry less than treatment, and managing weight would help patients control blood sugar levels and prevent diabetes. However, the safety tips in the summer and the driving safety courses, in my opinion, would not have enough benefits in the form of a group training session. I would suggest that the County Health Department would instead produce an information booklet about these two topics. The timing of the illness prevention might not be right either, as viruses start spreading during late autumn, according to statistics.

References

CBO Report. Nonprofit Hospitals and the Provision of Community Benefits. (2006) Online. http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/76xx/doc7695/12-06-Nonprofit.pdf

Health Care in America. Trends and Utilization. CDC. (2003) Online. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/misc/healthcare.pdf

Reilly, M., Markenson, D. (2009) Education and Training of Hospital Workers: Who Are Essential Personnel during a Disaster? Prehospital and Disaster Medicine. June, 2009