August 4th, 2009 by Kate Lehnhof
The Vampire Craze has been gone unchecked for months now. It started with Twilight and now the tentacles of this box-office boosting, blood-sucking beast have latched onto film and televisions with shows like True Blood and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. At some point the pandemonium will fizzle and only the real-life vampires will be left standing: Phlebotomists.Ok so they don’t exactly suck blood from people’s necks but they do collect it to be tested for medical purposes. Totally similar right? No? I really wanted to use this metaphor so just indulge me.
What is phlebotomy?
It is a skill employed by physicians and many professionals in the medical field including nurses, medical assistants, paramedics, cardiac physiologists (UK) and clinical laboratory scientists. While all of these people have this skill sometimes the workload of doctors and nurses in relieved by people who strictly collect blood call phlebotomists. Activites of the job include drawing blood from patients or donors, verifying records, taking vital signs and testing blood samples.
Preparation
Phlebotomiest must be 18 and have a high school diploma. Most train for 4 months to a year at a career center or trade school and the biggest requirement is being comfortable with blood. You either got it or you don’t in that regard! After that certification classes are required. They usually run 6 weeks and students can be certified by a number of agencies including the American Society of Clinical Pathologists (ASCP), the American Medical Technologists (AMT), the American Association of Medical Personnel (AAMP), the National Credentialing Agency (NCA)and the National Phlebotomy Association (NPA)
Perks
The demand for phlebotomists is high and expected to grow so finding a job will be easy.
Flexibility is a great part of the job because you can work lots of hours or or for short periods of time by contract.
By the Numbers
Phlebotomists fall are considered health care support workers, and last year there were about 185,000 in the workplace.
Interesting Tidbit
The names of common methods for drawing blood include venipuncture, butterfly, fingerstick, healstick and capillary puncture.
Tags: health care support worker, phlebotomists, phlebotomy
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August 3rd, 2009 by alexi
Not everyone is dieting to lose weight, but when they go out to eat, they face a lot of nutritional snafus that would otherwise be known when cooking at home. A pasta cream sauce, a breaded-and-fried meat dish, or even a salad dressing can be a huge gamble to one’s overall health, let alone to those who are on strict health diets. Those working in the food industry are notorious for adding extra butter and otherwise unwanted calories for the sake of enhancing a food’s flavor. A study reported by the Orlando Sentinel found that expert dietitians miscalculated calorie counts of restaurant entrees by 200-600 calories per item! With overweight population percentages approaching 70 percent in the USA, lawmakers and food industry veterans alike are at a loss if disclosing caloric information effects consumer behavior, but this rift in opinion is precisely at the core of a new food lawmaking fight.
Photo: L.A. Times
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Tags: Catering Management, News, Restaurant Industry
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July 31st, 2009 by alexi
Are you caring, sympathetic and love working with people? Are you emotionally stable, able to withstand human trauma, suffering and other medical-related stresses?
NATURE OF THE WORK
From Ambulatory care to Urology, there is something under the umbrella of nursing that could be right for you. Registered nurses (RNs) tasks include everything from recording patients’ medical histories and symptoms, educating patients on various medical conditions, providing support to patients’ family member, operating medical machinery, or administering medications.
RNs can specialize in various areas of patient care, like operating room nurses who assist surgeons, or according to specific health conditions, like diabetes management nurses. Other RNs specialize working with one or more organs or body systems (like dermatology nurses), or with a specific population demographic (like pediatric nurses who work with children).
Some RNs combine specialties. For example, a ‘pediatric oncology‘ nurse deals with children who have cancer.
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Tags: health, health care, health career, nursing
Posted in Career, Healthcare | 1 Comment »
July 27th, 2009 by alexi
THE CHIROPRACTIC APPROACH TO HEALTHCARE
Chiropractors treat problems related to the musculoskeletal system and believe this improves the nervous system and general health, all without drugs or surgery.
Like other health practitioners, chiropractors follow a standard routine to get information needed to diagnose and treat patients. They take the patient’s medical history; conduct physical, neurological, and orthopedic examinations; and may order laboratory tests like X rays.
In addition to general chiropractic practice, some chiropractors specialize in sports injuries, neurology, orthopedics, pediatrics, and/or nutrition.
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Tags: Chiropractors, health care
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July 16th, 2009 by alexi
Do you love watching Grey’s Anatomy, Scrubs, or ER (regardless of whether George Clooney is acting or not)?
Do you find satisfaction from the precision required to pull a splinter out of a friend’s toe, enjoy cleaning and bandaging a roommate’s cut finger?
Does the thought of medical school sound like financial (and social) suicide?
Then perhaps you should look into a medical assisting job!
WHAT IS MEDICAL ASSISTING?
Medical assistants perform a range of administrative and clinical tasks in offices of physicians, podiatrists, chiropractors, and other health practitioners. Unlike Physician assistants (who can examine, diagnose, and treat patients with physician supervision), medical assistant duties vary from office to office.
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Tags: medical, medical careers, medical specialties
Posted in Areas of Study, Career, Healthcare, Human Services | No Comments »