Week 5: To The Future!

This was a shorter week than normally for me, but that's because of the trip I'm taking the following week (right now, actually, by the time I'm posting this). Nevertheless, it was another very involved few days at IRMC. I worked predominantly with the patient navigator of the cancer department one day compiling the past year's data. This was a big help to her, as her arm is still in the process of healing from the break.
The second day, I was the "minion" of the IC (Infectious Control) department. I'm having more and more fun doing work with the IC team as the summer goes on. I'm still collecting loads of data, and the hand hygiene practices were going up steadily. Yet, this week they seemed to drop despite the multiple re-education sessions that IC has been holding for the nurses and other faculty. These re-education sessions are mandatory and are done with small groups of employees. Some of the staff sincerely believe in and practice proper hand hygiene, yet those few are not enough to stop the spread of harmful germs and, worse, illnesses. It's a work in progress. I'll be sorting the data when I get back from my trip and will update you on our progress. We now have extra "eyes" observing and collecting data, so we are hoping for the data be more representative of the multiple shifts of employees.
Just a little something extra about why my week was shorter than usual: I served a half day at IRMC one day because I had a lunch meeting with a woman who has held many positions in the medical field. She was a ARNP (nurse practitioner), midwife at IRMC, OB/GYN, now works in cosmetic surgery, recently took a year-long course on integrative health at Duke, and still wants to move into a different career based more on the principles of functional medicine. This was a rare and highly valuable opportunity for me to speak with someone who has such vast experience in the medical field and has many of the same values as myself. What's more is that she has generously offered me her continued assistance and to be a guest speaker at Stetson's Annual Spring Health Fair. There is much to be done on my part now with researching and planning both events at Stetson for my community organizer position and for my continuing education and career!

Talk to you all in 2 weeks! B-love & support :)