Monday, April 30, 2012

What to Look For In an Online Universal Precautions Training: 7 Points

The various rules and regulations for the health sector are all framed by the Department of Health. Caring for the patients and treating them is definitely your primary goal as employees in the health care sector. However while doing so, you must not put your health on the line. With so many employees becoming sick due to spread of infection in a hospital, this became a key issue for the health department. A set of precautionary measures were put in place keeping your health in mind. This set of precautionary measures is known as universal precautions and must be followed by every health care employee in the United States of America.
These universal precautions go further beyond standard precautions as they prevent the transmission of bloodborne pathogens like HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), HBV (Hepatitis B Virus) and HCV (Hepatitis C Virus). You must practice these precautions every time you deal with a patient in your health care organization. Here all blood and human body fluids are handled with the utmost precaution assuming they are infected.
With the rate of infections in hospitals and clinics increasing day by day, universal precautions have got a new meaning. Doctors, nurses, paramedics, housekeeping staff, etc. are all required to do this training. Now online training has gained reputation for being the easiest, fastest and most economical training method.
Classroom-based training is less popular as it may be difficult for you to take time out of your busy schedule to attend classes.
Seven points you should look for in an online universal precautions training course as follows.
• Make sure the course you join is recognized and accredited by the United States Department of Health. A certificate from a non-recognized agency is not valid. You must receive a proper certification on completion of the training.
• The course must provide you the study materials. The language should be easy to read and understand. You should also receive certain study materials at the end of the course for your future reference.
• The training must be available to you online round the clock. This will make it easier for you as you can do it in your own time when you are free. You don't need to take leave from work specially to complete your universal precautions training.
• There must not be any limitations for you to log in to the course from anywhere and anytime.
• Ensure that you check to see the contents of the course before joining. The course contents should be of the best quality. All the material must be in accordance with the regulations of the Department of Health.
• The course must include case studies that are based on actual life incidences and experiences. In the future this will help you deal with such situations in a better way.
• You should have an exam at the end of the training as a review. On the basis of your score you will be awarded a certificate.
As your health is of great value, you must undertake this training in order to be able to better follow safety measures while handling infected substances. If you are healthy, you will be able to care for your patients in a better way.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Safety Kits for Your Personal Protection Against Bloodborne Pathogens: 7 Kinds

Employees of hospitals, clinics, laboratories and housekeeping are at high risk of being exposed to bloodborne pathogens as they deal regularly with contaminated blood and human body fluids. Exposure to these bloodborne pathogens can lead to dangerous diseases like HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and Hepatitis B and C.
The Bloodborne Pathogens Standard was given by the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in 1991. The Needlestick Satety and Prevention Act was enacted in 2001 and in the same year OSHA revised its standards. The new Bloodborne Pathogens Standards specifies the need for employers to get safer and better needle devices keeping your health and safety in mind. The new standards also stipulate the maintenance of a log book recording injuries resulting from contaminated needles.
It is very important that you keep your health and safety a priority. For this you need safety protection kits to protect you from exposure to bloodborne pathogens. There are a number of personal protection safety kits available in the market today.
• Clean up kit: This is a cleanup kit with sixteen pieces of equipment for cleaning fluid spills. It includes a small disposable tray that you can store in a first aid box or drawer. All the contents in the kid are disposable after one use.
• Body fluid Spill kit: It contains twenty three pieces of biohazard clean up equipment. This kit meets will all the OSHA requirements and includes numerous biohazards and garment disposal bags.
• Safety kit with CPR shield: This includes a cleanup kit for fluid spills and CPR shields to be used while administering CPR to an ill or injured patient. The shield is worn to avoid exposure to infections while treating the patient. This kit also meets all the OSHA regulations.
• Safety Response kit: This is available in different sizes of 10, 16 and 24 unit sizes. The contents of this kit include equipment to clean fluid spills containing bloodborne pathogens. It also contains personal protection gear like gowns, masks and shoe covers to guard your health.
• Biohazard bags: Proper disposal of soiled garments and contaminated equipment is very important. These biohazard bags are colored orange to differentiate them from other contents of a kit. All your contaminated items can be collected here and then sent off to be disposed off.
• Antiseptic Solutions: These solutions are used to spray the environment to keep the work area clean and free from contamination. Most of these antiseptic solutions provide protection against salmonella, herpes, staphylococcus, hepatitis and HIV infections.
• Sharps containers: OSHA mandates all health care facilities and clinics to have sharps containers in all work areas dealing with blood and body fluids. These containers are used for the correct disposal of needles and sharp instruments to prevent injuries with contaminated needles. These containers have locks to prevent anyone removing used needles from inside them.
It is a bit alarming to work with blood and other body fluid samples that may be infected with bloodborne pathogens. However, a few precautionary measures taken by you can prevent any accidents from taking place. It is very important that you do everything to keep your health protected. Taking adequate safety measures not only protects you but also your colleagues working around you.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

I'm Grateful Today

We have to change the way that we look at our lives. We have gotten to the place where we expect things, rather create things. Life is what we make it, and if we are going to enjoy life, we need to appreciate the opportunity that we've been given to experience it. Life is full of lessons and pleasures, and taking advantage of the lessons will lead to pleasures.
Every day that we can get up, we need to say I want to thank you for the opportunity, for a much worse experience would be not getting up. Worse yet not waking up. Therefore the ability to experience another day, good or bad is a blessing. Everybody has something to be thankful for, and once you start finding and appreciating those things, you'll be a much happier person.
There are positive things in everyone's life, and it's necessary to build on those things. At least it makes more sense than building on negative things, A good practice is to take every negative event that occurs and acknowledge that it occurred, figure out the lesson it taught you, find a way to prevent from occurring again and move, especially since it's already over.
It is so easy to create a positive environment, and it should be one of the first things on your agenda everyday. Sunshine is a good start and it's loaded with vitamin D. Play enlightening music and don't forget daily prayers. Find positive thoughts to read that will help set the mood of the day. Take a short walk to get the creative juices flowing. Have a good healthful breakfast and please to remember to put a smile on your face. Greet everyone you meet, by name if possible, but be pleasant and watch the mood around you get better.
Compliment people in the office as you greet them,and try to set the tone for pleasantness in the office. Talk to people rather than at them and try to find ways to be helpful. Practice stress relief techniques. If possible temporarily remove yourself from stressful situations before you react. If it's not possible, take a few deep breaths and think before you speak.
Find as many good things as you can to focus on. It's really not hard to find good things if you look. You can even find some negative things and make positives out of them. Happiness is something that you definitely control, and it all starts with being grateful. The real key is changing how you react to things that you are not happy with.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Something You Should Know About Prostate Problems

Prostate problems strike most men over the age of 50. The American Urological Association states that over 90% of all men will develop some kind of prostate problem during their lifetime. Of these, the most common prostate problems are:
-- Prostatitis - caused by an inflammation
-- Benign prostatic hyperplasia or BPH which is a non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate
-- Prostate cancer
Inflammation In Prostate May Be Silent
Examination of prostate tissue from routine autopsies indicate 75-80% incidence of chronic inflammation in these cases. While inflamed prostate may not be painful in itself, it can lead to prostate enlargement and unpleasant symptoms because of an increased pressure on the urethra.
These symptoms produce increased urgency or difficulty to urinate, problems in emptying the bladder, sleep disturbances because of frequent nighttime urination, weak or sporadic stream of urine, dribbling at the end of urination and emotional distress.
Because of the side effects of treatment for BPH which can be worse than its symptoms, most doctors do not suggest treatment for the condition. But if left untreated prostate problems could become much worse and eventually require uncomfortable prostate biopsies, radiation or microwave treatments. It can even require debilitating and potentially serious surgery.
Over 400,000 men in the United States undergo prostate surgery each year. Moreover, prostate problems can lead to dangerous complications, including bladder and kidney infections.
What Causes Prostate Inflammation
Prostate inflammation is idiopathic, which means cause unknown. Some probable causes include:
-- Infection with sexually transmitted agents or non-sexually transmitted bacteria or virus;
-- Cell injury triggered by chemical and physical trauma from urine reflux;
-- Prostatic stone formation;
-- Retrograde movement of sperm cells into the prostate;
-- Hormonal (estrogen) variations and/or exposures;
-- Dietary factors such as increased consumption of red meat and animal fats.
Inflammation Increases The Risk Of Prostate Cancer
Proliferative inflammatory atrophy (PIA) is a lesion that frequently occurs in the prostate. PIA is connected to prostate cancer since inflammation produces increased cell death and DNA damage in regenerated cells.
Many population-based investigations confirm the link between inflammation and prostate cancer. Furthermore, these studies also discovered that men who took inflammation-reducing medications or followed dietary patterns that were less likely to promote inflammation are at lower risk of prostate cancer.
Inflammation Promotes Metastasis Of Prostate Cancer And Treatment Resistance
Studies consistently show that inflammation associated with the progression of tumors plays a crucial role in the metastasis of prostate cancer. Tumor cells produce a variety of substances that trigger inflammatory cells to break into tumor tissues. Once this happens, the tumor tissues release inflammatory cytokines, proteases, and growth factors which are responsible for tissue disruption, invasive potential of tumor cells, growth of new blood vessels that feed tumor cells, and finally tumor metastasis.
There are no effective treatments for metastatic prostate cancer. Since resistance to chemotherapy has been linked with increased inflammatory responses in metastatic tumors, studies are carried out to investigate whether anti-inflammatory treatments could improve metastatic tumors and bring down treatment resistance.
Natural Anti-inflammatory Remedies For Prostate Health
Anti-inflammatory herbal remedies have been used for centuries to treat various chronic inflammatory conditions. Turmeric, Gingo biloba, Saw palmetto, Scute, Coptis, and Lovage are commonly used anti-inflammatory herbs in prostate remedies.
Anti-inflammatory remedies work as detox cleanser to remove noxious stimuli, i.e., inflammatory cells and their metabolites and debris. After effective removal of the inflammatory substances, the enlarged or inflamed prostate gland may begin to shrink.
Anti-inflammatory remedies may provide the following benefits:
-- Remove irritable stimuli that promote DNA damage and gene mutation in the prostate;
-- Help ease urinary tract relaxation and reduce urine reflux;
-- Maintain a healthy hormone balance;
-- Supply natural antioxidants to the prostate and help to restore a normal microenvironment.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

How to Check for Lice: Simple Tips to Get Rid of Lice

Head lice are tiny parasitic insects that live in human hair. If you want to know how to check for lice and how to eliminate them, we have compiled a list of the most proven techniques to manage an infestation. In this article we're going to share some tips on how to get rid of lice and nits from hair. Before we begin, let's first understand what a head louse is.
The human head louse is a true insect, in that it has three pairs of legs. It does not have wings, nor powerful legs for jumping--rather, it moves around by grabbing onto hair shafts with claw-like legs. The head louse has to feed every four to six hours, and does so by drawing minute amounts of blood from the scalp. A louse must remain in human hair to support its feeding habits, and cannot survive for more than 24 hours when it falls off from the head onto other surfaces. They are not found in pets and are not transmitted by any other agents apart from humans.
If you want to eradicate these pesky parasites, you must know how to look for lice. And this means understanding the symptoms of an infestation.
That bothersome itchy sensation on the scalp that comes from an infestation is due to a reaction with the saliva of the lice. How soon after an infestation the itchiness starts depends on an individual's skin sensitivity. In some cases, it may take weeks before the individual is aware of an itchy feeling and starts scratching the scalp.
Tip 1: For a lice infestation, mechanical or manual removal is the most preferred method. One of the most effective measures is vacuuming the hair. You will need a special attachment for the vacuum, which can be found in pet supply stores. This attachment should fit perfectly into the vacuum nozzle, and ensure that the person does not feel uncomfortable. Vacuuming is one of the fastest and safest ways to remove lice.
Tip 2: When checking for lice, an effective tool is a fine-tooth comb specially designed to catch and remove these parasites. These can be found in most local drug stores. You can also get special combs from pet stores, although they are sold as flea combs. These simple tools have very fine teeth that can catch lice and remove them from hair.
Tip 3: If you want to eradicate an infestation from your own hair, you should know how to check yourself for lice properly. Perhaps the most common method is just by feeling around different parts of the scalp. Make sure you cover the whole head, going slowly, through all of the hair. If you find a head louse, you can simply grab it with the index finger and thumb, and remove it. Another simple method to check for lice is to use tape. Applying tape to hair can also remove head lice.
Tip 4: A simple and proven way to check for lice is to part the hair into sections and then look at each section one at a time. This method makes the pests more exposed and easier to remove. After inspecting a section of hair, mark it with a clip or hair pin. This is a good way to find and get rid of lice from a child's head. This method works best with a magnifying glass under a bright light, especially for people who have light-colored hair.
Tip 5: A warm comb may also be used to check for lice. You can heat up a comb so that it feels pleasantly hot on the scalp, and pass it through hair. This will excite the lice and cause them to leave their usual hiding places in the bases of hair shafts, close to the scalp. You can use a regular comb or a special fine-toothed lice comb for this simple, effective method.