Hcs 235 - Health Care Interview

Health Care Interview

Christy Thompson

HCS/235

7/27/2015

Oscar Garcia

Health Care Interview

Oconee Health and Rehabilitation focuses on assisting patients to live each day to its fullest in a caring and professional environment. Oconee Health and Rehab is dedicated to their patients and their families. OHR is a 50 bed facility. They provide traditional long term care and short term rehabilitation services. They also offer enhanced services, which include hospice care, mental health services, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech therapy.  Nursing homes are there to provide a cost-effective way to enable patients with injuries, acute illnesses or postoperative care needs to recover in an environment outside a hospital. For every 100 elderly patients in a nursing home in a given year, 38 will recover or stabilize so they can be discharged. Many of these nursing home residents are considered long-term care patients -- they will never recover or stabilize to the point where they can take care of themselves and go back home ("About Nursing Homes", 2014).

Mrs. Joy Bridges is an LPN at Oconee Health and Rehabilitation Center. She has been employed at the center for two years. Mrs. Bridges cares for 22 patients. Her duties are to administer medications and provide wound care. Mrs. Bridges, LPN, also has to keep charts on Medicare patients. She has to document any changes in condition, which include changes in behavior and any mental or physical changes. She has two CNA’s (certified nurse assistant) that observe and work under her.  Always working under the direction of a nurse (RN or LPN/LVN) the CNA provides hands on nursing care to patients, residents, clients and customers in a variety of health care settings. CNA’s typically provide assistance with bathing, dressing, eating, toileting and oral care to people who cannot do these tasks alone. Also, the CNA is often the person who gets the vital signs, weights and height measurements ("Everything You Want To Know About Cna", 2012).

During our interview I learned a lot about being an LPN at OHR. According to Mrs. Bridges, She plans to further her career by going back to school in the fall to get her RN (Registered Nurse). A registered nurse is one who has graduated from an accredited nursing education program and has passed a state board examination and been registered and licensed to practice nursing ("What Is An Rn?” n.d.). Registered nursing requires a large base of knowledge used to assess, plan and intervene to promote health, prevent disease and help patients cope with illness. RNs also develop and manage nursing care plans, instruct patients and their families in proper care and help individuals and groups take steps to improve or maintain their health. As of right now Mrs. Bridges position only requires her to have an LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse), GED/high school diploma, and CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) certification. Although she meets all requirements for the position, she stated that her education didn’t prepare her for the constant change in the health care industry. “I recommend you to be involved as much as possible and ask a lot of questions.” (J. Bridges, personal communication, July 17, 2015)