DiversityNursing Blog

Nursing is a challenging and rewarding occupation, requiring long hours and a dedicated focus while offering people who answer the call the opportunity to make a real difference in patients' lives. While many Nursing careers are found inside hospital walls, there is a wide range of settings that a Nurse can choose as a workplace.

Home Care

Most hospitals will try to discharge patients within a few days of treatment. Doctors and Nurses may ask patients to follow specific instructions upon their arrival at home, including taking prescriptions, monitoring symptoms or filling out paperwork. Patients who have undergone major surgery or battled with serious conditions may need additional care, beyond the day they are discharged from the hospital.

In the home, Nurses may conduct physical assessments, administer medications and check the patient's understanding of his condition and treatment plan. They can also clear the environment of any obstacles to mobility or physical health. They help the patient and their family to understand the progress of conditions or diseases, giving them advice to effectively treat the disease.

Holistic Health

An emerging field in the healthcare landscape, holistic health involves caring for the "whole person" in order to meet wellness goals. To take on patients in this line of work, Nurses need to account for the body, mind and spirit of a person. This could mean that treatment will include a variety of therapies. or it could mean that the patient will interact with a wide range of healthcare professionals, from therapists to masseuses or acupuncturists.

Nurses in holistic health work with a patient to form a treatment plan for their physical and psychological needs, while taking into account the person's values, environmental concerns, social activities and anything else that may affect that person's quality of life.

Hospice and Palliative Care

Another option for Nurses to work outside of hospital walls is hospice care or palliative care. Focused primarily on the end of life, this work puts Nurses in the home to care for patients who are elderly and near death or for patients who have a serious disease who are approaching the end of their life. In most instances, the goal of this type of Nursing is to make the patient comfortable in their dying days.

Nurses who work in hospice or palliative care may be on-call for 24 hours and they are often primarily concerned with managing pain. They spend a lot of time interacting with families and loved ones about the patient's condition. Hospice care occurs when a patient's condition or disease cannot be cured, so the focus is on managing the symptoms and giving the patient the best quality of life possible through the end of their life.

School and Camp Nurses

Many Nurses are needed to work in public and charter schools, and even on college campuses. The role of the Nurse will differ depending on what type of school they choose, but these Nurses work during the school day to take care of accidents, injuries and health emergencies that happen while a student is at school. In some cases, Nurses may work with special education students, responding to the needs of the student's disability, as well as administering general care in a school setting.

For another chance to interact with students, Nurses can sign up to be camp Nurses, working at camps of every size and style during the warmer months. While some camp Nurses will be focused on daily needs, other Nurses may attend camps that challenge students in high-risk environments, where students could be injured during activities like rock climbing or mountain biking. In order to serve these camps well, Nurses need to be able to handle serious emergencies that happen on camp grounds, which are often located in a remote area.

Insurance Nurses

Insurance companies also hire Nurses, offering careers in a range of positions. Nurses who work at insurance companies may hold positions as a Case Manager, a Nurse Educator or a Consultant, to name a few. In these positions, Nurses work with members of the insurance company to make sure they understand their disease, treatment plan, and the policies and procedures of the insurance company.

Filling the gap between when a patient leaves a hospital and when they arrive home, these Nurses offer guidance and assist with care at every stage in the process. Depending on the position, they may assist with major healthcare decisions, or spend a lot of time with a patient, ensuring they are getting the proper treatment and care.

Outside of the hospital, there are many career options available for qualified Nurses. The positions in these other areas can be just as rewarding, while offering Nurses the opportunity with work with diverse patients in a variety of settings. 

Interested in other Nursing jobs but, want to get more detail and information?  Ask our Nurse Leader or check out our job board for more detailed job openings!

The proliferation of same-day surgery has changed health care in a dramatic way over the past two decades. Not only can same-day surgeries alleviate overcrowding in hospitals, they can also decrease a patient’s health care costs, decrease rehab time, and diminish the financial loss of taking time off from work to have surgery performed.

Before the rise of same-day surgeries, whether it was open-heart surgery, removal of tonsils, or orthopedic scoping procedures, a patient would be relegated to multiple days and multiple costs of hospital care. This is not the case in today’s medical world where immediacy reigns when at all feasible.

The Rise of Immediacy – From Patient to Outpatient

According to the Living Well blog, outpatient surgeries rose from half of all surgeries in 1996 to two-thirds of all surgeries in 2006. Where did this all begin? How did patients transition from three-day stays to arriving home in time for the six o’ clock news?

Laparoscopic (minimally invasive) techniques have altered a medical practitioner’s need for size and space. Therefore, what used to require a large, fully-equipped operating room can now be performed in a much smaller, cost-efficient outpatient care facility.

Precision instruments that have gone from bulky to miniature have also made same day surgeries common. The smallest instruments range from two to ten millimeters and can free doctors from having to make large incisions so they may work within very small ones. Lumbar fusion and removal of damage caused by a herniated disc are two examples of procedures that used to require close to a week’s stay in a hospital and an incision that could be as large as 15 centimeters. A physician also used to have to clear a path to the spine, which could cause pain and damage to the tissue.

Today, microscopes and x-ray imagery control precise modern tools that clear a more direct path to the spine. The same can be said of hip replacements that used to require slicing muscle, a painful procedure. Today, a prosthesis can relieve pain faster while increasing potential mobility at a higher rate and faster pace. The less you have to disrupt the inside of the body, the quicker the possibility for rehab and the smaller the chances of large permanent scarring.

Why are minimally invasive same day surgeries good for patients and practitioners?

• Advancements in anesthesia have meant that patients regain consciousness in a shorter period of time, allowing them to leave the care facility more quickly.

• A doctor’s time, along with their expertise, can be his or her most valuable asset. Same day surgeries allow doctors to spend that asset on patients with more immediate and dire concerns.

• Cost. Follow the money. Less time in the hospital means fewer expenses from hospitalization. Generally healthy – and often young – people don't have to be saddled with financially crippling health care bills that destroy a fiscal future.

• Large, permanent scarring is decreased, thus allowing a patient to maintain a proud sense of self.

• Many people undergoing medical procedures experience a loss in wages. Same day surgeries allow many to return to their place of employment quicker so they do not lose status or wages. They can bank their personal and sick time for situations that demand more attention.

Experts say the rise of same day surgeries has not yet reached its peak. The goals are two-fold: patient care and physician efficiency. For the relationship between health care practitioner and patient to be effective, both parties must feel satisfied with the experience and recovery. Same day surgeries have benefited both greatly.

The Nursing profession is notoriously high-pressure. Many patients that Nurses encounter are in a grave state of need, and Nurses may not always meet their patients' needs, despite their best efforts. With so many individuals needing a coping mechanism, it's no wonder that many people turn to the power of humor and laughter.

The Benefits of Humor

To no one's surprise, humor has shown itself to be a powerful tool in the Nursing profession. Humor can increase a Nurse's happiness in his/her position and help to avoid burnout.

Sociological and psychological studies have shown that humor can diffuse tension in a situation, help lower blood pressure, ease stress and generally produce a feeling of well-being. Laughter and smiling create comparable positive effects.

Inappropriate Humor?

People in the medical profession are often familiar with a kind of dry, morbid humor. Medical professionals deal with matters of life, death and pain, with great immediacy. To give themselves some emotional distance from the matter, many medical professionals utilize this kind of humor among themselves.

But this kind of humor can seem cynical at best. It can alienate or appear disrespectful to patients. It's important to use it with care, if at all, and to remember that all individuals involved are human beings worthy of respect. As a rule of thumb, it's never acceptable to make jokes at a patient or colleague's expense (even if the individual isn't present, or if the humor would go over their head); this is doubly true with the kind of dry humor that can be common in Nursing.

Using Humor with Patients

Maintaining boundaries and being professional is key when engaging with patients and their families. But that doesn't mean that a Nurse isn't able to use humor in these situations.

It's important to use a delicate touch when joking with patients. Nurses may not get to know them or their sense of humor very well, and they're typically involved with patients during times of great emotional vulnerability, including fear or pain. But so long as a Nurse adheres to basic rules of interpersonal sensitivity, caring and respect, a little humor may go a long way to aid in bonding and the creation of empathy between patient and caregiver. It may defuse tension in situations that are otherwise very stressful.

Conclusion

Humor can't solve all problems within a workplace. If a Nurse is having serious problems on the job, or if they're going through a crisis outside of work, humor won't be enough to relieve stress and encourage them to stick around. But as an emotional release valve in a potentially grueling profession, occasional moments of humor can have a surprisingly powerful effect.

Is humor a tool you use often as a Nurse? Let us know in the comments below! 

As the growing baby boomer generation begins their retirement, so too begins a wealth of golden opportunities for investors and job seekers in the senior care industry. Of particularly exciting growth are the providers of in-home health care services. This includes people who specialize in everything ranging from medical assistance to basic health assistance like bathing and grooming, keeping up with housekeeping, and meal preparation.

So just how many of the baby boomers can in-home care providers expect in the coming years? There are an estimated 75 million baby boomers currently alive and contributing to our society, with an estimated 10,000 baby boomers turning 65 and retiring every day (starting 2010 and lasting until 2029).

In a recent survey conducted by NBC News, 89 percent of baby boomers that were age 50 and older stated that they would prefer to stay in their current home as they aged. Additionally, a whopping 95 percent of those surveyed who were 65 and older were adamant that they would rather stay either in their own home or near relatives and hoped they wouldn't need to live in a nursing home.

With such incredible growth in those needing home care services, it should come as no surprise that there's been likewise growth in individuals seeking careers within this industry. In addition to incredible career opportunities, there are also the following benefits of entering the home health care industry:

• Make a real difference in peoples' lives.  A career in home health care services enables you to make a real and meaningful difference in the lives of your clients and their families. Empathic individuals thrive in this profession as they are able to enjoy personal relationships with their clients and enjoy a sense of accomplishment coming from knowing that you are greatly improving another person's quality of life. 
• Work on a flexible schedule.  Not everyone adapts well to a 9 to 5 job. As a home health care Nurse or in-home caregiver you get to enjoy working on a schedule that fits your needs. So whether you want to work part-time or full-time, whether you're also pursuing another degree or raising a family, as a home healthcare employee you can choose the hours that fit your schedule.
• Deliver complex care to relieve the burden on families.  While seniors are a primary component of the growth in home care services, it isn't just aging baby boomers who are calling for a more diverse array of services. From infants with special needs to adults suffering with chronic conditions and those requiring specialized high-tech medical equipment, all of these individuals and their families depend upon home health care professionals for daily and ongoing support. As an in-home health care Nurse or aide, you make it possible for your clients to avoid expensive and potentially embarrassing institutionalization in an outside facility. 
• Specialize your skills.  Just as there is a diverse array of services you can provide within the in-home care industries, you can also choose to focus your care to meet the specialty service of your choice. For instance, if the idea of assisting baby boomers inspires you, then you can opt to build a career designed to work exclusively with geriatric care. This means that you can choose what you love about home health care services and follow that specialty for greater overall career success.

Take advantage of the growing home health care service industry to jump start your own rewarding career or make a change in your current career. 

Related Article: Life in progress: RNs can help baby boomers find funding for promising cancer treatments

Have questions about Home Care Nursing? Ask the Nurse Leader below!

America’s top companies are hiring the best, most qualified candidates, by widening their recruitment efforts and increasingly seeking diverse talent.  Diverse workplaces include employees from different races, ethnicities, gender, education, religions, sexual orientations, socioeconomic backgrounds, geographic locations, and other varying conditions. 

One reason Diversity recruitment is skyrocketing is because of the changing demographics of the United States.  According to the latest census, the ethnic makeup of America is changing more rapidly than anticipated.  Many studies reveal that businesses who have established Diversity and Inclusion initiatives have a competitive edge, particularly in today’s global market.  Following are 6 reasons explaining why businesses should not wait for their CEO to bring up Diversity Recruitment. 

1.  More Creativity

A Diverse workforce promotes creativity and innovation.  When employees of varying qualifications, upbringings, education, and experiences are brought together, they are more capable of coming up with creative ideas that are “out of the box,” and solve problems in novel ways.  According to Roy Y.J. Chua, a Harvard Business School professor, “The more your network includes individuals from different cultural backgrounds, the more you will be creatively stimulated by different ideas and perspectives."

2.  Increased Productivity

Increased productivity is the major reason organizations are choosing to implement Diversity into their workplaces.  Businesses that have incorporated Diversity into their hiring structure have discovered there is increased productivity among all employees, particularly from those groups that have been underrepresented, and underemployed, in the past.  These include many groups including seniors, women, physically handicapped, people of color, and individuals with different sexual orientation.  Increased productivity allows businesses to not only increase profits, nationally and globally, but to edge out their less diversified competition.

3.  Broadening of Language Skills

A huge advantage of workplace Diversity is the broadening of language skills, enabling communication with people from other cultures.  It is almost impossible to build relationships with others if we cannot speak their language or understand the meaning behind their words.  Over the next 4 decades, racial minority groups including Black, American Indian, Hispanic, and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders will come to outnumber non-Hispanics.  With the health care industry in particular, it is essential to have a diverse workforce that accurately represents the population of the U.S., if patients are to receive quality care that promotes satisfaction and healthy outcomes.  All businesses that have plans to compete at a global level will experience benefits by increasing language Diversity in the workplace. 

4.  Greater Agility

Business agility requires an organization to be adaptable, flexible, and respond quickly to alterations in both the internal and external environment.  A Diverse and Inclusive workforce is more capable of bringing together a variety of perspectives that can lead to decisions to bring about the most advantageous results.  Leadership coach, Joseph Santana, states that a Diverse workforce can help to avoid “the blind spots that may exist in any single individual or cultural group lens.”

5.  Increased Loyalty from Employees, Customers, and Communities

The cultural fabric of an organization is enhanced with a Diverse workforce.  Diversification has been found to inspire employees and build loyalty with increasing segments of Diverse populations around the world.  Organizations that have made efforts to increase and improve Diversity in their workplace have found that growth in employee loyalty has long-term internal and external benefits.  One definite advantage is that consumers tend to support organizations that are perceived as Diverse. 

6.  Improved Employee Recruitment and Retention

Every individual of the organization needs to be part of, and “buy into” the Diversity and Inclusion policy.  The message has to be clear to employees and customers. The commitment to Diversity and Equality has to be inviolate. 

• Recruitment

Diversity recruitment substantially broadens the candidate pool. This larger labor force will include those applicants with high-level aptitudes, specific skill-sets, and unique life experiences.  Healthcare related occupations are among the fastest growing industries, and Diversity recruitment is helping to attract the skilled workers necessary to fill positions.  Businesses are much more likely to hire the right people when they select candidates from the broadest, and most Diverse, applicant collection possible. 

• Retention

Organizations that clearly value Diversity and Inclusion enhance employee contentment and stability, which has a direct bearing on employee retention.  For employees who wish to succeed and grow in the organization, there is trust in the company that advancements are awarded because of merit, and not because of race, gender, or background.  The Diversity message is not only communicated to the staff, but also to customers, and the surrounding communities. 

Do your organization a favor and don't wait for your CEO to bring up Diversity recruitment.  The research is in.  Businesses that fail to harness the power of Diversity are destined to decline.   

If your CEO doesn't see how important Diversity and Inclusion is, have them fill out our Diversity checklist to show them where they stand on the scale. 

Have questions about recruiting or diversity? We can help! Just ask this Nurse Leader your toughest questions. Click below.

I was asked to share my thoughts in writing to describe what Inclusion means to me. These thoughts came from my own life experience and from the recent inspiration of discussing this topic in the past few weeks at home and work. So here goes… 

Being different is not a choice. We often forget about this as we go through our day or our life until something happens that causes us to feel it. Being different can feel good and sometimes feel really bad. It all depends on whether we are accepted for this difference.

Think back at your earliest age when you understood what different meant, what it looked like, how it felt. If we today reflect for a minute, we are all very different, and have to remind ourselves of this. We can come from the same country, religion, gender, family and be different and have generalizations casted upon us and cast them upon others without deliberate thought. Further, we sometimes even cast them on ourselves and internalize them, the good and bad.

We go through life, like breathing seeing difference. It helps us navigate life. But like anything if not with consciousness it can lead to unintended consequences. We go through life often gravitating unconsciously and sometimes consciously to those like us. Why is it that? It provides great safety, sometimes ease, speed, a sense of belonging. This is part of being human. Also part of being human is Bias. It’s ever present and “unavoidable” and human. It affects our choices and behavior. And, like any habit, we can set an intention and choose to see different and include.

Inclusion is not about avoiding diversity, difference or being agreeable. It’s not about “fluff” or being “soft” and going with the flow. It’s more about creating a space of safety for you and others to be seen, heard and accepted. Inclusion creates a space for difference to have its voice heard in our relationships, our family, community, at work, in the world. It’s actually about looking at difference with curiosity. Treating people not as you wanted to be treated but as they want to be treated and vice versa.

Exclusion on the other hand separates, it inhibits, limits, shuts down, sometimes oppresses, even suffocates. To be excluded is one of the top five fears that we as humans have. It instills fear by its very nature and can create tremendous anxiety and can lead to conflict. Exclusion is not just harmful to the person, it’s harmful to relationships, families, profit and non-profit organizations and societies. We lose out on who that person is and what that person who is different from us (be it their perspective, their idea, their culture, their age) has to offer. We lose out on what we can learn and on what they/we together can contribute, build, inspire and live.

Imagine a relationship, a family, a workplace, a community, a world if we included. It would be safe, peaceful, inspiring, fun and we would want to belong.

Diversity is the presence of difference. 

Inclusion is a choice. Inclusion gives everyone a voice. 

Thank you all to whom I have interacted with these past two weeks regarding this topic. I was asked to share my thoughts about inclusion. And, in the spirit of inclusion, feel free to share my perspective and yours with anyone.

Related:

Important Questions Regarding Your Diversity, Inclusion and Cultural Proficiency

Strong management is necessary for all work environments, especially those that involve quick decision-making and high-pressure situations. Nursing is a career that, undoubtedly, fits into this category. Quality Nurse Management is vital when creating successful Nursing teams. Nurse Managers have an effect on how their employees relate to each other and their patients. Regardless of the hospital unit the manager works in, he or she must lead with a firm yet compassionate hand, revealing what they expect from the team. What is the importance of strong Nurse Management?

·Creating a healthy work environment

A Nurse Manager sets the tone of working in his/her department, acting as a negative or positive role model for the staff members. If he makes the employees feel like part of team and encourages teamwork, he inspires them to work together instead of competing. If he encourages constant communication, employees will be able to approach him when in need of guidance or to mentor. This creates a healthy work environment where people communicate freely with each other.

·Nurturing teamwork

Strong Nurse Management helps to encourage Nurses to work as units. For Nurses to be successful, they need to have great interpersonal skills. They must be good at communicating with patients, their families, and other members of the staff. Strong communication and teamwork are essential to providing quality patient care. To achieve teamwork, Nurses in management positions should encourage staff members to collaborate and help each other willingly.

·Supporting employee development

Nurses should keep refining their skills and learn new ones if they want to stay up-to-date with medicine. Effective Nurse Managers create environments that support growth and provide Nurses with the resources necessary to strengthen their competency. Additionally, they act as mentors, guiding new members of the staff as they adjust to their roles. When a manager values and encourages professional development, Nurses are more likely to push themselves to try new things.

·Proper organization

Proper organization is essential to the success of a Nursing team. Chaos is likely to ensue in the absence of proper organization – which would be unfortunate in the fast-paced, demanding healthcare world. A strong Nurse Manager needs to be detail oriented, methodical, and skilled at recognizing and solving problems. She should have the ability to tackle many different tasks simultaneously: overseeing patient care, writing shift schedules, and assigning duties to the Nurses.

·Setting department goals

Members of staff usually look to the manager for direction, trusting him/her to help them in understanding their role. The Nurse Manager often interprets the goals set by the hospital, decoding them into specific steps that the Nurses can follow. She must also define clear goals for the team, explaining them in a manner that emphasizes their significance. Managers typically oversee everything from standards of care to departmental budgets. Moreover, they must consider all aspects of the department’s operations before giving the team instructions.

·Encouraging success

Good Nurse Managers promote environments that encourage their staff to be more productive and enthusiastic when working. As the manager, the onus falls on him/her to lead through actions and words – to show that anything below 100% performance is unacceptable. Nurse Managers need to be honest with the team about its performance and issue clear instructions. They should also praise the staff members who do outstanding work and encourage those having a tough time.

·Positive growth

Good Nurse Managers should have the confidence to analyze their work honestly and come up with ways to improve them. When the team’s performance is below par, managers should make changes that improve performance, taking it to the next level. Nurse Managers should influence the staff members to evaluate the things around them and themselves, to find out what works. This will help them to improve their team performance and work environment.

·Smoothing patient relations

When patients and their families have concerns about the quality of care given, they go to the Nurse Manager. They might have questions about the treatment plan or complain about mistreatment from staff. No matter how irate the patient is, Nurse Managers must listen and answer the questions. It is the job of the Nurse Manager to let the patient know that his/her concerns will be taken seriously. During the meeting with the patient or their family, the manager should outline the steps that will be taken to remedy the situation or investigate the complaint.

Nurse Managers usually oversee specific units in the hospital. Therefore, they are responsible for the administrative and clinical aspects, including addressing the concerns of patients and supervising the Nurses. Not only do they require special expertise, but they also need strong communication skills.

Have a question you would like to ask a Nurse Leader? Click the box below!

Related links: Being a nurse leader, even without the title

The profession of Nursing is engaged in a consistent conversation about the state of Diversity in Nursing. The way these figures are tallied are by comparing the percentage of individuals of various ethnic or cultural backgrounds in the general population to the relative group percentages in the field of Nursing. Many professional Nursing publications have been observant that Diversity in the Nursing field has improved, but there is still much additional room for continued improvement.

Where we've been

While a century ago the profession was nearly entirely comprised of white females, the increased Diversity enjoyed in the present day still falls short of being an accurate representation of the population breakdowns of society at large. According to 2016 census data, the only minority group meeting their group's needs in terms of proportionate population is Asians, who have actually managed to overrepresent their group by almost 5% when compared to the percentage of Asians in American patient populations.

A changing national demographic

Whites are still over-represented in nearly all Nursing roles while Hispanic and African American Nurses still have ground to make up if they wish to accurately represent the proportion of their respective group populations who enter as patients in health care facilities. By 2044, national Census data aggregators and analysts believe that Americans of European descent will cease to be the majority of the US population, when at that time they are expected to make up 50% or less of the entire population.

Why Diversity should help

The hypothesis that Nurse Diversity is best for the outcome of patients is centered around the idea that minority patients will feel more comfortable. With the added comfort on the part of the patients, the hope is they will be more compliant with recommended medicines, procedures and recommendations of any kind. If the Nurses and doctors serving minority patients are of the same cultural or ethnic background as themselves, many believe that noticeably positive outcomes could result. This is all still theory, of course, and hasn't been able to be borne out in any specific studies or repeatable situations.

While the specifc data hasn't been borne out in scientific studies to explain a known patient benefit for increased minorities in the Nursing field, there is a lot of policy support and governmental approval of the notion. Fortunately for those who have taken on this cause as a personal conquest, the numbers of enrolled Nursing students is starting to include more minorities as well as more males in the field, another group historically greatly underrepresented. A lot of the Diversity increase being noticed in Nursing school enrollment has been unbalanced from state to state. A closer look shows more enrolled Nursing students in Southern states versus Northern ones and more in the West than in the East.

Related: Bringing diversity to the nursing workforce

The digitalization of patient health information, whether medical records or insurance claims, began in earnest about a decade ago. It’s taken effort from health care personnel at all levels — as well as government mandates — to move the entire industry toward seizing the opportunity that the new influx of data offers.

How Big Data is Changing Health Care

“Big data” is a buzzword that companies across a variety of industries refer to when talking about their future plans. Health care companies are no different and are embracing the collection of big data to provide quality patient care and reduce costs.

What is Big Data?

IBM defines big data as “data coming from everywhere.” This encompasses everything from pictures and videos posted on social media to credit card transactions. Big data can help professionals improve practices and find opportunities for change. The ability to collect large amounts of useful data on patients offers a unique set of benefits for health care organizations.

Big Data and the Health Care Industry’s Future

From improving profits to avoiding preventable diseases, big data is becoming a powerful tool in every corner of the health care industry. A large portion of big data collection is happening in the pockets of patients, as smartphones and wearable devices like the Fitbit and Apple Watch have enabled people to monitor their own health. According to Forbes, the eventual goal is to make this data available to physicians and other health care providers. By compiling a patient’s data and comparing it to similar information from the general public, doctors may be able to identify preventable health problems.

Technology is allowing the health care industry to make data archived about patients over decades accessible. By digitizing medical and insurance records and pairing them with the new wave of data from sources like smartphones, doctors may be able to draw a comprehensive picture of a patient to improve the quality of care. The Pittsburgh Health Data Alliance is seeking to do exactly this and has become an example for how partnerships between medical and data professionals may work in the future.

Health care companies are also implementing big data in research and clinical trials, returning fascinating results. Big data can help researchers pick the best possible subjects for a clinical trial. Big data can also help measure how the trials are going, which could lead to breakthroughs in treatments for dangerous diseases like cancer.

How Legislation is Influencing Big Data in Health Care

Those who are searching for major medical advances may be embracing big data, but the health care industry as a whole has struggled to keep up with technology. Because of federal legislation, the American health care system is finally moving forward into the 21st century. Several laws have set standards and created timelines for the adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) and other technology.

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH)

The HITECH Act of 2009 was the most important piece of legislation related to the widespread adoption of health information technology (HIT), namely a nationwide network of EHRs. The law set aside $36.5 billion in spending to create this network and other measures to digitize health care information.

The law gave the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) the power and authority to establish programs that promoted HIT use. With this power, HHS developed a national standard for the collection, storage and exchange of electronic health information. This process continues to change as security standards grow more and more strict.

The Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA)

Section 618 of the FDASIA legislation passed in 2012 allowed HHS and the FDA to develop strategies and recommendations for advanced HIT framework. The standards included information on the use of mobile medical applications, including the ones that are involved in the collection of big data. This framework was meant to promote innovation while still valuing the privacy of patients.

The Affordable Care Act

The landmark health care reform law included language designed to improve the overall operations of health care organizations. Providers are now incentivized to share data, which ideally will allow for easier collection of big data and faster adoption of EHRs.

How the Health Care Industry is Protecting Patient Data

As with the storage of any sensitive data, security is paramount in the field of health care data. And just as the collection and use of big data has grown exponentially, so has the need for professionals to secure it. Health care companies are facing several of the same issues that other major sectors of the economy are facing regarding IT security. They also must follow the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), a federal law enacted in 1996 that protects patient privacy.

Data Breaches

Protecting health care information is far more difficult than financial information, according to
Jim  Nelms, who is head of security at the Mayo Clinic and spent 14 years at the World Bank. The problem is that the health care industry hasn’t adopted secure IT practices at the same pace as other industries.

The Ponemon Institute found that 91 percent of health care organizations have experienced at least one data breach in the past two years. These breaches have cost companies more than $6 billion. The attacks are making patients open to identity theft and causing serious issues for the health care companies themselves.

Improving Health Care Data Security

For health care companies, simply continuing the growth and progress of digitalization will help have a strong effect on data security. As the health care industry gains a better grasp on how to properly secure protected health information (PHI), companies will be better suited to combat criminal threats. Many organizations have only recently begun hiring chief security officers to oversee these operations. As digitalization becomes the standard, the health care industry will need to focus on security just like other industries.

The Future of Health Care Careers

As health care companies implement the collection, sharing and protection of big data, both health care providers and administrators will need to understand how big data is affecting the industry. Health care leaders and IT professionals can gain the knowledge necessary to prepare for careers in the rapidly changing health care industry. Point Park University offers a fully online Master of Science in Health Care Administration and Management that allows students to maintain their current responsibilities while obtaining a credential they need to start a new chapter in their careers. Learn more today.

For more than 100 years, Nursing professionals interested in taking their careers to the next level have been developing their expertise in case management. They worked hard to assess, plan, implement, coordinate, monitor and evaluate the treatment options available to their patients. 

The goal was deliver the best possible care to patients with complicated health needs. 

Up until about 20 years ago, there were no defined criteria for what it meant to be an expert in case management. But as more information about how case management helps lower healthcare costs and improve outcomes, skills and knowledge required to manage patients' social, medical, financial and behavioral needs has become clear. 

Today, there are more than 37,000 board-certified Case Managers working across the United States. These professionals earned their certification from the Commission for Case Management Certification (CCMC). Others earned their certification from the Case Management Society of America and the American Case Management Association. They work in hospitals, clinics and specialty care centers--and an increasing number of employers are requiring board certification as a condition of employment. 

Here is a look at how Nurses can earn their case management certification:

1) Be eligible

Before a Nurse can become a board-certified case manager, he or she must meet the minimum requirements. For the CCMC, this includes holding current, active and unrestricted licensure or certification in a healthcare or human-services profession. 

In addition, the position held by the candidate must create opportunities for the employee to conduct independent patient assessments, or the employee must hold a bachelor's degree or graduate-level degree in social work, Nursing or another field directly related to promoting physical, psychosocial or vocational well-being. 

The candidate for certification must have worked as a case manager for at least 1 year to be considered for certification. 

Nurses who meet these criteria may apply for approval to sit for the certification exam. 

2) Prepare for the exam

Everyone who wishes to become board-certified must pass the certification exam. The exam is "practice-based," which means that every question is based around real-world experience. 

Topics could include financial issues facing patients and practices, patient rights, healthcare systems, care plans, and much more. 

One of the bet ways to prepare for the exam is to take practice tests, which are available on the Commission for Case Manager Certification website. In addition, the commission partners with third parties to provide certification workshops. The Case Management Society of America also offers an array of preparation materials, which are available on the organization's website. 

While it is possible to pass the exam without preparing, It is strongly recommended that anyone interested in achieving certification take steps to prepare for the exam. 

3) Pass the test

The certification exam involves a 3 hour test that includes 180 questions. It is presented on a computer and the total amount of time in the exam center is 4 hours, which includes time to get situated as well as a brief tutorial before the test begins. 

Test takers will need to make sure they are registered for the test, on time and have the proper credentials, which include a government-issued identification card and a confirmation from the testing center. 

Once the test is complete, everyone who has taken the exam receives a preliminary score at the testing center. While not official, the preliminary score is most often accurate. Those who passed the test will receive formal notification from the organization awarding the certification at a later date. Those who did not pass the test are eligible to re-take the exam during the next available testing date. 

A list of exam schedules is available on the Commission for Case Manager Certification website, the American Case Management Association website and the American Case Management Association website. 

Becoming board certified is a great way for Nurses to distinguish themselves as professionals who consistently deliver high-quality care, safe environments for patients, efficiency for their employers and the best possible service to both patients and the practices for which they work. It indicates a commitment to consumer protection, ethical standards and behavior, and scientific and practice-based care for patients across the continuum of care.