Archive for month: April, 2015
Typhoon Haiyan
In 2013 a storm surge of epic proportion hit the Philippines. This area is no stranger to harsh weather, but the 20 foot storm surge proved to be bigger than anything seen in recent history on the islands. Since harsh weather is a commonality in the Philippines, the government has well prepared for such disasters. However, some disasters may be too big to prepare for. After the storm surge that claimed as many as 3,000 lives, many people were injured and displaced from their homes. In the aftermath, pneumonia became an increasingly larger problem. The lack of shelter and unsanitary conditions made public health officials realize respiratory infections were now the largest concern. Antibiotics were in large demand and hard to find. Food was scarce and the country was looking to others countries for donations. The Philippines are a series of islands, with few places to go during evacuations meaning many people are displaced and affected after such disasters. When the storm hit, everything in its place was destroyed including hospitals. In many places power, water, and communication were limited. Other countries, including the United States and Australia stepped up to help the crippled nation by providing shelter, food, and water.
The Philippines is not a wealthy environment, and the constant battle against the elements takes its toll. The storm surge that hit in 2013 proved to be more than they could handle, and other countries stepped in to help the best they could. The idea of being a healthcare provider in the Philippines during the aftermath of the storm is a hard image to comprehend though. The amount of injured people, and the state of the surroundings made for more pneumonia infections and more complications. Supplies were hard to come by during the time after the storm, and I can only imagine the panic for nurses and healthcare providers in trying to care for everyone that was displaced in makeshift hospitals made from plastic sheeting at best. Even three months after the disaster, hospitals were still ill-equipped to care for the community.
This disaster was bigger than anyone could have predicted, and that is ultimately what led to low supplies and slow help from other nations. In the future, I can only hope that the Philippines has a better plan for evacuations and that the United Nations has a quicker response time. Natural disasters this large are so hard to prepare for though, since they can be unpredictable. The primary concern after the storm was food and water, but perhaps now we know the importance of shelter in this area, as well as increased medical supplies. With the lack of shelter, pneumonia infections rose to scary proportions and a lack of medical supplies made the situation dire.
English 340 – Business and Economics in Literature
Hello there! This blog that you are currently visiting is my blog for my English 340 – Business and Economics in Literature class. The projects that are posted on this blog are for this specific class. I truly do hope you enjoy viewing them and exploring my work.
English 340
Welcome to my blog! You will find wonderful and informative submissions on various playwrights and various topics of discussion.
ENJOY!
The Boston Marathon Bombing: Alerted by a Tweet
Just over two years ago, on April 15, 2013, two pressure cooker bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing 3 people and injuring an estimated 264 others. Although unexpected, the time and location of the event was favorable in regards to healthcare response. For one, hospitals were already on standby for marathon runners and numerous medical professionals (doctors, nurses and emergency medical staff) were onsite at the marathon to address the needs of the marathon runners. Secondly, the 1449 EST explosion happened to also be the time of the mid-shift staffing change at surrounding hospitals, nearly doubling the number of medical staff on site. However, the chaos surrounding the disaster made challenges inevitable.
One of the major barriers that the trauma hospitals faced was treating unidentified victims. Within minutes of the April 15th bombing, nearby hospitals were inundated with unconscious victims without purses, wallets or family members to identify them. At Brigham Hospital, staff assigned unidentified victims six-digit numbers. However, this system created confusion for the doctors and nurses who continuously had to double and triple check that the test results and medications were going to the right patient. The chaos surrounding the unidentified victims was only exacerbated when frantic and upset family members swarmed hospitals searching for their loved ones. As a result, Brigham Hospital
now identifies anonymous patients using states, colors or the military alphabet.
One of the most interesting facts that emerged from this disaster in regards to healthcare was the influence of social media. According to a report by The Boston Globe (2013), the hospital staff was alerted to the bombings when a physician at the scene sent a tweet. A fellow colleague and anesthesiologist was alerted of the tweet immediately notified the chief of emergency medicine and the chief of surgery, who promptly responded by canceling elective surgeries, clearing ER rooms and calling in staff members. Thus, social media is now understood to possibly be the most effective early warning system, especially in trauma as every minute counts in preparing trauma teams and operating rooms.
Social media has not only become a means to communicate and relate information, but it has evolved to be an essential multipurpose tool for various industries. However, in medicine, social media could make the difference between life and death.
Reference
Kowalczyk, L. (2013, July). The Boston Globe. Retrieved April 26, 2015, from http://bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2013/07/27/boston
My Reflection Blog
Hello everyone,
It has been an absolute pleasure for me working and getting to know everyone in Jaimie’s BLPP’s class. I have learned a lot and hope to implement some valuable ideas and tips. Above all, I finish this course with a deeper understanding of the differences between teaching F2F and blended courses, not only as an instructor but also as a student. Jaimie’s patience, prompt replies to all my questions and her deadline extensions have reminded me of the importance of being more flexible and understanding with students’ problems and frustrations. I have also appreciated her constant reminders of due dates, her clear instructions and organizational style. Thanks, Jaimie! I am sorry that you are leaving us 
Good luck in your future job at USC! Also, a special thanks to Kristi and the FIT Studio staff for their invaluable help. I enjoyed our meals 
Among the new tools that I learned in this course that I really like are Movenote, Populr and Canva. I am planning on using these tools in my blended course in the Fall. I wish I would have had more time to do a better job in this course (I think we all do!). I am looking forward to teaching my very first blended course and continue learning more about teaching online.
Have a great summer!
Sandra
BLPP in a nutshell…
Hey All…
Why not wrap-up my thoughts on BLPP using brian.cikeys.com as the forum… I’ve actually been working with WordPress for over ten years now… Wow! Here’s my actual blog, which hasn’t been updated since… Whoops! January! And that’s not even the first blog I had… I wonder where that is… Oh wait, here it is. That was Blogger though, not WordPress. And I can’t believe it still exists. I’ve had a couple blogs since then too. One was my personal website, which I abandoned for my own code. Here’s that one. For anyone who has a blog or tried to blog, blogs are actually pretty difficult to maintain. If you don’t keep updating it with new content, the site gets dated and looks kind of embarrassing (see all my blogs). The truth is, for me, a blog should contain novel content. And, today, there seems to be an underabundance of novel content across blogs. Take, for example, Mashable, which is a site I check out daily and consistently ranks in the top ten of blogs. It’s terrible. Anywho, I still like the WordPress.
Whoops, back to BLPP… While WordPress wasn’t something I picked up during the course of the past three months, I was introduced to a rich source of tools and tips for delivering blended content to students in addition to meeting some great CI faculty. One of the technologies I plan to adopt going forwards is asynchronous video. While video still hasn’t won me over because I’m very cautious about the media I use to deliver material, it will be an interesting experiment for me and one that I hope will provide students with supplemental course content. I do feel that I manage classroom time efficiently, it is simply impossible to get through all valuable technical information in the allotted class time. Additionally, students can’t be expected to digest all the information in the allotted class time. What I plan to do is offload some of the material I do not get to in the class (usually about 10-15 minutes worth) to voicethread and see where that takes me. Or, at least I’ll give it a shot. At the very least, the media will provide additional resources for students as they work on homework and other coursework.
Hi-Yo Sliver… Away!
Final Blog
Reflecting on just three months shy of three years brings tears to my eyes. Tears of joy, laughter, sadness, and hope. We entered this program as strangers and we are leaving as family. Through the program, it seemed to go by slow; now, the remaining ten days are flying by. Each day, I try to slow it down a bit and take in the moment because nursing school is the greatest experience thus far in my life. I will forever treasure each moment we all created together. I have made lifelong friends and through it all have made substantial personal growth.
I underestimated the nursing profession prior to the start of the program. However, I know now that nurses are truly superheroes, irrespective of the specialty we enter. We have the pleasure of delivering babies, sitting next to those who take their last breath, and everything in between. We change lives every single day. We keep patients alive medically and emotionally. We care for families and have learned to better care for our own loved ones and ourselves. We are advocates. We are the most dedicated group of individuals that I have ever met. Nursing is a profession that I am proud to be part of. If I could afford to do it for free, I would.
I remember how terrified I was to learn my head-to-toe assessment and perform it in front of the lab instructors. Next was the foley catheter insertion. Today, I can perform these skills with my eyes closed. I will forever cherish all the care I have been honored to perform with members of my cohort. I have learned to trust my intuition and my knowledge. I remember learning that there may be a chance we could insert catheters in this semester and I was terrified. However, I have learned that the unknown is what I fear the most. Knowing this, I am ready to move forward and experience what life will bring to my next chapter.
Critical care has been such a wonderful gift as our last semester. I truly believe it is the perfect way to end this program. I have learned more in this semester than ever before; I know now that I am ready for the transition to call myself a RN. I have learned what to do and what not to do. I have gained a myriad of insight into the type of nurse I want to be. I vow not to get “lazy” with my interventions or assessments. I want to change the world one day at a time; as nurses, I believe we can. For me, critical care has transformed me into a butterfly; throughout nursing school, I have been a caterpillar. I am ready to fly.
We have worked so hard to get to this moment. Pinning and commencement is around the corner, and we deserve to celebrate us. All our hard work and accomplishments will pay off with beautiful, fulfilling careers. Amazing job to everyone and a special thank you to each and every instructor we have had as they are such a huge inspiration. They have truly changed my life. I couldn’t have or wouldn’t want to endure this journey without our cohort. Congratulations and thank you for impacting my life. I am forever grateful and I love you all <3
Final Blog
Now that nursing school is almost at its conclusion I have some time to reflect on the past three years in my final blog. I see how much I have grown as a student, person and friend. As a student, I believe that I have proven to myself how far I can get. I do admit to times where I wish I could re do things because I tend to get complacent at times. Sometimes I do struggle to stay motivated and achieve my true potential. As I continue to search for that motivation, I will do my best to put my best foot forward in this profession. I have high aspirations for myself but for everyone in our class. I am extremely proud to say that I was among a class represented by many accomplished individuals. As a person I can definitely see many differences. I was proud of my ability to gain so much confidence in regards to nursing. I definitely feel confident as a new grad entering the nursing profession. Physically I think I am in the best shape of my life. I am proud to have been part of the championship team in my three years playing basketball at CSUCI. I continue to develop my lifting mechanics because they play a critical role in my ability to stay healthy and be a nurse for a long time to come. Lastly, I feel like I am a more compassionate individual because of the things that nursing has taught me. I recently became Big in the Big Brother Big Sister program of Ventura County. I have been a mentor before and received great satisfaction in bringing success to the life of my friend. I want to continue to make an impact on other individuals on a more personal basis. Right now I am paired up with a 9 year old boy and hope to change his life for the better. In doing so I think I will continue to find satisfaction in life and be even happier than I am today.
