My name is Courtney and I am 22 years old. I am a hard worker with two jobs, and I am currently a full time student. This semester I am taking Calculus and Chemistry II at Valencia along with our online class. I live in a two bedroom two bath condo by myself; therefore, money is really tight for me right now. My overall goal for my career is to finish medical school and continue on to become a Radiologist. I am in love with the medical field, so I am sure I will succeed in my goal.
Besides working and school, I love to go to the beach and hang out with my friends. I have been with my boyfriend for seven years, but I told him I did not want to get married until after medical school. I also have a white American bulldog that has literally become my first child. I speak to him like a baby, and he even throws tantrums if he does not get his way!!
I am a very open and honest person, so I hope to gain as much information from my group as I am willing to offer to you.
This is the first class I have ever taken at UCF, and so far it has not been an easy transition for me. First of all, I am extremely nervous about taking an online class. A problem that I have come across thus far is that I have not taken an English class in three years. It is difficult for me to remember how to write properly, and I even had to pull out an old English book!! I enjoy the discussions and learning about everyone in the class. In order to be prepared for this class, I had to print out everything that was on the website and highlight important facts. We were provided so much information on the first day that I almost dropped the course. HIV is a very important topic that everyone should take the time to learn about. This semester I hope to learn from those that have HIV, and my goal is to spread the knowledge to my friends and family.
The thrush assignment was a huge eye opener for me. I feel bad that people have to go through that because of the medications that they are on. I was not even able to stick the first cotton ball in my mouth without gagging, so I can only image how it would be to go through that every time i ate. I am looking forward to learning through our assignments, and reading everyone's opinions on how they were able to get through the thrush and PCP.
Did You Know?!
Before I enrolled in this class, I thought that there was still a serious concern of HIV spreading because of hospital flaws. Did you know that the risk of getting HIV from a blood transfusion is very small. How often do hospital workers prick themselves with an HIV infected needle? To my surprise, the answer is not often. Even if an employee was to get pricked, there are medications that can be taken immediately after the incident that prevent the HIV from reaching the bloodstream. According to the Better Health Channel, there are several hospital policies that protect you from HIV such as
- Syringes and needles are used once only.
- Instruments are cleaned and sterilized after every use.
- Many items are disposed of after single use.
- Health care workers wear protective gowns, gloves and eye-wear when carrying out procedures involving blood and body fluids.
- Spilt blood and body fluids are cleaned up according to strict procedures.
- Laundry is cleaned according to strict infection control procedures.
I am still not convinced that every employee in every hospital follows these rules. After visiting my grandfather in the hospital, I noticed that the nurse left his bloody gauze out on the counter. When she came back hours later she threw it away without cleaning the counter. If she did not notice to throw the used gauze away immediately, it just makes me think of what other careless mistakes are made on a daily basis.
This semester I am going to research the careless mistakes that have been made by hospitals in the past that caused HIV to spread to patients. My goal is to convince you to take the hospital setting seriously when you start your career.
Great Did You Know, but it belongs with your other blog, not as a separate blog of its own. Next week, combine the two, just create a separate space with the title and you have what I'm looking for.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct. Many hospital personnel don't think. My question to you is did you say something to that person? Did you take the opportunity to educate that nurse? If you didn't, does that make you as guilty as the nurse? We all need to do our part and not saying something to the nurse was a lost opportunity.
Great stuff! Along with the one use needles, many hospitals use safety syringes that have guards on them to eliminate the risk of injury. Unfortunately with all of these safe guards in place, work place injuries still happen.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it's not just the new healthcare worker that has an injury. It can just as easily be the seasoned healthcare worker. Sometimes they do the same motions over and over in their work and these behaviors lead to an injury.
I'm looking forward to reading your research on hospitals. I wonder which state has the most needlestick injuries?
Courtney I am almost in the same boat as you! Except that I have been at UCF for my entire college career but I am really focused on finishing school and getting my career started before anything else.
ReplyDeleteI used to work in a hospital and I learned then that needle accidents were not as common as some might have thought. The hospital that I worked at was very cautious and spent a lot of time making sure all of the employees knew the procedures in order to keep themselves safe. Cindy makes a great point in her question about which state has the most needlestick injuries; I can't wait to find out that answer.
I am also glad that you decided to stick with the class. Since you are going to be in the medical field this class will be so helpful not only for education of others but the for the priceless knowledge that you will gain. Can't wait for more posts. And by the way- cute dog!
Hey Courtney,
ReplyDeleteIt was great getting to know a little bit about you in the beginning of your post. I completely understand how you feel about working two jobs and going to school. Let me tell you that this online class is definitely different than any other I have taken at UCF. I have been taking online classes for two years and this is by far the most work intensive. We will definitely come out of this class more educated about HIV and how it affects our society.
I enjoyed your "Did You Know" feature. I watched the movie "And The Band Plays On" in another course and it is very interesting to see what happened when the CDC found out that blood transfusions were a cause of HIV transmission. You would think that with evidence of this fact, the government would immediately take steps to protect patients. That was definitely not the case. I won't ruin it for you, in case you watch it for this class but that movie would definitely have good information for your "Did You Know" section.
I look forward to reading more from you!
Good Luck,
Courtney