Stress Management

     Stress is a huge weight on the body for many people and can lead to poor health. Things such as work, school, and other life factors are often major causes of stress. Managing stress is essential to a clear and healthy mind and I believe stress management should be practiced more. Stress management should be promoted more, emphasized more, and utilized more.
     Some of the  negative effects of stress on the body include poor health with the heart, immune system, muscles and more. The following symptoms can occur from too much stress as well; elevated heart rate, migraines, unhealthy eating patterns, sleep deprivation and more (Stress Management, Web MD). As time goes on, things will continue to grow on one another. One's health could continue to decline and stress levels could increase.
     A few ways that one can begin to cope with stress and lower stress levels include writing, meditating, and exercising. All of which help me relieve stress as well. I took a class called 'Promoting a Happy and Healthy Work Place' and one of the main focuses of the class was to work through stress. Everyday in class we meditated and performed mindful activities that would help each student relieve stress and improve their performance.  I found this to be a great instrument in creating a healthy mind and body. Promoting healthy behavior and working with stress management should be advertised to the public more often. I have found many students and and young adults to face enormous amounts of stress while not being aware of the success and power of stress management. Educating more people on stress management as well as promoting meditation and other exercises could help lower stress for thousands of people. This decline in stress levels could then improve the health of thousands and promote a happier and healthier environment.

Analyzing Medical Erros in the Health Care Organization

     There are always medical errors being made in health care organizations and analyzing data on these mistakes is essential. Medical errors are inevitable for humans but it is important to try to improve them any way possible because people's lives are at stake. Recently, NORC at the University of Chicago released a study that showed twenty one percent of people reported a personal experience with medical errors (Science Daily, 2017). The article went on to talk about how patients are affected by these errors and briefly how the medical mistakes are dealt with when they are noticed. I was happy to see that the following data reported. According to Science Daily, " Among the survey's other notable findings:
* Nearly half of those who perceived that an error had occurred brought it to the attention of medical personnel or other staff at the health care facility. 
* Most respondents believe that, while health care providers are chiefly responsible for patient safety, patients and their families also have a role to play.
* When asked what caused the medical error they experienced, people identified, on average, at  least seven different factors."(Science Daily, 2017). I was impressed with how many patients were seen to actually speak up and say they had noticed an error. This means that the patient had a concern, addressed it, and felt comfortable enough to talk to the doctor about it. Making hospitals and health care settings a comfortable place is important for someone who may be stressed and worried about their health or a loved one's health. Patients also seemed to agree that their families as well as themselves, play a role in their own patient safety which I think is key to success. Many of these patients felt comfortable in the setting and with the doctor they were seeing. Creating this bond, connection, relationship with the doctor and patient is not always easy. I was happy to see that many patients were able to have this relationship with the doctor and I believe that if doctors continue to make that bond and create a happy and calm environment, then medical errors can be brought to the attention of one another and fixed. In the long run, these kind of relationships could improve medical error rates. 

Infection Control

     Infection Control is a huge concern in hospitals that must be taken into account. I had the opportunity to see the infection control protocol for an emergency depart at a local hospital in New Hampshire. This opportunity really opened my eyes to how important managing the spread of infectious disease in hospitals and health care settings really is. Hospitals are one of the most dangerous places because there are so many sick people around. I looked at a protocol specifically for the spread of Ebola for this hospital. There were multiple different guidelines for each different department. For example, there were different guidelines for the ED walk in, coagulation clinic, obstetrical department, offsite locations, and outpatient walk in. With each different guideline there is another layer of details and steps that must be followed when a patient presents with the disease. It was interesting to see that with Ebola, a patient can be more or less severe and this is determined by the patient's symptoms. These protocols range from initial screening questions to treating a patient who is showing symptoms and has been infected. I never thought about how much work goes into these protocols in case there is an outbreak. Infection control is a very important aspect of managing hospitals that looks out for the patient's overall health and is essential to keeping a well managed and healthy organization. There are many different pieces that come together to make a well managed health care organization run successfully and I believe it is important to have different people focus on each different area to specialize and act as a liaison. I have found that education in different departments with a special focus on things like infection control is paramount to the success of a healthy organization.