Impact of Education and Growth on an Engaged Workforce and Positive Outcomes

Abstract Category: Innovation in Education Purpose: Education and growth are the foundations that drive and ensure quality of work, department’s development, and ultimately, the organization’s future. Since the opening of the hospital on April 27, 2011, West Kendall Baptist Hospital’s (WKBH) Laboratory started its innovative journey of employee education and growth. One of the department’s main priorities and focus was to strategize a process to develop employees within the healthcare field. Methods: The laboratory adapted the concept of growing our own by individually assessing strengths, skills, talents and applying it to the most appropriate venue for development. Opportunities identified included career ladder, cross training, performance improvement, College of American Pathologists (CAP) regulation training, research and evidence based projects, stretch assignments, leading instrument implementations, participation in hospital committees, and establishing university affiliations. Findings: In the retrospective years since WKBH opened, the laboratory has consistently excelled in CAP inspections with preparation and involvement of key staff, ranked in the 93rd percentile for employee engagement results, and satisfactory performance improvement indices reflecting commitment to patient care. Seventeen employees enrolled in career ladder advancements, five career promotions from Medical Technologist to Lead Technologist or from Lead Technologist to Supervisor, and eight employees have obtained or are in process of obtaining their undergraduate and graduate degrees. Beyond the laboratory, employees have been selected for poster presentations and sessions at international laboratory conferences, in addition to state user groups, and publishing manuscripts for a medical journals. Discussion: The laboratory has taken great strides in providing creative outlets for education and growth. The department has become a fine-tuned orchestra working harmoniously due to the utilization of forefront innovative staff development approaches such as evidence based practice research, coordination of the first Laboratory Unit Based Practice Council (UBPC), and establishing the use of the WKBH Lab Journal Club. The successful promotion of four medical technologists from MT1 to MT2, encouraged thirteen technologists to continue and pursue MT2 to MT3. Promoting and supporting the employee’s growth has had the benefit of establishing collaborative relationships with other hospital units. Implications for Practice: Based on our measures, the laboratory has had increasingly positive employee engagement scores with highly talented employee retention. The laboratory has created an innovative support system for employee growth and development and has created a beacon for similar technical departments within the organization

Impact of Education and Growth on an Engaged Workforce and Positive Outcomes

Purpose: Education and growth are the foundations that drive and ensure quality of work, department’s development, and ultimately, the organization’s future. Since the opening of the hospital on April 27, 2011, West Kendall Baptist Hospital’s (WKBH) Laboratory started its innovative journey of employee education and growth. One of the department’s main priorities and focus was to strategize a process to develop employees within the healthcare field. Methods: The laboratory adapted the concept of growing our own by individually assessing strengths, skills, talents and applying it to the most appropriate venue for development. Opportunities identified included career ladder, cross training, performance improvement, College of American Pathologists (CAP) regulation training, research and evidence based projects, stretch assignments, leading instrument implementations, participation in hospital committees, and establishing university affiliations. Findings: In the retrospective years since WKBH opened, the laboratory has consistently excelled in CAP inspections with preparation and involvement of key staff, ranked in the 93 percentile for employee engagement results, and satisfactory performance improvement indices reflecting commitment to patient care. Seventeen employees enrolled in career ladder advancements, five career promotions from Medical Technologist to Lead Technologist or from Lead Technologist to Supervisor, and eight employees have obtained or are in process of obtaining their undergraduate and graduate degrees. Beyond the laboratory, employees have been selected for poster presentations and sessions at international laboratory conferences, in addition to state user groups, and publishing manuscripts for a medical journals. Discussion: The laboratory has taken great strides in providing creative outlets for education and growth. The department has become a fine-tuned orchestra working harmoniously due to the utilization of forefront innovative staff development approaches such as evidence based practice research, coordination of the first Laboratory Unit Based Practice Council (UBPC), and establishing the use of the WKBH Lab Journal Club. The successful promotion of four medical technologists from MT1 to MT2, encouraged thirteen technologists to continue and pursue MT2 to MT3. Promoting and supporting the employee’s growth has had the benefit of establishing collaborative relationships with other hospital units. Implications for Practice: Based on our measures, the laboratory has had increasingly positive employee engagement scores with highly talented employee retention. The laboratory has created an innovative support system for employee growth and development and has created a beacon for similar technical departments within the organization

Doente grave e família percepção de seus problemas

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, 1979

The Use of Procalcitonin as a Sepsis Marker in a Community Hospital

Procalcitonin is a biomarker that shows good specificity in identifying septic patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of procalcitonin in a community hospital setting. Two comparative groups were analyzed using an exploratory descriptive case-control study with secondary analysis of retrospective data from a 19 month period when procalcitonin was implemented. Secondly, a retrospective quasi-experimental study was done using a control group of emergency department patients with a sepsis diagnosis. Data included 19 months prior to the implementation of procalcitonin. In the retrospective review of 165 sepsis cases, there was a positive correlation between lactic acid and procalcitonin values. Sensitivity for positive blood cultures was 89.7% for procalcitonin (\u3e0.1 ng/mL) and 64.9% for lactic acid when lactic acid values were \u3e 2 mmol/L. After implementation, there was a significant decrease in cost of hospitalization. Prior to procalcitonin implementation the median cost was $10,271 and post procalcitonin the median cost was$6,981. Neither the hospital nor ICU length of stay, demonstrated a difference pre and post implementation of procalcitonin. We established that procalcitonin had a higher sensitivity in our community hospital than lactic acid and therefore a higher predictive usefulness in determining those patients with positive blood cultures. Suggestions to improve the lactic acid sensitivity by decreasing the cutoff to 1.4 mmol/L resulted in a decrease in specificity and positive predictive value. The implementation of procalcitonin, resulted in a cost savings, but not from decreasing length of stay. This savings may be associated with a variable outside of the length of stay, or the non-parametric test was not powerful enough to a show a decrease in length of stay. As this is typically the greatest driver of cost, we will further review how the savings was realized and how we can better impact length of stay

An integration into the diagnostic workflow in a pediatric patient suspected of having Marfan syndrome

Abstract Background The genetic approach to Marfan syndrome (MFS) has evolved over the last few decades, as has our understanding of the variants' potential structural and functional consequences. It has been proposed that next-generation sequencing be used to improve genetic diagnosis and patient management. To this end, we used a targeted NGS custom panel to perform genetic analysis in a patient with MFS and his or her family members. Case presentation Here, we describe a novel germ-line heterozygous missense variant (transversion c.5371 T > A) found in exon 43 of the FBN1 gene of a patient (proband) with MFS. FBN1 (ENSG0000166147) and TGFB2 (ENSG0000166147) were included in a targeted sequencing panel for MFS (ENSG0000163513). This new variant c.5371 T > A was identified only in the proband, not in unaffected family members or healthy controls. Conclusions Given the massive amount of data generated by gene panel analysis, clinical interpretation of genetic variants may become more difficult. As a result, 3D modeling and multidisciplinary approaches should be used in the analysis and annotation of observed variants. The analysis of the protein's conformational structure in relation to the identified variant could provide useful information. These data can be used to classify observed variants (pathogenic vs non-pathogenic) linked to the MFS phenotype, as well as to track disease progression and potential target treatments

Disciplinas de custos: uma análise nos cursos de Ciências Contábeis das IES do sistema ACAFE

A informação de custos, diante de um mercado de competitividade crescente, apresenta-se como uma base importante ao processo decisório, além de implicar novos paradigmas na gestão dos negócios. Desta forma, torna-se relevante o oferecimento de disciplinas de custos no Curso de Ciências Contábeis onde a contabilidade de custos e seu processo de ensino devem direcionar o aluno, a partir do estudo acadêmico, ao processo externo, ou seja, ao mercado tomador do profissional provido de conhecimento contábil.Considerando a relevância das disciplinas de custos no Curso de Ciências Contábeis das Instituições de Ensino Superior (IES), este artigo tem como objetivo verificar as congruências e divergências destas disciplinas ofertadas nos Cursos de Ciências Contábeis das universidades ligadas à Associação Catarinense das Fundações Educacionais (ACAFE). A metodologia da pesquisa consubstancia-se de um estudo exploratório, realizado por meio de levantamento, com abordagem predominantemente qualitativa. Utilizou-se para análise o conteúdo de ementa, a carga horária e a disposição das disciplinas de custos na grade curricular nestas instituições. A técnica estatística empregada foi análise de clusters. Diante deste estudo que teve como objetivo a verificação das congruências e divergências das disciplinas de custos ofertadas nos Cursos de Ciências Contábeis das instituições ligadas à ACAFE, conclui-se que estas instituições estabelecem um agrupamento predominante, mesmo que na análise isolada de algumas variáveis isto não ocorra. Os resultados da pesquisa evidenciam que na variável ementa, o cluster mais representativo apontou 9 instituições, representando o maior grupo com 56,25% do total de instituições pesquisadas. Na variável fase, 10 instituições apresentaram congruência, pois oferecem as disciplinas de custos em períodos semelhantes. Na variável carga horária, 10 instituições apresentam similaridade no oferecimento das disciplinas de custos e análise de custos com 120 h/a. Conclui-se que, num contexto geral, há um acentuado nível de congruência nas disciplinas de custos entre as universidades analisadas, apesar de divergências encontradas na análise isolada de algumas variáveis

Gestão Ambiental em Instituição de Ensino superior na Visão de seus Dirigentes

O trabalho objetiva descrever a gestão ambiental em Instituição de Ensino Superior comunitária, na visão de seus dirigentes. Partiu-se da premissa de que a gestão ambiental não se restringe mais a um determinado grupo de empresas que se utilizam dos recursos naturais para o desenvolvimento de suas atividades, mas estende-se à qualquer tipo de organização e comunidade em geral. Em vista disso, realizou-se um estudo exploratório, por meio de estudo de caso em uma Instituição de Ensino Superior (IES) filantrópica e comunitária, com abordagem qualitativa dos dados. Os resultados da pesquisa mostram que, assumir ou não essa responsabilidade depende das crenças e valores dos principais dirigentes da IES, visto que são eles os tomadores das decisões. Seus princípios e práticas com relação ao meio ambiente são fundamentais no tratamento dos impactos ambientais causados pela IES. Conclui-se que às IES, principalmente por serem provedoras e disseminadoras de conhecimento, recai também a responsabilidade pela proteção e qualidade do meio ambiente onde estão inseridas