2007 Annual Report
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Southeast South Central Indiana Area Health Education Center |
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Home Health Care & Hospice Services
Strategic Development and Consulting Services
Programs
During the summer of 2004, the SE/SCI AHEC awarded three community programs grants and five continuing education grants of approximately $30,000 total to the following organizations:
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Dunn Memorial Hospital in Lawrence County
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Harrison County Hospital
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Bloomington Hospital of Orange County
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Bloomington Hospital of Orange County Foundation
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Family Health Center of Floyd County
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Southern Indiana Minority Health Initiative, Inc.
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Crawford County Health Department
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Community Mental Health Center, Inc.
To find out more about the community program grants, please read the Building Bridges article and read the brief summaries of our continuing education grant programs.
Part I: Building Bridges across the SE/SCI AHEC Communities
The Southeast/South
Central Indiana Area Health Education Center (SE/SCI AHEC) is approaching
the end of its planning year, but this year has been a busy one,
especially with the eight mini-grants awarded this summer. The SE/SCI AHEC
awarded three community program grants and five continuing education
grants to its local hospital, health centers, and community
organizations.
Because of the current growing demand for health
professionals and the unawareness that there are over 250 health care
professions, several community organizations saw a need to education young
people about the various health careers open to them. Located in
Jeffersonville, IN, Clark County, the Southern Minority Health Initiative,
Inc, developed a Sister-to-Sister program and will use AHEC funding to
help present this summer program. According to Pamela Clark, Executive
Director of the organization and a member of the Nursing Advisory Board of
the Indiana University Southeast, “The Sister-to-Sister program will
empower the girls to increase their interest in the health field.” One of
the program’s components is health career awareness, specifically asking
its minority youth participants, “Would you like to be a nurse?” The
10-18 year old girls will also have the opportunity shadow a health
professional, such as a lab tech or phlebotomist.
The Bloomington
Hospital of Orange County Health Education Outreach Program is targeting
students in area schools to make them more aware of health career
opportunities. According to Deana Davis, health educator, and Hanna
Swayer the outreach coordinator, in the past the hospital outreach program
has served as a resource for area schools by providing quality health
related programs. With AHEC funding, the hospital is “fine tuning’ its
program by designing advertising flyers for teachers, buttons and a health
career booklet for students.
Deana Davis Health Educator
“Data shows that children who come from poor, uneducated homes are most likely to escape the cycle of poverty if they have a vision for the future. The children who can say “I want to be a fireman, policeman or nurse” are more likely to make it than those who don’t have dreams for themselves, even at an early age,” states Linda Codey from the Family Health Center of Floyd County, Inc. With AHEC funding, the health center will raise awareness of children from three low-income area elementary schools by presenting hands-on health fairs. Children will have the opportunity to use eye charts, scales, and other medical equipment. In addition, they will have the chance to interact with medical personnel, such as dentists, nurses, and medical assistants, etc on a one-one basis.
Each of these community programs offers our young people an opportunity to learn more about the various health careers and realize that these careers are real possibilities. Today SE/SCI AHEC could be working with tomorrow’s health care workforce.
by Laura
Moore
SE/SCI AHEC Coordinator
Continuing Education Mini-Grants
The continuing education grants varied. One mini-grant allowed a RN from the Crawford County Health Department to attend the 2004 IRHA conference in French Lick. Please click on the links below for more detail about the other four continuing education mini-grants.
The
Community Mental Health Center, Inc.
Dunn
Memorial Hospital
Bloomington
Hospital of Orange County Foundation
Harrison
County Hospital
Community
Mental Health Center’s New Electronic System Provides
Staff with
Training 24 Hours per Day
A mini-grant provided by the Southeast/South Central Indiana Area Health Education Center (SE/SCI AHEC) through Hoosier Uplands has allowed the Community Mental Health Center, Inc. (CMHC) in Lawrenceburg, Indiana to purchase an electronic system that is accessible to all employees via their desktop.
CMHC has a staff of approximately 150. The staff includes a variety of clinical disciplines and non-clinical support staff positions, including psychiatrists, therapists, nurses, technicians, case managers, clerks, and housekeepers, etc. All employees have programs specific to their job responsibilities; some programs are required by all staff, such as Sexual Harassment, First Aid, and Patient Rights, etc.
The electronic system’s vender allows for customization of the training modules to allow the employer to include information specific to the employees’ job requirements. The system allows CMHC employees to access training 24 hours per day, provides instant feedback to performance, reduces travel time and time spent away from client care, and provides consistency in quality of training offered to all employees regardless of when their training is completed. Upon successfully completing of the training, each participant will receive a certification of completion.
For more information about the electronic system program, contact Charlotte R. Ipach of Community Mental Health Center, In. at (812) 537-1302, ext. 270.
Harrison
County Hospital
Implements Critical Care Training
Program
A mini-grant provided by the Southeast/South Central Indiana Area Health Education Center (SE/SCI AHEC) through Hoosier Uplands has allowed the Harrison County Hospital to develop a continuing education program for their nursing staff in the ICU and ER.
The Harrison County Hospital is a small hospital with five ICU beds and seven ER beds. The staff required to provide coverage for these areas do not have the opportunity to experience certain types of ICU patients or various procedures, such as hemo-dynamic monitoring. Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to send all of the staff to trainings in the Indianapolis or Louisville areas to obtain certain care aspects or procedures. Through the mini-grant, the hospital was able to purchase a CD Rom based education program of clinical and case simulations that provided opportunities for the staff participants to make clinical assessments and decisions with evaluation of the patient’s response to therapy.
The CD ROM format provided for interactive coaching and feedback on an individualized basis. The CD Rom program means on site continuing education/training for ICU and ER staff and no waiting for appropriate continuing education sessions offered in nearby cities. Both future Harrison County Hospital staff and patients will continue to benefit from this program.
For more information about this program, contact Laurie Eckhart at (812) 738-7897.
EMT Training Program Enhanced by Six Simulators at Bloomington Hospital of Orange County Foundation
A mini-grant provided by the Southeast/South Central Indiana Area Health Education Center (SE/SCI AHEC) through Hoosier Uplands has allowed the Bloomington Hospital of Orange County Foundation (BHOC) to purchase six simulators for their EMT and paramedic program.
BHOC has an excellent EMT training program that provides certification training for approximately 15 to 20 new EMT’s and maintains competency on a staff of 30 EMT’s and paramedics. In order for the BHOC EMT’s and paramedics to stay current or obtain experience on procedures they rarely deal with, six simulators were purchased with the AHEC grant award.
These simulators included the Advanced IV Hand, the Obstetrical Manikin simulator, Deluxe Cricothyrotomy simulator, Pneumothorax simulator, Intraosseus Infusion simulator, and Danny Smith Heart Model. The staff’s use of these simulators will enhance community access to quality healthcare for the Orange County and surrounding areas.
For more information about the BHOC EMTs and paramedic program, contact Jessica Fortner, RD, BHOC Foundation Director at (812) 723-7490.
Hanna Swayer the BHOC Program Coordinator and Michael Owen
Dunn Memorial Hospital Offers A Nursing Education Program
A mini-grant provided by the Southeast/South Central Indiana Area Health Education Center (SE/SCI AHEC) through Hoosier Uplands has allowed Dunn Memorial Hospital to improve its Nursing Orientation Program and Nursing Development Program.
In an effort to deliver quality driven services, Dunn Memorial Hospital focuses on continued education for its professional and clinical staff. The AHEC grant award has allowed the hospital to increase the education and knowledge of the nursing staff through the planning and implementation of its Nursing Orientation Program and Nursing Development Program. The benefits from these programs will result in the provision of quality services and patient focused care.
The Nursing Orientation Program, which will be taught by skilled registered nurses, will orient new nurses to the field of nursing and their scope of work at the hospital. After this orientation, nurses will be able to demonstrate the necessary skills and abilities to be competent and knowledgeable in delivery health care services.
The Nursing Development Program will provide current nurses at the hospital with continuing education sessions to build their education level, knowledge, and skills to deliver quality health care services. These sessions will be planned as an academic course; and upon completed the course participants will receive continuing education credits from the American Association of Critical Care Nurses.
For more information about the nursing programs, contact Nancy Havill, Director of Employee Services of Dunn Memorial Hospital, at (812) 276-1070.
CE mini-grants summaries put together by Laura Moore, AHEC Coordinator.
SE/SCI AHEC IRHA Conference Sponsorship
The SE/SCI AHEC sponsored four high school students and their teacher and three college students to attend the 2004 Indiana Rural Health Association Conference at French Lick, IN. Here's what one student had to say about the conference and AHEC.
I am entirely grateful for the opportunity provided through SE/SCI AHEC to attend the Indiana Rural Health Association conference this past June. The IRHA conference was the first professional conference I was able to attend while in graduate school and due to financial constraints I would most likely not have been able to attend without the help of Hoosier Uplands. The conference itself far exceeded my expectations. Not only did it open my eyes further to the health disparities present in rural Indiana communities, the conference also presented the positive side of rural health. I felt this approach was quite encouraging and realistic at the same time.
The highlight of the conference personally was the opportunity to meet and speak with so many members of the health and medical community here in Indiana. I was introduced one individual in particular who has since become a mentor of sorts for my professional development. The opportunity to meet this man, as well as so many other experienced professionals was a priceless experience.
One additional highlight of the conference was learning more about AHEC and the resources they provide. In a field which is often less understood, even by those in the medical community, having an opportunity to be mentored by fellow health educators is truly invaluable. I am so grateful for the opportunity to learn more about the organization as I am currently trying to find a location to complete an MPH internship. Several of the people I have met through AHEC have proven helpful in this process.
by Christina Jagielski
During the fall of 2004, approximately 850 eighth graders in the SE/SCI AHEC regions had the opportunity to learn more about the various health careers open to them. Introducing health careers during the eighth grade is excellent time because these students are beginning to think about the future and need to explore career choices. Also many middle school or junior highs have a specific career class for eighth graders. These classes were perfect places for the AHEC coordinator to present “An Introduction to Health Careers”.
Eight school counselors or teachers welcomed the SE/SCI AHEC into their eighth grade career or health classrooms. Students at Crawford County Junior High, Harrison Middle School, Greensburg Junior High, Madison Consolidated Junior High, Mitchell Junior High, Ohio Elementary-Middle School, Orleans Junior High, and Switzerland Middle School were exposed to the various health careers open to them.
Through the presentation, students learned there is a great demand for health care workers for several reasons, including the following: people live longer than in the past. Since more people need care, more health care workers are needed; More people need home health care; There is great need for health care professionals in rural areas, thus many of these students could realistically return to practice their professions in their own hometowns.
At the beginning of the presentation, students play Medical Stories Bingo, which provides them an opportunity to think about their exposure to health care professionals in their own lives. Then students watch a video that highlights various health professionals including dental hygienist, medical records technician, family practitioner, registered nurse, surgical technician, physical therapist, physician assistant, and social worker. Through this video, students discover what certain health professionals do on a daily basis and what skills and educational background is needed to pursue those careers. Later students are introduced to 2004 national salary averages and have the chance to ask questions about health care careers.
In the spring of 2005, the SE/SCI AHEC will review the analyzed results of the student pre and post surveys and teacher surveys to learn the impact of the “Introduction to Health Careers” presentations.
By Laura Moore
2004 AHEC Program
Coordinator