Applied Employment Career Development

06/14/2022

Appreciating the Vocational Field of the CNA

This week we nationally show our appreciation for the work of the CNA. Some states refer to this a person in this vocation as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), other states use the term Licensed Nursing Assistant (LNA). New Hampshire calls employees who have been trained & certified in this field LNA’s. For the purpose of this post, they will be referred to as Nursing Assistants so as not to get confused.

Are you someone who likes working as part of a medical team, enjoys helping others & making a difference in someone’s life? If so, becoming a nursing assistant may be right career for you.

Nursing Assistants are critical frontline members of the healthcare system team. They work under the direct supervision of an LPN or RN. They are an important additional set of eyes & ears for the nursing staff, taking vital signs, weighing patients, reporting observed status changes in patients (bruises, falls, wounds, changes in behavior), assisting patients with Activities of Daily Living (ADL’s) when they can’t do so independently, & assisting with mobility & transfers.

Nursing Assistants work in many settings, from Hospitals & Rehab facilities to retirement communities, physician’s offices, residential long- term care homes, visit patients in their own homes through private practice, traveling CNA agencies & Home Healthcare agencies, Assisted Living care centers, nursing homes, Adult Day Care facilities, hospice programs, state Departments of Health & Human Services, Veteran’s Health Administration programs, & the Federal Bureau of Prisons to name a few.

The COVID19 pandemic showed our society just how important these jobs are to the health & well-being of so many Americans. As a result, wages have improved & the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the demand for workers in this field will increase by 10% over the next several years. This puts it well above most employment sector outlooks for growth. Facilities in NH have a high demand for trained & certified nursing assistants.

06/10/2022

This week is National Pet Appreciation Week.

In keeping with this theme, it might be helpful to look at other careers that work with animals or pets.

Most people think of veterinarian careers when they think about working with animals, but actually, there are many careers that involve working with animals & not out of a Veterinarian’s office.

Some of these careers require some on-the-job training, others require getting certified to practice (but not a full college degree), while still others require some college leading to a degree.

Some of these careers include:
 Pet Groomer
 Animal Behaviorist
 Animal Shelter Staff / Manager
 Retail Worker in a Pet Store or Pet Supply store
 Animal Photographer

06/08/2022

Are you interested in working with animals for a career? Have you thought of these jobs?

Jobs working with Wildlife
• Wildlife Rehabilitator
• Conservation Officer
• Marine Veterinarian Tech

06/08/2022

“People with highly transferable skills may be specialists in certain areas, but they’re also incredible generalists – something businesses that want to grow need.” – Leah Busque.

06/06/2022

Transferable Skills:
What Are They & Why Are They Important?

Employers today are looking for transferable skills in their workers. Transferable skills can either be hard or soft skills. Examples of hard skills include management experience, experience working with different computer programs, & policy & procedure development & enforcement.

A list of important transferable soft skills would include areas such as communication (e.g. verbal & written communication, active listening, & the ability to read body language), leadership skills (e.g. integrity mentoring, & problem-solving), organizational skills (such as planning, time management, & teamwork), customer service based people skills (e.g. cooperation, empathy, & patience).

These functional & transferable skills are versatile in many different work settings. In today’s post-pandemic job market, many job seekers don’t have direct experience in the career field or the position for which they are applying. Also, recent college graduates without a lot of work experience, older workers, or workers who have been out of the workforce for different reasons all need to rely on critical transferable skills on their resumes to make their case as to why they can succeed in the job they are applying for.

05/31/2022

Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.

— Stephen King

05/26/2022

Here is a short video by Andy Scott on the history of the handshake.

Humans have used physical greeting rituals for longer than you might realize. But in the wake of CoVid-19, will the most universal of those rituals — the han...

05/24/2022

The History & Germ-Ridden Future of the Handshake

The handshake has been around for a long time. It has been used by individuals upon meeting or parting with someone for the first time, greeting & leaving friends, as a token of gratitude, congratulations, a sign of good sportsmanship in competitive activities, or in a business relationship, especially as a sign of finalizing a business or diplomatic agreement. Although there are other physical forms of greeting in other cultures, the handshake is fairly universal in its use. Agreements are said to be officially sealed once a handshake occurs. A handshake is used to express respect, confidence, and equality between parties.

Traditionally in the US handshakes are done barehanded. A good handshake is firm, performed with the right hand while standing erect & making eye contact. Participants loosely follow a two-second rule, smile, & greet each other by name, or if meeting for the first time, offer their own name. Shaking hands is a ritual ingrained in our culture. It will be interesting to see if the handshake survives in the future.

It has been understood for many years that the handshake is a leading cause of spreading microbial pathogens. Prior to the COVID pandemic, greeting rituals were customary in almost all known cultures of the world. After the H1N1 outbreak in 2009, medical scientists, virologists & Doctors strongly recommended the end of the ritualistic handshake. Yet it did not die. After two years of the COVID19 Pandemic, perhaps we as a culture might more readily embrace alternative greeting gestures. Many are out there- a wave, the fist bump, the Namaste', elbow touch, foot tap, the stop-bow-and-nod, the ‘live long & prosper sign, long-distance high fives, miming a fist bump, some sort of salute, air kisses, the grasp & greet, or a simple bow to name just a few.

If you forget not to shake someone’s hand or they reach to shake yours, make sure to wash your hands as soon as possible. Or keep hand sanitizer with you to use. The tendency to ‘shake hands’ is not going to go away soon, most probably. After all, it has been around since at least the 5th century BC.

05/17/2022

National Correctional Officers Week

During the month of May, the profession of Correctional Officers is nationally recognized. Correctional Officers work within the state or federal criminal justice systems. They provide the supervision, treatment, & transportation of adults & juveniles who have been convicted of a crime. Correctional Officers also work in community-based programs such as parole or probation. Depending on what state you live in, careers in the Corrections field can be more varied than just working within the prison system.

Correctional Officers who work within the prison system are responsible for the safety of inmates, visitors, & themselves. They supervise inmates, monitor the movement of inmates, visitors, & guards within the facility, uphold order by enforcing rules, inspect the facilities to ensure health, security, & safety of all within, maintain daily report logs & write reports, supervise any work details of prisoners, provide safe transportation for internal or external transfers, medical, or court appointments, & participate in the rehabilitation of inmates.

Probation Officers are also known as Community Supervision Officers, & work exclusively with either adults or juveniles. They monitor & keep tabs on offenders who have been sentenced by a judge to probation instead of jail time to make sure they are not a danger to their community. They also develop a plan with the offender to help rehabilitate them within the community.

Parole Officers work with either adults or juveniles who have served their time in a correctional facility & have been released after serving time for their offense. It is challenging for former inmates to successfully re-enter society. Parole Officers provide information & resources to former inmates on finding a place to live, job training programs, finding employment, substance abuse training, etc. to aid them in becoming contributing members of society.

Both Probation Officers & Parole Officers utilize regularly scheduled personal check-in visits, contact with the probationer or parolee’s families, oversee drug testing, manage any court-ordered electronic monitoring, & make unannounced visits to their homes or place of work.

Another career within the correctional system includes becoming a Pre-Trial Services Officer. These officers work with offenders who have been charged with a crime & are awaiting trial. These officers investigate the defendant’s background & any previous criminal activity to determine if they can remain safely in the community prior to their trial. The Pretrial Services Officer makes recommendations to the judge before a bond is set as to the person’s safety & flight risk. They are also charged with making sure the defendant shows up for their trial.

Correctional Treatment Specialists, aka Case Managers or Correctional Counselors, also work with parolees & probationers. They evaluate an inmate’s life history & time within a correctional facility & write a report to the Parole Board who determine whether an inmate is sufficiently rehabilitated &safe to return to the community. Once an inmate is released from prison, the Correctional Treatment Specialist works with the Parole Officer & parolee to develop a rehabilitation plan which might include housing options, individual or family counseling, finding substance abuse or mental health programs, identifying educational or job training needs, etc.

Bailiffs, also known as Marshalls or Court Officers, are law enforcement officers charged with keeping order & maintaining safety in the actual courtrooms during pretrial & trial proceedings. They inspect the courtroom, es**rt judges, jurors, witnesses, & prisoners in & out of the courtroom, enforce the courtroom rules & procedures, protect the security of the legal process, & handle evidence during the hearing.

05/15/2022

Skilled Nursing Care Week

In celebration of Skilled Nursing Care week, it may be helpful to understand what Skilled Nursing actually is. Nursing Homes are long-term care facilities that provide housing and intensive personal care services to the elderly. Nursing Homes are often the end of the line in housing options for the elderly. In most people’s minds, Skilled Nursing care is often equated with a person needing a nursing home Not all Nursing Homes offer Skilled Nursing services, and Skilled Nursing care can also be provided at home in some instances. Confused? Let’s take a closer look.

There are good Nursing Homes and many not-so-good Nursing Homes. Nursing Homes tend to be the place older people who need help & supervision go for long-term care when they can no longer care for themselves or if they have no family members who can help. Many Nursing Homes were built in the day when they were designed to house 2 people who are strangers to each other in a room who typically have no say in the matter. Medical care is limited to medication dispensation & Dr visits often happen off-site. Nursing staff (LPN’s & RN’s), CNA’s, Activity staff, Housekeeping staff, Maintenance staff, & Kitchen staff are provided. Sometimes a Nursing Home will have Physical or Occupational Therapy staff as well. or at least access to therapies..

A Skilled Therapy Facility (SNF) is where patients go who need more focused & intensive round the clock medical treatment or nursing care, short term, due to certified medical conditions such as rehab after an illness or operation (e.g.: pneumonia, congestive heart failure, heart surgery, knee replacement, hip replacement, etc.), wound care, regular short term IV or tube feedings, intensive Physical or Occupational Therapies, Speech-language pathology services, or Respiratory Therapy services.

A SNF typically provides more robust & varied access to medical treatment as the medical professionals treat & manage your condition & evaluate your progress with an eye to returning the patient home. Access to a Dr., Nursing staff (RN’s & LPN’s), CNA’s, Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Dieticians, Kitchen staff, Housekeeping staff, Maintenance staff, Social Services & Discharge Planning staff, & depending upon the facility, Speech-language Pathologists & Respiratory Therapists are available to SNF patients.

Skilled Nursing Services can be provided in the home if the needs of the person’s medical situation aren’t as intensive & warrant it. The types of services provided can include monitoring serious illnesses or unstable health conditions, caregiver or patient education, injections, wound care, surgical wound care, monitoring for pressure ulcers, nutrition education or therapy, IV’s, or Physical or Occupational therapies. Typically, these Skilled Nursing services are provided through a Home Healthcare Agency.

05/12/2022

05/05/2022

The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.

— Unknown (often attributed to Mark Twain or Agatha Christie)