Intro to healthcare

Qualities of healthcare workers

Care about others, have integrity, be dependable, work well with others, be flexible, willing to learn, and strive to be cost conscious.

Standards of healthcare workers

Protect the public, ensure workers meet standards, and have skills for safety and competency including certification, registration, and licensure.

Scope of practice

What a healthcare worker is licensed to do under their license.

Problem solving process

Identify the problem, gather info (opinions, assessment, objective data, subjective data), create alternatives, choose alternative and take action, evaluate and revise.

Ambulate

To walk.

Learning styles

Three different types of learning styles are visual, auditory, and kinesthetic.

Largest service industry in US

Healthcare is the largest service industry in the US, influenced by technological advancements, specialization, aging population, and rising costs.

Healthcare facilities and services

Includes hospitals (high tech, psychiatric, inpatient), ambulatory services (outpatient), urgent care, long-term care facilities, continuing care community, home health providers, and hospice.

Trends in healthcare

Focus on wellness through prevention, complementary therapies, and holistic medicine.

Challenges in healthcare today

Access to healthcare, social conditions, and maintaining quality of care.

Purpose of ethics

Ethics is a system of principles used to solve ethical dilemmas.

Guiding principles of healthcare ethics

Preserve life, do good, respect autonomy, uphold justice, be discreet, and do no harm.

Good Samaritan law

Legal protection for those who go out of their way to help a person who is injured or in danger.

Negligence

Failure to provide the standard of care that a reasonable person would provide in a similar situation.

Malpractice

Serious negligence typically involving professional occupations such as doctors.

Advance directives

Legal documents that outline a person's wishes regarding medical treatment in case they are unable to communicate their wishes.

Living wills

Documents stating a person's wishes regarding medical treatment in the event they become incapacitated.

Durable power of attorney

A legal document that grants someone the authority to make healthcare decisions on behalf of another person.