You have decided to become a federal government worker within the healthcare industry. However, you are unsure of which organizations or positions would be of interest to you. Select a federal government organization identified in the readings or through online research; provide a summary of their activities. Explain what appeals to you about this organization and/or a specific position. What contribution do you think this organization will make to the healthcare industry today and the future?
Be sure to write an initial, substantive post by Thursday at 11:59 p.m. MT and respond to two or more peers with substantive responses by Sunday at 11:59 p.m. MT. A substantive initial post answers the question presented completely and/or asks a thoughtful question pertaining to the topic. Substantive peer responses ask thoughtful questions pertaining to the topic and/or answers a question (in detail) posted by another student. Support your statements with logic and cite any information that is specifically referenced in your comments. Post your initial response early and check back often to continue the discussion. Be sure to respond to your peers’ and instructor’s posts, as well.
peer response 1:
Micki SylvesterFridayJul 28 at 2:04pmManage Discussion Entry
In researching which positions would be of interest to me if I became a federal government worker within the healthcare industry, I leaned on what has been familiar and important to me as a working member of a healthcare team within a large volume hospital for nearly 25 years. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Joint Commission on Accreditation on Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) have always been front and center in providing measures to keep our frontline healthcare workers safe.
In my opinion, this is of the utmost importance mainly because if we don’t provide a safe environment for caregivers, the healthcare industry as a whole is failing and dangerous. Violence is rapidly increasing in our world and unfortunately that is bleeding into our workplaces, especially in healthcare settings. The federal government reports that healthcare workers are five times more likely to experience workplace violence than employees in all other industries. It is critical that teams are in place to identify risks, install de-escalation teams, train staff adequately and often on workplace violence specifically relating to caregivers, and truly focus on keeping staff safe. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the rate of injuries from violent attacks against medical professionals grew by 63% from 2011 to 2018. With the pandemic creating an environment that was anxiety filled and beyond stressful, hospital safety directors say that aggression against staff escalated as the COVID-19 pandemic intensified in 2020. In response, the Joint Commission administered new Workplace Violence Prevention Standards in January that focus on identifying security risks, training staff in violence prevention, and collecting information about violent incidents. It is also important to note that we must understand and redefine “violence” to include aggression that doesn’t involve physical contact, such as bullying, humiliation, and sexual harassment, both in person and electronically.
My passion for workplace safety has been a part of my career for many years. My recognition and desire to ensure that I and all of my fellow caregivers, who work through pandemics, take amazing care of the sick and dying, provide treatment to even our own family members, feel safe when they go to work each day. This is why I feel that this would be a great fit for me career wise if I were to seek a position within either of these agencies.
Boyle, P., By, Boyle, P., Writer, S. S., & 18, Aug. (2022, August 18). Threats against health care workers are rising. here’s how hospitals are protecting their staffs. AAMC.
https://www.aamc.org/news/threats-against-health-care-workers-are-rising-heres-how-hospitals-are-protecting-their-staffsLinks to an external site.
Niles, N. J. (2019, September 30). Basics of the U.S. Health Care System. Google Books.
https://books.google.com/books/about/Basics_of_the…
peer response 2:
Paris AdamsonTuesdayAug 1 at 12:24amManage Discussion Entry
If I were to join a branch of the public health sector, I would choose to be a member of the National Institute of Health. The NIH is a vast and multi-faceted agency with over 18,000 employees. Its primary goal is to perform medical research as a means of investigating disease causation and potential treatments, thus extending the life expectancy and wellness of the public while reducing the burdens of illness on society (Niles, 2021). The NIH is the largest public funder of medical research in the world and has 27 specialized sectors of health care that it focuses its research on. If you have ever used the library database PubMed or MedLine Plus in your academic research, you have the NIH to thank for compiling their studies into a singular database that one can trust to be reliable, accurate, and peer-reviewed.
Among the NIH’s crowning accomplishments is the development of vaccines for polio, HPV, and hepatitis B. It also helped develop antiretroviral treatment for HIV and immunotherapies for cancer, improving survivorship and health outcomes for diseases that were once considered untreatable. The NIH has also made great strides in addiction and mental health research, thereby reducing the stigma associated with these illnesses by classifying them as brain diseases rather than moral failings or other archaic descriptors that stifled innovation in this sector in decades previous. If I had to choose, I would probably choose to work for the National Institute of Drug Abuse, the department within the NIH that focuses on addiction prevention and treatment. The proliferation of opioid abuse in America is a public health crisis that needs to be addressed from all angles, and the NIH’s work in this sector is noble. They were paramount in informing the 2008 policy Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, increasing the public’s access to behavioral health treatment by deeming it an essential health service. They also funded the research that created the opioid overdose reversal agent naloxone, and the opioid treatment medication buprenorphine (nida.nih.gov).
In the interest of public health, the initiatives taken on by NIH have and will continue to have both an impact economically, and on the overall well-being of the U.S. as a whole. For example, every 1% reduction in cancer-related deaths represents $500 billion in gained economic advantage for present and future generations. For every $1 spent on substance use disorder treatment, approximately $4 in future health care costs is saved (nih.gov). So disease prevention, detection, and treatment not only have an impact on the health of the population, it has a pronounced economic impact as well. The future of health care depends upon agencies like the National Institute of Health to identify patterns and problem areas affecting the population and implement effective strategies for improving health equity and outcomes. This agency serves as the bridge between scientific research and the real-world application of innovative health practices.
References
National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2023, July 3). Research topics. National Institutes of Health.
https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics
Niles, N. J. (2021). Basics of the U.S. Health Care System. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2023, July 25). Impact of NIH research. National Institutes of Health.
https://www.nih.gov/about-nih/what-we-do/impact-ni…
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