HSA 4941 - Blog #10

This internship experience has been a great opportunity for me, to finally put what I have learnt in my studies to practice in a long term care facility. All the managers and staff members, have been extremely kind to me. They have made every effort to answer all of my questions and to clarify any misconception that needed to.


This week I said my final goodbyes to everyone. I worked with the assistant business office manager. I help her with some of her filings and also I called some of the insurance companies to inquire about claim benefits for the long term care residents.

HSA 4941 - Blog #9

This week I got some hands on experience in the Risk Management Department. I worked with the Risk Management Manager. I had to read through the risk management manual, to get an idea of what her job entails.


I had to enter the amount of injuries and the reason for them in the Daily Incident/Accident Log 2010 book. Today two patients fell and I had to record it and put a copy of the incident report in the file.


Also, I had to make phone calls to various insurance companies to find out the status of patient’s claims. This facility has an oral hygiene plan for its residents, so I had to call the Senior Oral Hygiene Insurance Protection Plan to find out if payments have been received.


This week was very productive because I got a chance to see and assist the Risk Manger. I believe that a great way to learn is when the managers actually let you participate in what he/she is doing. That is the only way that you would actually gain experience.

HSA 4941 - Blog #8

This week i worked in the Business Office. I helped the HR Cordinator with her filings. She was a little back up on her filing, so according to her i was a great helper.

Immediately after that, i had to print out 90 copies of the Employess Benefit Plan handbook. It was a good learning experience because i got a chance to see their filing system and where everything goes.

HSA 4941 - Blog #7

This week i worked directly with the administrator of the facility. It was great, i had always wanted to work with him and finally i got the chance.

My assignment this week was a continuation of what i had done for the past two weeks, when i was at the facility. I had to gathered all the results that i got from the residents interview and their family members interview and input them into the computer. I also had to update the amount of residents that was in the facility, and inactivate those that left the facility.

This was a great learning experience, because i got the chance to see how to use the software and input information into it.

HSA 4941 - Blog #6

This week was a great learning experience and also I got some hands on experience.

I worked with the Social Service Director, and my task was to interview six of the residents and their families.

The questions aimed to give the administrator a better idea of how his residents are finding their stay at the facility. Some of the questions that were asked during the interview that I found interesting were: “Have a staff ever hit you?” and “Do you participate in activities that the facility offers?” What I gathered from my interview was that some of the residents preferred to stay in their room than going to the activities room. Most of them, said that they were just comfortable in their room. I guess the activities director have to come up with an idea of how to motivate the residents, so that they can partake during the activities session. I must say that from the sample of residents, most of them found that the facility was kept clean and the staff respects their wishes

HSA 4941 - Blog #5

This week was a great learning experience for me. I got the opportunity to work with the Social Services Director for the facility.


He had to interview three residents that were admitted to the facility, to assess their psychological state. So we went to each of the patient’s room to interview them. He asked them some basic questions, such as; their routine at home, their profession, whether they take naps in the day, how many years of education they have, religion preferences, appetite, if they wear dentures, and about advance directives. Also, he asked them for the current president’s name, the month and year we were in. One resident got the year we were in question wrong, which is not a surprise. Things like this do happen.


After completion of the interview, the Social Services Director left his business card and a customer service comment card for questions and comments.


I must say that some of the residents that were interviewed became impressed that I was interning at the facility, and quickly made friends with me.

HSA 4941 - Blog #4

This week I worked with the CNA, whom is also the Unit Coordinator and DON (Director of Nursing) assistant.


She is responsible for the scheduling of all CNA’s, RN’s and LPN’s nurses. I observed her doing her scheduling and also inquiring from the nurses, who would like to work on the weekends and which shift they would prefer.


I also attended the normal morning meeting. In the meeting I learned that one patient fell off her bed. To make sure that the patient did not sustain any injuries, an x-ray was done. Luckily, she did not have any broken bones.

HSA 4941 - Blog #3

This week I worked with the Therapy Department. I got the opportunity to work under the Speech and Language Pathologist, Occupational Therapist and Physical Therapist. I must say that it was a great experience.


I divided my day among these three therapists and observed each of them. The speech and language pathologist is truly great at what she does. I observed her working with a patient whom was on a feeding tube; she was using very few words to express herself. Hence, the therapist asked her to move her tongue sideways and also to push her tongue out. As simple as this task may sound (as it did to me) the patient had severe difficulty accomplishing them. Only 15 minute therapy was done on this patient, since forcing her to do more, might make her reluctant to continue to improve.


Then it was the Occupational Therapist time with the patient. She helped the patient with her oral hygiene. For example; she used a lemon flavored swab to clean her teeth, gums and tongue.


Lastly, it was the physical therapist time. He lifted the patient’s feet slowly in an up and down movement, and he also did the same to her arms. Then he massages her hands, giving attention to her fingers.


This was truly a great learning experience. I have learned a lot from these three therapists and now I have a greater appreciation for their profession. These therapists really go beyond their call of duty, to help their patients.

Internship - Blog #2

My internship is progressing very good, so far. It is amazing to see how the administrative staff operates on a daily basis.


I must say that i am very surprised that the materials that i read and study in school, are actually taking place. It is like applying the concept that i read in a book to a given situation in the facility.


Today, i spend the day in the Medical Records Department. It was great. I got the opportunity to work with a coder. She showed me how to read a patient's diagnosis (the reason why the patient was admitted to the facility). I also looked up codes for the patient diagnosis. After reading the patient's complete medical file, i had to determine what their principle diagnosis was, followed by the secondary diagnosis. Then i had to see what other v-codes needed to be assigned.


Since my minor is in Helath Informatics Management, i gained knowlege and hands on experience in reading a patients' history and physical sheet, along with other medical records, so that we can bill medicaid.

HSA 4941 - Blog #1

I am doing my internship at Hunter's Creek Nursing and Rehab Center. I am working closely with the Administration staff.

I have familiarized myself with the people and the environment. Since i am there, i have been attending meetings, spending a day in the week with a manager, to get to see how the facility operates in regards to their patients. So far, i did some patients AARP forms and made phonecalls to AARP, to inquire about their benefits. I have also answered the phones.

I am looking forward to learning more, and getting some hands on experience in my field as a Health Service Administrator.