Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Brain Surgery Lesson via Twitter...Teaching Med Students in the Future?
Hospitals are using social networking sites to teach and share information about operations.
For example in Detroit last month, surgeons talked medical students through complicated brain surgery, posting instant communications on Twitter.
Sherman Hospital in Illinois posted live updates on Twitter and Facebook of a cutting-edge procedure--a hysterectomy performed using a robot. The hospital wanted to give future potential patients a window into how it worked. Social networking sites provided the audience.
The Mayo Clinic takes social networking seriously. It held a "Tweet Camp" this week to teach doctors and nurses about Twitter, Facebook and other networking sites. It also employs a manager, of syndication and social media. It's Lee Aase's job to handle online outreach.
Aase said, "A big part of our philosophy is go where the people are. So we're using YouTube to put our videos where people are looking for videos. We're using Flickr to put photos where people are looking for photos."
Article: http://kstp.com/news/stories/S882946.shtml?cat=1
For example in Detroit last month, surgeons talked medical students through complicated brain surgery, posting instant communications on Twitter.
Sherman Hospital in Illinois posted live updates on Twitter and Facebook of a cutting-edge procedure--a hysterectomy performed using a robot. The hospital wanted to give future potential patients a window into how it worked. Social networking sites provided the audience.
The Mayo Clinic takes social networking seriously. It held a "Tweet Camp" this week to teach doctors and nurses about Twitter, Facebook and other networking sites. It also employs a manager, of syndication and social media. It's Lee Aase's job to handle online outreach.
Aase said, "A big part of our philosophy is go where the people are. So we're using YouTube to put our videos where people are looking for videos. We're using Flickr to put photos where people are looking for photos."
Article: http://kstp.com/news/stories/S882946.shtml?cat=1
Hospital Bed of the Future?
The LifeBed senses and reports heart and respiratory rates with no wires connected to the patient. Sensors in the zip-on, washable mattress cover provide continuous heart and respiratory rate data. Nothing attaches to the patient. A monitor sits next to the bed and picks up the signals. Hoana presets defaults, but nurses can easily program the sensors to alarm at rates specific to their patients. “We have caught someone going into atrial fibrillation, that we had checked vital signs on an hour before,” Kamikawa said. “It’s an early warning system.”
Hoana received Food and Drug Administration approval for the LifeBed in 2006 and has sold or leased the beds to hospitals and other inpatient facilities in the United States and the United Kingdom. “It’s a great tool for the med-surg nurse, to help them monitor the patients when they can’t be in there,” Martinez said. “You can go back and trend things.” The nurse can assess what the alert was for and how many times it activated. “It gives a heads up to subtle changes in condition,” added Sonia Collazo, RN, MSN, a former nurse manager on a post-ICU unit at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa, Florida, that uses the beds. “It gives you extra awareness that something is happening.” “It allows the nurse to be more involved in the early recognition of patients that are starting to fail,” said Heather Herdman, RN, Ph.D., chief operating officer of Hoana. “It provides data that brings the nurse to the bedside.” Herdman hopes the data, especially early respiratory changes, will help nurses and physicians prevent severe conditions that could be missed. “We see it as a safeguard for the nurse and the patient,” Herdman said. The LifeBed also has a bed exit alarm, with three push-button settings for patients at different fall risk. At high risk, the bed will alert if the patient lifts his or her head or shoulders off the bed. For moderate risk patients, it waits until the patient sits up and for low risk it delays issuing an alarm until the patient actually exits the bed. Loved ones or the nurse can program the device to play a personalized, prerecorded message to get back into bed and wait for the nurse. “It’s very helpful for Alzheimer’s patients or the elderly,” Herdman said. “They hear a human voice, saying ‘I’m coming to get you,’ and they will stop and wait.” Martinez said patients do not feel or see the sensors. Once the patient understands the system, she said, “it makes them feel more secure and safe.”
View Full Article at http://www.nursezone.com/Nursing-News-Events/devices-and-technology/Mattress-Monitors-Patients’-Vital-Signs_29448.aspx
Hoana received Food and Drug Administration approval for the LifeBed in 2006 and has sold or leased the beds to hospitals and other inpatient facilities in the United States and the United Kingdom. “It’s a great tool for the med-surg nurse, to help them monitor the patients when they can’t be in there,” Martinez said. “You can go back and trend things.” The nurse can assess what the alert was for and how many times it activated. “It gives a heads up to subtle changes in condition,” added Sonia Collazo, RN, MSN, a former nurse manager on a post-ICU unit at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa, Florida, that uses the beds. “It gives you extra awareness that something is happening.” “It allows the nurse to be more involved in the early recognition of patients that are starting to fail,” said Heather Herdman, RN, Ph.D., chief operating officer of Hoana. “It provides data that brings the nurse to the bedside.” Herdman hopes the data, especially early respiratory changes, will help nurses and physicians prevent severe conditions that could be missed. “We see it as a safeguard for the nurse and the patient,” Herdman said. The LifeBed also has a bed exit alarm, with three push-button settings for patients at different fall risk. At high risk, the bed will alert if the patient lifts his or her head or shoulders off the bed. For moderate risk patients, it waits until the patient sits up and for low risk it delays issuing an alarm until the patient actually exits the bed. Loved ones or the nurse can program the device to play a personalized, prerecorded message to get back into bed and wait for the nurse. “It’s very helpful for Alzheimer’s patients or the elderly,” Herdman said. “They hear a human voice, saying ‘I’m coming to get you,’ and they will stop and wait.” Martinez said patients do not feel or see the sensors. Once the patient understands the system, she said, “it makes them feel more secure and safe.”
View Full Article at http://www.nursezone.com/Nursing-News-Events/devices-and-technology/Mattress-Monitors-Patients’-Vital-Signs_29448.aspx
Nurse Launches Program to Ensure No Patient Dies Alone
By Debra Wood, RN, contributor
Ideally, people will pass from life to death surrounded by loved ones or a nurse but, often times, patients lack friends and family willing or able to stay with them. And nurses are often too busy these days to sit with a terminally ill patient. In an effort to ensure that patients make the journey in the presence of a caring person, a number of hospitals around the country have launched No One Dies Alone or compassionate companion programs. “It’s extremely important to patients,” said Lori Caldwell, RN, BSN, an occupational health nurse and a No One Dies Alone volunteer at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, California. “A lot of us involved in the program sense this as a moment in a person’s existence that is best to be with someone, even if it’s a stranger. It’s someone who cares. Nursing staff would love to be at the bedside continuously during the dying experience but, time wise, often can’t. We are volunteers who step into that role.” Mission began its program in 2007. The volunteers, many from the hospital’s spiritual care service but also from other departments, stay three or four hours with the dying person and may play soft music or hold the patient’s hand. “It’s a very unique experience for everyone,” said Caldwell, describing it as moving for the volunteer. “Those of us who volunteer have a sense we can assist people and be there during those moments.” The volunteers receive eight weeks of training about the need for self-awareness when working with dying individuals and families, the impact of cultural factors, individual needs as death approaches, spiritual issues and advanced directives. They commit to meet with the patient at least weekly through the course of the person’s illness or until family members arrive. The hospital offers the volunteers ongoing support and meets with them on a regular basis.
View Full Article at :http://www.nursezone.com/Nursing-News-Events/more-news/Nurse-Launches-Program-to-Ensure-No-Patient-Dies-Alone_29616.aspx
For this Program to be available in the future to everyone would make the idea of dying especially alone less scary for those facing death.
Ideally, people will pass from life to death surrounded by loved ones or a nurse but, often times, patients lack friends and family willing or able to stay with them. And nurses are often too busy these days to sit with a terminally ill patient. In an effort to ensure that patients make the journey in the presence of a caring person, a number of hospitals around the country have launched No One Dies Alone or compassionate companion programs. “It’s extremely important to patients,” said Lori Caldwell, RN, BSN, an occupational health nurse and a No One Dies Alone volunteer at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, California. “A lot of us involved in the program sense this as a moment in a person’s existence that is best to be with someone, even if it’s a stranger. It’s someone who cares. Nursing staff would love to be at the bedside continuously during the dying experience but, time wise, often can’t. We are volunteers who step into that role.” Mission began its program in 2007. The volunteers, many from the hospital’s spiritual care service but also from other departments, stay three or four hours with the dying person and may play soft music or hold the patient’s hand. “It’s a very unique experience for everyone,” said Caldwell, describing it as moving for the volunteer. “Those of us who volunteer have a sense we can assist people and be there during those moments.” The volunteers receive eight weeks of training about the need for self-awareness when working with dying individuals and families, the impact of cultural factors, individual needs as death approaches, spiritual issues and advanced directives. They commit to meet with the patient at least weekly through the course of the person’s illness or until family members arrive. The hospital offers the volunteers ongoing support and meets with them on a regular basis.
View Full Article at :http://www.nursezone.com/Nursing-News-Events/more-news/Nurse-Launches-Program-to-Ensure-No-Patient-Dies-Alone_29616.aspx
For this Program to be available in the future to everyone would make the idea of dying especially alone less scary for those facing death.
Sniper
Snipers are often legendary in their own right, and you can tell that it is a popular role for glory hunters in the virtual world as gamers take pride in their "sniping ability" over a computer with the mouse and keyboard being their equipment of choice to take down digitized avatars of opponents from afar. Well, the real world works on a totally different scale, and the US Army hopes to lay the smack down in future wars with their Autonomous Rotorcraft Sniper System (ARSS). This system is actually a .338-caliber rifle mounted to the bottom of a Vigilante unmanned helicopter, where a modified Xbox 360 game contoller will then be used to target your subject, letting you do the dirty job without having to step foot outside of the barracks. Eerie.
Future weapon
Being a cop has never been more attractive, despite the current perks of donut and coffee discounts around the precinct. Popular Science have outdone themselves by thinking up a list of essential tools that all cops should arm themselves with in order to maintain law and order throughout the country effectively. The machine gun featured above stands out from the entire bunch, boasting the ability to shoot up to 700 rounds of pepper-spray pellets in a single minute, creating eye-stinging clouds up to 200 feet away almost instantly. This is definitely more fun than a water cannon when it comes to crowd control, and you get to make people cry literally.
Future Technolgy
When we were young officers we liked to hear stories from the old heads of what police work was like in their rookie years. Then we would imagine what police work would be like when we were about to retire. I dreamed of finally ditching the archaic, costly, yet not functional, traditional uniforms for new ones that were functional and comfortable. One thing most officers agreed would happen before we retired was that each officer would have a button camera that would audio and video record everything we did during a shift. Although we hated thinking of big brother watching over us, we figured it was inevitable. Well, that time is closer than ever with the TASER AXON.
Tarkington Elementary School
The Tarkington Elementary School in Chicago, is a state of the art "Green" school.
It features large windows made of recycled glass to allow in the daylight and wood that was harvested from controlled forests. The materials were all purchased from vendors in a 500 mile radius.
The roof of the building is a roof garden filled with drought resistant plants which aid in insulation.
To read more check out this link http://www.govtech.com/gt/260565?topic=117691
The Future?
***
***************************Is this the Future of Education and the Future of School Buses?
Hybrid School Buses
http://www.govtech.com/gt/260565?topic=117691Click on the link above to see how the Indiana Department of Education joined with a local company to convert an existing school bus into a hybrid vehicle. This is the first bus of its type. Hopefully the trend will continue.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Financial News
More on Green Accounting
An Australian IT expert Bruce McCabe will spend $600 billion on Green Accounting. Looks like this will be a very hot topic for the future of accounting professions. Read more at www.energytechstocks.com/wp/?p=1017
Accounting
The Future of Accounting
The website below will talk about the online accounting and the way accountants will work, the transaction and data exchange, community on the Internet, mobile computing, and environmental movement on the roll.
visit www.cloudave.com/link/the-future-of-accounting
The website below will talk about the online accounting and the way accountants will work, the transaction and data exchange, community on the Internet, mobile computing, and environmental movement on the roll.
visit www.cloudave.com/link/the-future-of-accounting
Hot on Green
Green Accounting
With more pressure on companies to show their green credentials, environmental accounting might well become one of the hot jobs of the future.Here is a good summary of what it entails. Essentially, it's about risk management, collecting and analyzing information on materials flows and pollution controls for the company's executives, reporting to investors and regulators and analyzing how natural resources are used and how the company's environmental impact is being managed.At this stage, it's a very new area. There are no no academic programs focusing on environmental accounting, and there is no professional credential for the specialty. But that could change as business and regulators become more environmentally focused
Monday, March 23, 2009
Internet Classes for Home Schooled High Schoolers
In the past, home schooled children were academically separated from public school's vast curriculum choices. A current trend is to offer the same courses in the public school, via the Internet, to home schooled children. http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2001/06/06/loc_computer-based.html
Present Police Baton
A great self-defense weapon! Police and security guards around the world use these high quality solid steel batons. They expand to 16", 21" or 26" with just a flick of the wrist. They are effective at stopping attackers in many dangerous situations. Since criminals understand how an expandable baton works and the power they can hold, they usually back down when one is shown.
Present Police Vehicles
Lt. Joseph M. Panus demonstrates wide range of enforcement features that mobile computer terminals will provide in all 200 patrol cars in Buffalo, giving instant access to crime data, as well as tracking of police vehicles.
Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News
Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News
Mobile computers give police instant information on motorists. A mere swipe of the bar code on your driver’s license and up pops your prior traffic convictions for officers to view on their mobile computer terminal.
Electronic eyeballs, fixed to the patrol car hood, can read five license plates a second and interact with Albany’s computers to let the officer know whether your wheels are a “steal.” In addition, all 200 of the Buffalo Police Department’s patrol cars will soon be equipped with “pucks” that beam signals to global positioning satellites, which track patrol car locations at all times. Police administrators are looking into a combination of state and local funds to help pay for the changes.
Electronic eyeballs, fixed to the patrol car hood, can read five license plates a second and interact with Albany’s computers to let the officer know whether your wheels are a “steal.” In addition, all 200 of the Buffalo Police Department’s patrol cars will soon be equipped with “pucks” that beam signals to global positioning satellites, which track patrol car locations at all times. Police administrators are looking into a combination of state and local funds to help pay for the changes.
By turning patrol cars into rolling desktops with increased connectivity to the Internet, crime and accident reports can be filed directly from the scene, rather than waiting until a civilian report technician can enter the information into the computer system, said systems support analyst Jim Kaufmann.
Elimination of the paper reports also can mean quicker review by police supervisors and crime analysts who can identify and address crime hot spots and trends with stepped-up enforcement.
Elimination of the paper reports also can mean quicker review by police supervisors and crime analysts who can identify and address crime hot spots and trends with stepped-up enforcement.
Present Law Enforcement Firearm
Glock GmbH (trademarked as GLOCK) is a weapons manufacturer headquartered in Deutsch-Wagram, Austria. Glock was named after its founder, Gaston Glock. The company is best known for its line of striker-fired polymer-framed pistols. Glock also currently produces equipment such as field knives and entrenching tools as well as sponsor a competitive shooting team that travels around the world promoting the company.
The Glock handguns are in use by a majority of US and international law enforcement agencies and military personnel. Glock handguns are also very popular with civilians, especially for personal protection and practical shooting. Glock currently produces 35 models of handguns. The US-led Multi National Force-Iraq has equipped the Iraqi military and the Iraqi National Police with Glock sidearms.
The Glock handguns are in use by a majority of US and international law enforcement agencies and military personnel. Glock handguns are also very popular with civilians, especially for personal protection and practical shooting. Glock currently produces 35 models of handguns. The US-led Multi National Force-Iraq has equipped the Iraqi military and the Iraqi National Police with Glock sidearms.
Present Fingerprinting Technology
EMBs using Automatic Finger Identification Systems (AFIS)
Automated fingerprint identification is the process of automatically matching one or many unknown fingerprints against a database of known and unknown prints. Automated fingerprint identification systems are primarily used by law enforcement agencies for criminal identification initiatives, the most important of which include identifying a person suspected of committing a crime or linking a suspect to other unsolved crimes.
Automated fingerprint verification is a closely-related technique used in applications such as attendance and access control systems. On a technical level, verification systems verify a claimed identity (a user might claim to be John by presenting his PIN or ID card and verify his identity using his fingerprint), whereas identification systems determine identity based solely on fingerprints.
With greater frequency in recent years, automated fingerprint identification systems have been used in large scale civil identification projects. The chief purpose of a civil fingerprint identifications system is to prevent multiple enrollments in an electoral, welfare, driver licensing, or similar system. Another benefit of a civil fingerprint identifications system is its use in background checks for job applicants for highly sensitive posts and educational personnel who have close contact with children.
Automated fingerprint verification is a closely-related technique used in applications such as attendance and access control systems. On a technical level, verification systems verify a claimed identity (a user might claim to be John by presenting his PIN or ID card and verify his identity using his fingerprint), whereas identification systems determine identity based solely on fingerprints.
With greater frequency in recent years, automated fingerprint identification systems have been used in large scale civil identification projects. The chief purpose of a civil fingerprint identifications system is to prevent multiple enrollments in an electoral, welfare, driver licensing, or similar system. Another benefit of a civil fingerprint identifications system is its use in background checks for job applicants for highly sensitive posts and educational personnel who have close contact with children.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
The Biggest Issues in Accounting
As per the article you are about to read it talks about the biggest issues in accounting. What can it be you ask? Well is good, high, trusted, competent, and skilled people. Click on the follwoing link to read more.
Accounting Machines and Programs
No More Manual
The calculators, excel program, accounting calculators for smart phones, financial accounting software like Top Accounting, Solar Accounting, Tax GST, Delata 60, Easy as, USB Accounting, Quick Use Accounting, and much more are now being uses in accounting. An most of the accounting projects are being done with little or no paper. Go to the link below and read about the 12 advancement that have revolutionized the art of accounting. Very interesting.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Accounting Firms Going Green
AN ACCOUNTING FIRM IN BEVERLY HILLS, CA, announces that as of January 2008, the firm took their final steps toward becoming paperless.
According to a July 2007 survey of accounting firms 45% of firms now
use electronic document management systems, and 32% have paperless engagements. Those numbers are certain to rise when more accounting firms realize the immense and varied benefits of going green. The latest growing trend in accounting is to become a "paperless" business.
Their goal is to utilize technology to its fullest extent. Converting their office from a paper-based system to a digital format. It benefits their clients, their firms and the environment. The Document system not only stores files in an electronic format, it helps create a uniform convention in the filing system. Given that nothing can be filed in the system without end-users giving pre-defined parameters, it helps people to search for documents the way they never could before, which will increase efficiency overall. Many firms have already taken the step in going green, this transition helps them
make the process even easier and readily available to all their users.
According to a July 2007 survey of accounting firms 45% of firms now
use electronic document management systems, and 32% have paperless engagements. Those numbers are certain to rise when more accounting firms realize the immense and varied benefits of going green. The latest growing trend in accounting is to become a "paperless" business.
Their goal is to utilize technology to its fullest extent. Converting their office from a paper-based system to a digital format. It benefits their clients, their firms and the environment. The Document system not only stores files in an electronic format, it helps create a uniform convention in the filing system. Given that nothing can be filed in the system without end-users giving pre-defined parameters, it helps people to search for documents the way they never could before, which will increase efficiency overall. Many firms have already taken the step in going green, this transition helps them
make the process even easier and readily available to all their users.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Web-based Infection Control Tool Helps Protect Patients
By Suzi Birz, principal, HiQ Analytics, LLC
In hospitals alone, health-care associated infections (HAIs) account for an estimated 2 million infections, 90,000 deaths and $4.5 billion in excess health care costs annually. In an effort to lower these statistics, SafetySurveillor™, a new Web-based solution from Premier, Inc., provides electronic surveillance to infection control professionals and clinical pharmacists.
“Infection prevention professionals use SafetySurveillor to quickly detect and facilitate timely interventions with actionable alerts, analysis and reports through automatic data collection and analytical routines that integrate patient, laboratory, surgery and pharmacy data,” said Angela Bivens, MSN, a senior clinical consultant with Premier.
“The interventions from the alerts affect not only patient safety, but the safety of hospital staff and visitors,” added Burns. “Additionally, the alerts and ad hoc reporting allow rapid detection of clusters and outbreaks.”
“Being open to this new technology allows infection control practitioners and clinical pharmacists do their job better by taking advantage of the timeliness and organization of the alerts,” noted Burns.
Full Article: http://www.nursezone.com/Nursing-News-Events/devices-and-technology.aspx?ID=18768&Tab=1
In hospitals alone, health-care associated infections (HAIs) account for an estimated 2 million infections, 90,000 deaths and $4.5 billion in excess health care costs annually. In an effort to lower these statistics, SafetySurveillor™, a new Web-based solution from Premier, Inc., provides electronic surveillance to infection control professionals and clinical pharmacists.
“Infection prevention professionals use SafetySurveillor to quickly detect and facilitate timely interventions with actionable alerts, analysis and reports through automatic data collection and analytical routines that integrate patient, laboratory, surgery and pharmacy data,” said Angela Bivens, MSN, a senior clinical consultant with Premier.
“The interventions from the alerts affect not only patient safety, but the safety of hospital staff and visitors,” added Burns. “Additionally, the alerts and ad hoc reporting allow rapid detection of clusters and outbreaks.”
“Being open to this new technology allows infection control practitioners and clinical pharmacists do their job better by taking advantage of the timeliness and organization of the alerts,” noted Burns.
Full Article: http://www.nursezone.com/Nursing-News-Events/devices-and-technology.aspx?ID=18768&Tab=1
Automated Prescription Dispenser
A physician electronically enters a prescription into a Web-based processing system, which ties in with the InstyMeds computer and gives the patient an access code. If the patient chooses to fill the prescription before leaving the hospital, he or she enters the code at the vending machine, which knows the co-pay or deductible and will charge accordingly. InstyMeds accepts cash, and credit or debit cards. InstyMeds also dispenses patient education materials about the medication.
“It’s very helpful for rural facilities without 24-hour pharmacies in the area,” said Shelley Simkins, RN, BSN, emergency department nurse manager at Buffalo Hospital in Buffalo, Minnesota. “The nurses like it as an alternative to a regular prescription. It has decreased the number of prescriptions nurses have to call into pharmacies.”
If the patient cannot afford the medication, the hospital can direct the machine to dispense it and bill the facility for the drug. Patients experiencing difficulty operating the machine can call a 24-hour help line, staffed by a pharmacist, for assistance. Operators can look at cameras within the unit and eliminate most jams remotely.
The hospital decides what medications to stock in the InstyMeds.
“It’s very helpful for rural facilities without 24-hour pharmacies in the area,” said Shelley Simkins, RN, BSN, emergency department nurse manager at Buffalo Hospital in Buffalo, Minnesota. “The nurses like it as an alternative to a regular prescription. It has decreased the number of prescriptions nurses have to call into pharmacies.”
If the patient cannot afford the medication, the hospital can direct the machine to dispense it and bill the facility for the drug. Patients experiencing difficulty operating the machine can call a 24-hour help line, staffed by a pharmacist, for assistance. Operators can look at cameras within the unit and eliminate most jams remotely.
The hospital decides what medications to stock in the InstyMeds.
Full Article: http://www.nursezone.com/Nursing-News-Events/devices-and-technology.aspx?ID=18807&Tab=1
Study Finds Electronic Health Records Improve Mortality Rates
Suzi Birz, principal, HiQ Analytics, LLC
Recent events have brought much attention to electronic health records (EHRs) and their impact on the health care system. President Obama has called for “EHRs for Americans by 2014,” and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 includes incentives for providers demonstrating “meaningful use” of EHRs. Researchers in Texas recently published the results of a study to examine the impact on clinical and financial outcomes of clinical information technologies. Ruben Amarasingham, MD, MBA, says that nurses are central to the design of any technology implementation used in health care workflow. “We examined the association between a hospital’s automation and inpatient mortality, complications, costs, and length of stay among patients with four medical conditions in a diverse group of Texas hospitals,” stated Ruben Amarasingham, MD, MBA at Parkland Health and Hospital System in Dallas, Texas. The research associated a 15 percent decrease in fatal hospitalizations with each 10-point increase of notes and records as measured with their assessment tool, indicating that greater automation is associated with reduced rates of inpatient mortality. With respect to cost, higher scores on use of the technology for test results, order entry and decision support were overwhelmingly associated with lower costs. Also, increased use was associated with the reduction in the odds of death for myocardial infarction and coronary artery bypass graft surgery.
Full Article: http://www.nursezone.com/Nursing-News-Events/devices-and-technology.aspx?ID=18841&Tab=1
Recent events have brought much attention to electronic health records (EHRs) and their impact on the health care system. President Obama has called for “EHRs for Americans by 2014,” and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 includes incentives for providers demonstrating “meaningful use” of EHRs. Researchers in Texas recently published the results of a study to examine the impact on clinical and financial outcomes of clinical information technologies. Ruben Amarasingham, MD, MBA, says that nurses are central to the design of any technology implementation used in health care workflow. “We examined the association between a hospital’s automation and inpatient mortality, complications, costs, and length of stay among patients with four medical conditions in a diverse group of Texas hospitals,” stated Ruben Amarasingham, MD, MBA at Parkland Health and Hospital System in Dallas, Texas. The research associated a 15 percent decrease in fatal hospitalizations with each 10-point increase of notes and records as measured with their assessment tool, indicating that greater automation is associated with reduced rates of inpatient mortality. With respect to cost, higher scores on use of the technology for test results, order entry and decision support were overwhelmingly associated with lower costs. Also, increased use was associated with the reduction in the odds of death for myocardial infarction and coronary artery bypass graft surgery.
Full Article: http://www.nursezone.com/Nursing-News-Events/devices-and-technology.aspx?ID=18841&Tab=1
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Modern School Buses
Sunday, March 1, 2009
History of Nursing
For many nurses, the skills of nursing or caring lie at the heart of their work. Until the mid-nineteenth century, nursing was not an activity, which was thought to demand either skill or training. Nor did it command respect. As Florence Nightingale was to put it, nursing was left to those 'who were too old, too weak, too drunken, too dirty, too stupid or too bad to do anything else'. The intimate body services to be done for the patient were considered to be unseemly or immodest for young unmarried or well-bred females, especially if not a family member. Cleaning and feeding of another person were regarded as domestic tasks performed by servants.
Also, before 1880, the hospital treatment of illness was fairly rare. Where home services were adequate, a sick person was attended by the family doctor and nursed either by female family members or servants. However, from the middle of the nineteenth century, the discovery and application of anaesthetics and antiseptic surgery advanced medical technique and allowed all classes to seek treatment in hospitals. From the 1860s onwards, a series of nurses' training schools began to produce fairly large numbers of educated women who were eagerly accepted by hospital authorities whose medical officers, patients and public opinion in general were demanding higher levels of nursing skill in the wards. (http://www.gla.ac.uk/faculties/medicine/history/20thcentury/nursing/)
Friday, February 20, 2009
Debits and Credits Funny
This story is set in the days before computers, when accountants had to do everything manually on paper.
A man who worked in the accounting department of a large company was famous for never making a mistake. His ledgers always balanced to the penny and he never had to make any adjsuting entries to correct anything. All of his co-workers noticed that he had a routine to start his day. Everyday he would come to work, sit down and open the drawer of his desk. He would look inside and nod his head and then get to work. The day finally came when he retired from the company. At the end of his last day as soon as the door slammed shut behind him the other accountants raced over to his desk to see what was inside. They found a note taped to the bottom of the drawer that read "remember, debits go on the left".
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
The History of Accounting
Accounting the key to important phases of history, among the most important professions in economics and business. Accountants participated in the development of cities, trade, and the concepts of wealth and numbers. Accountants invented writing, participated in the development of money and banking, invented double bookkeeping that fueled the Italian Renaissance, saved many industrial revolution inventors and entrepreneurs from bankruptcy, helped develop the confidence in capital markets necessary for western capitalism, and are central to the information revolution that is trasnforming the global economy.
Social Security Early Accounting Operation
Baltimore 1936
The Issuing of Social Security numbers and the creation of earnings records on all Americans covered by Social Security was the largest bookeeping operation in the history of the world.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Early American Textbooks - Education
Check out the link below to the Monoghan Collection of Early American Books.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Fingerprinting - Criminal Justice
History of Fingerprint Technology
The beginning of fingerprints goes back to as early as the ancient times. According to historical findings, fingerprints were used on clay tablets for business transactions in ancient Babylon. In China, thumb prints were found on clay seals. But it was in the 19th century that the results of scientific studies were published and fingerprint technology began to be considered more seriously.Using the1800’s scientific studies as a foundation, fingerprint technology was already in use by the beginning of the 20th century. In 1924, FBI(Federal Bureau of Investigation) is already known to have maintained more than 250 million civil files of fingerprints for the purpose of criminal investigation and the identification of unknown casualties. In the late 1960's, fingerprint technology met a great turning point when it gave birth to 'live-scan,' a method to obtain a fingertip image without the use of print ink. When the FBI announced that it planned to stop using paper fingerprint cards inside their new Integrated AFIS (IAFIS) site, it was actually announcing the remarkable breakthrough of today's live-scan technology.But fingerprint identification technology did not stop as a forensic method only. It was officially used for business purposes in 1968 at one security corporation in Wall Street. Fingerprints are now being used as a secure and effective authentication method in numerous fields, including financial, medical, e-commerce and entrance control applications. Modern applications of fingerprint technology rely in large part on the development of exceptionally compact fingerprint sensors.
6 Shooter Pistol - Criminal Justice
A “six-shooter” is a revolver capable of firing six shots before reloading. This pistol was the service pistol given to police officers while on duty.
Police Baton - Criminal Justice
A truncheon or baton (also called a cosh, billystick, billy club, nightstick, sap, blackjack, stick) is essentially a stick of less than arms-length, usually made of wood, plastic, or metal, and carried by law enforcement, corrections, security, and (to a less common degree) military personnel for less-lethal self-defense, as well as control and to disperse combative and non-compliant subjects. A truncheon may be used to strike, jab, block, and aid in the application of armlocks. Truncheons are used to a lesser extent by non-officials because of their easy concealment, and are outlawed in many jurisdictions.
Dye Pack - Criminal Justice
A dye pack is a device used by banks to foil bank robbers non-violently.
Banks put dye packs in money given up during robberies. The dye pack is an incendiary device that explodes in a shower of colored ink (usually Disperse Red 9), and sometimes tear gas, intended to permanently stain the stolen money and the robber's hands with a bright red color. Before the pack is used, it is stored next to a magnetic plate that keeps the pack dormant. When it is removed from the magnetic plate to be put into a money bag, it becomes armed. Within the pack is a small radio receiver that receives a signal sent by a transmitter at the door. This activates a timer that causes the pack to explode some short time later, such as when the criminal is in his getaway car.
Banks put dye packs in money given up during robberies. The dye pack is an incendiary device that explodes in a shower of colored ink (usually Disperse Red 9), and sometimes tear gas, intended to permanently stain the stolen money and the robber's hands with a bright red color. Before the pack is used, it is stored next to a magnetic plate that keeps the pack dormant. When it is removed from the magnetic plate to be put into a money bag, it becomes armed. Within the pack is a small radio receiver that receives a signal sent by a transmitter at the door. This activates a timer that causes the pack to explode some short time later, such as when the criminal is in his getaway car.
Father of Accounting
LUCA PACIOLI
A man who acquired amazing knowledge of diverse technical subjects such as, religion, business, military science, mathematic, medicine, art, music, law and language.
Read more about Luca Pacioli at www.answers.com/topic/luca-pacioli
Sunday, February 8, 2009
History of Nursing
If you think of a woman dressed in scrubs with a stethoscope around her neck and a clipboard in her hands, you aren’t alone. An overwhelming majority of nurses in the United States today are women. However, nursing began as a practice reserved for men. The first nursing school was established in India in about 250 B.C., and only men were permitted to attend because men were viewed to be more pure than women.
It wasn’t until the 1800's that nursing became an organized practice. During the Crimean War, Florence Nightingale and 38 volunteer nurses were sent to the main British camp in Turkey. Nightingale and her staff immediately began to clean the hospital and equipment and reorganized patient care. Nightingale pushed for reform of hospital sanitation methods and invented methods of graphing statistical data. When she returned to Britain, Nightingale aided in the establishment of the Royal Commission on the Health of the Army. As a woman, Nightingale could not be appointed to the Royal Commission, but she composed the Commission’s report. Completed, the report was over 1,000 pages in length and included detailed statistical information. Nightingale’s work led to drastic changes in army medical care, the establishment of an Army Medical School and medical records, and ignited the growth of nursing as an organized profession. For these contributions, Nightingale is widely accepted as the founder of nursing.
In the early 1900's, nursing education was received primarily from hospitals rather than colleges or universities. New nursing students were responsible for tasks similar to that of maids – dusting, scrubbing and doing dishes. These students typically worked 10 to 12 hour shifts, seven days a week, for a period of two to three years. Later responsibilities included sterilization of equipment such as needles and bandages and cleaning operating rooms. After graduating, most worked in patient homes as private-duty nurses and were paid amounts comparable to today’s minimum wage. Their duties included bathing, administration of medications and enemas, and tending to wounds and sores.
It wasn’t until the 1800's that nursing became an organized practice. During the Crimean War, Florence Nightingale and 38 volunteer nurses were sent to the main British camp in Turkey. Nightingale and her staff immediately began to clean the hospital and equipment and reorganized patient care. Nightingale pushed for reform of hospital sanitation methods and invented methods of graphing statistical data. When she returned to Britain, Nightingale aided in the establishment of the Royal Commission on the Health of the Army. As a woman, Nightingale could not be appointed to the Royal Commission, but she composed the Commission’s report. Completed, the report was over 1,000 pages in length and included detailed statistical information. Nightingale’s work led to drastic changes in army medical care, the establishment of an Army Medical School and medical records, and ignited the growth of nursing as an organized profession. For these contributions, Nightingale is widely accepted as the founder of nursing.
In the early 1900's, nursing education was received primarily from hospitals rather than colleges or universities. New nursing students were responsible for tasks similar to that of maids – dusting, scrubbing and doing dishes. These students typically worked 10 to 12 hour shifts, seven days a week, for a period of two to three years. Later responsibilities included sterilization of equipment such as needles and bandages and cleaning operating rooms. After graduating, most worked in patient homes as private-duty nurses and were paid amounts comparable to today’s minimum wage. Their duties included bathing, administration of medications and enemas, and tending to wounds and sores.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
First School Buses
The first school buses were horse drawn wagons. The invention of the concept of a school bus greatly influenced the schools. School districts were able to be enlarged allowing for more increased education to rural areas.
The "modern" school bus came into existance in the 1950's
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Criminal Justice
Rarely was an early-day police vehicle equipped with a two-way radio, or even a receiving only (one-way) radio! Many of the officers who contributed photos of early police cars commented that the officer was not protected from the prisoners being transported. No information has been found indicating that any of these cars had any sort of cage or barrier to separate officer from offender. Many departments used the close coupled business coupe for police work, resulting in a transported prisoner sitting directly alongside the officer!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Adding in the Past
Burroughs Adding Machine, 1905
William S. Burroughs (1855-1898) invented an adding and listing machine with a full keyboard in the early 1880s, co-founded the American Arithmometer Co. in 1886 to produce the machine. After its Bankers' and Merchants' Registering Accountant machine failed in trials in 1890, the American Arithmometer Co. marketed its improved Burroughs Registering Accountant in 1892 for $475.
Final Total
The instruction booklet for the Burroughs Registering Accountant directs the operator requiring a total to “first execute one complete movement of the operating lever with no keys depressed. Then depress the total key and hold same depressed during a second complete movement of the operating lever.” The initial movement of the operating lever in this step returns the racks to their normal position. Due to the carrying process, some of the racks may be one tooth above their normal position. Pulling the operating lever without first depressing any of the keys accomplishes the racks’ return, so that a final total can be obtained.
Pressing the total key has the effect of reversing the mechanism which pushes and pulls the recording pinions into and out of gear with the racks. As you recall from step 1 of the "Reverse Stroke" operation described in Step by Step, the act of pulling the machine’s operating lever causes the wheels to be pulled out of gear. Therefore, the “reversing effect” of the total key enables the recording pinions to remain in place as the racks descend, thus retaining the sums they have been “recording.” After the bank clerk operating our machine presses the total key and pulls the operating lever forward, the racks descend. During this descent, the racks turn their respective recording pinions back to zero. In so doing, each rack causes the sector attached to it to turn through the numerical distance corresponding to its own recording pinion, which makes the appropriate typeface come up and print. If the bank clerk first mentioned in Step by Step wants to clear his Burroughs Registering Accountant for the purpose of entering a new string of numbers and then printing their sum total, he must continue depressing the total key while returning the operating lever to its original position. This will cause the recording pinions to remain out of gear and in their zero positions during the descent of the racks. The retention of these zero positions enables the bank clerk to deem his Registering Accountant “clear.”
However, if he wants to continue adding figures to the sum total, the bank clerk must allow the machine to hold the sum in its mechanical memory. In that case, he releases the total key before returning the operating lever to its starting position. In so doing he places the mechanism which throws the recording pinions in and out of gear in its original “unreversed” position. If you look back at step 2 of the "Reverse Stroke" operation explained in Step by Step, you will note that the recording pinions slip into gear when the operating lever is pushed back. The racks then return the pinions to their original positions, and thus the machine still retains the sum.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
History of Education
The history of education begins at the start of time. Man has had to learn in order to survive. For the purpose of this blog, we are going to focus on the history of education in the United States of America. From the one room school house of the past to the virtual classrooms of today, technology has changed education in all facets of its existence. In this blog, we will see the effects these advances have had in changing education to what it is today and explore some of the possibilities for the future. 
How Did They Get There?
So, did they really have to walk 10 miles to school, in the snow, uphill in both directions? Well, not exactly, but if they couldn't hitch a ride to town with their pa and did not have a pony or horse of their own, the certainly did need to walk to get there. Getting to school in rural areas was a challenge, and often w
ithout parental support, there was little motivation to make the effort to attend school. Illiteracy rates were high in these rural areas. In the original 13 colonies however, education was valued and schooling was widely available. Literacy in upper classes was the norm.
ithout parental support, there was little motivation to make the effort to attend school. Illiteracy rates were high in these rural areas. In the original 13 colonies however, education was valued and schooling was widely available. Literacy in upper classes was the norm.
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