Instructions:

To select a course, 1. Read the course descriptions 2. Click on (read more) to view entire lesson.

 

New Courses

Addiction and Pseudo-Addiction   An advanced CE  

Credit hours 3 approved for apd, dd, amh

I recently moved my 87-year-old Mother-in-law into my home.  As a result, I find myself in the In-home care biz again. I’m back in the care trenches, battling my way through solving medical problems and trying to get the medical community to cooperate. You know what I have found out.

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What’s the Big Deal with Insulin

Credit hours 3 approved for apd, dd, amh

You would be hard-pressed to find someone who has not heard of insulin. As an in-home caregiver, you probably know it as the stuff you have to store in the refrigerator and inject with needles. You also probably just had a shiver run down your spine and thought, “I hate needles. Just thinking about them gives me the willies.” So why the refrigerator and the needles? (shiver again) Why can’t they just take a pill like normal sick people? What’s the big deal with insulin and all the blood and poking stuff?

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Psychology Primer for In-Home Caregiving

Credit hours 2 approved for apd, dd, amh

When you live with your patients you cannot help but be turned into a bit of a psychologist to them. It’s one of the advantages and burdens you have as a caregiver in a home environment.  The advantage is you become closer to the patient than any other medical care provider. The burden is how do you use that intimacy correctly for the best outcomes. As I have said many times, I am just an old country pharmacist, not a trained psychologist. But I have found a psychologist who just might give you some of the understanding that you need to be a better In-home caregiver. I am going to show you a series of YouTube videos presented by Dr. Tracey Marks. In her own words she “makes mental health education videos”. She is psychologist from Atlanta Georgia with more than 20 years of experience. After each video, I will add my thoughts on how you can use the information she presents in a residential care setting.

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House Rules -Everyone is normal, until you get to know them

Credit hours 2 approved for apd, dd, amh

I found this joke on one of those YouTube channels that specialize in funny signs collections.  It made me giggle as I thought about how true that is. The more I thought about it the more I laughed. Then light bulbs started to turn on in my head. This is true for residents of care homes as well. In-home care providers have to struggle with this principle every time they get a new resident. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this would be a great topic for a CE lesson. How to better communicate with and integrate new clients into your homes. Everyone talks about the medical side of the business, but no one talks about how to socialize with your residents. So I will.

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Emergency Prep- How to Keep the Lights On

Credit hours 2 approved for apd, dd, amh

Many spouses are not the primary caregivers. Nevertheless take my courses because they have to, to keep the home licensed. They dutifully suffer through every medical mumbo jumbo lesson that I spout out and wish that there was, just for once, a lesson that could appeal to their “mechanical” side. Well Hallelujah and pass me my wrench and wire cutters. Finally, a CE that a Gearhead can get into. For all the rest of you who are not Gearheads let me explain why you need to take this CE.

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In-Home Caregiver skill- Proper Lifting

Credit hours 2 approved for apd, dd, amh

The Blessing and Curse of a Home Care.

Your residents love the laid-back atmosphere of living in a real home. The familiar comforts of home care versus the harsh surrounding of an institutional care setting are a real blessing to them. The curse side of the coin is that home-based care lacks the additional resources found in larger healthcare settings. In a hospital setting if a patient needs to be moved there are machines, devices, and plenty of staff to make the transfer safe for both patient and caregivers. In foster care homes those devices are missing. When a resident needs to be moved or picked up the care provider has to do all the work. If the lift is done improperly the possibility of a career-ending back injury is very real.

(read more...)

 

A Caregivers Guide to Heart Disease

Credit hours 4 approved for apd, dd, amh

Arguably one of the most important organs in the body is the heart. It is a remarkable organ that is responsible for pumping life-sustaining blood throughout the body.  It is constantly working 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The more you work it, the stronger and more efficient it becomes. It works so well and so consistently that we take it for granted until something goes wrong. When things go wrong for the heart, things go wrong for the entire body.

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The 1st-3s in Emergency Preparation

Credit hours 1 approved for apd, dd, amh

I assume you have had enough courses and lessons on how to make an emergency plan. Let’s also assume you are bored to death at the thought of having to do another Emergency Prep course. So, let’s take a different approach. Let’s go over some ideas on how to implement your plan because doing a plan is always different from making a plan. Let’s set the stage for our discussion.

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Well That’s Certainly Depressing

Credit hours 2 approved for apd, dd, amh

Residents in care homes are always at greater risk for depression. The stress of changing living environments, health issues, and reductions in personal freedoms can make anyone depressed. Good caregiving techniques can reduce or eliminate such factors. But when depression remains or returns, what does an In-home caregiver do? When does regular unhappiness turn into clinical depression? Can clinical depression be “cured”? We will explore these and other questions in this course on depression. 

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All Things Thyroid- An Advanced CE

Credit hours 3 approved for apd, dd, amh

Being required to take Continuing Education courses is never going to be anyone’s favorite activity at work. There have been many courses I was forced to take that were a complete waste of my time. I actually fell asleep at the computer during one course. We here at AFC-CE.com have tried to make the courses interesting and fun to combat that boredom. While at the same time covering topics you wanted and containing the information you can actually use in your home. There are useful topics that I would like to cover but they can be complicated and boring for all but the most diehard nerds among us. So I am going to try something new.

(read more...)

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Smoothing Out the Moving In Process

Credit hours 3 approved for apd, dd, amh

Very few people like the labor involved in moving to a new home. I can genuinely say that my wife dislikes the moving process so much that it has almost becomes a phobia. Who’s to blame her for her feelings of dread and concern. There is the exhausting and confusing work of sorting, packing, and physically moving. There’s the emotional trauma of leaving the comfortable behind, coupled with the feeling of loss of saying goodbye and the fear of heading for an uncertain future. There is also the constant worry of hundreds of questions that do not have immediate answers. 

The same feelings, worries, and concerns are experienced by each new resident that moves into your home.

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Caregiving and Blood Thinners

Credit hours 1 approved for apd, dd, amh

When I was operating my own adult foster care homes there was one medication that constantly resulted in uncomfortable questions for county health officials, Warfarin (Coumadin). Warfarin is comely known as a blood thinner, we called it the bruiser medication. Blood thinners reduce the chances of dangerous internal blood clots that can cause a lot of damage. They also make it easier for minor cuts and abrasions to bleed profusely on the inside and outside. If an elderly resident bumped into the door a little too hard, a rather large bruise would inevitably form. It made it look like we took a bat and beat up the resident. Not a good look for a care home. It always resulted in abuse questions. Blood thinners are a high maintenance drug class that requires the In-Home caregiver to manage the patient and medication- carefully. 

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Caregiver Focus on the Flu

Credit hours 2 approved for apd, dd, amh

With all the craziness on Covid capturing the public’s attention, it’s easy to forget that the regular flu is still around. It still makes people sick. It still puts people in the hospital. There is still a risk of death for the weak and infirm if they get the flu.  Hey wait a minute, aren’t those the kind of patients you take care of in care homes? Maybe the flu is something you should focus on then. Just what is the flu anyway?

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Reducing Sodium

Credit hours 1 approved for apd, dd, amh

Salt, we love our salt. We flavor our dishes with it. We brine our meats in it, and we preserve our foods with it. We have a genuine appetite for salt. Look in any pantry and I bet you will find containers of table salt, popcorn salt, garlic salt, onion salt, pickling salt, seasoned salt, sea salt, and kosher salt. It should be no surprise to anyone that we consume a lot of salt but at what cost to our health? 

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How to Mess Up a MARS in One Easy Lesson

Credit hours 1 approved for apd, dd, amh

There are those who just don’t learn a lesson until they suffer through the consequences of making a mistake. Following instructions, understanding the underlining principle or cooperation is just not their style. One would think that doing things the right way, in the beginning, would be easier but nooo. They feel it would be much easier to be lazy and put much more effort into correcting mistakes later on. Apparently, they just don’t feel successful until they mess up, get caught by government inspectors, and are forced to correct something later on.

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What’s the Deal with Potassium?

Credit hours 2 approved for apd, dd, amh

What’s the deal with potassium? You have probably heard stories about the stuff and wonder just how important is it? More significantly, as a caregiver should you even care? What does it have to do with in-home caregiving anyway? Well, it turns out that potassium is very important for our bodies to function properly. And surprisingly, in-home caregivers have an unusual amount of control in its therapeutic application. But with the power to control comes the responsibility to act appropriately. Let’s give you that knowledge.

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Complaints and Grievances, A Different View

Credit hours 2 approved for apd, dd, amh

I have had several requests for Complaints and Grievances training from Mental Health homes. It is a requirement that they have to fulfill once a year. For those who work in Geriatric and DD homes, hang in there with me. I will make it worth your while. You will see that this course is going to really help you out. It’s all about caregiving customer service principles.  Or how to turn grouchy clients into happy customers. If you want more content residents and improved reputations with the State, then take this course. 

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A Caregiver’s Guide to Inhalers

Credit hours 4 approved for apd, dd, amh

Quickly, take a breath. Taking a deep, cleansing breath always feels so good. Can you imagine trying to take a deep breath and that big inrush of air doesn’t happen? Instead, only a small wheezing trickle of air comes into your lungs. How terrible would that be if it happened over and over again? This is the health concern that is faced by many of your residents. Foster care providers are in a good position to help—but only if they understand how to help. Let us get started with a brief discussion about the respiratory system, its disorders, and how they are treated.

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Medication Overload

Credit hours 2 approved for apd, dd, amh

Three times in one year, a normally clear-thinking elderly woman was found wandering the neighborhood with her dog, unable to find her way back home. Upon review of her medication use, it was discovered that she had three different PRN (or, as-needed) medications for pain and anxiety. When all three were taken together, her ability to think clearly was so impaired that she would attempt to get into other people’s homes, thinking they were her own.

The adverse effects that arise from polypharmacy has been described as “America’s other drug problem.” Polypharmacy is loosely defined as the taking of at least five different medications together. As more and more drugs are prescribed to manage medical complaints, the chances of unforeseen side effects increase.

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Vitamin E – An Advanced CE

Credit hours 3 approved for apd, dd, amh

An advanced CE about vitamin E has been requested by a subscriber, and as you all know, I take requests. The requestor has a nursing degree and wanted to have a course with a little more meat on the bone to chew on. So as fair warning to all my other subscribers, this article will be a little more challenging. Struggle is good, though; it will make you stronger. As always, I will endeavor to make this pertinent to foster caregiving, with knowledge you can use in your homes. I also would like to think that this will not be beyond the understanding of the average caregiver. I do recommend that those without medical degrees take the CE The Vitality of Vitamins before tackling this one. If this is not your flavor of ice cream, then please enjoy my other CEs. So let’s get to it.

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Vitamins – Health or Hype?

Credit hours 1 approved for apd, dd, amh

The recent Covid-19 health crisis has created a new desire in people to get and remain healthy. There are many who are turning to half-remembered health lessons about healthy eating and vitamin supplements. Over the years, though, those memories have been tainted by advertisers, pseudoscientists and well-meaning but uninformed friends and family. It’s time to cut through all the hype and get to the real facts about health and vitamins.

Before we get started, I have a few questions for caregivers. Should foster caregivers worry about vitamins? Isn’t that the doctor’s job to decide which pills are needed? Isn’t it true that a normal, healthy person can get all the vitamins they need in a balanced diet? On the other hand, are your residents considered to be normal? Don’t they need something more to feel normal, like vitamins? How do you balance a diet for optimal vitamin intake? Can you take too many vitamins?

Let’s see if we can find some answers.

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Caregiver Primer on Contact Lens

Credit hours 2 approved for apd, dd, amh

In-home caregivers are amazing health professionals. With little or no training, they step up to the plate and take care of any and every need their residents have. There is no shirking of responsibility, no passing the buck to another. They just shoulder the responsibility and sees that the job gets done.

One such duty is contact lens care. It does not happen often, but there are times when a resident who wears contact lenses moves into a care home. The care provider suddenly finds themselves having to manage an activity of daily living that most caregivers are ill-prepared for. This course will attempt to prepare the caregiver to move forward with managing this responsibility.

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Dealing with Migraines

Credit hours 2 approved for apd, dd, amh

Making a difference in the lives of the most needy is what helps foster care providers get up each morning and face a new day. Sometimes, though, a caregiving challenge arises that seems overwhelming. Boy, I hated those days when I was a caregiver. Everyone looks at you like you’re some kind of miracle worker that should know what do to solve any problem.

What do you do when the caregiving challenge is a resident with a headache so severe that it causes nausea and vomiting? What do you do when someone in your charge develops a searing, debilitating, throbbing head pain that almost totally incapacitates them? What do you do when the headaches happen over and over and over again despite your best efforts? That’s the foster caregiving nightmare called a migraine headache. What do you do about migraines? You get busy and learn about them and how to best manage them.

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Incident Reporting: Getting It Right

Credit hours 1 approved for apd, dd, amh

When I first became an adult foster care provider back in the ‘80s, there were few, if any, regulations governing the industry. As I look back, the freedom of less regulation was a mixed blessing. Yes, I enjoyed not being told what to do, but it also left me wide open for conflict. Without regulation, any incident or harmful occurrence would lead to disputes and tension with the county. They became the enemy and I thought it was best to keep them in the dark as much as possible. It was not a very professional attitude, I admit. It closed the door on any help that the county could have given me. It also created a climate where erroneous methods never got addressed. With such an attitude, improvement and innovation got very stifled. How can you improve if you hide and deny every problem that comes along?

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Autism’s Change to Autism Spectrum Disorder

Credit hours 3 approved for apd, dd, amh

Over the past decade, there has been a fundamental shift in how autism is perceived and cared for. Historically, the lack of therapeutic and care options shunted autistic patients into long-term care institutions. Institutionalization hid the problem behind whitewashed walls and created a stigma in the mind of the general public. Autism became a topic of pity that was best avoided in general discussions. In the medical community, all of that has changed. Institutionalization has been largely abandoned in favor of integration. Emphasis has changed from assigning a diagnostic label to developmental therapeutic options. Before we talk any further about this change, we first have to get everyone on the same page.

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LATE Dementia, the Alzheimer Mimic

Credit hours 1 approved for apd, dd, amh

Something New in Dementia

Continuing education courses about dementia are constants in the adult foster care industry. You all have read the same concepts over and over again. This time, though, the dementia training will be different. Something new has come up that is the cutting edge of medical science. For now, it’s called limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, or LATE Dementia. The reason it warrants a CE course of its own for caregivers is that it looks and acts just like Alzheimer’s disease. Its discovery is impacting Alzheimer’s research and may have an impact on future Alzheimer’s therapy. Besides that, it’s about time you had some variety in dementia-related courses.

(read more...)

 

Probiotic, Prebiotic, and Synbiotic Supplements … Huh?

Credit hours 1 approved for apd, dd, amh

Without question, the word “probiotics” is getting more and more popular in today’s culture. You’re seeing the term everywhere, seemingly describing totally different products. To add to the confusion, you will also hear the terms “prebiotic” and “synbiotic” thrown around. What is a probiotic? What’s it good for? Can foster care providers use them for their residents? Do they need to be charted on a Medication Administration Record (MAR) or do they belong on the menu? Are they a food or are they therapy? We’re going clarify what these words actually mean and how they fit into caregiving.  

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A Gut Reaction

An overview of the Gastrointestinal System and what can go Wrong with it.

Credit hours 4 approved for apd, dd, amh

Sometimes I think the human body is very strange and frustrating for caregivers. Isn’t it a mystery how the same food served to different residents has such varying effect? The food that makes one resident happy and content gives the other resident gas and diarrhea. Isn’t it strange how a resident can, just out of the blue, develop stomach pains and complain of constipation and bloating? Isn’t it worrisome when those symptoms turn into long-term problems? How is a caregiver supposed to react? Do you just change the menu? Do you start looking for possible health problems? Which diseases do you look for?

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Influencing Influenza

Credit hours 1 approved for apd, dd, amh

I recently was driving around town and noticed all the signs plastered around pharmacies about getting a flu shot. It started to make me think. Who should get a flu shot? Why should you get a flu shot? Is the flu that big of deal to warrant a special trip out? I recalled memories from my pre-pharmacy days thinking that the flu was just a cold that just got more annoying? If I being a pharmacist had these thoughts I told myself that it was time to research and write a Continuing Education article on the flu. I intend to provide the answers to the caregivers who might be thinking the same kind of questions.

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Antacids- Awareness and Appreciation

Credit hours 1 approved for apd, dd, amh

Antacid is one of those medicines that we all have seen on store shelves, on TV advertisements, and in our medicine cabinets all our lives. We see antacids so often we take for granted their use and understanding. Little do we appreciate the chemistry behind these wonderful remedies, and we are unaware of what they really do for us. So, let us now contemplate antacids.

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Concerned About Cancer?

Credit hours 4 approved for apd, dd, amh

Cancer in the mainstream media is always portrayed as a tragedy.  Invariably the story that is told is that those with cancer will be victims. They will have a long, slow, painful struggle with the disease, followed eventually by death. The stories about cancer treatments are also full of suffering, where even the caregiver experiences bitter emotions. It is no wonder that we avoid even the thought of the word cancer. How much of that story is true and how much are just fiction? What is cancer? Is it one disease or a collection of diseases? Do you catch it or are you born with it? What are the signs and symptoms? 

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Principles of Side Effect Management

Credit hours 2 approved for apd, dd, amh

Adult Foster Care providers are in an unusually ambiguous area of the care giving spectrum. On the one hand they are viewed as the very bottom of the professional spectrum, being less than CNAs. They have absolutely no medical decision-making power and must defer almost everything to someone else. On the other hand, they are almost as powerful as the resident’s family members in getting things done. I have seen adult foster care providers say something to effect of “I will do anything you tell me to do but I demand that you do this or that and do it now.” And the amazing thing is the doctor listens and obeys. Why is that? 

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Analyzing Alzheimer’s

Credit hours 2 approved for apd, dd, amh

Alzheimer’s disease is a term that looms large in our caregiving world. Its effects can be seen mainly in geriatrics, but mentally disabled homes and mental health homes may also be impacted. It has been estimated that before you die up to 50 percent of you who are reading this article will develop Alzheimer’s. The other half will be involved in caring for those who do have it. The prevalence of the disease in the general population will double every 20 years until 2040. In certain populations the prevalence is much higher. For example, those with Down syndrome, if they live long enough, may suffer with Alzheimer’s too. Why does Alzheimer’s disease happen? Why do residents act differently? Why do some get the disease while other don’t? Why does it happen later in life? It is my belief that if caregivers know the “whys,” they will be much better caregivers.

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Let’s Have a Conversation About Diabetes

Credit hours 2 approved for apd, dd, amh

In 2015 the Center for Disease Control reported that over 30 million people in the U.S., or 9.4 percent of the population, had diabetes. They estimated that 12.2 percent of all adults over 18 years of age were affected by the disease and 7.2 million didn’t know they had it. They also observed that the prevalence of diabetes cases increases with age, reaching a high of 25.2 percent for those 65 years of age and older. There are many indications that the prevalence of diabetes is increasing.  What does that mean for adult foster care? 

(read more...)

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Pink Puffers and Blue Bloaters – COPD

Credit hours 3 approved for apd, dd, amh

Pink puffers and blue bloaters; they sound like characters from a children’s cartoon, but they are something far more serious. They are actually physical descriptions of patients who suffer from emphysema and chronic bronchitis.  In emphysema, the patient has lost some of their ability to breathe out regularly. They have to exert themselves harder to puff out each breath, turning pink in the process. Those who suffer from chronic bronchitis find it difficult to get oxygen in and CO₂ out of their blood from clogged lungs. It can cause their skin to have a bluish tint. The lower blood oxygen level impairs the circulatory system, and fluids build up, bloating the extremities.  What is really intriguing and confusing is, they are both different manifestations of the same condition—Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease or COPD

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The Caregiver’s Roles in Managing Constipation

Credit hours 3 approved for apd, dd, amh

Being constipated is one of the most common complaints of residents in foster care homes. It certainly was in the homes that I was in. Some of my residents almost seemed obsessed by the idea. If they didn’t consistently have a bowel movement every day, they would start demanding a laxative. I remember buying prune juice by the case, and my medicine cabinet was crammed full of bulk laxative powders and stool softeners. The normal breakfast routine was: set the table, prepare the food, and then mix the bulk laxative drinks. I was always in a rush to try to get the laxative drinks down the resident before it turned into a thick to mush. Before I became a care provider, I did not think I would be spending so much time thinking about other people’s bowel movements. It’s funny to think of it now—so many years later, I became a bowel movement expert.

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The Myth of the Almighty Antibiotic

Credit hours 1 approved for apd, dd, amh

Since the 1940s, Antibiotics have been the wonder drug that has transformed the landscape of modern medicine. Entire diseases have been virtually eradicated from the face of North America.  They have worked so well that the myth “The Almighty Antibiotic” has arisen in the public’s mind.  For those that believe in the myth, every time a child has an earache, or an elderly mother develops a cough, an antibiotic is demanded by well-meaning caregivers.  Belief in the myth is so strong that if antibiotics are prescribed, they are taken only until the symptoms go away, then the leftovers are saved for future illnesses. The truth is, the use of antibiotics is not so clear-cut. Like all therapies, they need to be applied with skill to only those that need it. As with all drugs, antibiotics need to be monitored for effect and side effect, and there is always the risk of allergic reactions developing. In the home, caregivers play a key role in ensuring that antibiotics are utilized appropriately.  

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Putting the Mouth Back Into the Body -Improving Preventative Oral Care

Credit hours 1 approved for apd, dd, amh

It may sound funny, but there is a major new health initiative to put the mouth back into the body. Let me explain; in the past, there has been a huge disconnect in oral medical care. Conditions in the mouth were shunted off to an almost separate health system called dentistry.  Non-dentistry medical practitioners ignored conditions in the mouth. They, for the most part, relied on the patient to seek out dental care by themselves. Unfortunately, no one likes going to or paying for dentists, including insurance companies.  The result—for a large portion of the population, medical problems in the mouth were ignored. This disconnect occurred even when there were clear links between what goes on in the mouth and the health of the rest of the body. The result was a downward spiral in health for these patients. .....

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Bringing Your Residents to Tears –Remedying Dry Eyes

Credit hours 2 approved for apd, dd, amh

How often do you think about the moisture covering your eyes? If you’re like me, that would be never. That is until there is not enough moisture, and my eyes become dry. It’s then hard not to think of anything else but my dry eyes. If the condition continues, the problem becomes distractingly irritating.  That is how some of your residents feel when they are afflicted with chronic dry eyes, sometimes referred to as dry eye syndrome. The goal of this CE course is to help you, the care provider, deal with dry eye syndrome whenever it occurs.

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3 Alternative ‘Paths’ in Medicine

Credit hours 1 approved for apd, dd, amh

Our world is filled with amazing advances in science and medicine.  But for some, the more advanced our society becomes, the more unnatural it seems to them.  They long for a simpler approach to life, one based on organic, not artificial, elements. There are also others who cannot afford the cost of more advanced medical choices and have to turn to ‘old fashion,’ less expensive alternatives. Then there are others who never saw the need to change to more advanced methods and remained with what worked best for them. 

Regardless of the reason, there are many who have chosen an alternative approach to medical care. An approach that contains unconventional choices or complementary elements to mainstream medicine.  As a caregiver, you may be faced with having to understand and manage these alternative therapies. This course is designed to help you learn about three of those choices: Naturopathy, Homeopathy, and Osteopathy—three alternative ‘paths’ in medicine.

The first step—define alternative medicine.

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Revisiting House Rules

Credit hours 1 approved for apd, dd, amh

The unique feature of our industry is that you provide medical care out of a regular home. It gives you a competitive advantage over other types of medical care by tapping into the resident’s and their family’s sense of home.  It also creates the perception that the job is easier and more relaxed for caregivers.

This may be strength, but it is also a weakness. Expectation for the caregiver’s home to be like the resident’s own home is very high. At the same time, it is oh so easy for caregivers to forget their house is no longer a home - it’s a business. A business set up to meet the needs and expectations of paying customers.

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A Caregivers Perspective on an the Patient’s Bill of Rights

Credit hours 1 approved for apd, dd, amh

Adult foster care homes are a business in which the borders on the individual’s rights tend to blur. It’s easy to start your business thinking you will respect the rights of each and every resident in your care. But when you’re in the caregiving trenches day after day, it becomes easier for caregivers to cross the line. Corners get cut, caregivers get burned out, patients get difficult to manage, and the rights of individuals become forgotten.

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Caregiver Tips- Being Prepared

Credit hours 4 approved for apd, dd, amh

Be in Adult Foster Care long enough and you will see the entire medical treatment continuum, from minor bruises to residents passing away. Practicing your occupation at the point of patient first contact the caregiver has to be prepared to get the ball rolling on a large variety of medical occurrences. This CE will give you some practical caregiver tips so you will be better able to act when you are needed.

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Preventing Abuse in Care Homes

Credit hours 3 approved for apd, dd, amh

Anyone who has worked in a care home knows that it is the most difficult and stressful “easy” job they’ve ever held. The job doesn’t require a college degree, there’s no heavy labor involved, and what could be easier than working by just doing the normal activities of daily living? Then why do you feel so stressed, stretched, and strangled – often to the point of going crazy? When caregivers are pushed too far for too long, it’s easy for them to snap, and patient abuse can follow. It’s just like an irritating spider bite. You know you’re not supposed to scratch it, but you do it anyway just for a moment of temporary relief.

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What are Water Pills?

Credit hours 1 approved for apd, dd, amh

Just about everyone in the care business has heard of water pills. But if you look at your residents’ medication list, you will not find anything labeled as a water pill.  First, one doctor tells the patient this medication is a water pill. Then a nurse mentions that the medication is a diuretic. Then your pharmacist will counsel you that the medication is one of several different classes of medications referred to as water pills. What’s going on?

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Hemorrhoids, The Bottom Line

Credit hours 2 approved for apd, dd, amh

For a caregiver not too many events can cause more concern than finding blood coming from the bottom of one of your residents. What’s causing the blood to flow? Is it a minor scratch, a bad infection, or is it a symptom of something really serious like cancer?  This has happened to me several times in my caregiving career. We sent the patients to the doctor and waited anxiously for the diagnosis.

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Basics of Blood Pressure

Credit hours 3.5 approved for apd, dd, amh

...Without blood being under pressure, our body could not get the materials it needs to live. In fact, how much pressure the blood in under is a key indicator of health.

All that is well and good, but I know what some of you are thinking: Why should I even care? What good is this subject to a residential care provider? I’m not planning on performing any surgeries or major medical therapies anytime soon. What good is knowing about blood pressure in my caregiving profession?

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Boning Up On Bones

Credit hours 2.5 approved for apd, dd, amh

Doctors, pharmacists, and nurses have a great deal of knowledge, but no one has more day-to-day impact on patients’ lives than foster care homes. It is the day-to-day activities over the long run that really determines whether a patient stays healthy or gets ill.

There is no better example of this than bone health.  Other than the odd genetic defect, bone health is largely determined by lifestyle and dietary choices we make over our lifetime. The impact those choices make are very subtle. Bone health problems don’t  happen suddenly but develop over a long period of time. The consequences of those choices are usually felt when we age.

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27 NSAIDs

Credit hours 1 approved for apd, dd, amh

     Did you know that there were 27 different drugs in the NSAID class of medications? That doesn’t include combination drugs, so the number of NSAID-containing meds is actually much higher.  NSAID stands for Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug. They are among the most commonly used drugs for pain killing in the world today (aspirin is included in this group).  They can be used to kill pain, reduce fever, and reduce swelling due to inflammation.  Many find NSAIDs have advantages other painkillers do not. NSAIDs are not addicting like narcotics, and they reduce inflammation (acetaminophen and opiates do not), which helps in the healing process.

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 Obesity Therapy - A New Perspective

Credit hours 1.5 approved for apd, dd, amh

     Throughout the history of mankind, there have been individuals  so overweight that it seriously affects their health and wellbeing. Because weight gain in the general populace has always been a matter of choice, it is commonly believed that extremely overweight individuals must have chosen to be that way as well. All that changed in June 2013 when the American Medical Association recognized obesity as a disease state and recommended several medical therapies to treat it.  As part of the health care team, adult foster care providers must now recognize obesity as a disease and learn their role in its treatment. 

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Caregiver Refresher- Fire Prevention and Emergency Planning

Credit hours 1.5 approved for apd, dd, amh

    Each year in the U.S., more than 2,500 people die and 12,600 are injured in home fires, with direct property loss due to home fires estimated at $7.3 billion annually. Add to that floods, hurricanes, ice storms, power outages, etc. Stay in business long enough, and you’ll most likely have to face an emergency or two. Unlike disaster planning for other businesses (where they just send every home), care homes have to remain open and functioning.   To do that, you must develop a plan and practice it to be able to stay open in times of crisis.

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Pain School for Caregivers Course 1- What is Pain?

Credit hours 1.5 approved for apd, dd, amh

   When considering medical topics care givers usually don’t think of pain as a separate subject. We usually consider it as part of other topics such as cancer or back injury. Did you know that in the US, pain is the number one medical concern of all patients?  It is THE reason why patients see doctors. It is by far the most common complaint, more than all other complaints combined. Think about it

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Pain School for Caregivers Course 2- Acute Pain 

Credit hours 2 approved for apd, dd, amh

All pain starts off as acute pain. These are the aches that resolve quickly, or at least that is what everyone hopes for.  At this point pain is just a symptom of a larger issue. So how do care providers manage acute pain correctly? It’s time to apply some of your new found knowledge from pain school-course 1.

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Pain School for Caregivers Course 3- Chronic Pain 

Credit hours 2.5 approved for apd, dd, amh

   The definition of chronic pain is pain lasting over 3-6 months. But chronic pain is more than just the mere passage of time. Prolong pain presents other challenges to cope with. Patients and their care givers must learn to deal with the biological, emotional and social stresses that come from the prolonged exposure to pain.  To successfully cope with these new concerns caregivers and patients must have a change of mindset.

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13 Ways to Help Residents Sleep Normally,

Credit hours 4 approved for apd, dd, amh

    One of the most difficult aspects of living with the patients you take care of is when your residents have difficulty sleeping.  Those who don’t work and live in a care home don’t know how hard it is on caregivers to have a patient who won’t or can’t go to sleep. You can’t appreciate how stressful it is until you are the one who has to stay up with the patient and go without sleep for days on end.

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Acetaminophen-What every caregiver should know.

Credit hours 1 approved for apd, dd, amh

     Acetaminophen is an analgesic (pain killer) and antipyretic (fever reducer) medication and the most common drug ingredient in America today. .... Of all medications caregivers must manage, acetaminophen is the one they are most likely to come across most often.But there are rumors that acetaminophen is actually bad for you. Someone heard somewhere of people loosing there livers to Tylenol or dying from an overdose? Is acetaminophen really safe?

Should caregivers listen to the rumors and be concerned?

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