Assignment Rewrite

My Practicum Experience.

Healthcare administration is a career in healthcare industry that requires professional, leadership skills, communication, business skills, finance and managerial skills to help meet the goal of the organization. I have always had the desire to work in healthcare because I love the care that was provided to my mother. Healthcare administration is a career that is requires managerial and financial skills which I have built these skills from my practicum experienced.

I did my practicum at Windsor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Houston, TX , and it was a wonderful learning experience because I learned new skills and knowledge. Windsor Houston is a skilled nursing facility that provides nursing care, restorative care, rehab ,therapy, hospice, and respiratory, which can either long term and short term care. My facility has a capacity of 120 residents , and there is always an average capacity of 114 residents , so my facility is always almost fully occupied. Interestingly, my facility is owned by one individual who bought the business and he is the decision maker when it concerns budget, facility roles and policies. The facility was under Regency which involves other board of trustees but it was sold to one person Regency was change to Windsor and it is now the only Windsor Nursing and Rehabilitation center in Houston. My preceptor and the owner of the business make the budget and facility policies. My facility is an eight million dollar facility , and was just change to Windsor Houston three years ago.

I had an opportunity to work and observe the lady working at the admissions and I came to understand the importance of accurate and complete documentation . The admission office is responsible for creating patient records and it is the first important step in patient care. Admission Office has a huge responsibility of guaranteeing that the resident is going to receive the resources and care needed to provide quality of care. In addition, the admission office is responsible for determining if a patient is the right candidate for the facility and this means being able to provide the resident with the resources and quality of care needed to promote optimum health. Admission Office is responsible for verifying new resident insurance information to make sure the residents can pay for services provided. It is important to communicate effectively with the residents and their families about services provided in the facility. It is also an opportunity to demonstrate honesty, trust, accountability, respect, and privacy. It is important to communicate effectively and with clarity so that the residents can understand their rights and responsibilities as long as they are in the facility. I cannot overemphasize how important it is to respect patients rights and privacy, because of HIPPA law. A HIPPA law violation has a fine of $25000, so it is really important that patient rights and privacy are respected.

During my internship, I realized how important it is to communicate with confidence and act in a professional manner. Information collected by the admission office is the same information that the rest of the departments including HR, medical records, billing, and

nursing would use to continue care for the resident. Admissions Office also performs discharge summaries , so it is crucial to perform an accurate discharge summary. I really enjoyed working with the residents because it was opportunity to create a positive impression and a trusting relationship.

In continuation, I had the opportunity of working with medical records and It is very important to ensure medical records is complete and accurate. Medical records are legal documents and so it is important to avoid mistakes to avoid lawsuits. Medical records office is responsible for keeping patients medical records . I had an opportunity of dealing with medical record and I realized how important it is to ensure all residents medical records is complete , signed , and documented accurately. . Medical records is responsible for keeping readmit residents, discharge, control substance form, legal documentation of every residents in the facility. I also did scheduling which help me understand how scheduling is done which has build my business shills. All legal documents must be complete and complete else the would pay a fine to the State.

Furthermore, I realized social services play a vital role in patient discharge and it is very important that social workers perform safe discharge. Any form of abuse, neglect, injury, and grievances must be reported to the social worker which must be documented accurately. Social workers are responsible for coordinating residents psychic care, dental, optometry, and podiatrist care and so monitoring residents care is very important.

Also, rehab services must also perform a safe discharge for all residents to avoid lawsuits. Let me also add that the admission and social workers work together when performing discharge summaries. They are also responsible for making sure residents have the needed medical equipments to promote walking. Walking devices may include walker, wheelchair to help promote movement.

I did learn the human resource duties which includes orientation process, new hire procedure, background check, payroll, immunization and updating licensing. It is very important to check for active licence for jobs requiring licensing. Precision and accuracy is very important when doing payroll. Employees are very particular about about their job description, pay rate and so it is important to communicate effectively of what services they would be providing for the facility. I did learned how to do payroll and I find it interesting because it is not as complex as I imagine. Let me also add that it is important to accurately document new hire information because it is useful for future references and other purpose like State inspections and surveys.

Business Office is in charge of approving residents admission in to the facility and also billing insurance companies. I did realize how strenuous it is to deal with insurance companies and monitor payments made by insurance companies. Creating and submitting claims was a very learning experience for me because I got to understand of the process , although would need more exposure. I realized again that documentation is very important , because insurance companies want to see progress notes, and how the residents health is improving , else they might refuse reimbursement.

In continuation , I was exposed to financial and managerial planning which helped me to understand the importance of strategic planning. In my facility, with 85 patients, my facility is able to break even and so any other extra patient is profit for the organization. However, having the right mix of residents which can either be Medicaid or Medicare, private pay, patients can affect revenue generation. I came to understand that it is important to make strategic decisions by evaluating the effects of our decisions. This strategic planning in decision making, generating revenue are some duties of administrators.

My preceptor emphasize the importance of acting in a trustworthy manner so that the residents can feel safe and comfortable to tell you about their complaints and grievances. This has also helped in solving conflicts because it helps you to analyse information and make accurate decisions.

I must also stressed the fact that it is important to distinguish between problems and opportunity because it is part of managerial functions. When you identity a problem, you find a solution and eliminates the problem. If you cannot identify a problem, the problem would continue to exist until it is fixed which would continue to be hindrance to delivering quality of care. An example of this skill was when a particular resident was prone to falling frequently, it become a problem because this has been causing injuries to the patients. The resident needed to be put on a lower bed and everyone was on alert to pay extra attention to him. These are some managerial functions I learned during my practicum which I won't forgot in a hurry.

Communication is another skill I did utilize often and I have improved in my communication skills especially when dealing with patients and families. It is impossible to be professional if you cannot communicate effectively, fluently and with clarity. It is very vital to communicate effectively so that the receiver of the message can understand the purpose of your message. During the morning meetings , I observed my preceptor make announcements and effectively communicates his goals and plan of action and the other employees collaborates with him to work as a team to achieve the organization goals.

Professionalism is another skills that I have improved during my practicum experience and that help me to improved on my career plan. Professionalism involves performing job functions according to your scope of practice in a polite and ethical manner. Acting professionally at the job involves coming to work on time, talking with respect to employees, collaboration, accountability and honesty, When you act professionally, you become more efficient at your job and I during my practicum. My professional attitude boost my confidence, and learning ability that made it possible learned new knowledge and skills.

Leadership skills has a direct relationship with professionalism because when you possess leadership traits, you are more prone to develop professional skills. Leadership skills is something that needs growth everyday and you perfect this leadership skills through practice and experience. Leadership traits include honesty, respect, integrity, accountability, collaboration, enthusiastic, confidence,motivating, passionate, trust and administrators need to possess these traits if they want to lead organization to success. A leader is not born and made in a day, it takes virtue, handwork and constant practice to understand leadership and the benefits of possessing leadership traits. Anyone can become as long as they make the conscious effort. It takes a true leader to fully understand the responsibilities of a leader.

Furthermore, I must also emphasize that administrators need to have excellent administrative, managerial and financing skills to lead an organization. Administrators need excellent business skills to make budgets, and perform data analysis. Collecting data and making critical decisions are all responsibilities of administrators. Implementing rules and policies, operating budget, revenue generation, financial planning, compensation and benefits, defining staff roles, and employee performance management are all functions of administrators. I also noticed that my facility is excellent in financial planning and this has made me realize that it is important to be proficient in financial management skills.

I must emphasize importance of time management as an administrator because as a leader certain tasks and responsibilities need to be done in a timely and organized manner.

Leading by example means getting involved in day to day activities of employees and building trust working relationship.

I also did learned during my practicum the importance of being informed about the healthcare future and environment. Healthcare trend is frequently changing so it is important to remain informed of healthcare trend and the environment.

In conclusion, my future career goal is to graduate, get a job, works for at least 3 years and start my education into becoming an administrator. I liked the fact that healthcare administration provides a wide range of career opportunities .

I did learned the importance of effective communication, leadership traits and business skill needed for an administrator. I can also confidently say that one of the most vital skills I learned from my practicum experience is that administrators should lead by example. This means acting in a respectful ethical manner that is morally acceptable by society and according to the roles and policies of the organization. A good leader is one who can positively influenced their employees to work as a team in achieving the organizational goal. A good administrator should be able to bring out the best in their employees and motivates them to their optimum potential. Critical thinking is

also an important skill that administrator must possess so that they can be innovative, and excellent in strategic decision making.

Lastly, being in control of what happens within and around the facility is very important because when in control, you are in a better position to fix any problem that may occur in your facility. I can confidently say my internship was rewarding, fun and a learning experience for me and I would forever treasure it. At the end of my internship, I could clearly see the full picture of the puzzle and realized that clinical and nonclinical professionals need to work as a team in collaboration to actually meet the medical needs of the residents. Teamwork is the key to success in meeting the organization goals and providing quality of care for the residents and patients. Problem solving, critical decision making, budgeting, communicating, professionalism and building trust with internal and external consumers are responsibilities of administrators . I must say I have improve in all these areas and ready to learn more skills and put it in to practice.

References

‘’Six tips to becoming successful healthcare administrators, n.d, August 14,2018 , retrieved on