Friday, February 13, 2009
Improvements made to BSDC
This was written on Feb. 10 from the Lincoln Journal Star.
It was interesting to see how much progress the staff and leaders of the facility are making, but there is room for a lot of improvements. The U.S. District Court hired John McGee of Omaha to monitor a settlement between the state and the Department of Justice to resolve civil rights issues.
I liked McGee's comment regarding the moving of clients over the past year:
“This is a harsh practice that can result in people with significant disabilities being moved from the only home many of them have ever known to live and die among strangers who do not understand their limited communication skills or care needs,” he wrote. “It slams shut the door of hope to individuals who could be supported in more intimate and personalized community homes.”
I also like how he said that when moving the clients that they must think of the safety of the public. There have been cases of patients with sexual assault charges. Last year, a patient had walked off of campus when there was only 1 staff member watching 16 people. He was found about a mile away from campus in a resident's home. She called the police and they safely returned him. There was no harm done to either the resident or patient. I remember that, it was a little spooky because most people in my neighborhood don't lock their doors, and this could happen to anybody.
This will be great support to my arguement that the facility needs to stay open despite it's set backs for the sake of the patients. A rough draft is in the works...
It was interesting to see how much progress the staff and leaders of the facility are making, but there is room for a lot of improvements. The U.S. District Court hired John McGee of Omaha to monitor a settlement between the state and the Department of Justice to resolve civil rights issues.
I liked McGee's comment regarding the moving of clients over the past year:
“This is a harsh practice that can result in people with significant disabilities being moved from the only home many of them have ever known to live and die among strangers who do not understand their limited communication skills or care needs,” he wrote. “It slams shut the door of hope to individuals who could be supported in more intimate and personalized community homes.”
I also like how he said that when moving the clients that they must think of the safety of the public. There have been cases of patients with sexual assault charges. Last year, a patient had walked off of campus when there was only 1 staff member watching 16 people. He was found about a mile away from campus in a resident's home. She called the police and they safely returned him. There was no harm done to either the resident or patient. I remember that, it was a little spooky because most people in my neighborhood don't lock their doors, and this could happen to anybody.
This will be great support to my arguement that the facility needs to stay open despite it's set backs for the sake of the patients. A rough draft is in the works...
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Assignment, 3 Nebraska issues
1. The first one comes from the Omaha World Hearld regarding the spread of infections within hospitals. Yet, this is also considered a national issue, but we'll keep it more personal.
The University of Nebraska Medical Center has now given a stethoscope to each patient so bacteria aren't carried from one patient to another. The stethoscopes hang on a hook at patients' bedsides. In additon, the med center will ask patients to bathe in a sanitary solution 3 times a week. Even ties are a source to bacteria, doctors, patients, and visitors alike have been asked to refrain from wearing them now.
Medicaid and Medicare have begun withholding payments in certain cases involving hospital-acquired infections. And some states now require hospitals to report infection rates, although Nebraska and Iowa aren't among them.
2. The next one is proposed bills as exemptions to the smoking ban that will become active on June 1.
Two proposals would grant those exemptions. One bill (LB355), introduced by Omaha Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh, would exempt cigar bars that meet certain requirements. The other (LB600), introduced by Sen. Russ Karpisek of Wilber, would exempt pool halls with at least 20 hourly fee pool tables.
A co-owner of a cigar bar in Lincoln and one in Omaha, said that when the city of Lincoln enacted its smoking ban in 2005, cigar sales in his Lincoln business dropped 10 percent. After the Omaha ban went into effect in July, cigar sales dropped overall 19 percent, and has now become less of a focus in the business. Retail tobacco stores were automatically excluded from the ban as of last year, but cigar bars have been overlooked.
3. This one is over fire-safe cigarettes. At first, I honestly thought it was a joke. Uh, hello, you have to light those nasty things on fire in order to smoke them, duh. So how in the world can they be considered fire-safe? Apparently they can be. 37 other states have already required the standard of cigarettes sold to be fire-safe, and now Nebraska is looking at it.
The fire-safe cigarettes are thicker in two separate spots so they will go out if not puffed when they burn to these areas. The idea is to prevent fires caused when cigarettes are left unattended.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says smoking was the biggest cause of fire-related deaths in the country from 2002 to 2004, the most recent years for which data are available. On average, 630 deaths were caused by smoking-related fires during each of those years. My advice? Just don't smoke, or quit. But I know, easier said than done.
4. My issue I already thought of, the Beatrice State Developmental Center. See the blogs below for more information on it.
The University of Nebraska Medical Center has now given a stethoscope to each patient so bacteria aren't carried from one patient to another. The stethoscopes hang on a hook at patients' bedsides. In additon, the med center will ask patients to bathe in a sanitary solution 3 times a week. Even ties are a source to bacteria, doctors, patients, and visitors alike have been asked to refrain from wearing them now.
Medicaid and Medicare have begun withholding payments in certain cases involving hospital-acquired infections. And some states now require hospitals to report infection rates, although Nebraska and Iowa aren't among them.
2. The next one is proposed bills as exemptions to the smoking ban that will become active on June 1.
Two proposals would grant those exemptions. One bill (LB355), introduced by Omaha Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh, would exempt cigar bars that meet certain requirements. The other (LB600), introduced by Sen. Russ Karpisek of Wilber, would exempt pool halls with at least 20 hourly fee pool tables.
A co-owner of a cigar bar in Lincoln and one in Omaha, said that when the city of Lincoln enacted its smoking ban in 2005, cigar sales in his Lincoln business dropped 10 percent. After the Omaha ban went into effect in July, cigar sales dropped overall 19 percent, and has now become less of a focus in the business. Retail tobacco stores were automatically excluded from the ban as of last year, but cigar bars have been overlooked.
3. This one is over fire-safe cigarettes. At first, I honestly thought it was a joke. Uh, hello, you have to light those nasty things on fire in order to smoke them, duh. So how in the world can they be considered fire-safe? Apparently they can be. 37 other states have already required the standard of cigarettes sold to be fire-safe, and now Nebraska is looking at it.
The fire-safe cigarettes are thicker in two separate spots so they will go out if not puffed when they burn to these areas. The idea is to prevent fires caused when cigarettes are left unattended.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says smoking was the biggest cause of fire-related deaths in the country from 2002 to 2004, the most recent years for which data are available. On average, 630 deaths were caused by smoking-related fires during each of those years. My advice? Just don't smoke, or quit. But I know, easier said than done.
4. My issue I already thought of, the Beatrice State Developmental Center. See the blogs below for more information on it.
UNK issues to consider
In my search to find 3 topics of discussion on state issues, I ran into two for UNK. I know it's a way off, but I'm holding onto these for reference.
The first is eliminating trays from the cafeteria. This was on the Omaha World Herald.
I found it kind-of funny, though with this quote:
"Just the other day, Zatechka saw a student pile his plate high with chicken nuggets. When the student finished his meal, Zatechka followed him to the tray-return area and saw eight untouched nuggets on his plate. 'We aren't going to permit that kind of food waste," Zatechka said. "We can't.'"
*Gasp* OMG, like, 8 chicken nuggets left over after an entire plate full...maybe it's good that he didn't eat all of them.
But, I did like this information:
Gauging waste
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last fall, the University of Kansas looked at whether trays made a difference in how much food students threw out. KU found students dumped more food with trays than without them.
Food waste: Decreased from an average of 1,063 pounds per meal to 657 pounds when the trays were taken away.
Beverage waste: Decreased from 105 gallons per meal to 48 gallons without the trays.
The next article I found in the Lincoln Journal Star and it was about budget cuts on the UNK campus in order to keep jobs.
The proposed pay cuts would range from 10 percent for those making more than $150,00 a year to 1 percent for those making more than $30,000. Those making less than $30,000 a year would see pay cuts of less than 1 percent.
I like this idea better than eliminating jobs completely. First, if we eliminate professors then there will be less classes available, less classes available means not many students can take the class-so why not consider another major or another school that is adaquetly staffed. And let's not forget the Kearney community, UNK is a primary employer in this town.
The last one I found was in the Journal Star.
According to the article, a high school coach and 3rd grad teacher was placed on paid leave for giving a 17-year-old Sidney girl alcohol. Shane Nordby, 36, is charged in Buffalo County Court with two misdemeanor counts: procuring alcohol for minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Court records say the incident occurred Dec. 23 at Nordby’s home.
The first is eliminating trays from the cafeteria. This was on the Omaha World Herald.
I found it kind-of funny, though with this quote:
"Just the other day, Zatechka saw a student pile his plate high with chicken nuggets. When the student finished his meal, Zatechka followed him to the tray-return area and saw eight untouched nuggets on his plate. 'We aren't going to permit that kind of food waste," Zatechka said. "We can't.'"
*Gasp* OMG, like, 8 chicken nuggets left over after an entire plate full...maybe it's good that he didn't eat all of them.
But, I did like this information:
Gauging waste
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last fall, the University of Kansas looked at whether trays made a difference in how much food students threw out. KU found students dumped more food with trays than without them.
Food waste: Decreased from an average of 1,063 pounds per meal to 657 pounds when the trays were taken away.
Beverage waste: Decreased from 105 gallons per meal to 48 gallons without the trays.
The next article I found in the Lincoln Journal Star and it was about budget cuts on the UNK campus in order to keep jobs.
The proposed pay cuts would range from 10 percent for those making more than $150,00 a year to 1 percent for those making more than $30,000. Those making less than $30,000 a year would see pay cuts of less than 1 percent.
I like this idea better than eliminating jobs completely. First, if we eliminate professors then there will be less classes available, less classes available means not many students can take the class-so why not consider another major or another school that is adaquetly staffed. And let's not forget the Kearney community, UNK is a primary employer in this town.
The last one I found was in the Journal Star.
According to the article, a high school coach and 3rd grad teacher was placed on paid leave for giving a 17-year-old Sidney girl alcohol. Shane Nordby, 36, is charged in Buffalo County Court with two misdemeanor counts: procuring alcohol for minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Court records say the incident occurred Dec. 23 at Nordby’s home.
More on BSDC
I'm getting most of my sources from Journal Star.com,
I found it interesting in this article that retired speech therapist said that she blames former Gov. Ben Nelson for the issues because combined five separate agencies into a single massive health and human services system, in which, McConnell said, there were more levels to hide and more levels to confuse people.
A seven-member committee was created last year to oversee the problems at BSDC. After review, it was decided that they should continue to oversee the facility.
"'This spring, the center will likely lose about $29 million in annual federal funding because of those problems and will be completely state funded for the one or two years it takes to get recertified by the federal Medicaid program,' special committee chairman Sen. Steve Lathrop said Monday."
See, this is where I get confused. If this facility is in such poor shape, why take away federal money from it? How is that supposed to fund better facilities, new equipment, medicine, doctor and therapist visits, food and proper training for employees that is routinely checked on? There is no way that the state can fund all of that, unless taxes are raised or something gets cut. Which, by the way, has happened. BSDC used to have a hospital on it's campus to treat it's patients, so this made is easier in an emergency situation because the patient could be taken under care until an ambulance came (if it was that severe). It shut down last year.
I found it interesting in this article that retired speech therapist said that she blames former Gov. Ben Nelson for the issues because combined five separate agencies into a single massive health and human services system, in which, McConnell said, there were more levels to hide and more levels to confuse people.
A seven-member committee was created last year to oversee the problems at BSDC. After review, it was decided that they should continue to oversee the facility.
"'This spring, the center will likely lose about $29 million in annual federal funding because of those problems and will be completely state funded for the one or two years it takes to get recertified by the federal Medicaid program,' special committee chairman Sen. Steve Lathrop said Monday."
See, this is where I get confused. If this facility is in such poor shape, why take away federal money from it? How is that supposed to fund better facilities, new equipment, medicine, doctor and therapist visits, food and proper training for employees that is routinely checked on? There is no way that the state can fund all of that, unless taxes are raised or something gets cut. Which, by the way, has happened. BSDC used to have a hospital on it's campus to treat it's patients, so this made is easier in an emergency situation because the patient could be taken under care until an ambulance came (if it was that severe). It shut down last year.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Nebraska Issue: Beatrice State Development Center
I've been doing some research and decided to write my next editorial on the Beatrice State Developmental Center, since it is in my hometown and my younger sister works there. I, too, have experience in working with the mentally disabled when I worked at Mosaic, a private instuition that is also in Beatrice and throughout the Midwest.
Here, the Lincoln Journal Star has been doing a lot of work coving the issues at hand.
The latest issue stated that BSDC had to get 50 residents moved to Lincoln and Omaha facilities my 5:00 p.m. today due to concerns of their ability to handle, "medically fragile" residents. Concern arose when two deaths occured in March 2008 and mid-January 2009. Proper emergency procedure was not followed.
My younger sister only works in the kitchen of this instuition, and from her experience it is very relevant that abuse in almost a natural thing. Her boyfriend works directly with the clients. He has not abused his clients, but he has had to turn in co-workers for it. The lastest "de-de-de" moment from the workers there was that when temperatures were below zero...just a few weeks ago. The boyfriend's co-worker came to visit him at his house with a client in the passenger seat. The client already had a cold and typically is sleeping by 8:00, it was 8:30 when he visited. Now, what would posess this kid to think that it's a good idea to drive around a sick client in the evening in temperatures below zero with icy driving conditions? Why didn't someone stop him? This is relevantly minor compared with other events that have happened on the campus.
As a resident of Beatrice, I understand that those who work there do not want to see the instuition shut down, this means our town unemployment rate will skyrocket...a large chuck of people who work in town work there. Otherwise, it's manufacturing plants or Wal-Mart (which most jobs are taken by the elderly, who have to still work well over their retirement age for minimum wage pay just to afford groceries and perscriptions, but that's another story).
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Phelps smokes pot, apologizes
CBC Sports
So here goes another big debate, is marijuana OK to use? Will it have negative effects?
For Michael Phelps, the answer is no. Recently, a photograph began floating around of Phelps with a baseball hat turned backwards taking a hit from a bong in a party at the University of South Carolina in November. The photo turned up in a British tabloid.
"I engaged in behaviour which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment," Phelps said in a statement to the Associated Press. "I'm 23 years old and despite the successes I've had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again."
Marijuana is different from performance-enhancing drugs, according to the World Anti-Doping Agency, or WADA.An athlete is subject to WADA sanctions only for a positive test that occurs during competition periods.
"We don't have any jurisdiction," Howman said. "It's not banned out of competition. It's only if you test positive in competition."
The worst thing that is going to happen to him is that he may lose $100 million dollars in sanctions by embarrassed sponsors.
Yes, he is a role model for many aspiring athletes and for America as a whole, therefore I agree that his behavior was inapproiate. Yet, he did apologize and he should be forgiven. It obviously didn't stop him from winning 8 gold medals in Bejing, China and be named sportsman of the year by Sports Illustrated.
I think embarrassment should be enough of a punishment. Some people who commented on the news article I found stated that they think Phelps should give up his medals. I disagree. Marijuana in no way enhances a person's performance, so he wasn't cheating. I think people should refer to their D.A.R.E. Program days and get the facts.
I personally do not agree with Phelps using the drug at the party, and I agree that he demonstrated bad judgement. But, this does not mean that he should forever be punished for one bad night by taking away sanctions, his medals, and his good reputation.
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