2013 Continuing Education for Healthcare Professionals

Learning Is A Lifelong Process

Check out these upcoming events and programs for healthcare professionals.  Not only are the topics of interest and timely, you can even earn valuable continuing education credits in the process!

• March 6-18, 2013 - ASHA’s “Adolescent Language and Literacy: Supporting Emotional, Social and Academic Growth”.  Early registration open for online only conference.  SLPs can earn 2.6 CEUs.
• March 14, 2013 - IARP’s “Putting Together Technology For Your Rehabilitation Practice” .  Online webinair.  Earn 2.0 CEUs towards various rehab certifications.
• March 20, 2013 - ANA’s webinair:  “Navigating the Complex World of Delegation”.  RNs earn 1.0 CNEs.
• April 25-28, 2013 - AOTA’s Annual Conference and Expo in San Diego, CA.   Early registration and discounts are available until March 27, 2013.  OTs can earn up to 2.4 CEUs.
• June 19-23, 2013 - AANP’s 28th Annual Conference in Las Vegas, NV.  Early registration deadline is May 6, 2013. Up to 42 contact hours available to NPs.

Enhance your knowledge and earn those credits.  Then let Centra help you find the ideal work environment in which to employ your newfound skills.  Call 800 535 0076.

Top Therapy Jobs in Georgia

“Georgia On Your Mind”

Georgia evokes images of stately “Gone With the Wind” plantations, live oaks draped in Spanish moss and fried green tomatoes, butter beans and sweet tea served up with a Southern drawl.  Today’s Georgia is in many ways the epitome of the “New South” - a South that is cosmopolitan, forward-thinking and innovative, while retaining its laid-back Southern charm and warm Southern hospitality.  Reminders of the past abound and are carefully preserved for posterity.  The Ocmulgee earthen mounds built a millenium ago by a native culture at Macon and three Confederate leaders on horseback carved into one of the earth’s largest granite masses at Stone Mountain, both speak to the diversity of traditions and sometime inglorious history that make Georgia unique. 

Where else can you celebrate Dublin’s “St. Patrick’s Festival” in March, Baxley’s “Tree Fest” in April, Bainbridge’s “Swine Time Festival” in May, and Jesup’s “Arch Fest” in October?  Where else can you find the world’s largest college campus and the only natural forest within a U.S. city limits, except in Rome? Where else can you live in the “Marriage Capital of the World” or the“Hollywood of the South” or the “Reading Capital of the World” except in Folkston, Covington, and Tifton respectively?  Where else covered 66% by forest, do you find cities like Nashville “City of Dogwoods”, Conyers “City of Crepe Myrtles” and Quitman “Camellia City”? Where else can you visit the world’s largest indoor aquarium, America’s largest number of gorillas and orangutans, President Carter’s Library and Martin Luther King and Margaret Mitchell’s homes?  Where else can you walk 40 feet high among the trees in botanical gardens, tour the CNN studios and try to crack the secret formula at the World of Coca Cola?  Atlanta, Atlanta, Atlanta, Atlanta, Atlanta, Atlanta!!!

So if Georgia has been on your mind contact the Centra Team by web, download our mobile app, go to our Facebook page or call us at 800 535 0076 and see what great jobs this “peach” of a state has to offer!

10 Facts About Heart Health

Did You Know???

As American Heart Month winds down here are ten interesting facts related to heart health:

• “Men’s Health Magazine” has named San Jose, CA as the second healthiest city in America for men, with the lowest rate of mortality from heart disease for 2013.
• Eating salmon twice a week can lower by one third the risk of a heart attack.
• Women are more likely to suffer “broken heart” syndrome due to stress/grief.
• The longer a man’s ring finger, the lower his risk for heart attack.
• More heart attacks occur on Monday mornings than any other day of the week.
• Married men and women are at a lower risk for myocardial infarction than singles.
• Each minute of brisk walking increases lifespan by almost two minutes.
• A horse’s heart rate will mirror that of the person petting/riding them.
• The first open heart surgery was performed  in 1893 and the first successful heart transplant in 1967.
• Two thirds of patients receiving therapeutic hypothermia following cardiac arrest  recover good heart function.

Are you interested in work with a “heart”?  If you are a PT , OT,  SLP, NP or RN  contact the Centra Team today at 800 535 0076.

Physical Therapy and Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation

Rehab is Good for the Heart!

Cardiovascular disease accounted for about 53% of all U.S. hospital readmissions from 2007-2009, according to a study published in the “Journal of the American Medical Association”.  This trend continues even as provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) begin cutting Medicare reimbursements to hospitals with higher than expected readmission rates.  Since most readmissions occur within 15 days of a hospitalization, focus must necessarily shift to post-discharge care.  For patients with chronic conditions, such as COPD, this might mean more aggressive monitoring of vital signs.  This can increase early detection of any deterioration, which can then be managed at home and/or in the doctor’s office. There is a growing body of evidence that rehab is beneficial for both chronic sufferers as well as single incident patients, such as post cardiac surgery.  However, despite its proven effectiveness, cardiac/pulmonary rehab remains under-prescribed and underused.

Just increasing the rate at which rehab is prescribed will not be enough to bring down mortality rates and reduce readmissions .  Many patients are seemingly unaware that these programs can significantly increase their lifespan.  It is why participation is a bleak 10-20%, even when rehab is prescribed.  Rehab professionals, especially Physical Therapists, have a unique role to play in changing that figure by educating their clients and encouraging compliance. Trust between therapist and client must be built over time for the therapeutic benefits to be realized.  Recognizing that trust and compliance go hand in hand, Medicare has expanded the number of rehab sessions available to post-surgical and heart attack clients. With a trending younger demographic of cardiovascular disease patients, the rest of the healthcare system will likely follow suit.

Successful cardiac rehabilitation does not begin and end with the therapy session.  The ability to motivate a patient into making necessary lifestyle changes that impact both the quantity and quality of life, suggests that cardiac rehabilitation should become the norm and not the exception.  If you are a PT, Rehabilitation Manager, RN or Nurse Manager looking to make that kind of impact in a patient’s life contact Centra and we will make your “heartfelt” desire come true.

Vibration Platforms and Geriatric Patients

Can Good Vibrations Mean Good Health?

Anyone remember the vibrator belts machines of the 50’s and 60’s that promised you could shake your fat away without strenuous exercise?  They didn’t work. Different versions of that idea have surfaced over the ensuing years, but a small, Spanish government-funded study is making healthcare and rehabilitation professionals revisit the benefits of vibration devices, especially for senior populations.  A group of 24 men and women 65 plus performed 10 reps of squats, 3 times a week, for 11 weeks while on a vibrating platform. The underlying premise of the study is that vibration increases circulation, activates muscles and may strengthen bones.  The results were inconclusive, with participants showing only a slight improvement in stamina and lower body strength.  

But, other studies have shown that vibration platforms can improve balance and joint motion in geriatric patients, especially when used concurrently with more standard forms of exercise.  Aerobic exercise remains the best way to ensure good health as one ages, but for those who are cardiac restricted or less ambulatory, such devices provide a beneficial minimal level of physical activity. The promise is also there that by improving fitness and movement, other chronic conditions associated with aging, such as depression and anxiety, will also be positively impacted.  

Ranging in price from $150-3000, vibration platforms are financially feasible therapeutic tools for ALFs, rehab facilities, and therapists alike.  However, further studies will be needed to determine their full potential for this population. In the meantime, if you are a PT , PTA ,OT ,or COTA,looking to make a significant difference in the lives of seniors contact the Centra team at 800 535 0076.