Tag Archives: Job

Becoming an Alternative Health Practitioner

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Alternative Health Practitioners provide unconventional method of treatment to cure physical or mental disorder of the people. They may specialize in acupuncture, homeopathy, reflexology, aromatherapy, herbal therapy, naturopathy, massage therapy hypnotherapy, yoga, meditation etc. They utilize their domain of healthcare to focus upon the fitness and health of the patient. In some cases, they explore the interconnection between the mind, body, and spirit to promote good health.

Alternative Health Practitioners put more weight to ancient traditions and anecdotes over biological science and clinical trials. They use natural products such as herbs or essential oils instead of pharmaceuticals unless no alternatives remain.

Alternative Health Practitioners meet the patients directly, evaluate their problems and develop the healing strategies accordingly. They work in medical office settings, private clinics or even make house calls.

Educational Requirements:

To become an Alternative Health Practitioner, the aspiring candidates need to possess different kinds of academic qualification, training and license as per the type of the practice they wish to pursue. For instance, an herbalist can earn a required certificate in less than one year, but no formal education or licensing is required for aroma-therapists; an acupuncturist needs a master’s degree while a chiropractor requires at least 4 years of professional study besides a 4-year undergraduate course.

However, Alternative Health Practitioners study common course of Anatomy, Physiology, Clinical skills and Patient care etc. along with their special subjects.

Skill Set:

The aspiring Alternative Health Practitioners must possess effective communications and interpersonal skills, creative thinking, ability to work with compassion, understand and manage the crisis situation, convince the people, keep accurate records etc.

Salary & Job Outlook:

The job outlook for an Alternative Health Practitioner is very positive across the USA, as more people are now inclining towards alternative medicine. The salary of Alternative Health Practitioners differs according to their specialty. For instance, the annual average salary of massage therapists was $ 35,970 in 2012 while Chiropractors earned an average salary of $66,160 in the same year.

Becoming an Alcohol Counselor

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Alcohol counselors play a key role to assist the people who have alcoholic problems. They help the alcoholics to return into areas of their lives where their behavior has left a destructive trail, including work and personal relationship. They plan recovery strategies to avoid relapses through appropriate counseling the patients. In serious cases, they may refer a patient to a psychiatrist or other medical professionals.

The responsibilities of Alcohol Counselor include holding personal or group counseling sessions regarding the dangers of alcohol and encourage a healthy lifestyle, guiding pregnant women and her family members about the effects of alcohol on the fetus, assisting individuals to identify their need for treatment programs, planning to resolve addictions to alcohol.

Apart from their knowledge regarding the causes and effects of alcohol, Alcohol Counselor posses various skills such as risk assessment and an understanding of crisis management, ability to deal with life threatening situations including the prevention of suicide, temperament that mixes empathy with patience, ability to deal with aggressive and/or intoxicated clients, effective communications and interpersonal skills, computer skills etc.

Alcohol Counselor work at either government and private settings or non-government organizations. They are employed at hospitals, rehabilitation center, correction facilities, educational institutes etc.

Education Requirements:

To become an Alcohol Counselor, the aspiring candidates must hold at least a 2-year associate’s or a 4-year bachelor’s degree and relevant work experience in a field such as substance abuse counseling, social/behavioral science etc.

Alcohol Counselors who wish to work in private practices, however, need to complete a master’s degree along with several thousand hours of clinical experience and pass an exam to obtain the necessary licensure.

The common syllabus during associate’s or a bachelor’s degree course includes theories of substance abuse, principles of substance abuse counseling and basics of mental health counseling.

Licensure:

Since many states of USA require Alcohol Counselors to be licensed, the aspiring candidates should obtain a License after completing required academic courses.

Job Outlook and Salary:

The job outlook for an Alcohol Counselor remains excellent across the USA. According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the growth rate for job opportunities in this profession may grow by 31 per cent during 2012-2022. The average annual salary of an Alcohol Counselors was $ 41,090 in 2013.

Becoming an Addictions Counselor

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Addictions Counselors help people who suffer from addiction problems such as alcoholism, drug addiction, eating disorders, gambling, or other behavioral problems. Their responsibilities include providing treatment and guiding the patients to recover from addiction and promote good health. They develop recovery strategies to avoid relapses through counseling the patients on diet, hygiene, and other preventive healthcare measures. In serious cases, they may refer a patient to a psychiatrist or other medical professionals.

More importantly, Addictions Counselors offer moral support to the patient as the road to recovery tends to be a long and tough one with many obstacles and challenges. In addition to counseling the addicts, these professionals organize information sessions with the family members, friends and people of a community regarding the problems and the way to recover or prevent from addiction disorders.

Addictions Counselors are employed in hospitals, rehabilitation centers, detention centers, educational institutions, centre for human service facilities so on and so forth. They may also open their own private practices as well.

Education requirements

To qualify for the position of Addictions Counselor, educational requirements range from a high school diploma to a master’s degree, depending on the place of employment and level of duties. However, these professionals with a high school diploma take training during their job assignment

At degree level, the course work includes addiction studies, psychology, behavioral science or related majors. The National Board for Certified Counselors offers the National Certified Counselor (NCC) and Master Addiction Counselor (MAC) credentials through conducting an examination.

Skill Set:

Apart from holding academic degree, Addictions Counselor need to have the knowledge of decision making, communication and interpersonal skills, along with the ability to maintain privacy and confidentiality, study the emotions of patients, work with compassion, face the irate patients or even with their violent behavior.

Licensure:

Since many states of USA require Addictions Counselors to be licensed, the aspiring candidates should obtain a License after completing required academic courses.

Job Outlook and Salary:

The job outlook for an Addictions Counselors remains bright across the USA. According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the growth rate for job opportunities in this profession may rise 31 per cent during 2012-2022. The average annual salary of an Addictions Counselors was $38,520 in May 2012.

Becoming an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner

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Acute Care Nurse Practitioners are dedicated to work in close proximity to the patients who are seriously injured or those requiring specialized services in trauma-related conditions. They provide critical care of the patients and carry out the treatment that a doctor has prescribed for the same.

Acute Care Nurse Practitioners take responsibilities to provide and coordinate patient care, perform diagnostic tests, assist doctors during surgeries, maintain the health records, educate patients, and most importantly, extend emotional support to patients and their family members so on and so forth.

They possess a wide range of Clinical knowledge and other skills such as a great deal of knowledge in life support skills, ability to make a diagnosis based on observations and data interpretation, communication and interpersonal skills to name a few.

Acute Care Nurses work in a variety of healthcare settings, including hospitals, physicians’ offices, nursing homes, outpatient care centers, clinics etc. Their working hour is quite flexible. They have to work both in day and night shifts or periods of being on-call.

Education Requirements:

In order to qualify for the position of Acute Care Nurses, the aspiring candidates must have to earn Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing (BSN) program and then earn a master’s degree in acute care nursing.

The course work of Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing program include Biology, Microbiology, Anatomy , Epidemiology, Advanced Pathophysiology, Physical assessment and Diagnostic reasoning, Advanced pharmacology etc.

The students may also go for higher studies like Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs or PhD in nursing for practicing this profession at higher level.

Licensure:

To practice as Acute Care Nurses, the candidates need to hold a license as it is mandatory in many states of the USA. The qualified nurses can obtain it through the National Council Licensure Examination, administered by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing.

Salary and Job Outlook:

The job outlook for Acute Care Nurses remains excellent across the USA. According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the growth rate for job opportunities in this profession may rise thirty four per cent during 2012-2022. The average annual salary of an Acute Care Nurse was $92,670 in 2013.

Becoming a Biomedical Laboratory Practitioner

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Biomedical Laboratory Practitioners use lab technologies to identify the causes and nature of various diseases. These professionals also conduct research work to explore new vaccines and treatment techniques. They certainly contribute towards disease prevention and health promotion of human being.

Biomedical Laboratory Practitioners are involved in a diverse field of studies that apply science to medicine, such as Pharmacology, Microbiology, Physiology, Bacteriology, Anatomy so on and so forth.

Professionals in the field of Biomedical Laboratory Practice certainly require a great deal of skills besides the clinical knowledge.  The aspirant candidates need to have self-motivation, ability to manage multiple projects at a same time, dedication to work in challenging situations,  ability to face failures during research work to name a few.

Biomedical Laboratory Practitioners are employed in various settings such as government, private and non-governmental organizations. They mostly work at hospital labs and clinics, forensic labs, veterinary clinics, industrial research labs and molecular biotechnology labs among others.

Education Requirements:

To become Biomedical Laboratory Practitioner, aspiring candidates need to complete a four-year Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university or college with a major in Public health. The students can go for a Master’s in Public health with a course of Behavioral sciences/health education, Biostatistics, Environmental health, Epidemiology or Health services administration.

Licensure: Since many states of USA require Biomedical Laboratory Practitioner to be licensed, the aspiring candidates should obtain a License after completing required academic courses.

Salary and Job Outlook: The job outlook for Biomedical Laboratory Practitioner remains excellent across the USA. According to the US Bureau of Labor statistics (BLS), professionals in this field are in high demand. The average annual salary for Biomedical Laboratory Practitioner was $57,580 in 2012.

Becoming a Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Specialist

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Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Specialists help the people who have heart and lung problems. They encourage and guide the patients to improve their health and prevent future heart problems. Their responsibilities include overseeing the rehabilitation of the patients, addressing the risk factors, educating on healthy living, counseling to reduce stress and helping them to get back an active life.

Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Specialists work with patients who suffer from asthma, angina, emphysema, coronary artery disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart attack and other heart and lung related problems.

Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Specialists possess a wide range of knowledge in medical science, information technology, communication and interpersonal skills and a great ability to convince the patients. These professionals are employed in Hospitals, Physiotherapy clinics, Rehabilitation centers, Home health care services so on and so forth.

Education Requirements:

To become a Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Specialist, students have to complete a Degree program in Rehabilitative science, such as an Associate of Applied Science in Occupational Therapy, Rehabilitation Science or Physical Therapy. The aspiring candidates can also study a four-year Bachelor’s Degree program or earn a Post-baccalaureate Degree.

The core courses in the Degree program include an Introduction to rehabilitative sciences, Physical science, Principles of rehabilitation science and Human anatomy.

Internship: After completing the required academic course, the aspirants for Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Specialists, however, need to get internship training under senior professionals. They can obtain experience and knowledge in working with patients in medical facilities, which will help them to become professionals.

Licensure: Most of the states in the USA require the Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Specialists to be licensed. Hence, the aspirants need to pass a written licensing examination such as the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) exam.

Salary & Job Outlook: Job outlook for the Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Specialist remains excellent across the USA. It is also expected that employment opportunities in this field would increase more in the future. The annual average salary for these professionals was $81,110 in May 2012.

Becoming a Nursing Informaticist

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Nursing Informaticists play a multitask role to meet the needs of the healthcare industry. Their responsibilities include the practice of nursing, research, communication of healthcare information, management of work flow, project management technologies, putting input for policy making to promote better health services so on an so forth. Their services are entitled to leverage information technology to aid patient care.

The Nursing Informaticists can work at public, private and corporate settings in the field of health. They can be posted as chief nursing officers, chief informatics officers, clinical analysts, policy developers, researchers, consultants etc.

Education Requirements:

To qualify for the position of Nursing Informaticists, the aspirants have to complete the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree, a four-year course. Students, who hold a bachelor’s degree in a field other than nursing, can also acquire an associate degree in nursing as to qualify for NI. The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) offers an informatics certification that signifies industry competency.

However, the job requires depth knowledge in three disciplines – nursing, information science and computer science. In addition, the aspirants need a better communication skill both in writing and speaking as well as interpersonal and organizational skills.

Salary and Job Outlook:

The job outlook for Nursing Informaticist remains excellent across the USA. According to a survey report conducted by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), the average salary for a Nursing Informaticist was $100,717 in 2014.

Becoming a Healthcare Documentation Specialist

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Healthcare Documentation Specialists manage the legal and clinical service documents of a healthcare institution. Their responsibilities include recording the diagnostic and procedural codes, physical examination reports, consultation reports, discharging summaries and other documents relating to doctors, patients and other concerned persons of the institution. Besides healthcare institution, they can also work for different government agencies.

Healthcare Documentation Specialists possess wide range of knowledge and skills to analyze and interpret medical coding, medical terminologies, anatomy, physiology etc. They need to have a command in communication skill both in writing and speaking as well as interpersonal and organizational skills. Besides, they need to maintain the privacy of the patients and secure all the reports safely as the documents are confidential in nature. Above all, the job ensures high level of accuracy and integrity to provide better health services.

Education Requirements:

In order to become Healthcare Documentation Specialist, students have to complete a two-year associate’s or a four-year bachelor’s degree program in Health information management with the course work of Nursing, Medical terminology , Health information management and Health information technology.

After getting the certification from credential organization, the aspiring candidates can obtain the job opportunities. Various organizations, like the American Health Information Management Association and the American Academy of Professional Coders offer different designations in this field.

Salary and Job outlook:

The job outlook for Healthcare Documentation Specialist remains outstanding across the USA. The average annual salary of Healthcare Documentation Specialist was $65,500 in May 2012. It is also projected that the job opportunities in this category would increase by 17% between 2012 and 2020.

Becoming a Neurodiagnostic Technologist

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Neurodiagnostic Technologists review and analyze the patients’ nervous system to treat neurological ailments. Their experience and knowledge in neurophysiology help them identify normal and abnormal activities in the nervous systems of the body. They collect the data using electrical patterns and provide those to the physicians who treat ailments such as headaches, brain disorder, heart strokes and dizziness.

Key Responsibilities of Neurodiagnostic Technologists:

* Electroencephalograms (EEGs) being used to assess brain activity
* Intraoperative neuromonitoring, which tracks brain and nerve function
* Monitoring the disorders
* Perform Polysomnograms to diagnose sleep disorders and identify the real issues
* Find the electrical signals in nervous system.

Neurodiagnostic Technologists usually work in hospitals, clinical settings, physician’s office, epilepsy monitoring units, sleep disorder centers and research labs.

Education Requirements: The aspiring Neurodiagnostic Technologists must go for a high school diploma, which includes courses such as mathematics, science, biology, computer and language

courses. After completing high school diploma, they need to undergo a two-year degree program with coursework in physics or biology.

The aspiring Neurodiagnostic Technologists can opt for EEG Credentialing exam from the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) or American Board of Registration of Electroencephalographic and Evoked Potential Technologists (ABRET).

Salary & Job Outlook: The career outlook for Neurodiagnostic Technologists remains very good. They earn around $44,200 per annum during the initial phase of their career. Experienced professionals may earn around $112,333 per year. The average annual salary for Neurodiagnostic Technologists was $65,226.

Becoming a Palliative Care Physician

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Palliative Care Physicians work hard to improve the functioning of body parts and improve the living conditions. They mainly focus on relieving the pain and other symptoms of serious and chronic illness. The Palliative Care Physicians work with patients and their family members to identify and alleviate physical and emotional pain and trauma associated with serious health conditions.

These professionals also spend time on family meetings and counseling process. They play as a strong link between the patients and family members and coordinate with the support groups and other service providers to ensure best services for them. The team where Palliative Care Physicians work, included nurses and social workers, pharmacists, massage therapists and nutritionists.

Key Challenges:

* Controlling pain, removing stress, addressing spiritual needs.
* Help the family members understand the patients’ conditions and treatment process.
* Improve communication between patients and care providers.

Education Requirements:

1. Earn a Medical Degree: The aspiring Palliative Care Physicians must earn a medical degree in any of the specialties: family medicine, internal medicine, emergency medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, physical medicine and rehabilitation, anesthesiology, psychiatry and neurology, radiology or surgery.

2. Residency Program: After completing the medical degree, they may opt for residency programs to gain hands-on experience. They can also go for a one-year palliative medicine fellowship program accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

Working Conditions: The Palliative Care Physicians mostly work in hospitals, clinics, private nursing homes, government agencies, shelter homes etc. In some cases, they also offer services at patient’s home.

Salary & Job Outlook: Job outlook for the Palliative Care Physicians remain excellent. They earn in the range of $150,000 – $170,000 per year depending on experience and expertise.