internship powerpoint
- 1. M A D I S O N M I R A N D I F A L L 2 0 1 5 Anderson Free Clinic Internship
- 2. Introduction This semester I completed my health science internship at the Anderson Free Clinic in Anderson, South Carolina under the supervision of Barbara Baptista and Sherry Lawson. I earned over 180 hours performing patient triage, working with the Care Navigation program, and helping out with office work wherever needed. I trained with the nursing coordinator, Elizabeth Young, to learn how to do triage well and how to best interact with the patients. It was an enriching experience and I look forward to giving my time there in the future.
- 3. The Anderson Free Clinic The Anderson Free Clinic located at: 414 North Fant St. Anderson, SC 29621
- 4. What is the Anderson Free Clinic? The Anderson Free Clinic’s primary goal is to provide health care to those in the community with no health insurance and low income. The Free Clinic offers medical, dental, and pharmaceutical services to its patients. The clinic recruits volunteer providers from the area to see patients four days a week. AFC is the only healthcare clinic in Anderson providing free medical and dental care to low income patients and they are funded purely through donations and grants.
- 5. Mission Statement and Goals The mission statement of AFC: “To serve the health needs of the underserved citizens of Anderson County through community engagement and partnerships with those who care.” Their vision is that everyone in Anderson County would be able to have access to quality health care, regardless of their ability to pay.
- 6. History of AFC AFC was founded in 1984 as a non-profit agency, operating in a house in downtown Anderson. Maureen Santini became the AFC’s first paid staff member in January of 1985. In 1985, the clinic’s first pharmacy was opened between a walk-in closet and the kitchen pantry in the house. In 1998, on Valentine’s Day, AFC opens the Fant Street location with 6 medical exam rooms, 3 dental exam rooms, and one lab.
- 7. My Role at the Clinic My role at the clinic mainly consisted of patient triage and working with the Care Navigation program. At times, I filled in wherever was needed, especially the front office. This gave me exposure to most aspects of how the clinic is run. My certification as a nursing assistant trained me to be able to perform triage, under the supervision of Elizabeth Young.
- 8. Triage Triage begins by calling the patient back to a room and measuring their height and weight. Next, the patient is asked the reason for their visit and if they smoke or drink alcohol regularly. I then check in all medications the patient has brought with them, going over each one to make sure the patient knows if they have been taking it as prescribed. Vitals signs are then taken, including blood pressure, pulse, respirations, temperature, and blood sugar if necessary. Last, the patient if either put in an exam room or sent out to the waiting room until the provider is ready for them.
- 9. Triage Taking a patient’s vital signs during triage.
- 10. The Care Navigation Program The Care Navigation program targets non-compliant patients. These patients are likely to visit the ER, miss appointments, and not take their medications properly. I worked with Nina Bridges, the care coordinator, to implement this program. Aspects of the program include: calling patients who have recently been in the ER or missed an appointment, calling patients who have not been seen in awhile, using Care Message to send out individualized text messages to patients, and organizing group and individual therapy sessions. To evaluate the effectiveness of the program, I conducted surveys with Care Navigation patients over the phone.
- 11. Care Navigation Updating the Care Message spreadsheet The phone survey
- 12. Care Navigation To the left: a to-do list left for me by Nina Bridges. To the right: a sample of the sign up sheet for text reminders and updates
- 13. Projects I completed two major projects during my internship this semester: an ER report analysis and a brochure for group therapy sessions. Both of these projects were part of the Care Navigation program. The ER report analysis measured the effect the program had on frequent ER users over two years. The brochure aimed to bring the non-compliant patients into group therapy sessions.
- 14. ER Report Analysis The ER report analysis took all the data from all ER visits by AFC patients in 2014 and 2015 and compared them. I broke the visits up into categories: how many patients were admitted, how many visits were dental-related, how many visits were mental-related, how many of the visits were by Care Navigation patients, and acuity levels. I then went through each visit and decided which visits were unnecessary based on the reason for the visit and whether the clinic was open at that time. From the data I could conclude the top admission reasons and the top unnecessary visits. I then graphed the data from the two years to make the comparisons visual.
- 15. ER Report Analysis 0 50 100 150 200 250 Admitted Dental Mental C-Care 2014 2015 Table 1: ER Report Analysis 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 CCU/ICU In-Patient Psychiatric Observation 2014 2015 Table 2: Admission Types (%)
- 17. Conclusion My time at the Anderson Free Clinic has taught me very valuable lessons and awarded me knowledge that will help me through the rest of my health care career. I have learned not only much medical knowledge, but also how to effectively communicate with patients and behave in a professional manner. It has been a privilege to work alongside this staff and learn from each and every one of them.