Week 2 Wednesday

This week has primarily been spent in the office preparing for the programs and I've gotten a chance to ask her more about her role. She usually schedules the programs that she visits places to do, but she schedules about a year in advance. The other county agents go into eachother's counties to do a program once a month. Today, another county came to our office to teach a Homemakers lesson on cleaning. It was very informative and we had about 3 participants. Yesterday we went to headstart again, but this time Marisa taught mothers about couponing. It was a great course, but still only 3 people attended. If people new what great free information was being given, they would come!

Week 1 Sunday

This week had a lot of variety! Every stage of life was reached through Extension; Headstart, Matter of Balance program for a retired community, and high school students. On Thursday we went to a retirement community- basically an Extended Care Facility- where Marisa and another county's extension agent wrapped up an 8 week program about exercise and safety around the home. Everyone loved the fiber information that I shared and many had great questions about lab values and specific sources of fiber.
On Friday we went to the Jessamine County HS Technical School and spoke in their child development class to 2 different groups. Marisa taught them about Facebook etiquette, online bullying, having a positive self image, and being assertive. I helped with some role playing and asked students to participate and spoke to the class. It seems like a great program to bring to high school students.
Most of the day at the office is spent doing paper work and Marisa shows me what she does to prepare for these programs and she gives me some time to work on projects.

Week 1 Wednesday

Cooperative Extension

I have been working with Marissa on various things like stuffing bags for the 10 year Cancer Free Cancer Coalition and planning programs that will happen in the next two weeks. Yesterday we went to Head Start for the "Leap" program and Marissa read a book to a group of kids about fruits and vegetables. The kids all loved it and learned about a lot of fruit and veggies through the alphabet. Tomorrow we are doing "Matter of Balance" with the elderly population. They usually do physical activity and give lessons. They partner with other extension agents in the area, like Anderson County. I wanted to help with it so I'm talking to them about fiber. I will be writing an article for the Jessamine paper on Kids Health next week. I'm learning that I like the variety.

Week 5 Sunday

This has been a good rotation with the health department. Its completely different than clinical work, yet sometimes MNT and educations are needed. I struggled with telling a few mothers about their weight and child's weights this past week and I know that being comfortable with that comes with time. But its challenging to tell someone that their baby is off the growth chart. Thursday I stayed in Boyle County while Julie went to Mercer so I could help with the Womens Health Fair. I helped with registration but also talked with other health professionals from the area, including a representative of USDA that works for PACS (Pennyrile Allied Community Services). It was great to learn of more job opportunities for community nutrition that are out there.

Week 5-Wednesday

I'm glad you, Dr. Eliassen, were able to visit on Tuesday. I showed the bulletin board to the nurses and clerks that were able to listen in today. I went over the 2010 Dietary Guidelines and explained the handouts I put up as my inservice. Today to thank everyone for their hard work with WIC and the new changes, the director and head nurse planned a special candle lit lunch for us. We had to sing the "On top of Spaghetti" meatball song! It was great to see how the staff gets rewarded for their hard work.
Today we had another FTT, but she was already 4 years old and didn't seem that small. She did have other issues that may have been with mental development. It was The doctor had prescribed her Pediasure 2 cans/day d/t dx of FTT. I don't know the cause but she has always been very small. We ensured that she was getting the proper nutrients and said a vitamin would be beneficial also. The mother was also very slow so it became difficult to get things through to her. I'm sure the more I knew the pt and mother, the easier the communication would be.

Week 4 Sunday

I officially sent in my first job application and resume to Central Baptist for a PRN position! I figure why not if thats all that becomes available. There is a position with Fayette Co HD but i'm not certain I want to jump to that yet. I'm realizing there is a lot more to the WIC position. With reports and program planning and implimentation, I want to be sure I am really interested in it first.

On Friday, we went to Frankfort for Kentucky Diabetes Network. The topic of interest was electronic medical records and being able to transform to them. The speaker mentioned there are more patients bringing their jump drives with them to appointments to have their records saved on them. I think its a great idea, but it could back up the offices until it becomes the new norm.
We started our WIC EBT card system last week, so we are getting to witness it first hand. Behind our desk, we are able to change the pts food packages if they want (minor changes) and the computer system is somewhat different so it had many people nervous.

Week 4 Wednesday

Julie has been teaching me about the other side of her job; paperwork. We are hearing a lot about budget cuts and whether or not WIC will lose funding eventually. Many of the nurses are nervous and unsure about it. I think that nothing will happen overnight and it won't happen soon. Julie explained to me how she must keep record of all that she does here at the health department, with diabetes or with MNT. She is working on her record system right now where she must note how many people come to her classes and support groups. The program, CATALYST, is what will ensure that she can keep her funding.
On Monday, we attended a meeting for the Coordinated School Health Coalition that Julie is a part of. We discussed the epidemic of obesity/OW with children and a program to increase awareness, data collection, and education. The part that was most significant in the meeting was the budget. In order to receive the 200,000 grant they desire to put the nurses in every school, they must match it first then maintain the money after. Everyone pulled together ideas for raising the money; side small grants, fundraisors.
Yesterday evening the County Extension agent taught a Diabetes Support Group lesson on vitamins.