What I Do For a Living

So, perhaps it was just fate that, after being frustrated about having no real skills except making fake things, I'd stumble upon this article in Newsweek. It's a lengthy read - if you want to read it, go ahead. Regardless, I'll paraphrase.

Across the nation, hospitals are looking at the care they give to their patients and trying to find ways to improve that care. They're finding that anything from reporting medical errors to serving fresh fruit to treating terminal patients so that they're comfortable in their final days can all have dramatic effects on patients' quality of life. How does this tie in to what I do?

Well, one significant project I've been working on is designed to help track the number of medical errors that occur in our hospitals. Not only do we track how many occur, but we try to find trends in where those errors are occurring so that we can target those areas and prevent the errors from occurring in the future. In addition, as new procedures are put into place to try to prevent those errors, we can track our progress to make sure that it's actually working.

Another project that I'm beginning to work on deals with patient deaths at the hospital and, with that, medical errors that may or may not have played a part. Also, it has a small bit to do with making sure that terminal patients are getting the comfort care that they require.

So, while what I do isn't nearly as exciting or glamorous as what's listed in that article, what I do lays the groundwork for things like that.

At least I feel a little better, now.