Amanda Palmer

Personal Portfolio: St. Gianna Health Academy

About Me!

I graduated from Bishop Carroll in 2010.

I played basketball one year and then became the boys’ varsity basketball manager for the next three.

I really enjoy reading, hanging out with my friends, and shopping.

My Future

Next year I plan on attending Wichita State University.

I will be living at home as a full time student.

The career I am going to pursue is dental hygiene.

Orientation Week

The first week of Health Academy was an overview of the entire course and multiple speakers were brought in.

The security at the hospital talked to us about parking, fire drills, and tornado drills.

Some other speakers were brought in to talk about volunteer hours and agenda for the operating room.

Orientation Continued

We were given tours of both the St. Francis and St. Joseph campuses.

Mrs. Hang introduced us to Blackboard and the various blog sites we would be using.

We were also informed about the HIPPA laws and what to do to make sure we don’t break them.

Rotations

A major part of the program is that the students are privileged with the opportunity to go to the different units in the hospital and observe.

Actually being in the unit and seeing how things run really opened my eyes on some of the professions.

Blogs Transplant Posted by  Amanda Palmer at  Thursday, January 28,

2010 1:33:51 PM CST On my second rotation I went to the Transplant unit. I

followed a nurse named Craig. He was different from the nurse I had last week. He was very outspoken and a little ornery. This time I had more of a learning experience. He gave me a disposable stethoscope so i could listen to his patients heart beat. The sixth floor dealt with mainly with patients on dialysis and those recovering from surgery. Craig let me listen to this lady's arm, she got a tube put in her arm to make her veins bigger so the blood could flow easier. It was really neat to feel the blood flowing and listen to the flow of it.

Another one of Craig's patients had severe diabetes that he had to have his legs amputated. My nurse said this is why it is very important to take care of your body because this guy's was in bad shape. This man was leaving the unit for therapy and he had a great personality. I was impressed because he was such a happy man even though he had his legs amputated and he was blind. It made me realize that I need to see the best things in life and to not take so much time to dwell on the bad aspects of life.

CICU Posted by  Amanda Palmer at  Thursday, February 18,

2010 2:00:39 PM CST Well I was only in the Coronary Intensive Care Unit for

one day because the other day I spent dominating in our Senior/Faculty game. Which we won by the way!

Anyways the CICU is very quiet. I had a nurse named Paulina who was very nice but talked very quiet. I also had another nurse named Judy. She was very inspiring. She told me the best thing about nursing was helping people, to make them realize that they are needed and loved. She used to work with cancer patients and loved helping them. Nothing was really going on the day, everyone was just coming back from surgery, but it was a very caring atmosphere.

Continued Blogs Cath Lab Posted by  Amanda Palmer at  Thursday, March 11, 2010 2:23:51 PM CST Week Nine I was in the Cath Lab. I was able to go into the room while the

doctor inserted a catheter. There were monitors around and we were able to see the catheter going through the artery and when the dye was injected you could see if something was wrong or not. There were two procedures like that. The rooms were pretty cold and on the second one I was able to watch the monitors and chart everything with the nurse. Dr. Bajaj was a very friendly doctor that was doing the procedure. Wednesday, I was in Topeka for the Boys basketball game. Lonnie, the coach, forgot the uniforms. . lol. .yes we had to wear Highland Parks jerseys.

Radiology Posted by  Amanda Palmer at  Monday, March 8, 2010

2:33:22 PM CST One word: boring. The first day that I went to radiology the

lady at the front desk just told me to sit down. Everyone in there was sitting at a table talking while I sat in the corner. There weren't friendly at all, they didn't even look at you. After about an hour I went to CT where the people were nicer. I got to actually see some full body scans which were pretty interesting to look at. The next day in Radiology wasn't any better. I was back where I had started in the Diagnostic Lab. They didn't tell me when things were going on so I just had to go look at the different procedures myself. There was a spinal tap going on which was by far the most exciting thing in the whole place. I can honestly say that I don't want to go into Radiology. It would be so boring except for when you actually had patients. I also had a problem as who to ask to sign my paper. The lady at the front desk offered to sign it and then gives me above average on everything. Cool. Glad you people were so nice and informative.

MICU Posted by  Amanda Palmer at  Thursday, February 25, 2010

1:45:01 PM CST My seventh week of rotations I was in the MICU. The first day

my nurse was Lindsay. She was young, very nice, and provided me with alot of information. One of her patients was elderly and had some heart problems. She came in for her heart because it was beating too slow, but then after they put her on medicine her heart was beating too fast. Her other patient had down syndrome and he had an overlarge heart and had trouble breathing. He had to be put on a venilator and i got to watch the nurse do a sonogram on his heart.

The next day I had a nurse named Melanie. One of her patients was getting transfered and she had a variety of health problems. The other patient was young and he had overdosed on medication and alcohol the night before. It was really sad seeing a person like this who was unconscious. His family was there and they seemed really upset. This made me thankful for my family. I know i get mad when my parents are strict with me, but in the long run they are just trying to protect me from those kinds of dangers.

Thank You Letters

Professional Thank You Letters February 18, 2010 ATTN: Bobbi Carriger Pediatric Unit St. Francis Campus 929 N. St. Francis Wichita, KS 67214 Dear Pediatric Unit, I would like to thank you for allowing me to observe in the unit. It was a great learning experience and I really enjoyed the different patients. I enjoyed shadowing the nurses and following them on their rounds. It was interesting to see what goes on during the day in the Pediatric Unit. I would like to give a special thanks to Loan and Matt. They were very friendly and eager to have me tag along. They provided me with as much information as possible and they answered any questions I had. I learned a great deal from them and grateful for the experience. Thanks again for everything. I really value the time I spent in the Pediatric Unit. Sincerely, Amanda Palmer

March 25, 2010 ATTN: Marci Renollet 7SE St. Francis Campus 929 N. St. Francis Wichita, KS 67214 Dear 7SE, I would like to thank you for allowing me to observe in the unit. It was a great learning experience and I really enjoyed the different patients. I enjoyed shadowing the nurses and following them on their rounds. It was interesting to see what goes on during the day in the 7SE nursing unit. I would like to give a special thanks to all the nurses whom explained and showed me around the unit. They were very friendly and eager to have me tag along. They provided me with as much information as possible and they answered any questions I had. I learned a great deal from them and grateful for the experience. Thanks again for everything. I really value the time I spent in the 7SE nursing unit. Sincerely, Amanda Palmer

February 18, 2010 ATTN: Cheryl Donelan CICU St. Francis Campus 929 N. St. Francis Wichita, KS 67214 Dear CICU, I would like to thank you for allowing me to observe in the unit. It was a great learning experience and I really enjoyed the different patients. I enjoyed shadowing the nurses and following them on their rounds. It was interesting to see what goes on during the day in the Critical Intensive Care Unit. I would like to give a special thanks to all the nurses whom explained and showed me around the unit. They were very friendly and eager to have me tag along. They provided me with as much information as possible and they answered any questions I had. I learned a great deal from them and grateful for the experience. Thanks again for everything. I really value the time I spent in the CICU. Sincerely, Amanda Palmer

February 26, 2010 ATTN: Missy Hampel MICU St. Francis Campus 929 N. St. Francis Wichita, KS 67214 Dear MICU, I would like to thank you for allowing me to observe in the unit. It was a great learning experience and I really enjoyed the different patients. I enjoyed shadowing the nurses and following them on their rounds. It was interesting to see what goes on during the day in the Medical Intensive Care Unit. I would like to give a special thanks to all the nurses whom explained and showed me around the unit. They were very friendly and eager to have me tag along. They provided me with as much information as possible and they answered any questions I had. I learned a great deal from them and grateful for the experience. Thanks again for everything. I really value the time I spent in the MICU. Sincerely, Amanda Palmer

March 4, 2010 ATTN: Becky Vanlandingham Radiology St. Francis Campus 929 N. St. Francis Wichita, KS 67214 Dear Radiology, I would like to thank you for allowing me to observe in the unit. It was a great learning experience and I really enjoyed the different patients. I enjoyed shadowing the nurses and following them on their rounds. It was interesting to see what goes on during the day in Radiology. I would like to give a special thanks to all the nurses whom explained and showed me around the unit. They were very friendly and eager to have me tag along. They provided me with as much information as possible and they answered any questions I had. I learned a great deal from them and grateful for the experience. Thanks again for everything. I really value the time I spent in the Radiology. Sincerely, Amanda Palmer

Mentor Forms

Hand washing Presentations

Throughout the semester, our class was divided into groups where we created a hand washing skit.

The purpose of this activity was to show children, especially young, the importance of hygiene.

We went to a few of the middle schools like Holy Savior and St. Margaret Mary.

Our group showed the children how to wash their hands and brush their teeth.

It was a fun activity and I feel the children really got something out of it.

Discovering Careers

One of the first projects we did was career interests.

We had to pick five careers we were interested in and summarize salary, benefits, and education requirements for them.

The five careers I chose were Dental Hygienist, Administrative Medical Assistant, Clinical Neuropsychologist, Anesthesiologist, and Surgical Technologist.

Careers in Science and Health Professions

This class was taken at Newman University and it was taught by Dr. Surendra Singh.

Dr. Singh brought in speakers from the various healthcare fields and they spoke to us about their professions.

This class was probably one of my favorites because it was really interesting to hear straight from a doctor or a DNA analyst what their career was really like.

A few of my favorite lectures. .

Dr. Mark Troilo: Dentist. His lecture was really

interesting to me because I considered the field of dentistry.

He gave all aspects of the profession and I respected the fact that he was honest enough to tell us the negative sides of the career.

Continued. . .

Dr. Shelly Steadman: Forensic DNA Analysis. Her job was very impressive. All the work that she

deals with is almost exactly like the CSI shows. Dr. Dianna Crook: Family Physician

Her lecture was realistic and she had a good sense of humor. She’s very passionate about her job and has worked extremely hard to get where she is now.

ResumeAmanda R. Palmer

7101 S. 103rd St. W. Clearwater, KS 67026 Phone: (620) 545-7359

Objective To obtain an entry level position in the medical field. Education Newman University

Medical Terminology: 2010 Wichita, KS Careers in Science and Health Professions: 2010 Wichita, KS AP English: 2009-Present Wichita, KS

Friends University Pre- Calculus: 2009-Present Wichita, KS

Bishop Carroll Catholic High School Honors Curriculum: 2006- Present

St. Gianna Catholic Health Academy Shadowed medical professionals: 2010 Wichita, KS

Employment Felipe’s Mexican Restaurant, Wichita, KS, January 2009- Present.

Hostess: greeting and seating customers, taking carryout orders. Waitress/Server: serving drinks and food and ensuring the happiness of the

customers. GK Tire and Auto, Wichita, KS, May 2007- May 2009.

Secretary/Clerk: answering phones, filing invoices, and mailing statements.

Babysitting, Wichita, KS, May 2008- Present. Taking care of and providing transportation for children of all ages as

needed. Activities and Volunteer Work Lord’s Diner Volunteer: 2006-Present Men’s Varsity Basketball Manager: 2007-2010 Special Olympics Volunteer: 2009-Present Certification

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation o 2010, Wichita, KS

Cover LetterAmanda R. Palmer

7101 S. 103rd St. W. Clearwater, KS 67026 Phone: (620) 545-7359

April 14, 2010 Denise Clarke-Hang Program Director 929 North St. Francis Wichita, KS 67214 Dear Mrs. Clarke-Hang, I am interested in pursuing a career as a dental hygienist with your company and would like some more information concerning this position. My educational background consists of college honors curriculum in course such as English, pre-calculus, and medical terminology. The dentist office I have been a patient at for many years had interested me in dental hygiene. The office had allowed me to observe on numerous occasions and really gave me the desire to pursue this career. I have had experience working in restaurants which allowed my communication skills to flourish. Intellectually, I am smart, and maintain great manual dexterity. I am confident that I will be an asset to your company. It would be greatly appreciated if we could schedule an interview at your earliest convenience. Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Sincerely, Amanda Palmer

References

Amanda R. Palmer 7101 S. 103rd St. W.

Clearwater, KS 67026 Phone: (620) 545-7359

REFERENCES

Jim Nance Danielle Brown 162 N. Karren Ct. 323 Hungerford Ave. Wichita, KS 67212 Haysville, KS 67060 (316)729-0903 (316)529-0341

Lonnie Lollar Bishop Carroll Catholic High School

8101 West Central Wichita, KS 67212

(316) 722-2390

Reflection

St. Gianna Catholic Health Academy has given me a new outlook in the medical world. I learned how to perform CPR and have received a new vocabulary from medical terminology. I am grateful for all the things I’ve learned and appreciate this opportunity. Thanks Mrs. Hang