Thursday, December 20, 2012

Brain gifts to share with you… Merry Christmas!



I am preparing for the Christmas Holiday, and the ASET Education office will be closed from Friday, December 21 through next Wednesday.  I will be back in my office on Thursday, Dec. 27th for the rest of that week.  I thought I would cheer you all up with some delightful brain-themed gifts!


How about this great, hand-made brain hat?  This was made by one of Debby Ferguson’s students for her.  She runs the NDT Program at the Indiana University.

 For the music lovers on your list:  “Brain Wave Massage Music” C.D. and you can get this on Amazon.  Maybe you can play this to relax your patients.







And if you collect stuffed animals, how about a “stuffed brain”!


 Have a safe and peaceful holiday and make sure to give your brain a rest!

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Feasibility Study for an ASET initiative to create a Neurodiagnostic Lab management resource



You have probably seen the notice under “Breaking News” on the ASET home page about a survey that I am currently conducting.  The ASET Board of Trustees has requested that I complete a feasibility study to determine if ASET can offer a specialized educational program to prepare staff technologists to take on lab management roles. 

ASET promotes professionalism in our field.  We strive to ensure that technologists are recognized in the work place for their specialized skills and knowledge.  When a hospital administration is seeking someone to serve in a supervisory or management role in the Neurodiagnostic Laboratory, we sincerely hope that the staff technologists are not overlooked as qualified candidates for this role.  We are considering developing a special “tool kit”, a package of management skill development resources that will give technologists the edge when seeking to move up the career ladder.

While some hospitals may have an internal “leadership development” program, I know that many do not.  Earlier in my thirty-three year career in Neurodiagnostics, by moving to better jobs, I worked my way up to lab management.  I had very few opportunities for specific training in the new skills that would be required.  Other than an afternoon session on how to write a performance appraisal, I was on my own!  I had to pursue a college degree to take the kind of courses that one needs to develop essential management skills.
So, perhaps, at some point in the not-too-distant future, ASET will be able to offer technologists a Lab Management Certificate Program.  The goal will be to create concise learning modules to cover all the areas of knowledge required to effectively manage a Neurodiagnostic Lab.  After completing all the modules, learning activities, assignments, tests and skill assessments in the program, the participant would be awarded a “Certificate of Completion” for documentation.  Hopefully, this will lead to promotions.  We need to develop more leaders from within our own ranks.

Some of the topics that we might cover will include:

  • Overview of information related to information resources, websites, organizations, associations etc. that have to do with neurodiagnostics, allied health, accreditation, etc.
  • Legal issues regarding digital records, editing and archiving of recordings and video files
  • Lab and LTM unit set up to address HIPPA patient privacy issues such as video monitoring screen access and visibility, as well as patient safety issues
  • Capital expense and equipment purchase
  • Networking and remote access to recordings

So, please take a few moments and fill out a survey for me.  The survey will be available for another month before I tally the results.  You will find the survey right on the ASET home page, or click here to go there now.

Thanks so much, and as always, I welcome your comments.  Once I have more information from the feasibility study, I will write an update for you all in a future blog entry.  As of today, 140 surveys have come back to me, with mostly positive responses, so I hope to have good news for you!