Addiction counselors work with individuals who have issues with drugs, alcohol, gambling or eating. These professionals operate in a variety of settings, providing both individual and group counseling services that offer the support patients need to move on from their addictions. If you have a passion for helping people and are willing to put in the time and training to obtain certification in your field, addiction counseling might be the right job for you.

Many students begin their study in addiction counseling at their local community college, and then they move to a professional position or a four-year university where they can continue to advance in their field. While many states require individuals to have a master's degree to become licensed as an addiction counselor, others use their community college training to get their foot in the door and advance with on-the-job experience.

About Addiction Counseling

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, job growth for addiction counselors over the next decade is expected to be favorable. The job may be performed in a variety of settings, from private offices to clinics and hospitals. Counseling sessions are frequently in group format, with many patients coming to weekly sessions that help them overcome their addictions over a period of time. These counseling sessions provide support and information to help people modify behaviors and address issues that led to the addictions in the first place.

Most states require addiction counselors to obtain a license

It has become popular in Australia, New Zealand, and Great Britain. It has even been embraced in the rural villages of Alaska. Now, dental therapy is coming to the continental United States, thanks to a pilot training program offered through the state of Minnesota.

Dental therapy is the future wave, offering patients additional access to dental treatment, using a more cost-effective solution to many common dental issues. Dental therapists operate as middlemen between dentists and dental hygienists, offering many services usually provided by dentists but often at a fraction of the cost. The program was introduced in Minnesota to help reach the state's rural areas where people cannot access dentists easily due to distant locations and unaffordable fees.

This video offers a look at what a dental therapist does.

The English Example

According to the National Health Service website, dental therapists are a mainstay in countries like Great Britain, where approximately 380 were on the General Dental Council Role in 2002. Since then, dental therapists have been authorized to work in all areas of dentistry, including general dental practices. The therapist works directly with a registered dentist, providing the treatment that the dentist prescribes.

Dental therapists in England also have opportunities to move into other areas of the dental field, including research and teaching roles. A diploma course in dental therapy takes about 27 months to complete and includes a variety of topics, including preventative dentistry,

Do you have a passion for caring for others? Are you looking for a career in which you can start relatively quickly? Certified Nursing Assistant programs are cropping up nationwide, thanks to stimulus funds designed to get people into the healthcare field as quickly as possible. In as little as three months, you can move from a student at a community college to a fully certified nursing assistant working in a hospital, nursing care center, or home setting.

While these programs are not new, additional funding from the stimulus package has allowed many community colleges to increase the number of certified nursing classes they offer. This means even more students can get on the fast track to a healthcare career that is much more stable than many other industries today. The short amount of time in school also means tuition savings for those who want to explore new career opportunities but don't have many extra funds to do so.

What is a Certified Nursing Assistant?

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, certified nursing assistants work in various settings, offering hands-on care to patients under the supervision of RNs and other medical staff. In some cases, CNAs may help patients eat, bathe, or perform other daily tasks. Some might also take patient vitals, including temperature, pulse, and blood pressure. They may assist the rest of the medical staff by moving equipment, setting up supplies, or assisting with some procedures.

This video describes the nursing

Many Americans are searching for a new career in today’s shifting job market. One option worth considering may be working in polysomnography technology.

What is Polysomnography Technology?

Polysomnography technology is a branch of healthcare devoted to studying sleep disorders. Sleep technologists monitor individuals while they sleep, recording their brain activity, muscle and eye movements, respiration, and blood oxygen and carbon dioxide levels. These measurements are used to help diagnose sleep disorders such as:

• Narcolepsy
• Insomnia
• Sleep apnea
• Restless leg syndrome

What Can a Polysomnography Technologist Expect to Earn?

Starting salaries vary by region, but are generally quite impressive. The website for the Moraine Valley Community College Polysomnography Certificate program indicates that a typical sleep technologist in the Chicago area earns $51,773.

The Shift Work Disorder News indicates that those who have completed sleep technologist training programs can earn “$42,509 to $80,300 annually, depending on the certification level and the years of experience.”

Texas’s Alvin Community College, which offers certificate and associate’s degree programs in polysomnography technology, indicates that “starting salaries are typically $20 to $25 per hour.”

What Jobs Does a Polysomnography Technologist Perform?

A sleep technologist may perform many duties. According to the website for the American Association of Sleep Technologists (AAST), a sleep technologist’s jobs may include:

• Ensuring that equipment is functioning properly
• Monitoring and analyzing polysomnograms (sleep tests that measure air flow, eye movements, oxygen, and other variables)
• Recognizing sleep and

Careers

With the convenience and efficiency of EHRs, patient information can be recorded and sent to approved medical providers and treatment centers with less hassle for both patients and medical providers. EHRs typically include information such as, “Patient demographics, progress notes, problems, medications, vital signs, past medical history, immunizations, laboratory data, and radiology reports.”

EHRs are gaining steam in medicine and healthcare, and subsequently, students can take advantage of a growing and lucrative healthcare career in EHRs starting at their local community colleges.

This video explains what an EHR or Electronic Health Record is.

The Rising Demand for EHRs

EHRs essentially serve to streamline communication and informational systems among clinicians. By generating complete records of a patient’s medical and treatment history, an EHR offers an array of benefits, including reducing a clinician’s workflow, as well as providing patients with improved healthcare services. Elaborating on this, as the Health Information Management Systems Society explains, EHRs offer direct or indirect interface features, providing health care workers with details “Including evidence-based decision support, quality management, and outcomes reporting.”

Investigating EHRs’ applications in the professional setting, studies prove that EHRs are significantly boosting patient health and recovery. As PR News Wire reveals, a randomized study of EHRs conducted by Kaiser Permanente found that the use of EHRs helped to reduce the risk of cardiac-related deaths by 73 percent! Specifically, by using EHRs to streamline communication, “Patients and