Your Massive Gold Nugget Can Be As Simple As A Job You Love

I just read an amazing article about someone finding a humongous 10 pound gold nugget with a simple metal detector while hiking in the Sierra Nevada. When I read how this person stumbled upon a hunk of gold in the desert, I immediately thought, oh, wow! What are the chances of that? To find around $130,000.00 in gold under some rocks. While I realize that this is a once in a lifetime discovery, I am keenly aware that golden opportunities exist for each and every one of us if we put our mind to it.

The Gold Nugget is Within You!
While you may not own a metal detector, nor hike in the Sierra Nevada, you too can find a hunk of gold, right where you are—within yourself. Just like a piece of gold, which is beautiful, has value and never wears out, so are your talents and skills. Your gold nugget is you, your family, your talents, compassion and skills. Your metal detector is a golden opportunity that comes along, especially for those with a solid education and the strong desire to build a career path where one can grow as a person and professional. Do this, and you will have golden days ahead.

Jobs in the Healthcare Industry

In today's tough economy, many are gravitating toward a career in the medical and healthcare field to find their own gold nuggets. The healthcare and medical industry is booming and holds countless job opportunities, of which many require as "little as" a high school diploma and the will to succeed. Kindness, caring and being well organized with a keen eye for details are your best traits to do well in an allied health career.

Healthcare workers are well educated, highly trained and well compensated for normal work hours and hours outside their normal schedule, which includes for pre- and post shift duties, travel time during scheduled work hours from site to site and work related travel to meetings and training. They are also well protected by labor laws.

Healthcare Worker's Wages, Pay, Bonuses and Exemptions

Non-exempt employees receive time and one-half the regular rate of pay after 40 hours of work in a 7-day workweek. Regular rate includes all compensation, such as non-discretionary bonuses and shift differentials. In nursing homes and residential living facilities, employers may pay overtime after 8 hours in any one day and 80 hours in a 14-day pay period.

Anyone wishing to find out details about healthcare personnel employment rules, regulations and pay, such as, for example whether salaried managerial and professional employees in healthcare facilities are exempt from the minimum wage and overtime regulations in their state, should contact their state's Labor Department. Often it depends on whether they have met specific salary, duty, or educational requirements.

Examples of a healthcare facility constantly in need of healthcare staff and personnel include hospitals, nursing homes, outpatient clinics and group medical practices, comprehensive rehabilitation hospitals, residential health care facilities, residential drug and alcohol treatment facilities, adult day health care facilities, assisted living residences, comprehensive personal care homes, home health care agencies, hospice care agencies, maternal and child health consortia and health care service firms.  They also often seek

• volunteers to work overtime
• on-call employees
• per diem staff to compensate for short-falls
• personnel from a contracted temporary agency

My golden rule is to make the best out of the day, every day. Do something every day that you like. It is your choice! Every morning you are handed 24 golden hours. They are one of the few things in this world that you get free of charge. If you had all the money in the world, you couldn't buy an extra hour. What will you do with this priceless treasure?

I if you want to get some more golden Career Path Development tips, click the link. This website has some really down to earth, common sense tips and expert insights for people who have to make career choices and the tough decisions that go hand in hand with the process. If you just want to read more about the story about the person who found a gold nugget, go here.

Roll Up Your Sleeves and Draw Blood (No, Not just because It's Halloween!)

Although the current unemployment rate in the United States remains high, the demand for phlebotomists continues to rise.

The job market in medicine and healthcare seems to be relatively immune to economic downturns primarily due to significant changes of rules and regulations, new discoveries and advances and the demographics of a growing and aging population.

Best Time to Become a Phlebotomist

A strong desire on the part of health insurers to focus more on preventive care and regular early medical screening has also significantly contributed to the increased need for drawing blood, which places phlebotomists in very high demand. Phlebotomists collect most of the ordered blood samples and also often perform simple blood screening tests as requested by physicians or other healthcare practitioners.

What is a Phlebotomist?

The phlebotomist is a specialized healthcare professional in the area of handling certain laboratory specimens, specifically blood and urine samples for diagnostic purposes.

• Assembles equipment, such as tourniquet, needles, blood collection devices, gauze, cotton, and alcohol on work tray, according to requirements for specified tests or procedures.
• Verifies or records identity of patient or donor and converses with patient or donor to allay fear of procedure.
• Applies tourniquet to arm, locates accessible vein, swabs puncture area with disinfectant, and inserts needle into vein to draw blood into collection tube or bag.
• Withdraws needle, applies treatment to puncture site, and labels and stores blood container for subsequent processing.
• May prick finger to draw blood. May conduct interview, take vital signs, and draw and test blood samples to screen donors at blood bank.

For more tips and insights on the phlebotomist career please visit PhlebotomyPages.com on the Internet.

Temp Work to Bridge Time in School or Times of Unemployment

During tough economic times the job market is down and many are out of work. Not only that, for most who enroll in a vocational training or vocational rehab program to learn a skill that will get them back into the workforce it often means making a choice between work, or school. It is hard to do both. Although most vocational training institutions offer their programs in morning, afternoon and evening sessions, they demand time and focus to achieve good grades.

It is almost impossible to maintain a full time job and earn excellent grades, especially in an accelerated program, such as the typical 9 -11 month long medical assistant training courses. These medical assistant vocational training programs often require an externship to earn the desired diploma or degree, so where full time work is nearly impossible there is an answer to this dilemma:  temp or part time work.

Temp positions are available in many fields, including healthcare, especially in medical offices for medical assistants, business and computers. Taking into consideration the pros and cons, temping can be the difference between getting by and not.

Typical Requirements for a Medical Assistant Part Time Job: Strong aptitude for detail, and ability to work independently Strong organizational and problem solving skills Excellent communication and interpersonal skills Computer skills (Word Perfect, Microsoft Windows, etc.) Graduation from an accredited Medical Assistant training program Knowledge of third party payer requirements Certification through the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA), or American Medical Technologists (AMT) is preferred

Pros & Cons of Temp Work Assignments

PROS

1. Making a major difference to needy offices
2. Learning and seeing new things
3. Gaining varied experiences from different places
4. Earning more, getting better hourly pay
5. Meeting new people and making connections
6. Flexibility and freedom to say no
7. Work as much or as little as needed to get by
8. A foot in the door for a future position

CONS

1. Working in an unfamiliar work environment
2. Not knowing what is expected
3. Not being part of the established group
4. Adjusting to a new setting and people
5. Stressing out to do things right
6. Having to perform tasks right off the bat
7. Not receiving additional training
8. Possibility to be taken off of the assignment any moment

According to the American Staffing Association, temp workers can earn at least  $12 or more per hour, in most instances even considerably more than their permanent counterparts; however, they do not always qualify for benefit packages full time employees might enjoy.