With Thanksgiving behind us we find ourselves in the mist of the holiday season. I don’t know about you, but with being a mom, wife and the sole educator at a hospital, the stress of and lack of time during this season can be a bit overwhelming (as seen by this blog being a day late). I mean, I need to make sure I’m here for my patients, but I also have a family, and shouldn’t I be allowed to enjoy a little time off?
We all have the need to have our own time. But we also know we have responsibilities that don’t stop just because holidays come up. If we wanted that life, I don’t think we would have chosen health care as a profession.
So, you may be saying to yourself, why then in the CB or AADE asking me to be more active on-line, or participate in a scavenger hunt that actual takes some work? I know logging into the MyAADE website is cumbersome; mainly because in the first step, you actually don’t log into the MyAADE website, but have to go through the AADE website first.
However, I’m here to help tell you what you can get out of the MyAADE state page, and that it may actually save you time. And you only have to log in when you want to.
The first part is to be subscribed to the state discussion page. There isn’t a huge amount of activity on there, which is okay and somewhat beneficial if you want to be in the know, but not too involved. This page lets us all have a conversation over email without having to know everyone’s email address. And you only have to log onto the site if you want to pose the initial question. Otherwise, you just reply back (within your email program) to the discussion. You don’t even need to remember to hit “reply all”.
There is a wealth of knowledge in this state; we have some of the best medical systems in the country. And we have local knowledge that can be invaluable to a transplant like myself. I don’t know if a pig tail or ear is the healthier thing to cook with and still get flavor, but I am betting that many of you do.
The other great thing the discussion page is great for is to not have to reinvent the wheel. How many times have you been asked to create a teaching tool, or give a presentation, and been asked to have it yesterday? Ask your peers! And if you have a great tool, you can send it to me or Shana and we will post it in our state files. In fact this morning, I am going to upload a file on what is in season when in NC. Cheaper fruits and veggies? Yes please!
The second great thing to find on our state page is the calendar. We have been busy posting any education opportunities we find. Gotta love an integrated AHEC system across the state that likes to email.
The CB would love for everyone to do the scavenger hunt we sent a couple of months ago. We only had 8 respondents (10% would have been 43). I know it takes about 30 minutes to complete. It was meant to help make you more familiar with the MyAADE site in general as there is a plethora of information on the site than just our state information (my favorite feature is the search function). We would love to give away a free year of membership, but really feel like we need some more participation. But when I posed the question (which got 15 responses) of “what was your barrier to using MyAADE” the number one answer was time. The CB and I will talk about this at our call on Tuesday the 9th of December. Please feel free to email any of us with concerns that we should be addressing before then.
MyAADE is a great tool. It does take just little bit of time to learn to use, but once you do, it can be your number one resource for helping you do your job a little easier.
Hope you all had a wonderful day of Thanks and Giving last week.
Until next time,
Chris
NC CB Chair