HSM320 Week 4 Discussions

HSM320 Week 4 Discussions Fremgen, B. (2012). Medical Law and Ethics, 4/e For DeVry University, 4th Edition. Pearson Learning Solutions. Discussion 1 As the new office manager for the Family Practice Medical Group, you are responsible for establishing policies and procedures for maintaining a safe environment for both the staff and patients. Medical waste is an important area that you will be legally responsible for, making sure it is handled safely and appropriately. The four categories of medical waste are: solid waste, chemical waste, radioactive waste, and infectious waste. Pick one of the categories and post your plan for safe handling of the waste. What types of items would be included in the category? What would your policy say about proper disposal? Hello class, This is going to be an interesting and challenging discussion this week. Let me ask those of you who can help research options for biomedical waste disposal in your own work environment as a new office manager. Who would you contract with for this service? Explain the types of items would be included in the category. According to Chapter 7 in our textbook, chemical waste includes germicides, cleaning solvents, and pharmaceuticals. Many of these can cause a hazardous situation like a fire or explosion. They can also harm people if they are ingested, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has set new guidelines that say non-narcotic drugs shouldn’t be flushed down the toilet. They should be sealed in a plastic bag or empty can and thrown out in the garbage. Toxic, flammable, or irritating chemicals should also not be poured down the drain. Medical personnel need to put the chemicals in sturdy containers and have them removed by a licensed removal facility. Chemical wastes are to be documented on the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) which also describes specific information on handling and disposing of chemicals safely (Fremgen, 2012, p. 179). Fremgen, B. (2012). Medical Law and Ethics, 4/e For DeVry University, 4th Edition. Pearson Learning Solutions. Christina, Good discussion of medical waste and how it is disposed of and thank you for referring to chapter seven readings. We see how complex the waste handling can be and the steps that have to be taken to deal with it. It all goes towards the fact that medical waste is an important safety topic. Since we are studying healthcare, we might as well understand the topic of medical waste, how to protect everybody and what the responsibility and tasks are. It is a very important topic. Why Is it important to select the proper company to collect waste? It is very important to select the proper company to collect waste. There could be very harmful chemicals, as well as infectious disease waste that needs to be handled by professionals. Many types of medical waste can’t be disposed of the way regular trash is and therefore you need to hire a trustworthy and reliable company to dispose of it.