ABSTRACT
A broken needle is a rare complication of bone biopsy. We describe an easily applied technique of retrieval of a retained biopsy needle fragment using a cannulated drill typically used for internal fixation of femoral neck fractures. This approach allows for removal under moderate conscious sedation and can be performed by a radiologist using fluoroscopic or CT-fluoroscopic guidance in the radiology suite.
Subject(s)
Equipment Failure , Foreign Bodies/diagnostic imaging , Foreign Bodies/surgery , Radiography, Interventional/methods , Tibia/diagnostic imaging , Tibia/surgery , Adolescent , Biopsy, Needle/instrumentation , Bone and Bones/diagnostic imaging , Bone and Bones/surgery , Conscious Sedation/methods , Female , Fluoroscopy/methods , Humans , Needles , Tibia/pathology , Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methodsABSTRACT
Measuring the competency of the public health workforce is critical to improving the functioning of the public health system. This study investigated the construct validity and reliability of the Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals, as promulgated by the Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health (COL). Principal component analysis, correlation and reliability analysis and known-groups comparisons were utilized. Results suggest omitting six items and moving six items to arrive at a 65 item, eight factor solution that corresponds with the eight COL domains. Additional evidence of construct validity was provided by known-groups comparisons that effectively discriminated between respondents known to differ on job type, education and practice experience. This study provides substantial support for the validity of the Core Competencies as a tool for assessing the competency of professionals in the public health workforce while suggesting some revisions to improve the measurement properties of the competency set.
Subject(s)
Professional Competence/standards , Public Health Practice/standards , Surveys and Questionnaires/standards , Adolescent , Adult , Female , Health Services Research , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Missouri , Staff Development , Young AdultABSTRACT
Since many training initiatives employ the core public health workforce competencies as objectives, it is important to demonstrate an association between competency and essential service job performance. A cross-sectional survey of 420 employees of a local health department was conducted in 1999, with a response rate of 76 percent. Each of ten essential service performance measures was regressed on four core competency measures, controlling for employee experience and education. The competencies explained 2 percent to 20 percent of the variance in essential service performance. While offering support for the core competencies as a foundation for training program content, the results also make clear the large role that other individual, organizational, and community influences may have. Explaining additional variance in performance will require incorporating these variables into future studies.
