You are invited to watch a short video on seeing into your future as a cancer registrar, click here.
How do you see yourself as a cancer registrar and what is in your future? Are you accomplishing great things or are you marking time until something better comes along? Psychologists tell us that most people do not feel or sense their purpose in life and some even doubt they have a purpose at all.
Woodrow Wilson, the 28th President of the United States, said: “You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.”
As cancer registrars we have opportunities every day to live out our vision, to accomplish great things, to influence and lead, and to enrich the lives of others. The cancer registrar’s work impacts the lives of cancer patients and their families in very real and personal ways. Your purpose for doing this, however, and for even being a cancer registrar, comes from a place deep inside yourself. Your responsibility is to connect with your inner self, identify your purpose, have faith and live your life using your God-given abilities. Now, faith can be in a higher power that gives you a purpose for your life, but it is also in the call you hear from the center of your being. Are you ready to start seeing your life through the eyes of faith?
If you have been struggling with all the changes in science and medicine and how this relates to what you do as a cancer registrar, then it is time to stop looking at the problems and start seeing yourself as having an opportunity to defeat cancer.
If you have been battling with a negative attitude and resisting change, then it is time to stop dwelling in the negative and to start seeing yourself as blessed with having work and a unique skill set that allows you to serve the needs of others.
If you are having difficulty relating to others or communicating the needs of your cancer registry then now is the time to start seeing your purpose and value and how it can help you to communicate and collaborate to strengthen the needs of your organization and cancer registry profession.
If you live this way you will succeed. You will find success and achievement in everything that you do. You will be listening to your inner being and fulfilling your destiny on this earth. You will find meaning and purpose in all that you do and you will feed your emotional and professional needs and achieve greatness, happiness and success as a cancer registrar.
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Michele Webb creator of the cancer registrar continuing education program, http://www.RegistryMindset.com, is a nationally recognized, certified cancer registrar, committed to Cancer Registry leadership and professional education as a coach, mentor, motivational speaker and author. You have permission to repost this article as long as you do not alter it in any way, give credit to the author and link back to website and URL.
The PSA test for prostate cancer screening is not always 100% accurate, but in recent years some additional PSA testing studies have been developed to help the physician distinguish between a malignancy and other urologic conditions that influence the PSA level. The May 2011 continuing education (CE) course for Registry Mindset members has been released and promises to help the cancer registrar understand how the physician uses these studies in their practice.
If you are a working cancer registrar, or a cancer registry student, then this e-course is right for you! To become a member today and begin taking advantage of high quality, cutting-edge courses click here.
Registration for the SEER 2011 Advanced Topics for Registry Professionals workshop to be held after the National Cancer Registrar’s Association Annual meeting in Orlando Florida is now open to hospital-based cancer registrars. This workshop is worth the trip alone! Register soon as seats fill up fast. Registration closes on Friday, March 11, 2011 at midnight.
Here’s the SEER description of their 2-day workshop:
“The National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Advanced Topics for Registry Professionals Conference will be a 2-day educational session on CSv2 for registry professionals. Hospital and central registry staff will benefit from a systematic review of key Collaborative Stage Data elements, including site-specific factors with emphasis on the breast, colon, lung, prostate, and melanoma schemes. Additional topics include updates on major changes for v0203, CAnswer Forum, and a preview of the upcoming 2011 CS Reliability Study.
Educational presentations will be posted on the registration site 1 week prior to the conference. Participants will receive notification via email when the presentations are available to print or save to flash drives if bringing a laptop computer. Hard copies will not be provided for this conference.
PARTICIPANTS WILL:
Utilize the Collaborative Stage Data Collection System Manual (CSv2) and site-specific schema relevant to coding breast, colon, lung, prostate, and melanoma cases
Expand understanding of the data elements, including site-specific factors
Learn the major changes in v0203 Part I, Sections I and II
Expand knowledge of CSv2 data sources and availability
Interact with subject matter experts from the CSv2 Educational & Training Team, CSv2 Mapping Team, CoC Team, CoC/AJCC/CS CAnswer Forum, and SEER DQT “
This is one of the best workshops offered to cancer registrars each year. It’s low-key, informative and while registration is free, travel expenses are not. However, registrants are never disappointed!
Automatic negative thoughts, or ANTs, are thoughts that come into our mind automatically and ruin our day or send us into a negative tailspin. Dr. Daniel Aman, who developed the concept, talks of the destructive power of negative thoughts and how they alter the physical and chemical composition of our brains and literally destroy our mental and physical health.
We should not believe every negative thought we have because our thoughts lie to us all the time! It is our uninvestigated thoughts that turn us into mental midgets, make us sad or anxious, and erode our abilities as a Cancer Registrar.
Our success as a Cancer Registrar depends on how we manage our thoughts and mindset. ANTs may attempt to invade our mind, but through proper care and maintenance of our physical and mental health we can avoid disaster by managing the thought appropriately and “killing” the ANTs.
Whenever you feel a negative or out-of-control thought, or have thoughts that are bothering you or making it hard to focus, Dr. Aman gives four questions to ask yourself:
Is the thought true? Is the thought that is upsetting me really true?
Can I know absolutely for sure that the thought is true?
When I believe in the negative thought, how does it make me feel? (physically, emotionally and spiritually)
Who would I be, or how would I feel, without the thought?
Work through the four questions then turn the original thought around to its opposite and ask yourself the same four questions. Is the opposite thought upsetting to you or true? You may be surprised at what you learn through this simple exercise.
Here’s an example of an upsetting thought: “My hospital does not care about my work as a Cancer Registrar.”
Is it true? Of course not, you do have some control.
Can I absolutely know that this thought is true? No.
How do I feel when I believe the negative thought? Weak, inferior, sad, anxious, out of control, or worn out.
Who would I be, or how would I feel, without the thought? Free to be in control and to be the best Cancer Registrar I can be.
Now, take that negative thought and turn it around to its opposite and ask yourself if the opposite of the upsetting thought is true? I have complete control over my skills and quite a bit of control in how others perceive my value and contribution as a Cancer Registrar.
How will you use this technique to “kill ANTs?” What ANTs have invaded your mind today and how did you handle them? Post your response as a COMMENT below.
http://www.RegistryMindset.com. Michele Webb is a nationally recognized, certified cancer registrar (CTR) committed to Cancer Registry leadership and professional development worldwide as a coach, mentor, educator, motivational speaker, and author. You have permission to repost this article as long as you do not alter it in any way, give credit to the author and link back to this website.
(Part Five of our series titled “Agility Training for Cancer Registrars”)
Every business today is about relationships, including cancer registry. The quality and impact of your work, and the success of your cancer registry, depends on your relationships. As a Cancer Registrar you are facing new challenges in terms of reporting standards and data quality. As professionals it is important that you shake things up to stay fresh and viable in the business by reinventing yourself and your relationships. Cancer Registrars must figure out the next chapter in their lives, despite ever-changing requirements, economic struggles or organizational cutbacks. Standing still is not an option because if you are not growing, you are becoming stagnant or even dying professionally.
So, you’re probably asking yourself why you need to reinvent your relationships. As healthcare business changes, as the cancer registry operations change, so should you as a professional and now is the perfect time to get started. It’s time to re-evaluate your life and work and to objectively assess where you are now and where you are headed. And, since you’re starting over, dream big and bold!
Use these eight questions to evaluate where your situation and to take action to ensure that your career and professional success keep pace with cancer healthcare. In fact, use these questions with your staff or co-workers to align yourselves for even greater success.
What fundamental activities or aspects about your work is important to you? Why?
What is your mission in life and as a cancer registrar?
What is your philosophy in life and as a cancer registrar?
To find your passion, think back to a time when you were operating “in the zone.” What were you doing to get to that place in your life?
Look at the people in your circle of influence, are they helping or hindering you? What, or whom, do you need to add to your circle of influence?
Look ahead three years, where would you like to be in your professional life? What would your ideal cancer registry career look like? Then, frame your responses in the form of professional goals.
Ask yourself, if you are sitting here in this same spot three years from now, what would have to happen for you to feel fulfilled and content with your work?
Look at the cancer registry masters who have accomplished what you are trying to achieve, what strategies did they use? How can those strategies work for you?
If you honestly answer these questions you will have a good framework and idea of what your professional life should look like. Take each response and form it into a step, activity or goal that you need to accomplish. Always keep the end goal or picture in your mind and then work backwards to create an action list to get to your goal.
Reinventing yourself is hard work and reinventing relationships will require patience, thought and planning. However, if you choose not to do this you will likely be left behind or miss out on the success and professional recognition you deserve. Always keep your eye on the end goal and “prize.” Take responsibility for how your interactions at work impact others and the healthcare business. Make a commitment to take your work to a higher level and one that is dedicated to serving the needs of your organization, your professional community, and the customers they serve. Capitalize on the value that cancer registrars and the healthcare team brings to their work and find new or different ways to collaborate and serve the needs of others. This kind of focus will ensure that your business relationships remain fresh and productive and that you, as a cancer registrar, achieve success.
What are you doing to reinvent your business relationships? Post a comment below to tell us what ONE thing you have done that has made a positive difference in your work and life.
http://www.RegistryMindset.com. Michele Webb is a nationally recognized, certified cancer registrar (CTR) who is committed to Cancer Registry leadership and professional growth. She helps cancer registrars around the world as a motivational speaker, author, and educator. You have permission to repost this article as long as you do not alter it in any way, give credit to the author and link back to her website.
Recorded September 9, 2010 with Shawn Achor, author The Happiness Advantage
Interviewed by Max Miller
“Question: What is the biggest misconception about happiness?
Shawn Achor: I think we think that happiness is something that you find or if you reach some level in a company or a school, then you’re happier. And what we’re finding is that happiness is not something that happens to you; happiness is a work ethic. It’s something that requires our brains to train just like an athlete has to train. In order to become happier, we actually have to focus our brains down on things that actually move us forward instead of getting stagnating in the things that… for example, stressing about things that are outside of our control doesn’t move us forward at all.
So what I think that what we need to be able to do is to not only change the formula for success, to help us to be able to focus upon this idea that if we prioritize happiness, it will then raise our success rates, but also a recognition that is something that we actually have to be conscious about on a daily basis because it’s something that actually requires effort, it requires training and requires us to be able to focus our attention on this. And if we do so, I think the thing that we oftentimes think is that if people get happy, they’ll stop working hard or that happy people are unintelligent. And what we’re finding is just the opposite. I think it is the most counter-intuitive thing we’ve found, which is happiness actually raises an individual’s intelligence and their success rates.
We find that the happy people aren’t always the smartest people, we know that there are… I’ve met tons of people that are very successful and not happy, and people that are extremely intelligent and not happy. So we might assume that those two things are divorced, but now what we really realize in the science is that both of those individuals are actually underperforming what their brain is actually capable of. And if we have more role models in our companies and schools of individuals that are positive and infect other people with that positivity rippling out through those mirror neuron networks, not only can we raise the levels of happiness and engagement in our schools and companies again, but we’ll actually raise their levels of successes as well.”
SEER released an update to the desktop version of Hematopoietic and Lymphoid Neoplasm Case Reportability and Coding Manual version 1.6.2 today. If you are a working cancer registrar or cancer registry student and have not already downloaded this update you may want to consider doing so right away.
This online manual contains the instructions and data collection rules for hematopoietic and lymphoid neoplasms that went into effect on January 1, 2010. Remember the older version we dubbed “the red book.” This online database replaces the “red book” and contains more information, including the MP/H rules.
When you download and install, don’t forget to sign up for email updates so that as new versions are released you are notified right away so you keep your references up-to-date. This is an incredibly valuable resource that every cancer registrar must have!
TELL US YOUR STORY … how have you used, or how has the SEER hematopoietic online database helped you? Scroll down and post a short comment and help another cancer registrar today.
http://www.RegistryMindset.com. Michele Webb is committed to cancer registry leadership and to making a difference in the lives of cancer registrars worldwide. She is a nationally recognized, certified cancer registrar (CTR), a motivational speaker, author and educator. You have permission to repost this article as long as you do not alter it in any way, give credit tot he author and link back to this article on this website.
Every year millions of us celebrate a new beginning with family, friends and our favorite party favors. The traditions continue forward as we make resolutions for our lives in the coming year. The “usual” list of resolutions are no surprise, spending time with family and friends, getting fit, losing weight, stop smoking, stop drinking, enjoy life more, and get out of debt. Now, you may (or may not) be surprised to learn that over 88% of us never live out those resolutions.
I have an idea for cancer registrars! Let’s just toss out all the resolutions. Let’s stop making promises that you know you cannot keep or making excuses on why you didn’t get to your goal. Instead, let’s look at a positive alternative to New Year’s Resolutions. Are you ready?
Let’s pledge to each other to make a positive difference in each other’s lives in 2011. No boundaries, no rules, no prerequisites or cash required. When it is all said and done it is how we impact each other’s lives and how we make a difference in this world that matters anyway. So, quit wasting your time with resolutions and instead, choose to focus your time and energy in something much more meaningful.
Making a difference is really not that difficult. Here’s a simple 3-step program: 1) listen to your inner voice and be true to yourself. Some call it being “authentic.” Listen to your spiritual self and know what makes you truly happy to set the foundation for making a difference. Then, 2) be generous and kind with your words. Develop an awareness of others around you and find something positive to say to people each day. Be there to encourage, support and listen. Your words and time spent with others matter more than you know. Finally, 3) take action. Don’t be afraid to take action on your thoughts or to respond quickly to a situation. Never underestimate the impact your support and encouragement will have on others.
As cancer registrars we are linked together around the globe by a common passion for our work and common need to be supported and inspired by one another. All of us have equal responsibility, as a allied health professionals, to make a difference in someone’s life. Here are some suggestions:
Leave a voice message with a cancer registry “buddy” who lives across the country saying you were thinking of them and just wanted to say “hi.”
Write a short, handwritten, thank you note to a fellow cancer registrar, employee, manager, administrator or physician. Just send a simple “shout out.”
Throughout your day take a few minutes of your time to speak directly to somone else. Reach out to them with your voice, a smile, compliment for a job well done, or to inquire about their health or family. Take just a few minutes to engage in a personal conversation.
When you’re standing in the long line at your local coffee shop, turn around and smile and say “hello” to the person behind you. Put the iPod or Blackberry away and engage in greeting someone with a smile and warm “hello.”
I know you’re already excited about getting started! Don’t underestimate the power of one cancer registrar helping another, even with the simplest and most basic courtesy or kind word. Would you like to get some extra “mojo” from making a difference? Come back to this blog post every couple of days and let us know what you did for someone and how it made you feel? You can make a difference in someone else’s life just by sharing what worked well for you. I can guarantee that once you begin practicing making a difference that you will want, maybe even crave, helping someone else. Before you know it, it will be a way of life and an important and positive part of your day.
I look forward to helping you make a difference in 2011. Happy New Year!
http://www.RegistryMindset.com. Michele Webb is committed to cancer registry leadership and to making a difference in the lives of cancer registrars worldwide. She is a nationally recognized, certified cancer registrar (CTR) who cares passionately about her work and serving her community. She is a motivational speaker, author and educator. You have permission to repost this article as long as you do not alter it in any way, give credit tot he author and link back to this article on this website.
Seasons Greetings everyone! As the year comes to a close we wanted to share with you how grateful we are for your time and attention and offer you a free gift. Look below at a short video and link to download your free gift!
As cancer registrars we have opportunities every day to live out our vision, to accomplish great things, to influence and lead, and to enrich the lives of others. The cancer registrar’s work impacts the lives of cancer patients and their families in very real and personal ways. Your purpose for doing this, however, and for even being a cancer registrar, comes from a place deep inside yourself. Your responsibility is to connect with your inner self, identify your purpose, have faith and live your life using your God-given abilities. Now, faith can be in a higher power that gives you a purpose for your life, but it is also in the call you hear from the center of your being. Are you ready to start seeing your life through the eyes of faith?
