Friday, October 30, 2009

Continuous Stair Handrails

I have had numerous problems with local building inspectors and building departments over the years about continuous stair handrailing. When I first started in construction the stair handrail was basically a guardrail to keep people from falling off the staircase. Then the building departments in some areas took it upon them selves to use the handrail for something to hold on to as you are walking up and down the stairs. Well now in some cites the building department will require a continuous handrail running the entire length of the stairway. This however is now a national building code but is not always enforced. This becomes confusing to your stair assembling carpenters that are told they need to do it in one city but not the next. This is not a good thing for the construction business in general. While working as a carpenter framing stairs for track homes doing my best to keep up with changes as they came along in the Unified Building Code. I found this really didn't mean a whole heck of a lot , as I went from city to city listening to local building inspectors interpretation of the U.B.C. To this day I can not tell you for sure what one city wants in the way of building a stair handrail system in your home. Now don't get me wrong. If you build your set of stairs as per plans you could be rebuilding them if the building inspector finds something wrong. Just recently I told the owner builder of a home I was framing not to forget and ask the inspector about the continuous stair handrail. Would he need to make it continuous and if so would if have to run past the last stair treads 12 inches at the top and bottom of the stairway. When I came back to build a handrail on the front and back porch I noticed the stair handrail was installed . There was two problems with the stair handrail. The first problem was the 37 inch tall stair guardrail which would have been fine 15 years ago but today in most cities you need a 42 minimum stair guardrail with a continuous gripable handrail. This was the first problem the next of course was that the inspector wanted a continuous gripable handrail. You might ask why didn't the owner builder take my advice and ask the building inspector. Why didn't the carpenter installing the stairs ask the owner or find out about the local building codes. I don't know why but I can tell you this much they had to remove the 37 inch handrail and could not reuse the stair balusters because they where to short. The new stair guardrail had to be 42 inches minimum. The moral to this story is it won't cost the building department any money to rebuild your stair handrail system. So ask the building inspector and if possible have the inspector sign the plans stating the facts involved (no continuous stair handrail) . Get it in writing from the building department as a good rule of thumb then you will have something to argue with the local building department when the situation arises.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Insurance Continuing Education Online - Professional Disability Coverage

Professional Disability Insurance



What It Is



So-called professional disability income insurance can address a combination of business and personal needs since the professional person's work is the source of income that pays for both business and personal expenses. For insurance purposes, professional DI policies are those written for people in certain occupations that generate incomes over 0,000 annually. Insurers write professional policies for individuals who need income replacement in the range of ,000 to ,000 per month. Since not every insurance company is willing to provide monthly benefits in these amounts, you will want to locate those that do in order to serve this market.



Income, however, is not the only characteristic that defines this group. Eligibility is generally restricted to professionals who are independent and self-employed, but highly compensated executive employees might also be considered.

Typical occupations acceptable for professional DI insurance includes physicians and other health professionals such as dentists, optometrists, psychiatrists and pharmacists; lawyers: accountants; engineers; architects; and some executives, generally PhDs or those who are otherwise highly educated. This is just a sampling of eligible occupations. The companies you represent provide a complete list of occupations they will consider for professional DI policies.



Aside from the large dollar benefits involved, professional DI policies operate essentially like any other individual policy. As indicated in an earlier chapter, professionals are eligible for the most liberal benefits of any occupational group. Chapter Eight of this text discusses the various occupational classes more fully. Because of the high incomes involved, one of the major differences between writing professional DI policies and others is that social insurance benefits are not large enough in comparison to actual earnings to interfere with the income replacement calculations and cause over insurance problems.



The Key to the Professional's Livelihood



Reading the list of typical professional occupations above, you can see that these are people who provide vital services for society and who are frequently self-employed. Performing these services is the key to the professional person's livelihood. The inability to earn income by performing these services affects not only personal finances, but also the very life of the business itself since it is those services that keep the business operating.



Consider, for example, a self-employed physician, operating without partners and employing a small staff. If this individual is unable to work, first of all, no income is generated to pay for personal expenses. Second, no income is generated to continue the medical practice by paying ongoing business expenses, including a substitute physician to see the disabled doctor's patients. If a medical practice shuts down temporarily, patients must look elsewhere for services and there's no guarantee they will return even if the disabled physician recovers. The physician is likely to suffer a double loss: current loss of income and loss of the business he or she might have spent years building. There is no substitute for disability insurance to overcome these problems. Later you'll also learn about some specialized disability policies that address ways to keep a business intact during the disability of someone whose active working presence is key to the business.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Continuing Medical Education and Clearing Debts

Medicine is that one field which enables you to improve and enhance the health of the people in the society. Therefore the continuing education enables the students to have a continuous education in the medical field. There is a wide range of scope for the students acquiring information in this field however in order to continue the process medical education demands a lump some money. This amount of money has to be sometimes managed from different money lending organizations like banks, credit unions, etc…


After completing the graduation from the medical schools the first and very primary step is repaying the debt. While applying for loans, paperwork is very important. In order to acquire educational loans on time, submitting proper paper work becomes important. If you avoid the paper work you may to be accessible to loans and acquire education.


In the process to repay the debts students also opt for certain jobs which can bring with him a little amount of hard work and perseverance.

However at this point of time when students are already being offered internships, the prime concentration should be on work and not on the repayment of loans. At times the senior doctor or physician keeps the record of the student's loan, observes all the rules and regulation, etc… In simpler words the senior doctors can help the students to make a full proof plan for repaying the debts. Some accurate information is highly recommended in the process which includes rental agreements, auto loans or any application that requires a credit history.

There are certain organizations which may help the students in the process; one amongst them is Loan Information Network Company (LINC) which includes a business manager and a training analyst.

It enables the students with an aid in repayment of debt and organizing the schedule.

While keeping the track of the loan what also matters is the guarantee person/agency. There is a process every few months where the agencies sell the loans in the secondary market. With the selling of the loans, the account number changes too. This process leads to confusion in the mind of the student though being very careful with regards to the loan. The change any of your details like name, residence, fellowships, etc… should be informed to the lender immediately. Time factor plays a major role in student's loan. Just delete the word postpone form your mind. Anything that has any connection with the loans is highly important. Complete that task at urgent basis.


At times you can turn into defaulter and is a reason of paying the penalties, late fees and missed opportunities for delay, even though you had done nothing out of the law. Thus you need to be extra careful while the repaying the debt. Mitch Thrower once said, "The layers of multitasking can run very deeply in our daily lives" and thus repaying of debt can just be used as a training session for it.

Friday, October 9, 2009

How to Find Nursing Continuing Education Courses

If you're a nurse, then you know that nursing continuing education courses help you stay current in the overall medical field as well as allowing you to study your own specialty in depth. In most states, nursing CEUs are a necessity for maintaining your nursing license, or for obtaining an advanced license in your field of choice. Other states leave it up to your own sense of ethical responsibility to stay current with the latest medical breakthroughs, health care technology and constantly changing protocols and standards of care.

Whether you must take nursing continuing education courses because your state makes it mandatory or whether you're pursuing an interest in forensic nursing, legal nurse consulting, nursing management, nurse case management or any other nursing specialty, one of the most difficult issues you'll face is finding appropriate nursing continuing education courses and evaluating the information that they offer. There are several methods of getting continuing education hours and CEUs. The most popular include:

1. Professional nursing journals are one important way of keeping current on new therapies, standards and treatments. Many journals also offer specific articles for continuing education credits. In most cases, you'll have to fill out a test after reading the article and mail it in. The cost of receiving CEUs this way can be costly-you'll you have to pay the subscription for the journal, postage for the return of the certificate and often, or more as a CEU processing fee. Obtaining CEUs this way does allow you to concentrate on your desired specialty, but nurses today also must stay current on the overall health care climate.

2. Many organizations offer professional development programs and seminars that include accreditation for some of the courses offered. In many cases, employers will pay part of the registration fee, especially if the subject matter is in a specialty desired by the hospital, clinic or other organization. While the travel to attend professional seminars can be appealing, it can also be quite expensive, especially when you add in the cost of travel, lodging and meals. They're an excellent option, however, if your employer foots most of the bill and the seminar allows you to interact with important experts in your field.

3. Online nursing continuing education courses are often extremely affordable, and allow you to continue your education at your own pace. You don't need to take time away from work to attend online courses, and you don't have to worry about the expenses of travel, lodging and meals away from home. In many cases, the courses are offered by well-known and well-respected institutions of higher learning, including world-class teaching hospitals. In addition, if you take your CEUs through an online portal that offers a full range of nursing education courses, you'll have access to both specialized courses in your field of interest and broader courses that keep you updated on other important developments in the medical field.

You'll find online nursing continuing education courses in nearly every field of interest, with affordable fees for certification of your attendance and completion of the course. In many cases, your employer will cover part of the fee for the course upon completion, making them even more affordable.