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| Nursing homes short of personnel
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| Thursday
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Ms. Treinkman, past president of the National Conference of Gerontological Nurse Practitioners, said there is a shortage of long-term care nurses, with approximately 96,000 LPNs, registered nurses and certified nursing assistants needed to fill vacant positions at nursing homes in the U.S.She said that between 2000 and 2010 there is a projected 45 percent increase in demand for long-term care workers — or 800,000 new jobs. And by 2020 the population of those 65 and over will outnumber the population of caregivers, she said to the audience of 1,000 nursing students from 19 schools across the state. Read More Nursing homes short of personnel
...........The American Red Cross of Central Alabama will hold nurse assistant training courses at its office headquarters, 5015 Woods Crossing in Montgomery.
The nurse assistant training program is patient-centered and prepares nurse assistants to work in hospitals, nursing homes, home health and long-term care settings. The course costs $525. Some organizations sponsor participants under the agreement that they will work for the organization upon completion of certification. read more Nurse assistant training courses |
posted by blogger @ 22:39
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| Family Nurse Practitioner
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Gardner, a board certified Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) whose new practice will soon be opening in the J & S Professional building, told club members that although she is from the Johnston City area and is a JCHS graduate, she has been in and around West Frankfort since 1988 when she met Robert “Bert” Gardner, the man who eventually became her husband.
Gardner started her nursing career in 1993 as certified nurse assistant (CNA) at Franklin Hospital, working there for about a year before entering John A. Logan College’s Licensed Practical Nurse program. She then plied her trade at Frankfort Care for another four years before pursuing her RN (registered nurse) certification.
After receiving that certification she worked in Herrin Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit from 1998 to 2006, attaining a bachelor’s degree in the interim.
“Once I got my bachelor’s degree, one of my professors asked me, ‘Well, what are you going to do now?’” For a self-proclaimed “life-long learner” like Gardner, the answer was simple, as she pursued and was eventually awarded her Master’s Degree in 2006.
Gardner highlighted the difference between FNPs and other nurse practitioners (NPs), noting that most NPs, especially in our area, go into practice with a physician or group of physicians. The scope of Gardner’s work is wider. “Basically, everything a family doctor can do, I can do,” she told the Rotarians. That includes obtaining patients’ medical histories, performing school and work physicals, well baby checks, admitting patients to hospitals and writing prescriptions.
She is currently overseeing the remodeling of the office space formerly occupied by the now-retired Dr. Jack Purdy. Between his and another suite she will take over, Gardner hopes to be able to accommodate as many as six patients at a time.
Gardner said that in rural, relatively underprivileged (insurance and benefit-wise) locations such as Franklin County, it is becoming increasingly difficult to lure physicians from more metropolitan areas. “Mid-level NPs,” she said, are “the wave of the future.”
One of the most beneficial aspects of Gardner’s work, she said, is that it allows her to “give back” to the community she’s come to know and love over the past twenty years. “I could have gone to work for another doctor in another town,” she told club members. “But I felt it was important to come back to the community to provide my services to the folks I’m always around.”
She said that in her practice, unlike those of some larger, group practitioners, patients would not be “herded” in and out.
“Unfortunately, these days people don’t have much time to talk face-to-face with their healthcare provider,” Gardner added. “I’m very patient-friendly. I like to be able to spend time with them. It allows me to express my concerns about their health and vice-versa,” one aspect of the medical profession she feels has been “lost over time.”
Gardner is planning an open house from 2 to 4 p.m. this Friday, April 18, for her new practice, Professional Health Services, located in the J & S Professional building. ( source) |
| posted by blogger @ 22:37
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