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| R.N. to B.S.N., LPN and want to become an RN later
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| Tuesday
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What does it mean by R.N. to B.S.N.?
The BSN is a 4 yr degree from a college or university. You can obtain an RN designation by attending a 4 years diploma program from an an accredited hospital School of Nursing, if still available in your state, or an "Associate RN" program which is a 2 year college degree.
An LPN license is usually a one year diploma program from an accredited hospital School of Nursing. To become an LPN, you must take your state's licensing exam, just like the BSN, RN (diploma) or Associate RN programs.
There are LPN programs that are less than 1 year but they are intense to say the least. A BSN is a Bachelor of Science in Nursing [4 year college normally] as was stated previously but most states have 'fast track' programs that recognize experience as an RN.
LVN Continuing Education
Licensed Vocational Nurses are required to renew their license every two years. They mustcomplete 30 units of continuing education within that two-year period as prescribed by the board.
What if I become an LPN and want to become an RN later?
LPNs who wish to earn additional credentials can enroll in an LPN-to-RN or LPN-to-BSN program. These types of programs will grant you credit for your prior course work.
Vocational nurse training-Vocational nurse job
Licensed Vocational Nurse Salary in California
Vocational Nursing schools in California
Vocational Nursing schools in Texas
Vocational Nursing schools in Florida |
posted by blogger @ 23:54
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| "critical care in the air." The CCATT training
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American combat casualties conceivably have a greater chance to survive life-threatening burn and inhalation injuries as a result of the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine's initiative to train U.S. Army burn flight professionals in Critical Care Air Transport Team operations.
In December, respiratory therapists, flight nurses and other aeromedical professionals from the U.S. Army Institute for Surgical Research at Fort Sam Houston, Texas joined Air Force colleagues in a challenging course designed to prepare them for what the aeromedical evacuation community characterizes as "critical care in the air."
Army burn flight teams consist of a general surgeon, a critical care registered nurse, a licensed vocational nurse, a respiratory technician and an operations Non-Commissioned Officer, he explained.
"The CCATT course provides joint training in fixed-wing aeromedical transport of critically ill and injured patients that integrates real-world en route care lessons learned from Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom.
No training platform (of this type) exists for tri-service critical care operations," Lt. Col. Fecura, Jr., CCATT course director, said. He also noted that it's the only DoD CCATT course.
The joint training is especially important to the Army and Air Force aeromedical evacuation community because of the significant number of combat casualties suffered in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since Operation Iraqi Freedom began in March 2003, Army burn flight and Air Force CCATT teams have evacuated and treated hundreds of patients who've suffered burn and inhalation injuries primarily resulting from improvised explosive device detonations.
According to an American Burn Association report written by Army physicians, evacuating burn victims within the first 24-48 hours is critical to patients' survival and recovery.
The article explains: "Rapid global evacuation of burned soldiers has been a priority during this conflict in an effort to minimize infectious complication and organ failure, which can ensue without definitive treatment." According to Maj. Elizabeth Mann, an Army burn flight team registered nurse and CCATT course graduate, "Before Iraq, we did not fly patients who were not stable. Now we fly stabilized patients who could experience an adverse event in flight."
Burn patients are most susceptible to infection. "The longer the burn goes untreated the worse the patient becomes," said Dr. Dax Holder, CCATT medical director. Dr. Holder explained that 15-20 years ago, patients who suffered burns to 50 percent or more of their body usually died.
"Now we're saving their life with 90 percent of the surface area of their body burned," he said.
CCATT and Army burn flight teams provide airborne intensive care to burn victims evacuated from the combat theater to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany. Burn casualties eventually receive specialized treatment from the Army Institute of Surgical Research at San Antonio's Brooke Army Medical Center, the only American Burn Association-verified burn center within the Department of Defense.
"CCATT and Army burn flight teams (often) fly together," said Colonel Fecura, explaining that a joint interoperability, cooperation and training initiative promoted by DoD has led to curriculum improvements and accessibility by other services to the CCATT course. "We've had a synergistic relationship with the Army," Capt. Mark Gosling, CCATT course assistant director and former civilian paramedic, said. "They (ISR physicians) teach a two-hour burn lecture in the CCATT course.
The captain said the course has been modified in recent years to reflect the reality of war: 15 percent of CCATT patients are burn victims. CCATT was created in response to a major shift in Air Force aeromedical evacuation doctrine following the first Persian Gulf War. Brig. Gen. Linda Stierle, former Director of Medical Readiness Doctrine and Planning, articulated this doctrinal shift when she wrote in a 1996 letter: "With our doctrine shifting from 'return to duty' to 'evacuate and replace,' it is imperative that we begin the process to develop training programs to care for stabilized patients in the aeromedical evacuation system."
The aeromedical evacuation community had limited capabilities in transporting critically ill or injured patients prior to the doctrinal shift. Advances in aeromedical technology, combined with CCATT training, have given the Air Force aeromedical evacuation system enhanced clinical transport capabilities in caring for patients with potentially life-threatening medical conditions. "Today we're transporting sicker patients," said Capt. Sean Wilkinson, CCATT and Flight Nurse/Air Evacuation technician course instructor.
"The goal is to get them to (specialized) medical facilities that can better care for them." CCATT emphasizes team work and focuses on aerospace physiology and trauma care. "The training is pretty realistic," observed CCATT student Dr. (Lt. Col.) Charles Lutin, a flight surgeon from Luke AFB, Ariz. "Battery life (for equipment) and oxygen consumption are key considerations, both not easily replaced on an aircraft." Maj. Mike Gonzalez, a CCATT alumnus who has deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, praised the value of the joint training Army and Air Force medical professionals are receiving at Brooks City-Base.
"This (CCATT) training is really reflective of the realism down range," Major Gonzalez said. He is a staff emergency medical physician at Wilford Hall Medical Center, Lackland AFB, Texas.source
Vocational Nursing schools in California 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
Licensed Vocational Nurse LVN program prerequisites
LVN Program Fees
Vocational Nursing schools in Texas
Vocational Nursing schools in Florida |
| posted by blogger @ 20:42
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| Online medical assistant program
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In many cases medical assistants wishing to advance their education, attending classes at a traditional junior college or vocational school just isn’t possible. With family commitments, part time or full time jobs and their location traditional schooling might not be an option. Fortunately, there are now numerous online medical assistant programs, where people can study and receive their certificate online.
Often, online education lets you complete the medical assistant course in fewer months than it would take in a classroom, so it appeals to people who are looking to upgrade their education or make a career change in a short amount of time.
Medical assistants perform administrative and clinical tasks to keep the offices of physicians, podiatrists, chiropractors, and other health practitioners running smoothly.
The duties of medical assistants vary from office to office, depending on the location and size of the practice and the practitioner’s specialty. In small practices, medical assistants usually do many different kinds of tasks, handling both administrative and clinical duties and reporting directly to an office manager, physician, or other health practitioner. Some medical assistants are still trained on the job, but many now complete formal programs at junior colleges, vocational schools, technical school or online medical assistant programs.
Online medical assistant education does take discipline and hard work, and you must be willing to devote time each day to studying. Some people prefer learning in a classroom, so keep in mind that you’ll be on your own and responsible for completing a set amount of work each week or month. Online medical assistant schools are definitely convenient, but that doesn’t mean it’s easier than attending a local traditional junior college or trade school.
With programs such as the online medical assistant program offered by St. Augustine School of Medical Assistants at www.medassistant.org you will have access to teachers and tutors who you can contact online or via phone if you have problems or questions.
Also, a lot of online medical assistant programs have a very flexible completion time, so you may be able to finish the course at your own pace. If you are motivated to succeed, and looking for an alternative to traditional classroom learning, online education can be a rewarding way to achieve your educational goals.
Often online medical assistant courses are so convenient that you can complete the entire program at your own pace and study all classes online at anytime around the world. Many medical assistant programs also provide online training in introductory laboratory skills and basic clinical tasks for medical assistants.
A typical medical assistant program will include classes in: basic medical terminology, human anatomy and physiology, medical office professionalism, patient communication, medical records, scheduling appointments, medical billing and coding, infection control, emergency care, patient history and physicals, EKG, lab testing, specimen collection, patient medications and related medical areas.
According to the United States Department of Labor, medical assistants held about 417,000 jobs in 2006. About 62 percent worked in offices of physicians, 12 percent worked in public and private hospitals, including inpatient and outpatient facilities and 11 percent worked in offices of other health practitioners, such as chiropractors, optometrists, and podiatrists. Most of the remainder worked in other health care industries such as outpatient care centers and nursing and residential care facilities.
Employment is projected to grow much faster than average, ranking medical assistants among the fastest growing occupations over the 2006-16 decade.
Job opportunities should be excellent, particularly for those with formal training or experience. As such online medical assistant programs are often an excellent choice for students interested in a career as a medical assistant.(source)
Urology medical assistant-What they do?
Cardiology Medical Assistants ~What they do?
Bilingual Medical Assistant
Medical Assistant translator |
| posted by blogger @ 08:05
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| Many foreign nurses cannot afford to wait long
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it can take more than 3 ½ years from the start of the process until the nurse arrives in the United States to work. Many foreign nurses cannot afford to wait that long and will abandon the U.S. immigration process to go to Ireland, Dubai, Canada, Australia, or other countries where the process is much faster. The process is long and expensive in the United States.
Cost to the Hospital – One caller in charge of recruiting nurses at a hospital stated that every time the vacancy rate goes up 1 percent, the hospitals lose $300,000.
One caller noted that USCIS does not appear to be following the 2002 USCIS policy memorandum on nurses. It is not clear whether USCIS accepts a two-year degree because it seems different offices apply different standards. Will USCIS clarify the status of this memo? Is USCIS considering training to ensure that there is more consistent adjudication relating to nurses?
Inconsistencies in Adjudication Times and Processing -- A caller noted that the Vermont Service Center is inconsistent in adjudicating H-1C visas. Some cases take very little time and other cases take a very long time. It was noted that USCIS does not publish the processing times on-line, but the National Customer Service Center can provide processing times. Does USCIS plan to post processing times for the H-1C? Another caller said that his company filed three cases that contained essentially the same information about the employer but one was denied, one received a RFE, and the other was approved.
Numerical Limits-- The H-1C visa for nurses has a numerical limit of 500 per year. Is each service center limited to a certain number of H-1C cases a year? How does USCIS allocate the visas?
Registered Company – One caller suggested that USCIS allow certain medical facilities to register to make it easier on the companies that often file for foreign nurses. Would USCIS consider such a program?
Possible Extensions? --Would USCIS allow nurses to file for additional extensions, similar to Optional Practical Training (OPT) extensions?
Question Received Prior to the Call:
Tip Sheet on Nurses – Question from CIS Ombudsman’s Office – Do you have a tip sheet that would clarify USCIS’ role in the process for obtaining nurse visas?
USCIS Response: USCIS will consider adding a tip sheet to its website.
Explanation re Delays for Foreign Nurses -- From USCIS’ perspective, why does it take so long to get an international nurse to the United States when our country is in a national healthcare crisis?
USCIS Response: Sections 212(a)(5)(C) and 212(r) of the Immigration and Nationality Act provide important safeguards designed to ensure that foreign nursing graduates actually possess the educational background and skills needed to practice as professional nurses in the United States. Moreover, the statute sets numerical limits on the admission of aliens as permanent residents on the basis of their intended employment.
Separate Visas for Schedule A Occupations -- Why are there not separate visas available for Schedule A occupations, which would allow USCIS to be more fluid in meeting the country’s needs?
USCIS Response:
The listing of professional nursing as a “Schedule A” occupation in 20 CFR 656.5(a)(2) establishes only that the labor certification requirement in section 212(a)(5)(A) of the Act is satisfied with respect to professional nurses.
That is to say, the listing in Schedule A reflects only the Department of Labor’s determination there is a shortage of professional nurses, and the employment of an alien as a professional nurse will not generally have an adverse impact on wages and working conditions in the United States.
The individual nurse must still, however, be eligible for classification for an employment-based immigrant visa. The number of employment-based immigrant visas that is available each fiscal year is set by statute. Congress has not created a separate immigrant visa classification for professional nurses, thus, they must use the existing employment-based visa, generally a “skilled worker” visa under the Third Employment Based preference.
Any change to the employment-based visa categories to create a separate immigrant visa for nurses would require new legislation.
Interpretation of H-1B Visas for Nurses –
An email asked if USCIS would take a broader interpretation of the requirements for H-1B visas so that more nursing positions can qualify. The email explained that many hospitals are exempt from the H-1B annual quota due to their non-profit status and affiliation with institutions of higher education, but cannot sponsor nurses for H-1B visas because of USCIS’ view that most nursing positions do not require a bachelor’s degree.
USCIS Response:
The H-1B nonimmigrant visa is available to aliens in “specialty occupations,” which, generally, require at least a bachelor’s degree in a specific field as a minimum employment qualification.
No state in the United States currently limits RN licensure to individuals who hold a bachelor’s degree in nursing.
Thus, except for aliens who will be employed to practice in certain nursing specialties that do actually require at least a bachelor’s degree or higher as a minimum employment qualification, the H-1B nonimmigrant visa is not generally available to RNs.
Any change to the current H-1B visa requirements must be made through Congress.
Priority for Nurses? –
One email noted that priority dates are based on date of filing and not on type of occupation. With shortages in certain industries, such as nursing and pharmacy, is USCIS doing anything differently in the adjudication process to address occupational shortages?source
Provide more foreign nurse visas
US to increase work visas to ease strains of nursing shortage |
| posted by blogger @ 06:57
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| the number of foreign-educated nurses in the U.S
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Nursing-home providers this week expressed approval for legislation recently approved by a House committee that would increase the number of foreign-educated nurses in the U.S.
The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law on Friday voted through the Emergency Nursing Supply Relief Act (H.R. 5924). The legislation would set aside 20,000 employment-based visas per year over the next three years for foreign nurses and physical therapists.
The American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging told McKnight's that the legislation represents a temporary solution to the challenging issue of immigration reform. Currently, work visas are not available for qualified nurses, AAHSA said. Many of its members are waiting for nurses they are sponsoring to enter the U.S.
Proponents of the legislation hope that an increased influx of foreign-educated nurses will ease some of the pressure on hospitals and nursing facilities. Also included in the bill are funds to expand U.S. nursing schools. According to the American Hospital Association, nurse education programs turned down more than 150,000 potential new students due to a nationwide faculty shortage last year.
Provide more foreign nurse visas
US to increase work visas to ease strains of nursing shortage |
| posted by blogger @ 04:04
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| Pediatric Dental Assistant
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Responsibilities:
Pediatric Dental Assistant prepares patients for examination and ensures our patients are prepared, relaxed and are as comfortable as possible.
Pediatric Dental Assistant has excellent communication skills, and a special talent for working with children of all ages.
Pediatric Dental Assistant must have a special understanding of the needs of pediatric and special needs patients.
Average Pediatric Dental Assistant Salaries can vary greatly due to company, location, industry, experience and benefits. |
| posted by blogger @ 02:05
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| Top 10 Reasons for Becoming an Anesthesiologist,
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| Monday
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10. You can intubate your friends at parties.
9. Have you ever met a happy internist?
8. You don't have enough ego hypertrophy to be a surgeon.
7. You can comfort anxious patients with, "I know just how you feel. It's my first anesthetic, too."
6. Any job where you can drive to work in green pajamas is a cool job.
5. You can park next to rich doctors like opthalmologists.
4. You can cover your mistakes with Versed®.
3. After spending the night with surgeons, they still won't respect you in the morning.
2. If you get bored on the weekends, you can give yourself a spinal.
1. No office, no overhead, no rectal exams!!!
Certified Anesthesia Technician (Cer.A.T.)
Anesthesia Technician
Certified Anesthesia Technologist |
| posted by blogger @ 23:53
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| Art therapy helps caregivers relieve stress
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In contrast to traditional discussion formats used by support groups, Interfaith Community Care has introduced art therapy as a form of relaxation and expression for caregivers.
Interfaith Community Care's Creative Expressions Caregiver Support Group is a free program for caregivers to give themselves time away from the daily responsibilities of caring for loved ones.
"People who are caregivers for many, many years become so dedicated to caring for their loved one that they tend to put their own needs aside, and the person's they are caring for first," said Linda Morgan, an Interfaith day center supervisor and art therapist.
Regina Thibideau is the facilitator and leader of the Creative Expressions program. She also is a docent for the West Valley Art Museum where the support group is held every last Wednesday of every month.
Interfaith, a non-profit organization that provides care services for seniors and disabled adults, provides a substitute caregiver if one is needed for a family caregiver to attend.
Bette Knuppel, a Sun City West resident who takes care of her husband, has been to every Creative Expressions meeting since it started in January.
She said being able to get away from the heavy responsibilities and talk with others in a relaxed atmosphere is helpful.
"It's true that we all have similar problems, but with art we can forget them for about an hour and do something positive for ourselves," Knuppel said.
Thibideau typically gives a tour of the museum to the group before they start on their own projects. Morgan then guides the group in what they can use for their art pieces.
Morgan said participants are free to use whatever they want, whether it's charcoal or colored pencils, and members of the group are free to create whatever they want.
The discussion then goes around the table, with members talking about what they created, giving meaning to the colors they selected and what they drew or painted.
Though much of the therapeutic value of the activity comes through members' artistic expressions, there also is time to discuss the feelings they have about caring for their loved ones.
"In caring for someone, they've forgotten their dreams, strengths, and how to play," Morgan said. "They don't often have a social life or get a chance to share with others their experiences in a fun way."
Much of the discussion is sharing resources - like better hospices, different kinds of medicines that their loved ones should or shouldn't take, and how they are coping with their responsibilities.
Sun City West resident Marcia Seidner has been a caregiver for her husband for four years, and she said the group provides a positive way to connect with others who have similar problems.
"I feel lighter," Seidner said. "It's good to have someone who understands what we're going through."source |
| posted by blogger @ 20:01
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| Medical Lab Tech/Medical Tech/Lab Assistant
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Associate degree or medical assistant degree .
Responsibilities include donor testing;
viral testing;
performing and interpreting quality control on blood products;
reference work and antigen screening for area hospitals.
Duties include sample preparation,
quality control testing,
labeling product and preparation for shipping.
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| posted by blogger @ 16:26
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| to use art to work through pain and distress
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Haine Crown spent a lifetime teaching people to use art to work through pain and distress. On Sunday, more than 250 people attended her funeral, creating a tapestry of lives who were touched by this artist-turned-therapist.
Crown, a former art therapy instructor at the now-defunct College of St. Teresa in Winona, first worked with students who couldn’t deal with emotions in words as a special education teacher.
“These kids were emotionally disturbed,” said her husband, Terry Gresser. “The trouble is they can’t do verbal therapy. Art was a way to help them get through the troubles they had.”
And in the end, art was just another way to get through what would become the struggle of her life — primary peritoneal cancer, a rare form that attacks the peritoneum, the lining around the organs of the abdomen.
Five years ago, doctors gave Crown two years to live — maybe three at the most.
The diagnosis didn’t slow her, even though the ensuing chemotherapy did. She continued teaching art therapy, including a nurses’ training program for Winona State students and a program for doctors at Mayo Clinic.
She taught art therapy in the dual roles of instructor and patient. As she instructed, small tumors formed throughout her abdomen — spraying everywhere, like the mist from a broken spray paint can, said Gresser.
The mother of four continued to fight against the disease and the odds, even though the last several rounds of chemotherapy immobilized her. The last two chemo treatments proved unsuccessful, and when the cancer started to spread, she decided to stop, opting instead to live her life as comfortably as possible, Gresser said.
Crown died July 30.
“It was like she was holding onto the threads as long as she could, so when she couldn’t hold on anymore, she wouldn’t be around long,” he said.
Their life together began more than 30 years ago and read like a movie script.
Gresser got by playing with his band in nightclubs in the Washington, D.C., area in the 1970s.
“She was unimpressed with me,” Gresser said. “It was unusual and a very strange experience, not being able to wow someone while on stage.”
He had to figure out who she was, and his persistence paid off — they spent several nights in a row talking.
“I lied about my age,” he said. “I thought if I told her I was five years younger than she was, she’d dismiss me.”
He eventually came clean.
“I was kind of in the cocoon of the music world, and she sort of woke me up,” he said. “She pulled me out. She didn’t take it away; she just kind of said, ‘Ay little guy. Grow up, boy.’”
She had worked at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, helping men and women who were having difficulty after the Gulf War.
She secured a job at the College of Saint Teresa in Winona in the late 1980s. She already had one child, Megan, and gave birth to a son, Taylor. When the clan arrived in Minnesota, they adopted two daughters, Daniela and Anna, from Romania and China.
“Her body is gone, but she’s not gone. You carry someone with you forever who was meaningful to you,” Gresser said. “I was lost and she found me.”source |
| posted by blogger @ 14:04
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| art therapy is used in hospital
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Rob R.'s unframed paintings hang side by side. On one canvas, a solitary boat sails past a mountainous landscape. The other shows lush green grass, trees, a mountain, blue sky and bright sun.
Tacked beneath these two works, a poem written by the artist reads:
"Hope is there for all who seek, giving strength to those who are weak. Hope supports you when you fail, giving a smile during great travail."
To the passerby, they're two paintings and a poem. To the art therapists at Richmond University Medical Center, they're signs of coping with mental illness.
Throughout the country, art therapy is used in hospital, educational and rehabilitation settings, as well as prisons, to help address mental health needs, explained Laura Greenstone, chair of the National Coalition of Creative Art Therapies Associations. Greenstone uses art therapy in her job at a domestic violence agency in Monmouth County, N.J.
Art therapy helps alleviate emotional problems and promotes expression in a positive, healing way, she said. Many people with mental health disorders have trouble expressing their experiences or emotions. Art allows them to do so through a canvas or paper. It can also be less threatening than talking to someone directly about their problems, Greenstone said.
"People with mental illness may feel very isolated, it may be hard for them to engage with other people," she said. "Art gives them a common ground. It can be self-esteem-raising. They can feel positive about something."
"Art therapy is a means of communicating without words," said Adrienne Yurinko, a licensed and registered art therapist at Richmond University Medical Center on Staten Island. "They become something more than a patient; they become an artist here."
Her patients have persistent mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Their ages range from 18 to 70.
Yurinko and fellow art therapist Linda Iacurto said the art helps them assess how a patient is feeling. For example, Rob R.'s painting of the boat was made during his first few months in the program, while he was struggling with depression and psychosis.
"There's a lot of space, emptiness. It's disconnected and disorganized," Yurinko said. "As he progressed, the artwork become fuller and brighter."
"Jack" has been participating in Richmond's art therapy program for more than three years. Before he began, he suffered from anxiety and depression. Art, he said, has given him better equilibrium and helps him relieve tension.
"Every day gets better and better for me because I'm expressing myself through art," Jack said. "I can stand up for myself and say, 'I accomplished something.'"
Leading a productive life is one of the goals for patients, explained Martin Phillips, administrator for the medical center's continuing day treatment program. Art therapy helps teach patients the cognitive and behavioral skills they need to function in the real world, he said.
"This is not arts and crafts," said Phillips.
During a recent art therapy session, Jack was working on a painting of two people kneeling together. He held up the work - done in shades of red and blue - in front of the class of about 15 telling them, "I want to make it look worthwhile."
In another room, a group practiced a more recreational therapy. Ronni Donza, a mental health nurse, helped more than a dozen people knit, crochet and do needlepoint.
Some people in her class used to sleep all day, she said. Now they are up and knitting. Others were afraid to interact with people, and now offer their help to the group.
"It's taught me how to be a little more patient with myself," explained one of two men in Donza's group.
"Gina," another member of the therapy group, crocheted when she was younger, but stopped when she became ill. Four years ago, Gina returned to her hook and yarn.
"I don't think too much about my illness," she said. "I try to concentrate on painting and crocheting."source |
| posted by blogger @ 06:02
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| sexual identity, ethnicity in male nursing students
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| Sunday
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5
Study examined the relationships amongst sexual identity, ethnicity and role strain in male nursing students in school, clinical and community settings.
Study questions included:
a) What is the relationship between ethnicity and role strain among male nursing students?,
b) To what extent does sex identity influence role strain among male nursing students?, and
c) How does level of education affect sex identity and role strain?
Conceptual Framework: Social Constructionist theorists (Berger & Luckman, 1969) posit the linkage between social and cultural context of gender and role strain. Gender is viewed not as a trait but as a process external to the individual and the product of the interaction between people, language and culture.
Stereotyped socially defined sex role results in role strain when difficulties exist in fulfilling role obligation.
A convenience sample of 93 male nursing students currently enrolled in 16 NLN accredited undergraduate nursing schools in New Jersey.
Findings: Demographic factors as age, ethnicity, marital status, living arrangements, exposure to health care, previous life experience and social influences in one’s decisions to enroll in nursing influenced sexual identity and degree of role strain.
Interactions with others in social and academic environments affected role strain. Gender defined social and occupational roles potentially mediated experience with role strain. Continued...
How to Become a Nurse |
| posted by blogger @ 22:54
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| men could be effective nurses
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4-The Alexian Brothers Hospital, School of Nursing for Men: a leader in the preparation of men in nursing.
In the United States from 1888 to 1969 schools of nursing for men existed. The schools were designed to prepare men as professional nurses, especially to serve male patients in psychiatry and urology.
Some schools existed in hospitals that operated a separate school for women while others were uniquely for men only. As many as a dozen schools for men may have existed at some time during this period and additional schools of nursing created a separate section within the existing female school for their men students.
Little is known about the schools for men in nursing literature nor does the history of nursing do more than acknowledge their existence. The Alexian Brothers, a Catholic, Religious Congregation for men, operated two schools of nursing for men, one in St. Louis and another in Chicago. The school of nursing in Chicago had two unique characteristics; it was the only school for men in a general hospital and it was the largest school of nursing for men in America.
Men once provided half of the individuals serving as nurses in this country. With the dominance of the Nightingale model of nursing education the numbers of men in nursing fell to less than one %.
A Century later men have increased to about six % of the professional nursing population. The schools of nursing for men provided a foundation for men to demonstrate that men could be effective nurses and that nursing profited from the presence of both men and women in the profession.
This presentation will document significant information about the history of men in nursing, will describe briefly the history of the Congregation of Alexian Brothers and describe selected facts about the preparation of men for the profession of nursing and the contributions of a few of the graduates of this program. Continued...
How to Become a Nurse |
| posted by blogger @ 18:51
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| the right of men in nursing to freely imagine their identity is suppressed
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The imaginary domain refers to the intimate space in which men in nursing are free tocreate their own identity, without being coerced
SYNOPSISI argue that historically, and even today, the discourse of nursing as a single-sex dominated profession is sexually charged.
Nursing has been established predominantly by women and with the feminization of the nursing profession in the late 20thcentury by Florence Nightingale, the imaginary domain of men in nursing has been threatened.
This situation has been further perpetuated by powerful discourses and discursive practices which are seen as regimens of truth about masculinity and femininity in both nursing and society.
As a consequence, the right of men in nursing to freely imagine their identity is suppressed, which negatively impact on their health.
Continued...
How to Become a Nurse |
| posted by blogger @ 16:48
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| men’s rights in nursing are human rights
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2-The literature on gender issues in nursing focuses predominantly on the following: reasons why men choose nursing, recruitment of men to nursing, tokenism and male advantage; issues of masculinity-femininity and the treatment and roles of men in nursing
The right of men in nursing to freely imagine their own identity and destiny are not addressed. I am of the opinion that men’s rights in nursing are human rights.
For the sake of their health, men in nursing have the right to freely imagine and re-imagine their identity, including their sexual identity. However, certain discourses about sexual difference in the imaginary domain of nursing and society threaten this right of men.
As a consequence, men in nursing face gender discrimination and bias, which constitute an unethical act. Continued...
How to Become a Nurse
If we consider ethics to revolve around three central concepts: “Self”, “Good”, and the “Other”, then men (self) in nursing (the other) should be allowed to freely imagine their identity in order to promote their health . |
| posted by blogger @ 14:44
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| Male nurse’s decision to become a nurse and to remain a nurse.
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1-Male nurses account for 5.7% of all nurses, up from 5.4% in 2000.
To explore the process that led to the male nurse’s decision to become a nurse and to remain a nurse.
Methodology: Grounded theory methods were used to generate a descriptive theory of socialization of men into nursing.
Data were collected by individual, semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 20 male Registered Nurses, residing in Massachusetts, with 1 to 35 years of experience as RNs. The participants were recruited through personal contact with people known to the researcher and through snowball sampling.
The researcher did not know any of the men prior to the interview. The audiotaped interviews were transcribed and verified.
Findings:
A basic social process, socializing men into nursing, emerged from the data. The basic social process comprises a trajectory of four stages, which encompass the path that men travel to become and remain nurses.
These stages occur in a linear manner. The first stage is prior to considering nursing. This is followed by choosing nursing, becoming a nurse, and ends with being a nurse.
Conclusion:
This study extends our knowledge of male nurses by describing the trajectory that men follow in becoming a nurse. It has implications for policy development that will influence the recruitment and retention of men in nursing.
Continued... |
| posted by blogger @ 12:20
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| The specific needs of male nursing students
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Touching a patient or client is an integral component of nursing care. Male nursing students report that educators poorly address their circumstances, according to professors of nursing Chad O'Lynn and Lorretta Krautscheid. Men view intimate touching as dangerous regardless of context; they are afraid intimate touch will be perceived as sexual.
O'Lynn and Krautscheid are currently conducting a study, "Teaching Men Nursing Students Intimate Touch Strategies," related to addressing the specific needs of male nursing students.
"When I went to nursing school 20 years ago, I was really nervous about touching people's private parts," O'Lynn said. "No one talked about it."
The research study is aimed to determine how to develop a class, according to Krautscheid.
"Nobody in the U.S. is providing information about the subject, so if we were to create a class, we'll need to determine what'll be in it and how it will be taught," Krautscheid said.
Many male nurses are forced to figure out how to properly handle genitalia and other intimate body parts on their own throughout their nursing careers. This often leads to fast or rough treatment with a "get it over with" mentality. The research aims to prove that addressing the issue and providing information to male students is more beneficial than the traditional method of trial and error.
"Fast is not always the best way. Many male students are nervous about asking delicate questions, like 'how should I touch a vagina,' when female classmates are in the room," O'Lynn said. "If only males are present in a class, all the questions, concerns and fears come out, and we talk about them."
An intervention group of an all-male nursing class was held during the summer, which 15 students attended.
Junior male nursing students who volunteered filled out a questionnaire and received information about the politics, posture, techniques and communication regarding touch strategies.
After three months of clinical experience, the intervention group will be compared to a control group of senior male nursing students. Both groups will be videotaped and answer a post-clinical questionnaire wherein a faculty panel will evaluate the findings.
Junior Matt Bryant attended the one-time session.
"At first it was a bit awkward even though it was important information," Bryant said. "The subject of intimate touching is kind of taboo. I'm glad that I was introduced to (the lab). Now that the awkward stage is out of the way, I feel more comfortable."
Bryant learned the importance of giving clients autonomy or the freedom to refuse the services of a nurse, including hygiene cleaning, catheter insertions, and exams.
The position of the nurse relative to the patient plays an important role in strategies. Nurses do not want to be "gazing at" or hunched over the patients.
"If the opportunity is available for upcoming junior students, I think they should take advantage of this class," Bryant said.
Justine Hone, junior, was also at the three hour lab with Bryant.
"I'm glad I had it," Hone said. "I have less anxiety in real life situations. Now I have an idea about what should be done correctly."
Hone feels that if the touch course is approved as a lab or class, it should be a required even for female nursing students.
"Making a point to keep the patient comfortable helps diffuse anxiety," Hone said.
The sex differences in nursing are not completely equal, according to O'Lynn.
"I feel females have a better sense of where and how their hands should move," O'Lynn said. "With pap smears, pelvic exams and such, women are more savvy with touch."
Fifty-four out of 591 undergraduate nursing students at UP are male. This demographic will be the first to receive specific procedures and strategies regarding intimate touch. Some male student nurses, however, feel that nurses as individuals play a bigger part than a nurse's gender.
"This is a touchy subject, no pun intended," said senior Bailey Saleumvong, president of the university's student nurses association. "To me, it's not that big of a deal. I found that if you are matter of fact about procedures, it doesn't cause anxiety."source
How to Become a Nurse |
| posted by blogger @ 10:17
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| Increase in male nurses
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Increase in male nurses causes social change
Stereotype of mostly female nurses dispelled due to more men entering nursing program
Male nurses do exist, and many of them are learning the tricks of the trade at Austin Peay State University. One of them is Kenneth Chessman, sophomore nursing major. "I always wanted to do something medically," Chessman said.
When the word "nurse" is mentioned, a womanly figure is instantly placed into the minds of most people. The stereotype of all nurses being females has been consistent ever since nursing became a common job.
"All the guys were going to war, and the females would help them out when they were shot or blown up," Chessman said, referring to the early wars when nursing became common. The word "nurse," along with "teacher" or "secretary," is most commonly associated with women.
"There's a stereotype that goes with it," said freshman Ceantanna Harrison. Some of these stereotypes spilled over into punch lines in the hit movie "Meet the Parents" where Ben Stiller plays a male nurse (and no one lets him forget it). As the years go by, male nurses are increasing slowly, yet they are still looked at strangely.
"It is typical that when you go to the hospital or doctor's office, you do see female nurses," said Marissa Chandler, director of Trio Student Support Services at APSU. "But with times changing, and there being such a high demand of nurses, I think that slowly it will evolve. Male nurses can add a whole new ballgame to the field."
Mark Gray, the tutor coordinator and computer lab supervisor for Trio Student Support Services, agrees with Chandler. "There are times when a nurse has to move or roll a patient over, and a male nurse might be stronger and able to move a bigger patient," said Gray. "I think male nurses are definitely a good thing," Chandler added.
With the world always evolving and changing, many people find male nurses can be very helpful. Jeanine Thurmond, junior nursing major, has been a licensed practical nurse for seven years. "I've had the experience of working with many male nurses," Thurmond said. "I found it to be phenomenal. They're really awesome when it comes to carrying out duties."
Continued...
How to Become a Nurse |
| posted by blogger @ 06:07
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| Male nursing students -Male-friendly" nursing school
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MANUP is trying to show men that there is more to nursing than changing bedpans
In certain respects, Ben Eithun is the typical all-American jock - he stands 6 feet 4 inches, weighs 265 pounds and was once a lineman for his football team at Edgewood College.
But one thing separates him from the rest of the pack: He is a male nurse.
Eithun - a candidate for accelerated bachelor's and master's degrees in nursing - admits that his situation is "not normal" and that he is part of a small minority of male nursing students at Penn.
But a new group that calls itself MANUP - the Men's Association of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania - is determined to change that.
MANUP, of which Eithun is the president, hopes to serve the gender-specific needs of male nursing students as well as bring more men into nursing.
"We want to create an environment for male nurses to come together and to open doors for men to enter into the nursing field," said MANUP faculty adviser Chris Coleman, an assistant professor in the School of Nursing.
Male nursing students "need a place to talk about specific issues that affect them," Coleman added, ranging from problems with their girlfriends to strategies for success.
For one of its first major events next spring, the group plans on inviting Eagles linebacker Dhani Jones to campus to speak about health issues.
Eithun and co-founder Jay Roth got the idea to create the organization after enrolling in a case-study class on aggressive behavior in the spring of 2005. The class had only four students - all male - and a male professor.
"This was something that had never happened before," Eithun said.
They found that they could discuss things among themselves that "you would want to ask students, but not administrators," Eithun said. They soon realized the need for a sense of community among male nursing students.
"I think that men in nursing need to stick together," Nursing sophomore Jake Bevilacqua said.
Coleman believes that MANUP will play an important role in creating awareness among male students about aggression and violence, sexually transmitted diseases and how to do self-checks for testicular cancer.
Among organizations for men in nursing, MANUP is the first to be established at a nursing institution, according to Coleman. That may be because male nursing students are not only a minority at Penn, but in similar programs across the country.
Records show that just 7.2 percent of students in the Nursing School are men.
While this percentage might seem small, it is still above the nation's average for men in nursing - a mere 5.7 percent, according to the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses.
Penn's Nursing School has also been ranked the most "male-friendly" nursing school by Male Nursing Magazine in recent years.
Despite Penn's success in diversifying the Nursing School student body, many agree that more needs to be done to bring men into nursing.
"More men need to be aware that nurses do more than emptying bedpans," Coleman said. "Nursing students can become scientists, researchers, advanced practitioners and executives," he added.
Bevilacqua agrees. "There are still a bunch of stereotypes about nursing being a female-oriented field," he said.source
Certified Anesthesia Technician (Cer.A.T.)
Anesthesia Technician
Certified Anesthesia Technologist |
| posted by blogger @ 22:05
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| male nurses are leaving the profession more quickly than female nurses
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Recent graduates of the nation's nursing schools are leaving the profession more quickly than their predecessors, with male nurses bolting at almost twice the rate of their female counterparts, according to a new study.
About 7.5 percent of new male nurses left the profession within four years of graduating from nursing school, compared to 4.1 percent of new female nurses, according to the study by a University of Pennsylvania researcher. It was reported
"In general, nurses are looked down upon, especially by physicians," said Jerome Koss, a nurse since 1978 and an administrator for Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. "It's changing but it's still an issue — and I think men are much less tolerant than women of that kind of treatment." source
How do I find the job?
LPNs and RNs-similarities and differences |
| posted by blogger @ 20:24
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| One of the biggest obstacles to attracting more men to nursing
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Why not become a male nurse?
One of the biggest obstacles to attracting more men to nursing, say those in the field, is the lingering notion that nursing is simply not something that men do. The word itself is inherently feminine; it also means breastfeeding a child. “There’s still a male nurse stereotype as some flouncy person dancing down the hallway of a hospital who is a woman wannabe,” said Robert Abel, a nurse manager at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital in New York City.
Male nurses like Abel often find that patients approach them with the assumption that they are not smart enough to become doctors. “It’s looked upon, I think, by the medical end of things as a less-than profession,” he said. “Many patients over the years have said, ‘You’re the nurse? How come you never wanted to go to medical school?’ as if medical school is so much more of a goal than nursing would ever be.”
For some men, nursing represents a secure career move. Scott Flaming worked for 15 years as an insurance underwriter for Fortune 500 companies before moving to El Paso, Texas, where he had difficulty finding a job. He decided to enroll at New Mexico State University, where he will earn his RN degree this August.
“At my age, I don’t necessarily have 12 years to go to medical school,” said the 44-year-old. Flaming said he had found that because middle management salaries have been stagnant in general, a switch to nursing doesn’t necessarily mean a pay cut.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual pay of registered nurses was $52,330 in May 2004. Another challenge to entering the field of nursing, regardless of one’s gender, is getting into a nursing school. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, nursing schools had to turn away more than 30,000 qualified applicants in 2004 because of capacity constraints.
Some argue that a quota system should reserve admission slots for men. “Just because there aren’t enough training opportunities available, that doesn’t mean the ones that are there should continue to go to females only,” said Jim Raper, president of the American Assembly for Men in Nursing, an organization devoted to supporting male nurses and encouraging more men to enter the field. Once men successfully enter the field, they may find that being in the minority has additional challenges.
Some have claimed that they have been held back in their careers as a result of gender discrimination. In specialties like obstetrics and gynecology, in which women often prefer to have female nurses, courts have ruled that hospitals have the right to hire women over men because of their gender.
But Joan Evans, an RN who has researched the role of gender nursing and earned a Ph.D. in education focusing on the subject, says men also have advantages in the field. “Many men who go into nursing, whether they desire to or not, end up in leadership roles or in the high status elite specialties like intensive care, emergency and operating room,” she said. Evans’ research suggests that gender plays a complex role in nursing and that leveling the playing field may not be as simple as a numbers game.
“There’s no doubt that we need talented men and women as nurses," she said. “But I think it’s very dangerous to bring larger numbers of men into the profession without any analysis of how men’s presence in the profession is affecting men nurses as well as women colleagues.” Evans argues that nurses lack respect because of a societal devaluation of women, and that part of the push to increase the number of men in the field comes from female nurses who believe it will increase the prestige of all nurses.
Smith, who now protects nurses’ contracts as a representative for the New York State Nurses Association, agrees. “They got rid of their caps and skirts and everything else, but they’re still treated the same way,” he said. “Our society has conditioned people to view certain things with a lesser value, and one of the things that has been viewed upon with a lesser value is the profession of nursing, because it’s predominantly women. "When people, whether they’re doctors or patients, see a male nurse," Smith said, "it’s a little bit eye-opening for them.”source
Licensed Vocational Nurse working conditions
What is the typical salary for a Licensed Vocational Nurse ?
How do I prepare for the job?
Benefits of Vocational Nursing |
| posted by blogger @ 18:10
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| Why not become a male nurse?
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When two of his childhood friends and business colleagues died of cancer in their 20s, the loss forced Kevin Smith to reevaluate his career. The experience left him feeling helpless, and he wasn’t sure what to do about it. Then his sister suggested something that had never occurred to Smith.
Why not become a nurse?
Nursing had run in Smith’s family. His mother, both grandmothers and an aunt were nurses. But his biggest influence in making the jump into the profession was his grandfather, who, as a second career, had become a licensed practical nurse.
So Smith went to nursing school and began working in the surgical intensive care unit at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, N.Y. But Smith remains, like his grandfather, a minority in the profession.
According to the American Nurses Association, only 6 percent of nurses in the United States today are men. As the baby boom generation hits retirement age, demand is growing for quality nursing care but hospitals and other facilities face a significant shortage of nurses to meet that need. The American Hospital Association estimates that 75 percent of all hospital vacancies are for nurses, and the Department of Labor has identified registered nursing as the top occupation in terms of job growth through 2012, with more than 1 million new and replacement nurses needed in that time.
Though women have successfully broken into the ranks of medicine--the Association of American Medical Colleges reports that the majority of medical students are now female--nursing has yet to see a similar shift in the gender balance.
Still, men are beginning a push to solidify their roles within this traditionally female-dominated occupation. “Men in Nursing,” the first professional journal to target this population, was recently launched by publisher Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
“Our whole intent with ‘Men in Nursing’ is to provide a professional journal that’s going to really serve as a vehicle to celebrate the accomplishments of men in the field,” said Robert Kepshire, the publication’s editor. Kepshire began his career as a firefighter and emergency medical technician before starting a 20-year nursing career that has included working on a helicopter to transport critically ill patients. Read more
What is a Licensed Vocational Nurse?
Is the Vocational Nursing Profession a growing career?
What do Vocational Nurses do?
Important skills, knowledge, and abilities for LVNs
How to become a Licensed Vocational Nurse |
| posted by blogger @ 16:17
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| About 6 percent of nurses today are male
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Carol Avery, Ed.D., RN, associate professor of nursing at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury and vice president of the AAMN, said that she sees positive change occurring in the younger generations of nurses.
She believes women are growing more amenable to men in nursing. "I especially notice it at Western Connecticut State University; the students with their male colleagues see each other as just nurses," Avery said.
To better understand the plight of her male colleagues and students, Karen Morin, DSN, RN, professor of nursing and professor in charge of graduate nursing programs at the Pennsylvania State University in University Park, joined the AAMN board. The membership, she said, made her realize subtle discriminations and biases that women, including nurses, physicians and patients, interject.
Nursing faculty needs to be aware of potential problems, especially when patients might feel uncomfortable about having a male nurse, Morin said.
"You’re not condoning this behavior, but on the other hand you don’t want to create any additional stress on the patient. Certainly, we have a responsibility to inform them [patients] that there is no difference," she said. "As a childbirth educator, it would be incumbent upon me to tell my childbirth couple, ‘Hey, there are both genders in nursing. So don’t be surprised if a male nurse walks into your unit.’ "
Despite arguments, the literature supports that male nurses can be just as caring as their female counterparts.
Susan Boughn, Ed.D., MSN, RN, a nursing professor at The College of New Jersey School of Nursing, in Ewing, researched why men and women choose nursing in a study published in the January/February issue of Nursing and Health Care Perspectives. During interviews with 12 male students and 16 female students, she found that the male nurses were eager to talk about their feelings about nursing.
Men do care
Boughn said that she now recognizes that male nurses have a "strong call to care. It’s very strong. It’s as strong, I think, as the female nursing students’ need to care," she said. "I liked and was encouraged that they felt no hesitation or shame about saying right up front, ‘I expect and deserve to get a good salary and good working conditions.’ I thought that was healthy. The women nursing students were much more hesitant to say that."
Both men and women were interested in power and empowerment within nursing, Boughn also found. The variable was that while female nurses were interested in power for themselves and their patients, males were interested in not only self- and patient empowerment but also empowerment of the nursing profession.
"If we had all nursing students concerned up front about their basic human labor rights and empowering not only themselves and their patients but also the profession, that’s a good place for students to be. I think if we had a long history of that, we would not be where we are today with the nursing shortage," Boughn said.
The Health Resources and Service Administration’s National Sample Survey of 2000 says that of the estimated 2,696,540 registered nurses in the United States, 5.9 percent are male. About 6 percent of nurses today are male. That’s the highest percentage since the 1900s.
"The men who go into nursing have to realize that it’s a profession dominated by women, so if they don’t get along with women well, it’s not a good profession for them. A lot of men in the past have not been able to deal with situations in which women are supervisors over them," Bullough said.
"The thing to focus on in men and in nursing is that men and women are both nurses. There is not much basic difference between them. Men are sometimes stronger than women, and in the past they often got stuck with turning patients more. I think all you do is treat both men and women equally."
Male nurses can overcome negative perceptions by addressing them, Miller said. By encountering gender-based reservations and winning patients’ and nurses’ confidence despite their initial unease, you win friends for life, he said.
"That’s happened to me a few times and what a joy that is for both of us. It has been a wonderful career; it still is. The more important thing is nursing itself; I’ve never been bored as a nurse. I’ve always had mobility. I’ve always had lots of opportunities. I’ve never been burned out because I wasn’t learning. I don’t know that many professions have all the dimensions of nursing," he said.source
How to Become a Nurse |
| posted by blogger @ 14:15
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| Male nurses continue to tell stories about unfair treatment
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Male nurses defy stereotypes and discrimination to find satisfaction in a female-dominated profession
About 6 percent of nurses today are male. But while the discriminatory practices against men nursing might be easing, male nurses continue to tell stories about unfair treatment.
Mark Buike, RN, feels at ease and confident as a male nurse. Buike, a Nurse II in the pediatrics ICU at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, said that any door he has wanted to walk through has been open to him.
"In nursing school, even though it was 1980 and I initially went to a Catholic diploma school, they made every service open. I’ve worked in newborn ICU, pediatric ICU, adult ER, cardiovascular ICU. I’ve never felt that I was not allowed to go to any particular area. I’ve been to delivery C-sections and ob/gyn emergencies in the ER. I’ve never felt stymied," he said.
The perception that men are stymied in nursing today is overblown, said Vern Bullough, Ph.D., RN, adjunct professor of nursing at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and a distinguished professor emeritus at State University of New York.
"Some hospitals, for a while, tried to keep men out of ob/gyn floors and women’s health wards. But generally, that has not happened in recent years. There is still some difficulty for men to become nurse-midwives, but even that has broken down," Bullough said.
"Some women deliberately discriminate against male nurses, but this is a small minority of people. I’ve had tremendous support from female nurses," said Bullough, a recipient of the American Assembly for Men in Nursing’s (AAMN) Distinguished Nurse award, who has been a nurse, educator and author of more than 100 books and articles about nursing.
But while the discriminatory practices against men in nursing might be easing, male nurses continue to tell stories about unfair treatment.
Workplace prejudice
Sylva Emodi, Ph.D., MSN, MPH, was so distraught over the discrimination he experienced in 1996 teaching a rotation in labor and delivery at a California hospital that he left maternal and child care.
Born in Nigeria and educated in the United States, Emodi spent two years at a California university as an associate professor in the department of nursing. The environment was hostile, he said.
"I remember going to a rotation at a local hospital. The head nurse made it difficult for me to be able to supervise students in labor and delivery, pediatrics and postpartum, I think, because I’m a guy. She’d say, ‘You are not a medical doctor, you cannot go into labor and delivery.’ After a while, I had had enough, so I went to the doctor directly and said, ‘I need to be here with the students. The students need to see what is going on.’ The doctor said, ‘Sure, help yourself. Come on in.’ "
The head nurse eventually apologized for her behavior, but the hostility continued in other areas, Emodi said, even during his interactions with other faculty members. Emodi left the university and the hospital. He’s now supervisor of the psychiatric unit at the Palo Alto VA Health System in California. Despite the hurdles, Emodi said he’s happy he chose nursing as a career.
Terry Miller, Ph.D., RN, dean and professor in the School of Nursing at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash., and a professor emeritus at San Jose (Calif.) State University, has experienced and witnessed discrimination against male nurses throughout his career.
In the early ’70s, as an undergraduate student at a clinical rotation in the OR at Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City, Miller wore his hair long. "It was characteristic of the era," he said.
The shift supervisor for OR services, a Mercy nun, would make Miller leave the OR every couple of hours to rescrub. A surgeon noticed the abuse, reprimanded her for her behavior and, according to Miller, said to the nun, "I don’t know what your problem is with him. I don’t like long hair either. But I’m telling you right now it’s unconscionable the way you’re riding him."
The nun later admitted that she didn’t like men in nursing. According to Miller, she said, "I don’t like long hairs. And when you put them [men and long hairs] together, they just make me sick."
Buike didn’t like the lack of assertiveness of Ben Stiller’s character (who works as a male nurse) in the movie "Meet the Parents." Stiller’s character, whose future father-in-law criticizes him incessantly for being a nurse, submits to the insults to gain favor with his girlfriend’s family.
Buike said he would have spoken up much sooner. "I would have said, ‘We have to have a talk. We have to come to an understanding of what I do is not who I am. Nursing is a profession. It does not equate to any particular sexuality or sexual leaning."
"Talk to male nurses and you’ll find that while they love the profession, they haven’t enjoyed being treated like women," said Bruce Wilson, Ph.D., RN, associate professor at the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg.
Wilson began his career in nursing in 1964 and served in the Vietnam War. "We encounter a lot of hostility from female nurses. Because nursing as a profession is confused about whether it’s a profession or it’s a gender," he said.
Wilson, who serves on AAMN’s board of directors, said that nursing is behind the times when it comes to recruiting from all walks of life.
"Every other profession has changed except nursing. We’re suffering from a teachers’ shortage. If you look at the advertisements for teachers, they feature minorities. They feature men. It’s not presented as a gender," Wilson said. "If you look at what nursing presents itself as, it presents itself as a gender. We’re women. In fact, we’re Caucasian women."
Better times ahead?
Benefits of Vocational Nursing
How do I find the job?
LPNs and RNs-similarities and differences
LVN vs RN What is the difference? |
| posted by blogger @ 12:15
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| Being a male RN in a female-dominated field can be rewarding
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I knew early on I wanted to help people so nursing was an obvious career choice for me. For others, that decision to choose nursing as a career may not come as easily, especially for many men. That's because nursing has been, and continues to be, a female-dominated career.
Having spoken with some of the male nurses I work with at Gundersen Lutheran, I hear many of the same themes as to why they entered nursing, such as the desire to help others, the challenges and diversity a nursing career offers, and educational advancement opportunities.
Paul Hoch, RN, Intensive Care Unit, stated, "Nursing allows me to help others while providing job security, mobility, access to cutting-edge technology, competitive earnings and a schedule that fits my life.
Nursing touches everyone from prenatal care, to hospice care and everyone in between. As a nurse, there's no place I can't go. The whole gender issue in nursing has never bothered me. We're all here for the same purpose and all working towards the same goal."
Mike Peeso, RN, Cardiotesting Lab, began his career back in 1969 as an orderly before becoming a corpsman in the Air Force and ultimately an RN. "We were allowed a lot of latitude in treating and caring for patients," said Peeso. "It started the fire that still burns inside me today. The rewards are many, but knowing I make a difference in someone's life is what drives me to give the best care possible."
Jim Padesky, RN, Inpatient Psychiatry, came to nursing in a similar way. He said of the challenges for the nursing profession, "We need to work to achieve a competitive salaries, portray a professional image and continue with quality education for new and experienced nurses."
How do we, as nurses, elevate our image and change the stereotypes that exist? Charles Thimmesch, RN, 3 Center, is relatively new to nursing. "Being a male RN in a female-dominated field can be rewarding,” he said. “My RN colleagues considered my hire to their unit as a positive step to a more diverse and progressive unit."
Nursing has seen a slow but steady rise in the number of male nurses entering the profession. Recent recruitment efforts have been aimed at attracting more men. Even so, men still represent only 5.4 percent of the country's nurses according to a report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Male nurses comprise almost 7 percent of the Gundersen Lutheran workforce.
"The work is challenging, but worth it," stated Seth Barna, RN, Intensive Care Unit. "We work closely with patients, families and doctors to make a difference in someone's life."
Nursing can be a fulfilling career with many opportunities. Accepting the challenge can make the difference in all the lives we have the opportunity to share in. Changing how society views nurses, both male and female, should be a goal of all nurses, making nursing an easy career choice for everyone.source
Vocational Nursing schools in California 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
Licensed Vocational Nurse LVN program prerequisites
LVN Program Fees
Vocational Nursing schools in Texas |
| posted by blogger @ 10:13
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| Men in the nursing field have a promising future.
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From the silly portrayals on TV to the punch lines made about Greg Focker, male nurses have to deal with their share of stereotypes, but some males majoring in nursing at Ohio State are not sure what the fuss is all about.
Many men who join the nursing field say they find the opportunities available far outweigh any jokes made at their expense.
Matt Freeman, a nurse practitioner and clinical instructor at OSU, said he believed many people underestimate the benefits of going into the nursing field.
"Nursing is very diverse," he said. "There are opportunities to work as registered nurses in emergency rooms, intensive care units, operating rooms, helicopters, you name it."
James Diaz, a senior in nursing, said the most common stereotypes in the media show nurses doing simple and almost "girlie" work, such as fluffing pillows and giving sponge baths.
"There is a lot more to nursing than some people give credit," Diaz said. "The media never helps by always placing this job into a feminine role."
This leads to another large misconception: nursing is only for females.
Jason Payne, a nurse practitioner and clinical instructor at OSU, said he does not understand why gender is a factor when people perceive the occupation. Payne said he believes nursing to be a complicated field requiring skills that can be met by males and females.
"Nursing is both an intellectual and technical profession," Freeman said. "It requires an extensive knowledge of science, strong organizational skills and the ability to think fast in emergencies."
In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of male registered nurses in the United States. Up from 3.1 percent in 1986, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the number of registered male nurses was 5.6 percent at the end of 2005.
Cody Moyer, a sophomore in nursing, said he believes men in the nursing field have a promising future.
"I think more guys that want to get into some kind of medical field will realize that nursing has a lot of opportunities," he said. "There is a shortage in nursing right now, which means there will be jobs, and the pay is good too."
According to the College of Nursing, 10.5 percent of the current undergraduate students in nursing are male, compared to only 6.3 percent of the graduate students. This skewed distribution also spills into the faculty and staff members in the College of Nursing. According to the college's annual diversity report, only 5.5 percent of the faculty and graduate associates were men in 2006.
Moyer said he agrees that while each class may have one or two males present, the majority of classes in the college are and will remain dominated by women for a while.
According to Payne, the Buckeye Association of Men in Nursing was created at OSU to support male students in nursing. The group offers recruitment, scholarships and programs for other interests of men in nursing.
Freeman said he believes males will continue to get into the nursing field in the future.
"Once I tell guys what I do all day, how much money they can make and how much fun it can be, they realize that it's a great profession," he said.
While some stereotypes will always remain intact, Diaz said he is hopeful men in nursing will become more accepted.
"The main purpose of nursing is to help others," he said. "When it comes down to it, I don't think many people can say anything bad about that."source
Nursing assistant training-Certified nursing assistant job
Where to find a free CNA training?
Certified nursing assistant salary in California |
| posted by blogger @ 08:13
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| A man chosen nursing as his life’s work
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A day in the life of a black man who has chosen nursing as his life’s work illustrates the unique contributions these dedicated caregivers make to the profession.
How loud does someone’s life’s calling have to be? Does it have to boom like ear-splitting thunder? Can it be acknowledged through a whisper as quiet as a newborn’s sigh? Maybe it can simply be heard in the everyday conversation of someone who loves his work and wants to communicate to others the joy he has found in knowing that each and every day he is doing exactly what he was put on this earth to do.
At some point in our journey through life, each of us will feel compelled to stop for a minute and think about our existence on this planet. Each of us will have to take self-inventory of the good and the bad in our lives, the obstacles we triumphantly overcame and the ones we had to accept and work around. The laborer will have to do it; the coach will have to do it; so will the billionaire, the doctor, the teacher, the actor and the nurse. Hopefully, we will reflect on many more good things than bad, because experience will have taught us that even the smallest drop of oil can taint the bluest of oceans.
For some of us, pursuing our life’s calling does not involve taking the easy road. For those of us who have chosen the profession of nursing, our calling lies in the task of making better the day-to-day existence of others. The handshakes and smiles given and received, the care and concern of patients and families help smooth the road and build a solid foundation of support that strengthens both the caregiver and the ones he cares for.
The times in which we live have yet to fully accept the path of the black male nurse. He must do his part to prove to his family, his patients and himself that the modern black man truly knows compassion. He must continue to put his best foot forward, chancing the pain of bruised and broken toes.
Touching Lives, One by One
The child with terminal cancer looks up at the nurse at his bedside and surely he does not know what paths have brought them together to meet this way. This child expects nothing but the best care his nurse can offer, and through focus and belief in what he does, that’s all the nurse can give. The family’s tears that seem to have drained them dry and the scarce laughter that seems to be as hard to find as a cure for this cruel disease are all shared by their nurse. Their experiences are not the same, but a quiet understanding passes between them through sincere eye contact and the exchange of warm hugs.
The teenager recovering from knee surgery needs a sympathetic ear to hear his stories from Friday night’s game. He wants so badly to tell someone how he should have gone long and cut outside instead of into the grasp of that merciless linebacker. This young man needs reassurance that his dream of being a star athlete has not died. He knows his parents love and support him, but he needs to hear it from the black man at his bedside who has stimulated his curiosity with this career choice. After sharing laughs and tales of past experiences, the boy sleeps and the nurse again takes pride in his gift of comfort.
Then there is the elderly black man in the nursing home who greets his nurse every morning with a handshake and a wink of wisdom. The struggle of his past is validated by this young man, and the struggle of his morning activities—dressing, eating, walking—is eased by the care he receives from his black male nurse. In this young man, still early in his life’s journey, he sees his son, he sees hope and he sees what was often barely visible in the past: compassion. The day that lies ahead for this elderly man is busy and tiring at times. But he knows that at the end of this day he will rest with a chest full of well-earned air and a heart full of gratefulness for the care he received.
At the end of the shift, the nurse and his coworkers gather at the nurses’ station for reflection on the day’s tasks. Everyone’s story deserves undivided attention in order to ensure cohesiveness on this day and many more days to come. He appreciates the respect of his peers and he can’t help but reflect on the journey that has brought him to work with such wonderful people. He swells with pride, knowing that day in and day out he is truly making a difference in the lives of his fellow human beings.
How loud does someone’s life’s calling have to be? Not loud at all. Sometimes it doesn’t even need to be expressed with words. Its strength lies in its reserved quietness. Its power is communicated through a humble yet effective existence that transcends pain and offers a hand to ease suffering. It is a calm that lends itself to others, a peace too powerful to be beaten down. It is as simple as looking into a patient’s eyes and realizing that this is the reason why this black male nurse chose to heed his life’s great call.
Benjamin Green Jr., RN, graduated from the University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM) School of Nursing in 1997. He is currently employed as a staff nurse at the VA Medical Center in Oklahoma City.source
Benefits of Vocational Nursing
How do I find the job?
LPNs and RNs-similarities and differences
LVN vs RN What is the difference? |
| posted by blogger @ 06:06
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| -Nursing Assistants scope of practice
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Nursing Assistants scope of practice relates to federal guidelines(OBRA), which concern mastery and application of nurse assistant functions when caring for elderly patients.
OBRA-Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act –law originally passed in 1987 , includes minimum standards for nursing assistants training , staffing requirements, resident assessment instructions, and information on rights for residents.
Measurement of vital signs (temperature, pulse, respiration, and blood pressure) are legal certified nursing assistant job functions because they are within the scope of practice.
Nursing assistants have to follow their scope of practice.
Do not perform a procedure if it is not listed in your job descriptions. Doing things that are beyond your scope of practice could injure a resident, nursing assistant or another staff member. For example, setting up IVs are not legal job functions for certified nursing assistant because these functions are not with their scope of practice.
Do not perform a procedure if you have not been trained to do it! |
| posted by blogger @ 04:00
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| everyone in the hospital loves male nurses.
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The debate surrounding gender in the medical field is highly sensitive and controversial. But when most people think about the inequalities within the sciences, they tend to forget that the odds can be stacked against men, too. Right here at Boston College, a small group of men is venturing into a field largely dominated by women - nursing.
Male nurses are few and far between within the halls of Cushing, but they are successful in their endeavors to break the gender barriers, and they are leaving their mark on their fellow nurses-in-training.
One of these studentes, Tim Pitta, shares his story.
"I wanted to go into the [Connell] School of Nursing because I love dealing with people. I found that this was the best way to deal with them and help them as much as I can. Also, being in the nursing profession gives you so many options. There are literally endless career options to choose from once you become certified," he said. "My family was a little shocked at first, but now they support me totally."
One of the questions that Pitta was faced with in his decision was whether to become a doctor instead.
"You definitely meet some people that question why I want to be a nurse, but for the most part I find that being a male in the profession helps so much. Women are great at the job, they do it so well and do not complain about anything, but there are just some things that being a man can help a lot with; you are always going to run into patients who are on the larger side and need to be moved, and I find being a male in that situation helps sometimes.
"But I definitely feel, no matter what gender, you need a soft side. Nothing is better than seeing your patient smile. I love finding a few minutes just to talk to my patients, nothing makes me happier in a day of work then just talking to my patient about something totally different then their illness. Doctors do not get that side of medicine. I have been around hospitals before and I have realized that doctors cure an illness and nurses cure patients. I didn't want my profession to be so removed from people," he said.
Pitta admits that there have been some difficulties during his studies.
"It took a little while to make the decision but I always knew that I wanted to help people and after talking to nurses who had been doing it for a long time, the decision was so easy," he said
Pitta said it would be nice if the stereotypes surrounding the profession didn't exist.
"I get the 'Focker' joke [from Meet the Parents] all the time," he said. "People are just not used to seeing males in the profession. I think that's a shame, men are needed. It's not the white dress and knee socks profession anymore, it's a roll up your sleeves and get down and dirty. If you're going to do it, you just have to be open-minded and be ready for anything."
Luckily, Pitta identifies the most difficult aspects of the experience as the same as any other student. "The hardest part has to be the classes. Three hour classes are not fun and the tests aren't much better, but it is definitely worth every second to be in class. Without the class, the clinical is worthless because you will just not be able to do things for your patients," said Pitta.
Pitta also said the best part of his experience has to be the clinicals.
"Just talking with my patients throughout the day is great; at the end of the day they have a huge smile for you and it makes you feel like you have accomplished something," he said.
"Also, everyone in the hospital loves male nurses. There are not nearly enough of us, so patients are usually surprised to find out that I am in nursing school, but when they do find out, they are usually impressed with my decision," he said.
Pitta has had a positive experience in his classes as well. He enjoys being a minority because so many of his classmates are outgoing and willing to talk to him.
"I feel blessed. I am around women all day long, and they are so much fun. Everyone is always really friendly," he said.
His teachers are also supportive of his unique situation. Men are in short supply in the nursing school, so those that decide to take that path are made to feel welcome.
"My teachers are all very supportive of me. When we deal with women's health for instance, my teachers are always there for me and help me learn the things that weren't taught to me when I was 13," he said.
The atmosphere is very helpful in general, not just because he is male, but because everyone is generally supportive of each other.
"Everyone looks out for everyone," he said. "I feel like everyone gets along, and I think that is a major bonus to class time and working together in clinicals. Nurses understand the profession so well, and they know how much it means to work together with each other. We are all in it together."
Pitta has decided to use his nurse training to enter the Army ROTC program. He says his family has strong ties to the service, so this aspect of his decision helps his family appreciate his choice.
The Army will help subsidize most of his coursework at BC, and he doesn't have to worry about the next step will be after graduation.
"I feel like I want to go to a forward area, like Iraq, because that will give me the best experience I can possibly get anywhere in the world," he said.
"After that I think I will go back to school to get a master's degree. I'm not sure what specialty I want to do yet, but I would love to get some experience in an emergency room.
"I do not have one regret. Sometimes I try to think if I ever wanted to major in anything else and the answer is no. I feel that nursing and myself are a perfect fit. I love it."source
Benefits of Vocational Nursing
How do I find the job?
LPNs and RNs-similarities and differences
LVN vs RN What is the difference? |
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| Practical Nursing Daytona State College
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Practical Nursing Program Description
The program is designed for the student seeking licensure as a practical nurse in Florida. Healthcare employment opportunities are available in long term care, home health, hospitals and outpatient settings. Clinical experience is provided at local extended care facilities, hospitals and other community agencies. Job title: Licensed Practical Nurse.
Graduates are eligible to take the National Council Licensing Examination for Practical Nurses.
Florida licensed practical nurses are eligible for admission to Daytona State’s accelerated associate degree in nursing for the LPN program. Classes admitted in January and August at the Daytona Beach Campus and in January at the DeLand Campus.
Please Note: This program is eligible for federal financial aid and state bright futures.
Advanced Technology College
1770 Technology Blvd.
Daytona Beach, FL 32117
(386) 506- 4140
Daytona Beach Campus
1200 West International Speedway Boulevard
Daytona Beach, FL 32114
(386) 506-3000
DeLand Campus
1155 County Line Road 4139
DeLand, FL 32724
(386) 785-2000
Deltona Center
2351 Providence Boulevard
Deltona, FL 32725
(386) 789-7302
Flagler/Palm Coast Campus
3000 Palm Coast Parkway SE
Palm Coast, FL 32137
(386) 246-4800
New Smyrna Campus
940 Tenth Street
New Smyrna Beach, FL 32168
(386) 423-6300
Additional Admission Requirements
• High school diploma or equivalent (GED).
• Scores on the Daytona State placement test for vocational programs which indicate language, reading and arithmetic ability at the 11th grade level or better.
• Cumulative grade point average of 2.0 or better.
• Program Prerequisite: HSC 1000 (Introduction to Health Care) and BSC 1080 (Basic Anatomy and Physiology for Health Careers). Courses must be completed with a grade of "C" or better.
• Completion of the Nurse Entrance Test-PN at the 41st percentile or better in each category (mathematics, reading, and overall composite).
• Applications submitted May and September. Students will be accepted based on specific admission criteria. There will no longer be a waiting list. Students must apply each application cycle until accepted based on the selection process.
• Completion of health screening to include: recent physical examination; verification of immunization against tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella and Hepatitis "B"; and negative test for tuberculosis.
• Basic Cardiac Life Support (BLS) certification for healthcare providers to include adults, infant, children, and automatic external defibrillator (AED) affiliated with the American Heart Association or the American Red Cross.
• Satisfactory results of a Florida Department of Law Enforcement background check.
• According to Florida Board of Nursing, convicted felons who have had their civil rights removed are not eligible to take the National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses.
• Students will be held accountable for the policy and procedures of the nursing program as outlined in the nursing student policy handbook, as well as the college student handbook.
• Readmission and transfer nursing courses must have been taken within one year and evaluated by the nursing readmission and transfer committee. Limited space is available for transfer nursing students.
Licensed Vocational Nurse working conditions
What is the typical salary for a Licensed Vocational Nurse ?
How do I prepare for the job? |
| posted by blogger @ 22:28
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| Charlotte Technical Center LPN program, Florida
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Charlotte Technical Center
18150 Murdock Circle Port Charlotte, FL 33948
941-255-7500
Practical Nursing
This program is designed to prepare competent practical nurses for a challenging career in health care.
The licensed practical nurse is a vital member of the health care team and functions in a variety of health care settings. The role of LPN, as defined in the Florida Nurse Practice Act, is to perform selected acts, including the administration of treatments and medications in the care of ill, injured or infirmed, and the maintenance of health and prevention of illness of others, under the direction of a registered nurse, a licensed physician, or a licensed dentist.
Physical and dental exams are required. The state licensure examination follows graduation. TB Test and FDLE Level 2 Background Check required before start of class.
This program is approved by the Florida Board of Nursing.
Community College Articulations
Completion of this course allows articulation to any community college in Florida equal to 10 credit hours (With LPN Licensure).
Licensed Vocational Nurse Jobs
What is a Licensed Vocational Nurse?
Is the Vocational Nursing Profession a growing career?
What do Vocational Nurses do? |
| posted by blogger @ 22:01
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| High Tech North, Florida LPN program
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High Tech North, Florida LPN program
360 Santa Barbara Blvd. North
Cape Coral, FL 33993
Phone: (239) 574-4440
Fax: (239) 458-3721
Practical Nursing Program Includes:
1350 clock hours of instruction.
More than half of the program is hands-on clinical training in local health care facilities and hospitals.
Small group instruction with highly qualified, experienced nurses teaching the course.
Preparation for successfully completing the national exam to become a Licensed Practical Nurse.
Help with job placement.
What Can Practical Nurses Do?
Work in hospitals, clinics, long term care facilities, doctor offices, health centers and rehab centers.
Function as a member of the health care team in the prevention of illness and in the care of the sick and injured.
Be responsible for day to day care needs of patients or residents.
Perform nursing services such as vital signs, wound care, comfort measures, and personal care.
Administer medications.
Nurses Are In High Demand!
Like never before, the demand for men and women in nursing is high. The possibilities are endless for qualified nurses with many opportunities for advancement. It takes a special person to be a nurse, and it is a rewarding career. The High Tech North School of Practical Nursing is approved by the Florida Board of Nursing.
The Nursing Program is a 1350 hour program with three starting dates running from September to August, January to December, or May to April.
These PN Program classes meet Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 2:30 PM. There may be some limited clinical training that is scheduled in the evenings and on weekends. Applicants must be 18 years old prior to entering the program and have a high school diploma or GED. Admission to the Practical Nursing Program is based on completion of the application process. An admissions committee will review all applications and determine if the application is complete. The committee will rank the completed applications and notify those students who will be admitted to the program based on the available number of seats.
Drug Screening and Criminal Background Check
All applicants are required to submit a request to EDGE Information Management, Inc. for a criminal background check. The $60 cost is paid by the applicant and the forms are available at the school. All incoming nursing students are required to have a drug screening and a physical exam, the cost is paid by the student. All nursing students must show proof of health/accident insurance. A limited accident insurance plan is available for purchase through the school.
All applicants are required to take the TABE test and will also be required to complete a Medical Math test.
How do I prepare for the job?
Benefits of Vocational Nursing
How do I find the job?
LPNs and RNs-similarities and differences |
| posted by blogger @ 20:13
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| Sheridan Technical Center, Florida, Licensed Practical Nursing, LPN
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Sheridan Technical Center, LPN program
5400 Sheridan Street
Hollywood, Florida 33201
Phone: 754.321.5400
Fax: 754.321.5680
Licensed Practical Nursing/ LPN Training - 1350 hours:
The Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) program is designed to prepare students for employment as licensed practical nurses. The program is approved by the Florida State Board of Nursing, which makes the graduate eligible to take the examination to practice as a Licensed Practical Nurse.
The Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) content includes, but is not limited to:
• Theoretical instruction and clinical experience in medical, surgical, obstetric, pediatric and geriatric nursing
• Theoretical instruction and clinical experience in both acute and long term care situations
• Theoretical instruction and clinical application of vocational role and function
• Personal, family and community health concepts
• Nutrition
• Human growth and development over the life span
• Body structure and function
• Interpersonal relationship skills
• Mental health concepts
• Pharmacology and administration of medications
• Legal aspects of practice
• CPR
• Computer skills and employability skills.
Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) students are introduced to the clinical area early in the program. Theory and clinical procedures are integrated into the curriculum to reinforce learning.
LPN graduates may be employed in hospitals, extended care facilities, physician’s offices, home health, and hospice agencies, as well as private patient care. The LPN works under the direction of a registered nurse (RN) or licensed physician.
A Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) may continue his/her education by pursuing an Associate of Science degree or Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Credits from this program, which is accredited by the National League for Nursing, transfer to Broward Community College towards the AS degree program in Nursing.
Licensed Vocational Nurse Jobs
What is a Licensed Vocational Nurse?
Is the Vocational Nursing Profession a growing career? |
| posted by blogger @ 16:08
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| Health Programs for High School Students
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The need for healthcare workers continues to grow throughout the country. Hospitals, clinics, doctor’s offices, laboratories, and other health care agencies offer secure employment with opportunities for advancement and further education.
Taking any of these programs while still in high school is an unbelievable opportunity!
You will be starting your career right out of high school or after finishing your clinicals. This is a tremendous head start for you and can help pay for college.
Choosing a career in healthcare requires a commitment to hard work, additional hours of study, and compliance with high standards of performance. Many of these programs are approved by community colleges and afford you the opportunity to earn college credit while you are obtaining certification in a specific healthcare field.
Please be aware that ALL health programs schedule random drug testing and maintain a zero tolerance to illegal drug use.
These programs are designed for high school students and prepare them for employment or advanced training in the healthcare field.
Click on the career area below for more information about each one.
Nursing assistant training-Certified nursing assistant job
Vocational nurse training-Vocational nurse job
Medical Assistant training-Medical Assistant job-Medical Assistant salary |
| posted by blogger @ 14:29
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| Santa Fe Community College - Practical Nursing Programs
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The Practical Nursing Program at Santafe Community College prepares the graduates to sit for the Florida State Board Examination and upon successful completion of the exam, to be licensed as a Practical Nurse.
Santa Fe Community College - Nursing Programs
3000 NW 83rd St.-W. 201, Gainesville, FL 32606
Phone: (352) 395-5731 Fax: (352) 395-5711
The Practical Nursing Program is accredited by the:
Florida State Board of Nursing;
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools; and the
National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission.
The Practical Nurse is prepared to participate, under supervision, with clients, their families and/or support systems to identify common, well-defined nursing problems. They assist in primary, secondary, or tertiary nursing interventions with the goal of promoting and maintaining an individual's optimal level of well-being
PRACTICAL NURSING PROGRAM COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
STRUCTURE & FUNCTION OF THE HUMAN BODY AND MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY(BSC 0084) provides the student with an introduction to anatomy and basic physiology. This course is designed to provide the student with basic knowledge of normal human body structure and function. The student will learn major systems, organs and terminology necessary for understanding the concepts of disease processes; providing a basis for beginning understanding of the nursing process and to provide safe and effective patient care. To be taken concurrently with PRN0001C.
PRACTICAL NURSING PROCESS I (PRN 0001C) a basic course introducing nursing concepts, principles and practice across the lifespan from conception to death. This course is founded on the Neuman Systems Model, with an emphasis on holistic nursing care. The model will provide a basis for the nursing process for levels I-III. Level I includes basic mental health concepts, nursing theory, OB, integrated pediatrics and beginning nursing skills.
PRACTICAL NURSING PROCESS II (PRN 0120C) builds on the theory and skills introduced in Nursing Process I. Emphasis is on the role of the practical nurse in providing holistic health care to clients across the lifespan in a structured health care setting. Learning experiences will be provided that relate the nursing process to the client with commonly occurring medical-surgical conditions with practical application of more complex nursing skills.
PRACTICAL NURSING PROCESS III (PRN 0380C) provides opportunities for the student to apply holistic health care to clients with more complex needs across the lifespan. Clinical experience will allow the student to apply role behaviors to progress from student to graduate practical nurse.
How do I prepare for the job?
Benefits of Vocational Nursing
How do I find the job?
LPNs and RNs-similarities and differences |
| posted by blogger @ 10:21
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| Central Florida Community College Practical Nursing program
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Central Florida Community College
Health Occupations Division
3001 SW College Road, Ocala, FL 34474
Phone: (352) 854-2322 Fax: (352) 873-5889
The Practical Nursing program focuses on the implementation of nursing skills with clients experiencing common, well-defined health problems in the acute or chronic stages. The program is one year and 1,350 hours in length. It is approved by the Florida Board of Nursing and accredited by the National League for Nursing Accreditation Commission.
The program begins in January of each year.
Upon completion of the requirements of the program, graduates are eligible to apply for licensure, including taking the state licensing examination (NCLEX-PN) to become Licensed Practical Nurses.
The program policies including attendance, grading, progression, clinical behaviors, and readmission guidelines are found in the student handbook that each student obtains once admitted to the Practical Nursing program.
Practical Nurses or PNs provide nursing care for patients under the supervision of another health care professional. PNs may work in hospitals, extended care agencies, and some community settings.
You can complete the Practical Nursing (PN) program at CFCC in just one year.
Licensed Vocational Nurse Jobs
What is a Licensed Vocational Nurse?
Is the Vocational Nursing Profession a growing career? |
| posted by blogger @ 04:39
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| Atlantic Technical Center Practical Nursing/ LPN Training program
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Atlantic Technical Center
4700 Coconut Creek Pky
Coconut Creek, FL 33063-3902
p. 754-321-5100
Students enrolling in any Health Science Education program must undergo a Level II criminal background check and drug screening, per the Joint Commission of Healthcare Organizations. In order to comply with this requirement, prospective students must have a valid social security number. Health Science Education students are encouraged to complete these requirements prior to beginning class.
Practical Nursing/ LPN Training program
The Practical Nursing program prepares students to participate in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of nursing care in hospitals and extended care facilities.
Practical Nursing/ LPN students are required to participate in clinical experience. PN/LPN students are introduced to the clinical area early in the program. Theory and clinical procedures are integrated to reinforce learning.
Practical Nursing/LPN Training classes are offered full time both during the day and evening on a schedule established at the beginning of each school year. Class offerings are determined by enrollment, as well as the availability of clinical sites and instructor availability. In addition to lecture and laboratory instruction, clinical practice is required. It is essential that Practical Nursing/LPN Training students have their own transportation to travel to the clinical sites.
Special Notes:
High School Diploma or state-issued GED is required prior to entry.
PN/LPN students are responsible for their own transportation to and from clinical sites.
Completion Time:
The Practical Nursing/ LPN program is competency-based. Completion time depends on the progress of each individual. All classes offered at ATC are full time. The typical length of this program for the average achieving student is 1350 hours (approximately 1 year).
A certificate of completion is issued at the successful completion of the Practical Nursing/ LPN Training program in accordance with state guidelines. Graduates are entitled to take the NCLEX-PN licensure examination.
The Florida State Board of Nursing will issue a license to those who pass the examination. Successful completion of the Practical Nursing/ LPN course may be used toward an AS or BS Degree.
Vocational nurse training-Vocational nurse job |
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| Filipino nurses abroad: the possibility of gaining immigrant status
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Filipinos aspiring to jump on the nursing bandwagon should think twice because the once burgeoning demand overseas has begun to wane, according to the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA).
“Many licensed nurses are now underemployed or unemployed as a result of changes of policy in destination-countries, the current situation of oversupply, and quality problems, among other things,” the PNA president, Dr. Leah Samaco-Paquiz, said in a press conference yesterday at the PNA headquarters in Manila.
The past few years have seen an exodus of Filipino nurses abroad to care for the aging baby-boomer population in the United States and the United Kingdom in exchange for higher pay and the possibility of gaining immigrant status.
Because of the great demand for Filipino nurses, colleges and universities have added nursing courses to their curricula to cash in on the wave.
According to Paquiz and other PNA officials, however, nursing is not a lucrative profession anymore and students who think they can use it as a passport to greener pastures abroad are seriously mistaken.
“Go into nursing for the right reasons. If you are thinking of going into nursing to be able to go abroad or because your family is pressuring you, then it is not the time,” said Josefina Tuazon, dean of the University of the Philippines’ College of Nursing.
“This is not a good time unless you go to a school that takes care of its graduates,” Tuazon said.
Plateau
For the past two years, the demand for nurses in key destinations like the United States and the United Kingdom has declined, Paquiz said.
“This started in 2006, when the demand for Philippine nurses [hit a plateau] due to US visa retrogression and UK policy change, which signaled the shift to [hiring] homegrown health workers instead of recruiting from overseas,” she said.
The Philippine market for nurses, meanwhile, is now “oversaturated” allowing employers to be “highly selective” in hiring healthcare providers, she said.
Because of the slowdown in overseas postings, the domestic market is now seeing a glut in nurses.
Fely Marilyn Lorenzo, head of the University of the Philippines’ Institute of Health Policy and Development Studies, said major hospitals like Philippine General Hospital and St. Luke’s Medical Center had a backlog of nursing applications and a waiting time of 6-12 months.
But the drop in overseas demand has neither stopped certain nursing schools from accepting enrollees nor dampened the enthusiasm of students to enter the profession, she said.
Lorenzo said that in 2006, 397,195 students graduated with a nursing degree, up from 296,000 in 2005.
St. Luke’s, for instance, still gets 30 applications daily, she said.
The PNA defended the new nursing curriculum being implemented by the Commission on Higher Education through Memorandum Order No. 5, saying it ensures a “safe, ethical and quality nursing practice.”
The group said the new curriculum will “improve the quality” of nursing education in the Philippines.
The CHEd order directs nursing schools nationwide to add new subjects and increase hospital hours for students. Nursing schools have begun implementing the new curriculum this school year.
Shortcut to profession
PNA officials blamed the “commercialization” of nursing for the oversupply of nurses and the promotion of the practical nursing course, which some schools describe as a shortcut to entering the profession.
The practical nursing course is not accredited in the Philippines and is equivalent to a vocational course, they said.
Lorenzo said the PNA was questioning the quality of practical nursing courses offered by some schools because no regulations had been set for such a course in the country.
In other countries, practical nurses work under the supervision of registered nurses. Some of them can be described as nursing assistants.
Lorenzo questioned the curriculum of the practical nursing program which, she said, includes subjects on how to operate microwave ovens and washing machines but does not have important subjects like anatomy and physiology.
According to the PNA, institutions advertising practical nursing as a way to work overseas are misleading students.
Paquiz said she had spoken with two practical nursing graduates who failed to get work in the United States, as had been promised by their school.
She read an excerpt from their letter: “Being a licensed practical nurse is definitely not a way to enter the US, as what is being claimed by practical nursing schools in the country. Like us and a relatively increasing number of fellow Philippine-educated [practical nurses], we cannot be issued working visas or immigrant visas by the US.”
CHEd’s failure
The PNA is opposed to CHEd’s plans to “ladderize” the BS Nursing program to accommodate the practical nursing course.
Paquiz said the “short cut nursing” program was irrelevant since there is no demand for practical nurses locally or abroad.
The PNA also lamented the failure of the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) to close down mediocre nursing schools.
Lorenzo, citing a recent Commission on Audit report, said the CHEd had failed to close down even one fly-by-night school.
“Sadly, not one nursing school was closed by CHEd. We think some of these schools are very active in false ads,” she said.source
Provide more foreign nurse visas
US to increase work visas to ease strains of nursing shortage |
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| a country where everybody lives in a nursing home."
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In the 1990s, European demographers began noticing a downward trend in population across the Continent and behind it a sharply falling birthrate. Non-number-crunchers largely ignored the information until a 2002 study by Italian, German and Spanish social scientists focused the data and gave policy makers across the European Union something to ponder.
The figure of 2.1 is widely considered to be the "replacement rate" -- the average number of births per woman that will maintain a country's current population level. At various times in modern history -- during war or famine -- birthrates have fallen below the replacement rate, to "low" or "very low" levels. But Hans-Peter Kohler, José Antonio Ortega and Francesco Billari -- the authors of the 2002 report -- saw something new in the data.
For the first time on record, birthrates in southern and Eastern Europe had dropped below 1.3. For the demographers, this number had a special mathematical portent. At that rate, a country's population would be cut in half in 45 years, creating a falling-off-a-cliff effect from which it would be nearly impossible to recover.
We often in this space discuss the cultural and spiritual meaning of this catastrophe. Shorto raises a more materialistic concern:
The spiritual concerns aside, though, the main threats to Europe are economic. Alongside birthrate, the other operative factor in the economic equation is lifespan.
People everywhere are living longer than ever, and lifespan is continuing to increase beyond what was once considered a natural limit. Policy makers fear that, taken together, these trends forecast a perfect demographic storm. According to a paper by Jonathan Grant and Stijn Hoorens of the Rand Europe research group: "Demographers and economists foresee that 30 million Europeans of working age will 'disappear' by 2050.
At the same time, retirement will be lasting decades as the number of people in their 80s and 90s increases dramatically."
The crisis, they argue, will come from a "triple whammy of increasing demand on the welfare state and health-care systems, with a decline in tax contributions from an ever-smaller work force."
That is to say, there won't be enough workers to pay for the pensions of all those long-living retirees. What's more, there will be a smaller working-age population compared with other parts of the world; the U.S. Census Bureau's International Database projects that in 2025, 42 percent of the people living in India will be 24 or younger, while only 22 percent of Spain's population will be in that age group.
This, in the wording of a Demographic Fitness Survey by the Adecco Institute, a London-based research group, will result in a "war for talent." And the troubles for Europe are magnified by other factors in the existing welfare states of many of its countries. Europeans are used to early retirement -- according to the Adecco survey, only 60 percent of men in France between the ages of 50 and 64 are still working.
Then there is the matter of what kind of society "lowest low" will bring. How will the predominance of one- and two-child families affect family cohesion, sibling relationships, care for elderly parents? Imagine a society in which family reunions consist of three people, in which nearly all of a child's relatives are in their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s. Laviano's empty streets echo with something strange and seemingly new. As the social scientists Billari, Kohler and Ortega put it, Europe is entering "an uncharted territory in demographic history."
Here's what I found particularly interesting about Shorto's piece, something I hadn't read anywhere else: generally speaking, the birthrate is significantly lower in southern Europe than in northern Europe, even though the (formerly?) Catholic south has a more conventionally family-friendly cultural history, and more stay at home moms.
Turns out that the cost of living is equally high all over, but the northern countries not only have governmental policies that make it easier for couples to have more children, they also -- and this seems more critical to me -- have men who are more willing to shoulder the quotidian burdens of raising children.
Shorto says the data from Europe and other countries in fertility free-fall indicates that you cannot halfway accomodate yourself to modernity. If women are going to go into the workplace, you have to have either a welfare state approach to support that (Scandinavia), or have a very flexible employment sector (the US). What you can't do is have rigid labor markets, a low degree of welfare-state support -- and traditional cultural attitudes about male-female roles in child-raising.
That's the view Shorto says makes sense from all the data. Ross says he and Reihan believe there should be no necessary antagonism between feminists and social conservatives with regard to the desirability of policies that make for more workforce flexibility -- that is, the state should make it easier for companies to allow women to blend childraising with employment. Agreed.
Still, the depth and magnitude of the fertility crisis in Europe (and elsewhere, though Europe's the only place I really care about) suggests that there's something mysterious and, to my mind, malevolent, working in the deepest currents of the postmodern psyche. Despite all the financial hardships having larger families -- and we're not talking five or six kids, but two or three -- brings to modern Europeans, the fact is Europe, as a whole, has never been more prosperous. In times of greater material poverty, Europeans still managed to have more than enough children to replace themselves.
And today? As wealthy as they are, they're choosing civilizational suicide. Despite some attempt to see the sunny side of collapse, here's how Shorto's piece ends:
I put this to Carl Haub of the Population Reference Bureau, who monitors global fertility on a daily basis from his perch in Washington. Is it possible that these are basically "good problems," that Europeans, having trimmed their birthrates, are actually on the right path? That all they have to do is adjust their economies, find creative ways to shrink their cities, get more young and old people into jobs, so that they can keep their pension and health-care systems functioning?
Haub wasn't buying it. "Maybe tinkering with the retirement age and making other economic adjustments is good," he said. "But you can't go on forever with a total fertility rate of 1.2. If you compare the size of the 0-to-4 and 29-to-34 age groups in Spain and Italy right now, you see the younger is almost half the size of the older. You can't keep going with a completely upside-down age distribution, with the pyramid standing on its point. You can't have a country where everybody lives in a nursing home."source
Vocational nurse training-Vocational nurse job
Licensed Vocational Nurse Salary in California
Vocational Nursing schools in California
Vocational Nursing schools in Texas |
| posted by blogger @ 18:12
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| The programme, organised by consultant nurse for older people
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A pilot scheme using creative arts as a way to investigate older patient's experience of dignity in care has proved a success, according to University College London Hospitals.
The programme, organised by consultant nurse for older people Jonathan Webster used art, drama and dance to allow participants to show their feelings about dignity and its importance in a care environment.
'As the programme continued it was very clear to see how the nurses and older people were learning and working together,' said Mr Webster. 'Nurses had to hear about emotionally painful experiences; it helped them to understand the impact that undignified care has on people's lives.'
'The programme highlighted the need for there to be a partnership between an older person and the health practitioner, requiring mutual learning, sensitivity and respect,' he added.
The Foundation of Nursing Studies funded the programme, which was based at Age Concern Islington, London.
Vocational Nursing schools in California 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
Licensed Vocational Nurse LVN program prerequisites
LVN Program Fees
Vocational Nursing schools in Texas |
| posted by blogger @ 16:23
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| the nurses who care for our veterans should earn the same as nurses caring for prison inmates
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Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation that will bring the pay of nurses at the Veterans Home of California at Yountville to the same level as their counterparts at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
“We’re very excited that it’s happening, and we’re very excited that it passed,” said Jody Price, public information officer for the Vets Home. “They’re deserving of it …and I’m excited that it’s happening for them.”
The bill is co-authored by state Senator Patricia Wiggins, D-Santa Rosa.
A member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, Wiggins requested the California State Auditor conduct a top-to-bottom review of the Vets Home after she received numerous complains about hospital care last year.
Among its findings, released in April, the audit determined that the Vets Home suffers from a chronic nursing shortage due to low salaries and a high cost of living.
During fiscal year 2006-2007, about 41.5 percent of all vacant positions at the Veterans Home were nursing positions, according to the audit. The state auditor determined that the nursing shortage limits the Vets Home’s ability to meet the needs of its 1,200 residents.
Price said that while the nursing shortage is undeniable, she does not believe it affects the quality of care for veterans.
Hospitals across the nation have faced similar nursing shortages in recent years, but the Vets Home faces a particular challenge in recruiting and retaining nurses, according to the audit, not only because of the high cost of living in the Napa County but also due to the relatively low salaries compared to other state hospitals in the area.
This disparity arose in part due to the salary increases for medical and mental health positions at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation facilities that resulted from recent federal court decisions.
According to the State Department of Veterans Affairs, a registered nurse at the Vets Home can earn up to $62,000 a year, while the same nurse at a correctional facility can earn more than $100,000.
“Lower salaries are a big reason why the Veterans Home has had difficulty recruiting and retaining nurses,” Wiggins said. “At a bare minimum, the nurses who care for our veterans should earn the same as nurses caring for prison inmates. This bill will help us close that gap and help Yountville bring more nurses on board.”
Price said Vets Home officials are still waiting for information from the Veterans Affairs’ personnel department about how much additional money nurses will receive. What she has heard, she said, is that those raises will be retroactive, dating to the beginning of 2008.
David Miller, Wiggins’ press secretary, said the raises will take effect immediately.
In addition to nurses’ pay, the bill also focuses on health coverage for state-employed attorneys, hearing officers and administrative law judges. The salaries of doctors, nurses, dentists and other medical professionals in the California Departments of Mental Health, Developmental Services and Veterans Affairs will be brought in line with people in similar positions at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Vocational nurse training-Vocational nurse job
Licensed Vocational Nurse Salary in California
Vocational Nursing schools in California
Vocational Nursing schools in Texas |
| posted by blogger @ 14:33
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| independent nurse prescribers
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Since May 2006, independent nurse prescribers have been able to prescribe from the full formulary. Nurses are expected to prescribe within their competence, and there are some other restrictions. They can only prescribe a small number of controlled drugs independently (although legislation is due to address this), and they cannot prescribe unlicensed medicines.
source
How to Become a Nurse |
| posted by blogger @ 12:30
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| 4,000 students were turned away from nursing programs
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Michigan has a critical shortage of nurses. Currently, the state is short 2,500 nurses and the number is expected to grow over the coming years. One reason for the shortage is the fact that more and more baby boomers are reaching retirement age, and their positions aren't being filled.
According to Jule Higbie, Associate Professor of Nursing at Northern Michigan University, that's only part of the problem.
"We have about 4,000 students last year that were turned away from nursing programs because we don't have the faculty available to teach them," said Higbie. The lack of nurse educators means that more and more students are put on waiting lists before they can get into school, which means that it's taking them longer to get into the job market and fill vacant positions.
The need for more qualified educators prompted the funding of a state grant which will allow Northern to sponsor a six-month online program for Michigan nurses holding Master's degrees to get certified in order to teach at a college level.
"We have received $360,000 to provide this for ten students coming into the program next month," Higbie said.
The grant will pay the tuition of the students involved and provide a living stipend while they attend classes, with a mandate that they will teach for five years in Michigan upon getting their certification.
The hope is that, with new faculty available, more students will be able to get into nursing programs without being turned away or having to wait. .source
Licensed Vocational Nurse Jobs
What is a Licensed Vocational Nurse?
Is the Vocational Nursing Profession a growing career? |
| posted by blogger @ 10:22
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| Hospitals around Kansas are coping with a nursing shortage
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Hospitals around Kansas are coping with a nursing shortage that some say could end up affecting patient care.
A Kansas Department of Labor study estimates the state will need more than 11,000 new registered nurses by 2010 to keep up with demand.
But nursing schools turned out fewer than 1,800 new nurses in the state last year.
Hospitals are coping as best they can, calling in temporary nurses or moving patients to different floors, even to other hospitals.
The state's 129 hospitals report a vacancy rate of nearly nine percent, which is about the same as the national average.
Kansas nurses are 42 years old on average, meaning many will be heading for retirement.
How to Become a Nurse |
| posted by blogger @ 08:01
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| huge shortage of nursing in Oklahoma
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East Central University in Ada was just awarded a grant of nearly $800,000 to expand their nursing department to Ardmore. KTEN's Meredith Saldana reports.
ECU and Mercy Memorial Hospital started a nursing program about a year ago in Ardmore.
Now with this grant money they are looking at a program about 7 times as large.
The principal author of the grant, Dr. Anne Davis, says receiving the grant was a team effort and that they are thrilled to have been awarded the grant that they were competing for against larger programs across the nation.
ECU received all 100 of 100 possible points during their evaluation for the grant and ECU's president Richard Rafes says not only is this grant great news for Ardmore but for the state of Oklahoma as well.
Rafes says, "Well this program will continue to expand because of this grant. As you know Meredith, there is a huge shortage of nursing in Oklahoma and across the country and this grant will give citizens from Ardmore the opportunity to get a nursing degree, a baccalaureate nursing degree and from that point they can go and address that shortage."
Rafes also said that ultimately a new building will be built in Ardmore for this program but for now Mercy Memorial Hospital has donated an old building on site.
How to Become a Nurse |
| posted by blogger @ 06:55
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| a federal grant, amounting to $860,000
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UCF professor Thomas Wan has spent the last five years researching nursing homes and the effects of efficiency in comparison to quality care.
He was given a federal grant, amounting to $860,000, after sending in a proposal on a very competitive base. This money was distributed over the course of the five years while Wan and his team, consisting of three other individuals, worked hard to find answers. This team was made up of Wan, professors Jackie Zhang and Lynn Unruh, and Gerald-Mark Breen, his research assistant.
This study didn't stop at nurse staffing, but also delved into the quality of the homes. The team wanted to go beyond the facility level and focus on compiling the different assessments done annually and putting them into one unique database.
"The data accumulated through the federal government and covered the last 10 years," Wan said. "There were about 17,000 facilities included."
This analysis only covered Medicaid and Medicare providers, since those facilities operate by using a lot of government funding.
"There were multiple sources for the data. The facility-based assessments, MDS or Minimal Data Set, which is resident-based, the OSCAR database, which is an area resource file, and Medicaid/Medicare Expenditures," Wan said.
The facility-based assessments, which are comparable to audits, are done only once a year due to the high cost. Citations are usually given for areas of weakness. This causes more deficiency, which causes lower quality.
"These audits are very rigorous, and since the facilities rely so heavily on federal subsidies, they can be closed down," Wan said.
The MDS or resident-based assessment covers their health problems, health services, etc. It allows progression to be observed, considering 60 percent of patients will be released. Wan explained that nursing homes aren't dead ends. Some people are hospitalized and need restorative care, and Medicaid and Medicare often cover these charges. source
Vocational nurse training-Vocational nurse job
Licensed Vocational Nurse Salary in California
Vocational Nursing schools in California
Vocational Nursing schools in Texas |
| posted by blogger @ 04:48
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| Why thousands of applicants are being turned away from nursing schools?
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A serious shortage of nurses cold put the nation's healthcare system on life support, and to the surprise of many, thousands of qualified college applicants are being turned away from nursing schools.
The dwindling pool of nurses can be traced largely to an aging population of baby boomers. Today's nurses are getting older and retiring. It's the same reason not enough college professors are on-hand to train the nursing ranks of tomorrow.
In 2002, when the nursing shortage was at its worst, colleges and universities did their job stirring up interest, but higher education couldn't staff enough professors to handle the sudden surge.
"Tremendous interest in nursing, but we're turning away thousands, as much as 100,000 nurses, of qualified people who want to become nurses a year," said Peter Buerhaus, Ph.D., R.N., and Professor at Vanderbilt University.
Peter Buerhaus is registered nurse turned scholar, a Nashville man who swapped a stethoscope for a study group. Now, countless hours of research later, Buerhaus has a mountain of data, a brand new book, and a vital conclusion: age is nursing's greatest detriment.
"We're almost at the point where the largest age group in the nursing profession are over the age of 50, "said Buerhaus.
He said the current nursing shortage, now in its 10th year, is also rooted in a bigger burden being placed on nurses, especially during the 90s. But Buerhaus says that trend is turning. He said hospitals are offering heftier salaries, and nurses are finally gathering more respect among their peers. Still, nursing numbers continue to fall.
Forecasters predict the biggest nursing shortage ever by the year 2020, and according to Buerhaus, that will have a serious ripple effect.
"We won't have enough nurse staffing in either a doctor's office, in a hospital, in our schools," said Buerhaus.
Buerhaus also says not enough nurses could mean ER staff will be forced to prioritize, or "triage."
According to Buerhaus, fixing the nursing shortage starts in Washington where lawmakers have the power to ear-mark money for nursing
source
How to Become a Nurse |
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| Active neglect
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Active neglect:
Purposely harming a person physically, mentally, or emotionally by failing to provide needed care |
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| Active listening
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Active listening:
A way of communicating that involves giving a person your full attention while he is speaking and encouraging him to give information and clarify ideas: includes nonverbal communication
How to Become a Nurse |
| posted by blogger @ 18:04
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| Nursing homes, nursing facilities, skilled nursing facilities.
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Long-term care(LTC) facilities provide 24-hour skilled care for people who are not longer eligible for hospitals care but are unable to stay in their homes. Skilled care is medically necessary care given by a skilled nurse or therapist. This care is available 24 hours a day. It is ordered by a doctor and involves a treatment plan.
Long-term care assists people with ongoing, chronic medical conditions, and is usually given for an extended period of time. Other terms for long-term care facilities are: nursing homes, nursing facilities, skilled nursing facilities.
A nursing assistant assists residents with activities of daily living(ADLs), which are personal daily care tasks, such as bathing, dressing, mouth care, toileting, eating and drinking.
Nursing assistant training-Certified nursing assistant job
Where to find a free CNA training?
Certified nursing assistant salary in California |
| posted by blogger @ 02:06
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| 20 Excuses why we can be unethical
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If it’s necessary, it is not unethical
I am doing it for my family
It is OK if no-one gets hurt
I had no choice
They owe it to me
It will never be noticed
Everybody does it
Why not?
Someone told me to
If it isn’t illegal, it must be ethical
That rule doesn’t apply to me
I didn’t know any better
Who cares
It made me feel better
I wanted to
What difference will it make?
I didn’t want to hurt their feelings
Someone else said it was ok
No one will ever know
It worked |
| posted by blogger @ 23:54
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| CNA Skills: Washes hand
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Address client by name and introduces self to client by name
Turns on water at sink
Wets hands and wrists thoroughly
Applies soap to hands
Lathers all surfaces of wrists. Hands, and fingers, producing friction for at least 15 seconds
Cleans fingernails by rubbing fingertips against palms of the opposite hand
After lathering for at least 15 seconds, rinses all surfaces of wrists , hands, and fingers keeping hands lower than the elbows and fingertips down
Uses clean , dry paper towel to dry all surfaces of hands, wrists, and fingers then disposes of paper towel into waste container
Uses clean, dry paper towel to turn of faucet the disposes of paper towel into waste container or uses knee/foot control to turn off faucet
Does not touch inside of sink at any time
Nursing assistants-men, women, retirees |
| posted by blogger @ 16:18
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| Pressure Ulcers
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Below are some actions steps to help residents( patients) who may be at risk for or suffer from pressure ulcers:
Nursing assistant must:
Report observations and warning signs to nurse and dietician
Check and change linens as appropriate
Handle/move the resident with care to avoid skin tears and scrapes
Reposition frequently and properly
Use ”unintended weight loss action steps” so resident(patient) gets more calories and protein
Use” dehydration action steps” so resident(patient) gets more to drink
Record meals/snacks intake
Certified Nursing Assistant provides optimal patient care |
| posted by blogger @ 14:27
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| CNA Skills: Applying and removing masks:
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CNA Standard Precautions
Position the mask over your nose. Your nose and mouse must be covered
Place the upper strings over the top of your ears. Tie the strings in the back toward the top of your head
Tie the lower strings at the back of yur neck. Make sure the lower part of the mask is under your chin. If you wera glasses, the mask should fit snugly over your nose and under the bottom edge of the glasses
Mold the metal striop over the bridge of your nose
Avoid coughing, sneezing, and unnecessary talking while wearing the mask
Use a new mask for each resident contact, when mask is required.
Removing mask
Wash your hands before untying mask
Discard mask by holding strings ( avoid touching the inside of the mask)
Discard the mask in regular trash
What nurse assistants do |
| posted by blogger @ 08:41
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| CNA Skills: Applying and removing gowns:
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CNA Standard Precautions
Remove your watch and all jewelry
If mask and goggles or face shield is required, put on before gowning
Pick up clean gown. Hold it out in front of you so that it can unfold
Do not shake the gown
Put the gown on, making sure the gown covers the front of your uniform. Tie strings at neck.
Overlap the back of the gown
Tie the waist strings at the back
Put on gloves if needed
Provide the necessary resident care
Removing gowns
Remove the gown by untying the waist strings from behind
Untie the neck strings: do not touch the outside of the gown. Slop fingers of the hand into inside cuff of the other hand without touching outside of gown
Using gown covered hand, ppull down over the dominant hand
Using the gown covered hand, pull down over the hand
Discard gown if reusable, put in regular laundry hamper. Id disposable, put in rgular trash.
Wash your hands
What is a Nursing Assistant and Certified Nursing Assistant? |
| posted by blogger @ 06:38
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| CNA Skills: Gloving principles:
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CNA Standard Precautions
Wear disposal gloves when touching blood, body fluids, and mucous membrane or materials contaminated by them
Wear disposable gloves when you have cuts, breaks, or opening in the skin
Gloves are worn when there is possible contact with urine , feces, vomits, soiled drainage, soiled drainage, soiled linens, or soiled clothing
Change gloves between residents and wash hands
Removes gloves if they tear or become heavily soiled. Wash hands and apply a new pair
Masks, goggles, or face shields are worn when splattering or splashing of blood or body fluids is possible
Hand washing is done after contact with mucous membranes, blood or body fluids, non-intact skin, regardless of glove use
Where to find a free CNA training? |
| posted by blogger @ 04:36
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| CNA Skills: Gloving
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CNA Standard Precautions
Wear gloves to protect the hands from body fluids from the resident
Put on a pair of gloves over clean hands
Provide necessary care
When both hands are still gloved, be sure to not touch your skin
To remove one glove, grasp it just below the cuff
Put the glove down over your hand so that it is turned inside out
Hold the removed glove with your other gloved hand
Reach inside the other glove at the wrist with the first two fingers of your ungloved hand.
Pull the glove down over your hand and the other glove
Discard the gloves in the regular trash
Wash your hands
CNA salary-Certified nursing assistant salaries by location |
| posted by blogger @ 02:34
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| American-trained nurses VS nurses from overseas
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Fully 96% of the US respondents to a recent morefocus group healthcare survey are concerned about the on-going effects of a nursing shortage. 84% believe that the Government should act now to increase nursing education access, while 65% of this group (55% of the total respondents), would be prepared to pay higher taxes.
The short-form survey is part of the morefocus group's on-going health and lifestyle research initiative that has been designed to study the changing attitudes of US consumers to healthcare, leisure, education and work. The survey was carried out over a six week period ending on June 25th, 2008, and delivered across a mix of over 100 health and lifestyle websites reaching some two million consumers.
"A particularly interesting outcome of the study was the opinion consistency between the respondents initiating the survey from both health and lifestyle websites," said Dr. Regan Carey, the morefocus' SVP who led the study. He continued, "From these data there is a clear indication that, irrespective of the respondent's health status at the point that they completed the survey, there is concern that hospitals and clinics are not fully-staffed with well trained and educated professionals."
On the questions centering on relaxing immigration requirements for nurses from overseas versus reducing the educational requirements for American-trained nurses, there was a dramatic response differential. Only 27.7% of the respondents felt that a reduction in educational requirements was an option, with 59.4% supporting an easing of immigration restrictions. However, the contrast of this result with the 84.1% who would prefer to see an increased supply of American-educated nurses demonstrates that, in spite of the shortage, there is a clear preference for a 'home-grown' solution.
The nursing shortage has its roots in the mid 1990's. At this time, prior to baby-boomers burdening the healthcare system, and as insurance companies increased their influence on the delivery of healthcare, there was a move to cut nursing staff. As a result, many nursing schools narrowed their programs, with some closing altogether. Colin Lucas-Mudd, CEO of morefocus, commented, "It is gratifying to see the growing acceptance of the need to invest once again in order to address problems in the healthcare system. Had insurance companies and those others with a vested interest in the economics of healthcare taken a longer term view, we would likely not have the problems that we face today. It is to be hoped that those same institutions, together with schools, colleges and other educational establishments share the views expressed by healthcare consumers."
Mr. Lucas-Mudd continued, "The unexpected result on the question of increased taxation, with a clear majority prepared to pay more, has interesting ramifications for the upcoming US Presidential campaigns---even more so given the percentage of respondents that would also agree with relaxed immigration procedures. With the deep divisions between the Republican and Democratic platforms on immigration and taxation, it will be interesting to see how this plays out."
In terms of demographics, 54.1% of the respondents were in the 45 to 64 age range, with a secondary peak, 20.6%, between 25-34 years of age. Male respondents, at 43.6% of completions against 56.4% female, were unusually balanced.
The research was sponsored by edudecisions.com. Full results from the survey will be available here Nursing Education Survey Results, together with an opportunity to contribute to a related follow-up research project. source
How to Become a Nurse
Provide more foreign nurse visas
US to increase work visas to ease strains of nursing shortage |
| posted by blogger @ 23:55
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| VA Nursing Academy in Oklahoma City
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The Oklahoma City Veterans Affairs Medical Center has been selected as a site for the VA Nursing Academy.
Under this new program, the Oklahoma City VA center will partner with the University of Oklahoma College of Nursing to provide clinical and didactic training to an additional 20 baccalaureate nursing students each year.
Despite a nationwide shortage of nurses, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing has reported that more than 42,000 qualified applicants were turned away from nursing schools in 2006 because of insufficient numbers of faculty, clinical sites, classroom space and clinical mentors.
The Oklahoma City Veterans Affairs Medical Center provides clinical education for 1,100 health professional trainees annually, including nursing student affiliations.
"The VA Nursing Academy in Oklahoma City is a great benefit for our future health care professionals and, most importantly, our patients," said Margie Carlton, Oklahoma City Veterans Affairs Medical Center OKC associate director for patient care and nursing services.
"This program with the OU College of Nursing will improve recruitment and retention, and create new educational and research opportunities."source
How to Become a Nurse |
| posted by blogger @ 20:21
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| Darcy completed her nursing training
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Christie Erin Darcy of Harrison graduated with a bachelor of science in nursing from the University of Southern Maine in Portland .
She is a graduate of Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School where she was a member of the National Honor Society, involved in student counsel, co-captain of soccer team and involved in community service work.
While at OHCHS, Darcy received the Nursing Student of the Year Award in the Allied Health Program her senior year. Upon completion of that program, she worked as a certified nurses assistant at the Maine Veterans Home, Clover Health Care and most recently in the Bridgton Hospital Emergency Department.
Darcy completed her nursing training and internship at Central Maine Medical Center, St. Mary's Regional Medical Center, Maine Medical Center and Barbara Bush Children's Hospital.
She graduated on the dean's list with a 3.85 grade point average in her final semester. She was active in the Student Nurses Association, serving as secretary for three years and planning community service activities, fundraisers and the pinning ceremony for the graduates of USM nursing program at the Abromson Community Education Center on the Portland campus.
Darcy is the daughter of Ruth and Michael Darcy of Harrison. She was pinned by her mother, Ruth, an RN for the past 33 years as an operating room nurse at Bridgton Hospital. Darcy plans to begin her nursing career at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston this summer. source
How to Become a Nurse |
| posted by blogger @ 18:09
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| School nurses
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The Southwick-Tolland Regional School District will fill a fourth nursing position - even if there is no state funding for it.
The School Committee voted unanimously this week to post the job.
"We'll continue to try to see if we can get some grant funds, and then move on to filling that position if we can't," said John D. Barry, the district's new superintendent.
School officials are facing the loss of $53,000 in grant money from the state Department of Public Health, which could result in the loss of a school nurse.
The district was told recently that it would not be included in the state's $15 million program in the next school year.
Some of the district's options include eliminating the position or funding it with money from its excess and deficiency fund.
"There are two (grant) categories: a full grant which pays for your nursing leader, and then there is another category where you get some monitoring money," said Barry. "That might happen, or might not."
He said the district will learn whether it will receive grant money "in a couple of weeks, because they are finalizing the state budget now."
Tuesday was the first official working day for Barry, who succeeded Thomas E. Witham.
The latter retired on June 30 after 41 years in the field.
"It was a very informative day," Barry said. "I got a chance to talk to a lot of people I needed to see. I think it was a good thing to have the School Committee meeting on the first day here, because it really forced some progress on some important issues.
"It was a good day, and I am looking forward to tomorrow." source
How to Become a Nurse |
| posted by blogger @ 16:05
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| UK nurses do it on their bikes
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DOCTORS and nurses in Gloucestershire are being paid to go green by cycling to appointments.
Members of staff at the 2gether NHS Foundation Trust will be paid 25p per mile to cycle to meetings in the county, a fourfold increase from the former 6p.
The incentive is designed to reduce carbon emissions and beat rising fuel costs.
It follows the findings of a trust review panel, which was set up to address the problem of spiralling fuel costs.
Pressure was being put on directors from members of staff following continuing rises in the cost of petrol and diesel.
In addition to an increased cycling rate, the trust's public transport allowance was increased from 23p to 25p per mile.
The trust has also increased fuel allowances from 40p to 44p per mile after worries from staff that they were not being reimbursed properly for journeys.
The new rates replace those put in place in 2002 and will cost the trust an extra £33,000 a year.
Kay Harrison, director of human resources and organisational development at 2gether NHS Foundation Trust, told a meeting of board members: “Fuel costs have significantly increased during the past few months.
“We have a large number of staff who have to travel to different locations and if they are thinking of public transport to get around we should encourage them.
“We are suggesting a significant increase to our cycle rate from 6p to 25p per mile.
“This has been discussed with staff who see this as the first step.
“One of the key issues is also making sure staff are able to recoup money invested in travelling on our behalf and that is the reason for increasing the fuel rate from 40 to 44p.”
Sarah Farr is a clinical information specialist who cycles to work in Gloucester. She said: “This is a very positive move by the trust.
“It is a chance to encourage more staff to get on their bike and cycle to work and to appointments.
“There are showers available and its a healthy way to get around.
“It keeps you fit which has got to be a good thing.
“And with the rising cost of fuel cycling and public transport are definitely the way forward.”source
How to Become a Nurse |
| posted by blogger @ 14:21
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| Orthopedic Nurse
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Grand View Hospital nurse Janice Hunsberger, Sellersville, was awarded the Outstanding Orthopedic Nurse Practice Award at the National Association of Orthopedic Nurses (NAON) convention in San Jose, CA, in late May.
"To have a nurse on our staff who has been recognized nationally is tremendously rewarding," Vice-President of Patient Services Darla Weaver said. "It is an honor for the nursing department and the hospital as a whole."
To receive the prestigious award, Hunsberger traveled to sunny Southern California with her daughter, Amy, and her department manager Emma Heckler.
The weather was beautiful, the trip was wonderful, but Hunsberger said that she still needed her daughter by her side to help calm her nerves.
Hunsberger added that even with her daughter's supportive presence, she was anxious right before she accepted the award.
NAON describes recipients of the award as innovative, motivational, and sensitive individuals who consistently meet the physical, psychological, social, spiritual and educational needs of the orthopedic patient.
The nurses association gives the Outstanding Orthopedic Nurse Practice Award to only one recipient each year, and Hunsberger said she was honored to receive this year's prize.
Hunsberger has reached the pinnacle as an orthopedic nurse, but it took her years of nursing to find out that orthopedics was her true calling.
She started her nursing career at Grand View Hospital thirty years ago. When she first joined the Grand View family she was working in general medical surgery unit as a staff nurse.
After two short years as a staff nurse, Hunsberger's talents were recognized and she became the head nurse of the medical surgery unit.
When the hospital split the unit a few years later Hunsberger became the head nurse of the newly formed Orthopedic Unit, and found her true calling in the medical field.
Today, Hunsberger is the Coordinator of the Joint Replacement Program at Grand View Hospital's Joint Replacement Center. Her responsibilities have increased exponentially since she started as a staff nurse, and now include; working with the orthopedic surgeons, working with patients who have undergone joint replacement, administering pre-operation education, coordinating patients' stay and after-care, quality improvement studies, and helping to teach the nursing staff.
Hunsberger's role as the coordinator keeps her very busy, but she always makes time for the orthopedic and joint-replacement patients who created a passion in her that was visible to NAON on a national level.
"Of all the patients in the hospital, that is where my heart is," Hunsberger said.source
How to Become a Nurse |
| posted by blogger @ 12:17
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| UK nurse story
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I've worked as a nurse in New Zealand. They have a similar health care system to us in the UK but they are definitely behind.
I think we have a better system actually, it's a shame people just keep attacking it.
Recognition is great. The most satisfying thing is when patients are grateful to the staff.
You can meet some of the most ungrateful people but also some of the nicest people here. I don't think you can experience this anywhere else.
The worst thing about being a nurse is a seeing young people pass away. It makes you more aware of your own mortality.
I do go home and think about it, about whatever has happened. I think it's healthy to do that but you learn to cope with experience of the job.
When it comes to aggression, that is becoming very common. I wouldn't dream about going into someone's work and being rude to them so why should someone do it to me?
Complaining is fine but when you get aggressive that's just wrong. People see us walking around and think we're not doing much.
You can wait in the waiting room but you don't see what really goes on and all the hard work that the doctors and nurses are doing. At the end of the day we're just here to work hard and do a good job for you.
I don't think that if we paid for our health service, it would be any better. When you go private it's still the same nurses and doctors and when things go wrong it's the NHS that fixes it.
I hope the NHS doesn't get privatised or like the American system. I hope the NHS has a future, we don't know how lucky we are the NHS is free and it's for everyone.
See how the UK and US health systems compare
I didn't think about the pay at first. When you're young and at school, you're excited about your career. Then you enter the real world.
I'd be lying if I said I didn't want a pay rise. I get paid round about £23,000 but pay isn't everything. I love my job. source
How to Become a Nurse |
| posted by blogger @ 10:20
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| Nurses for 50 years
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Not many people can say they have loved their job for 50 years and every hour worked has been filled with joy and admiration for each other and their talents. Shirley Kendall, LPN, CST and Ruth Alexander, RN have worked at Trace Regional Hospital for a combined total of 100 proud years.
Mrs. Ruth Alexander, RN began nursing school in 1952, a graduate of Greenwood Leflore Hospital Nursing program. She began her career in Roswell, New Mexico in Obstetrics where after a few months she was promoted to 11-7 Supervisor.
Her career with Houston Hospital (now Trace Regional) began in 1959. She worked in OB and transferred to Surgery in 1961. In 1969 she was promoted to Department Head of Surgery and earned $3.62 per hour.
Ruth thought she was going to retire a few years ago and enjoy her travels but her colleges have managed to keep her at least part time.
Mrs. Shirley Kendall, LPN, CST began her career in 1957. She was in the registered nurse program in Grenada, however, the Director died 11/2 years into the training and it was canceled. Shirley finished her nursing education at Sunflower Junior College and Grenada. She was the first licensed LPN to work for Dr. John Dyer and Houston Hospital. Ms. Kendall stated Dr. Dyer was a great teacher. He taught the staff care and respect for all the patients. He set the example and lived it.
“I always felt working in surgery was my calling,” Kendall said.
Kendall said she never regretted getting her RN degree as she loved surgery so much.
“I took classes in the beginning of my career but if I were an RN, I might not be allowed to work in Surgery,” Kendall said.
Other areas of the hospital where she has worked has been in various clinics, Med/Surg floor, Emergency Department and Floy Dyer Manor.
Other members of their nursing team in the early years were Beatrice Oswalt RN, Mary Evelyn Andrews RN, Neva Edwards LPN, Carolyn Davis LPN, Sara Norris LPN, Vivian Ellison RN, Dorothy Jean Criddle RN Director Nursing, Martha Gravatt ORT, and OR supervisor Joann Monahan RN. Current surgery staff for Trace Regional are Chris Chandler RN, OR supervisor, Joetta Tillman RN, Sarah Dodd RN, Ruth Alexander RN, Becky King RN, Shirley Kendall LPN and Wendy Frederick LPN. Dr. Ron Staten, General Surgeon and Jody Cromwell RN, CRNA, both sing praises for their staff. Shirley and Ruth both said they love working with this team.
Both Shirley and Ruth have special stories and memories with laughter and tears from over the years, they talked about working in laundry folding linen, filing patient xrays, working in the cafeteria, and filing charts in medical records. They are experts in cross-training on the job.
While I listened to their stories and the many memories each have from over the years, I realized just how blessed our community is to have such compassionate, dedicated and giving people to take care of us when we are sick or injured. I could only sit in awe of how much they have loved each other, their co-workers which are actually life long friends. They worked long shifts and at the end of it all, smiled and knew they had been a part of something wonderful in helping the well being of another human.source
Licensed Vocational Nurse Jobs
What is a Licensed Vocational Nurse? |
| posted by blogger @ 08:17
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| Nurses: abuse can come from doctors, coworkers, supervisors, and even patients.
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The official journal of the American Nurses Association, has published, “No more abuse,” an article targeting how to handle the abuse in the workplace. Abuse can come from doctors, coworkers, supervisors, and even patients.
“Factors contributing to workplace violence include stress, poor staffing levels, long working hours, improper training of personnel, and power and control issues
“We must send a clear message that intimidation and abuse will not be tolerated in the workplace,” says Pamela Cipriano, PhD, RN, FAAN, CNAA-BC, Editor-in-Chief of American Nurse Today. “And, we have to provide nurses with the skills they need to respond appropriately.”
Colonel Murray’s article includes strategies for responding to abuse and emphasizes the need to report incidences of abuse.
American Nurse Today reaches 175,000 nurses including 160,000 members of ANA. In addition to keeping nurses abreast of ANA’s advocacy for the profession, American Nurse Today provides valuable, peer-reviewed, evidence based clinical, practical and career information that nurses can assimilate into their busy practices immediately.
HealthCom Media is a specialty publishing company located in Doylestown, PA. The company also publishes other specialty journals including Menopause Management, Assisted Living Consult, and Medicare Patient Management.
The American Nurses Association is the only full-service professional organization representing the nation's 2.9 million registered nurses through its 54 constituent member associations. The ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying Congress and the regulatory agencies on healthcare issues affecting nurses and the public.source
How to Become a Nurse |
| posted by blogger @ 06:31
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| Certified Nurse Midwife
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Homebirth with Certified Nurse Midwife becomes Law. South Dakota's law now provides a safe option for mothers planning their births at home. A licensed Certified Nurse Midwife can now attend home births, without the previous restrictions that where banning them from attending homebirths.
The new law which became effective July 1st will let specially trained nurse midwives help women give birth at home.
The South Dakota Legislature has battled for more than 10 years on whether to allow midwives, whether professionally trained or not , to help in home births. But lawmakers this year passed a compromise suggested by state boards that regulate doctors and nurses.
The law requires midwives to become registered nurses, get master's degrees in nursing and pass additional tests and get approval from two state boards.
After 2 years of waiting for South Dakota's legislature to pass laws allowing for homebirth by certified nurse midwives, Jeanne Prentice of WomanKind Midwifery of Beulah, Wyoming has recently moved her office to Spearfish, South Dakota and has completed the full approval process to become one of the state's first legal homebirth midwives.
WomanKind Midwifery, owned by certified nurse Midwife, Jeanne Prentice, was originally established 1 mile across the South Dakota border in Beulah, Wyoming where nurse midwives have been recognized as independent practitioners for several years.
The practice of nurse-midwifery was established in the United States in the 1920s. According to the American College of Nurse-Midwives, women who use certified nurse-midwives as their primary care providers have low rates of infant mortality and have low chances of having a Caesarean section or needing epidural anesthesia. They can also allow vaginal birth after Caesarean section. Most hospitals in Wyoming and South Dakota do not allow vaginal birth after Caesarean.
Giving birth at home isn’t for every woman, and Prentice said she has an extensive screening process. While those with low-risk pregnancies are ideal, those with high blood pressure or diabetes may not be candidates for home births, Prentice said. Moms wanting a home birth must be committed to giving birth without an epidural or other medication, Prentice said.
Prentice was recently featured in "LIVE WELL, A Look at Alternative Birthing Experiences." Read Here
Beginning July 1st, WomanKind midwifery will be located at 544 N. 7th Street in Spearfish and open from 9am - 5pm daily by appointment. WomanKind is the first legal homebirth service in the State of South Dakota as well as the first midwife owned practice. Most of South Dakota's midwifery services are owned and/or operated by physicians or hospitals. WomanKind midwifery provides prenatal care in a homelike clinic setting. Delivery, postpartum and newborn services are provided in the comfort of the mothers home. Jeanne Prentice specializes in care of low risk women and their newborns. She also offers waterbirths as an option to assist mothers in relaxing during their labors and deliveries.
WomanKind has launched a new motto to signify this new change in South Dakota - "One small step for newborns, one giant leep for WomanKind"source
How to Become a Nurse |
| posted by blogger @ 04:05
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| Nursing programs at Frederick Community College
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The number of people applying to nursing programs in Frederick is on the rise; so much so that more than half of the applicants are being turned away.
Nursing programs like the one at Frederick Community College are seeing more and more applicants despite the limited number of slots.
Each fall they accept 54 students.
This year they received more than 100 applications compared to 75 applicants the previous year.
"People see a great need, people see great opportunities, and a lot of people who want to help others and who want a good steady career are looking at this as a great option," explained Paul Hunter, the Allied Health Advisor at the college.
FCC has extended its weekend and evening program to accommodate some of the interest.source |
| posted by blogger @ 02:41
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| Bilingual Medical Assistant
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The only Bilingual Medical Assitant program in Chicago certified by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP
Responding to the need, in 2001 Spanish Coalition for Jobs, together with representatives of Chicago's largest hospitals, created the Bilingual Medical Assistant Program. Accredited by CAAHEP in 2004, graduates are eligible to take the AAMA certification exam thereby enabling greater career advancement.
This 10-month program is specifically designed to train bilingual/bicultural health care providers and to improve access to appropriate health care for an expanding and diverse Latino Community in Chicago.
Urology medical assistant-What they do?
Cardiology Medical Assistants ~What they do? |
| posted by blogger @ 23:59
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| Experience Travel Nursing
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New opportunities. Friendships. These are just a few of the reasons why a travel career is such an appealing option to so many of healthcare professionals.
Whether you're drawn to the fragrant island breezes of Hawaii, the palm-lined boulevards of California or Florida, the quaint colonial villages of New England, the beautiful Arizona desert or the snowy slopes of Colorado, travel nursing can put you right in the heart of your favorite destination
Travel nurse job-Travel nurse salary |
| posted by blogger @ 22:46
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| Dental Assistant at Texas State Technical College
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Picture yourself working beside a dedicated dentist ... in a pleasant, clean, professional office ... greeting and assisting patients ... with great hours, usually from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ... earning a secure future and solid benefits. Picture yourself enrolled in the Dental Assistant (DA) program at Texas State Technical College, where your education can lead you into this picture-perfect career.
If you are a self-motivated individual with good manual dexterity and steady hands, a warm and sensitive personality and good physical and emotional health, then this could be the career choice for you. Dental assistants use their skills and knowledge in office management, oral health counseling, laboratory procedures, dental radiography and radiation safety to assist in all phases of dental treatment.
As a TSTC Dental Assistant student, you can learn the latest skills and techniques with experienced faculty members who provide self-paced, individualized instruction and attention.
DA graduates find rewarding career opportunities with a wide variety of responsibilities. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, job prospects should be excellent as dentist hire more assistants to perform routine tasks allowing dentists to spend more time on more profitable procedures.
Dental assistants set up exam rooms, measure blood pressure, expose radiographs, process dental X-ray film, perform oral examinations, prepare charts, make teeth impressions, pour molds and fabricate temporary crowns. DA graduates' titles include dental assistant, certified dental assistant, chair-side assistant and office manager. Dental assistants should not be confused with dental hygienists who are licensed to perform other tasks.
Dental Assistants Training
Dental assistants earnings
Dental assistants main duties |
| posted by blogger @ 16:28
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| How to Become a Medical Assistant
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Medical assistant is projected to be one of the fastest-growing careers over the next few years. To maximize your job options, you should enroll in a one to two year degree program at a medical assistant school. Medical assistant training consists of science and medical coursework such as biology, human anatomy and physiology, and medical terminology, as well as administrative coursework in topics like typing, accounting and record keeping. You can choose from an online degree program with flexible scheduling, or an on-campus program that allows face-to-face meetings with your professor and fellow classmates. A career as a medical assistant requires you perform a range of office management and clinical duties. If you are a person who thrives on variety, a career as a medical assistant could be a perfect choice.
Urology medical assistant-What they do?
Cardiology Medical Assistants ~What they do?
Bilingual Medical Assistant
Medical Assistant translator
Medical Assistant Jobs |
| posted by blogger @ 10:22
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| The Story of 6 Travel Nurses - Part 1
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Southern California. From the ER to ICU to L&D, this award-winning documentary takes you inside the real lives of nurses. Follow their adventures as they explore the Southern California lifestyle, unwind in a multi-million dollar beachside mansion, and try not to drive each other crazy during their 13-week assignment.
Travel nurse job-Travel nurse salary |
| posted by blogger @ 02:48
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| Pre-medical requirements:do students need Organic Chemistry?
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| Saturday
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Has organic chemistry — tormenter of young souls, perennial weeder of would-be doctors — run its course as a fixture of the pre-med curriculum?
The implicit answer — No — is fleshed out later in Dienstag’s article. “Ideally, instead of devoting time to a second semster of organic synthesis, college students could take a sequence of preparatory organic chemistry and basic principles of biochemistry,” he writes. In a phone conversation this afternoon, he told us that Harvard College already offers a sequence like that, for pre-meds and budding biologists.
The o-chem stuff is a piece of a broader critique pre-med education. “We’re still using pre-medical requirements that were devised decades ago,” he told us. “But science changes.”
So do notions about how to teach science. Dienstag said that, while undergrad science labs aren’t as onerous as they were in earlier generations, there’s room for improvement there as well. “Labs are still valuable, but a lot of time in labs is spent chasing your tail,” he said. “It could be more focused on hypothesis generation and solving problems rather than doing the rote exercises that were there in the old textbook.” Many schools are already moving in this direction, he said.
Lest you think this talk is a product of the rarefied air of Harvard Yard, take a look at this article, published earlier this year by the president of the Association of American Medical Colleges. “Given the recent explosion in medical knowledge, emergence of new areas such as genomics, and our growing reliance on multi-disciplinary approaches to patient care,” he writes, “is adherence to the traditional premedical formula appropriate for every student?”source
Vocational Nursing schools in California 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
Licensed Vocational Nurse LVN program prerequisites |
| posted by blogger @ 23:14
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| MedTrack prepares students for medical careers
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Padua Franciscan High School introduced
a new "MedTrack(TM)" curriculum for students interested in pursuing further
education and a career in the medical profession. MedTrack, a four-year
advanced science track, features additional science courses and activities,
including a healthcare externship, designed to enrich students' experience and
prepare them for medical careers.
"The Cleveland area has a competitive, respected, and well-established
medical community," said David Stec, Principal of Padua Franciscan. "The
MedTrack program combines our strong science curriculum with the Franciscan
healing tradition to create a dynamic foundation for success in the
post-secondary school study of science and medicine."
The MedTrack curriculum was created with the advice and guidance of medical
professionals at area hospitals, including Padua alumni, and the input of
biology and medical science instructors from colleges and medical schools.
MedTrack builds upon Padua's strong science program as a foundation, and
enriches the learning experience with additional courses and activities. The
combination of Padua's strong science curriculum with the experience and input
of Cleveland's medical community makes the program an ideal learning environment
for students interested in the medical profession.
The MedTrack program was motivated by the number of current students (43%)
who have expressed an interest in pursuing a medical career, and as evidenced by
the large number of medical alumni. The new curriculum offers students
excellent preparation for college and advanced studies. Starting in the
freshman year, medical professionals will share career advice with students
twice a year. Students will have the opportunity to apply learning in a
hands-on environment, and to show their commitment to the medical profession,
helping them stand out as qualified candidates for advanced study programs.
Interested students can sign up now for the MedTrack program for the 2009
freshman school year.
Padua Franciscan is the largest private, co-educational secondary school in
northeast Ohio. It is one of the few schools officially chartered by the State
of Ohio as college-preparatory. In 2004 and 2006, Padua was named one of the
nation's top 50 Catholic secondary schools by the Acton Institute. Padua is
accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools as well as
the Ohio Catholic Schools Accrediting Agency.source
Vocational nurse training-Vocational nurse job
Licensed Vocational Nurse Salary in California |
| posted by blogger @ 02:06
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| How to protect foreign-trained nurses from abusive employment practices
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| Friday
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A coalition of health care industry groups and unions recently released voluntary ethics guidelines to protect foreign-trained nurses from abusive employment practices at U.S. medical facilities, the Washington Post reports. The U.S. nursing shortage has prompted many medical facilities to recruit nurses from abroad.
The guidelines address issues such as a wage gap between U.S.-trained and foreign-trained nurses and assignment of foreign-trained nurses to positions that U.S.-trained nurses do not want. In addition, the guidelines include summaries of relevant employment laws and offer examples of practices that medical facilities can implement to support foreign-trained nurses.
Coalition members said that the guidelines also recommend that medical facilities not recruit nurses from nations with shortages of medical personnel. Medical facilities that adopt the guidelines must agree to independent monitoring. AcademyHealth executive Vice President Patricia Pittman said that the coalition will develop a plan for monitoring compliance with the guidelines later this year
Provide more foreign nurse visas
US to increase work visas to ease strains of nursing shortage |
| posted by blogger @ 23:55
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| Nursing Scholarship Program
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The University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies is pleased to be among the first institutions in the nation to receive funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) through the RWJF New Careers in Nursing Scholarship Program.
Grants provided through this competitive program will be used for scholarships to increase the number of students enrolled in UM's Accelerated Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN) program. This groundbreaking national initiative, launched by RWJF and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), aims to help alleviate the nation's nursing shortage by dramatically expanding the pipeline of students in accelerated nursing programs. The $300,000 grant will enable the school to increase program capacity and provide 30 scholarships of $10,000 each to incoming students.
"Our Accelerated BSN program is helping to change the face of nursing," notes Rosemary Hall, PhD, RN, the school's Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs and Associate Professor. "This generous grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is designed not only to expand program capacity; it will also increase the diversity of our nursing workforce so that it better reflects the patients we assist." With a minority enrollment of over 60%, the School of Nursing and Health Studies has one of the most diverse student bodies in the nation.
Through the RWJF New Careers in Nursing Scholarship Program, scholarships in the amount of $10,000 each will be distributed to entry-level nursing students in accelerated programs during the 2008-2009 academic year. Award preference is given to students from groups underrepresented in nursing or from disadvantaged backgrounds. Grant funding also will be used by the school of nursing to help leverage new faculty resources and provide mentoring and leadership development resources to ensure successful program completion by scholarship recipients. "This program aims to safeguard the health of the nation by helping to ease the nurse and nurse faculty shortage," said RWJF President Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A. "This new initiative also will advance our strategic goal of promoting leadership in the health professions."
The RWJF New Careers in Nursing Scholarship Program supports accelerated programs, which offer the most efficient route to licensure as a registered nurse for adults who have already completed a baccalaureate or graduate degree in a discipline other than nursing. Although enrollment in these programs has steadily increased over the past few years, many potential students are unable to enroll since already having a college degree disqualifies them for receiving most federal financial aid programs for entry-level students. The New Careers in Nursing scholarships address this problem, and will also address the overall nursing shortage, by enabling hundreds of students to launch their nursing careers through accelerated education.
The University of Miami's Accelerated BSN program enables individuals who hold baccalaureate degrees in other fields to complete the BSN curriculum in twelve consecutive months. Launched in 2004, UM's intensive three-month BSN program has already added over 170 nurses to the local workforce and experienced a 50% increase in applications over last year.
By bringing more nurses into the profession at the baccalaureate and master's degree levels, the new scholarship program also helps to address the nation's nurse faculty shortage. Data from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration show that nurses entering the profession at the baccalaureate level are four times more likely than other nurses to pursue a graduate degree in nursing, which is the required credential to teach.
Additionally, the program targets the need to recruit students from groups underrepresented in nursing or disadvantaged backgrounds. According to the National
Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice, diversifying the nursing profession is essential to meeting the health care needs of the nation and reducing health disparities that exist among many underserved populations.
How to Become a Nurse |
| posted by blogger @ 22:55
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| University of Western Ontario
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Liberal leader Stéphane Dion proposed a revamp of the tax system for students and broader access to financial aid, including the introduction of $3,500 bursaries for poorer students.
At a stop at University of Western Ontario in London this mo | | |
