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| Free dental assistant program at Camp Foster
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| Saturday
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Bad breath, gingivitis and those scraping noises produced when a prickly steel probe meets tooth and gum all come with the job.
As a dental assistant trainee, Shawna Kimsey isn’t bothered by the sounds and smells that resonate from a dentist’s chair. She’s ready to get her hands — or latex gloves, rather — dirty.
"That doesn’t scare me. I love teeth," said Kimsey, 21, wife of a Marine.
Kimsey and 13 other military dependents spent Wednesday morning getting acquainted with the excavators and syringes they will disinfect and hand to dentists during routine check-ups and root canals.
The training is their first step toward becoming volunteer dental assistants through an American Red Cross program.
It’s rigorous — trainees complete a 40-hour course followed by 500 unpaid internship hours with the 3rd Dental Battalion at base clinics around the island.
But it’s free. And it’s a launching pad toward career opportunities for military dependents, who often encounter hurdles while searching for jobs overseas.
Felicia Moore, 36, figures she’s saving about $7,000 in school expenses — the cost of a vocational technical program she checked out in Georgia. That’s money she can eventually put toward dental hygienist training.
With her 15-year-old son living with family in Georgia and her finances in order, Moore said she was able to reduce her work hours at the Yellow Box at Camp Kinser to handle the 500 hours she must complete by January.
"I’m ready," said Moore, whose husband is also a Marine. "I want to move up."
Dental assistants are in demand.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, it’s one of the fastest-growing jobs and employment is expected to jump nearly 30 percent by 2016. The bureau reports more than 283,000 dental assistants are practicing in the States.
"They’re the people really running the show," said instructor Navy Lt. Cmdr. Tuanh Halquist of the 3rd Dental Battalion, the dental clinic director at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.
Halquist said working alongside dentists exposes trainees to more than just cleaning instruments and scheduling appointments. Trainees learn how to take radiograph X-rays, handle fillings, and in some cases do molds and change out dental brackets on braces.
"They’re not just the janitors," Halquist said.
The program is a non-licensed course, which means participants must obtain state licensure if they enter the civilian work force.
But graduates typically find jobs at military dental clinics stateside and overseas, where licensing is not always a requirement, Halquist said.
Graduates receive a certification from the Red Cross that is accepted at all military bases, Halquist said.
The program is offered in the spring and fall at Camp Foster.
Depending on experience, military dental assistants can earn between $10 and $12 an hour, Halquist said.
According to the BLS, the national average salary is $32,280.
Dental assistant Risa Exinia, a Japanese civilian, was hired at the Bush Dental Clinic on Camp Courtney after completing the program last year.
Juggling the 500 internship hours and a family wasn’t easy, but Exinia said the hard work paid off.
"[It’s] not only helping doctors, but at the same time you help patients," she said. "And I see them smiling."
Now, her main challenge is soothing children suffering from toothaches.
"It is not an easy job, but it is pretty fun," she said.
Navy Cmdr. David Lowrey, dental clinic director at camps Hansen and Schwab, said he’s been impressed by the enthusiasm and skill among the trainees.
The added manpower keeps the appointments and treatments running efficiently, he said.
"They certainly help fill the void when one of our active-duty technicians deploys or transfers," Lowrey said. "We would often have difficulty meeting our mission without them."source
Dental Assistants Training
What is the typical salary for a Licensed Vocational 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 @ 18:38
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| The Drugs Song - Amateur Transplants
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There's aspirin, adrenaline and also aminophylline,
Amphetamine, adenosine, augmentin and rifampicin,
Amoxicillin, penicillin, heparin and warfarin,
And oestrogen, progestagen and Canesten and chloroquine.
There's bendroflumethiazide and also cyclophosphamide,
And metoclopramide, acetazolamide, tropicamide
Loperamide, amiloride and cyclizine and frusemide,
And if you're up the duff then you'd best avoid thalidomide.
There's lithium, fluoxetine and also amitriptyline,
Paroxetine, digoxin, GTN and azathioprine,
Miconazole, atenolol and also chloramphenicol,
And if you want to overdose, there's always paracetamol.
There's Night Nurse and there's phenytoin, Zirtek and diazepam
And lithium, temazepam, midazolam, clonazepam,
Testosterone, aldosterone, and Valium and insulin,
And lignocaine and Piriton and Ventolin and Ritalin.
There's cefuroxime, cefotaxime, cefalexin, cephedrine,
And metronidazole and ketoconazole, trimethoprim,
Erythromycin, gentamicin, macrolides, nifedipine,
And Actifed and Sudafed and Calpol with no sugar in.
There's phenelzine and hyoscine, ranitidine, cimetidine,
Potassium and calcium and ev'ry kind of vitamin,
And pethidine and methadone and speed, cocaine and heroin,
And cannabis and Prozac, morphine, alcohol and nicotine.
You must remember all these drugs, the names of which you've learned from me,
Or fuck 'em all and get a job in orthopaedic surgery.
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 @ 06:50
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| A nurse practicing in the field of developmental disabilities,
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As a nurse practicing in the field of developmental disabilities, certification documents that you possess special knowledge and gives you access to expanded career opportunities and advancement.
To be certified means that you are competent in your chosen field and have a recognized level of achievement.
You understand and comply with the standards of your professional organization, live by those standards professionally, and set an example of excellence.
Certification attests to your knowledge in your chosen specialty area of nursing practice.
Certification provides a way to demonstrate your experience, competence, and proficiency beyond that required for nursing licensure.
As a certified nurse, you also benefit the profession of nursing, the specialty of developmental disabilities, and the people for whom you care.
What do Vocational Nurses do?
Important skills, knowledge, and abilities for LVNs
How to become a Licensed Vocational Nurse |
| posted by blogger @ 18:08
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| Recreational Therapists, Rehabilitation Counselors
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| Wednesday
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Recreational Therapists
Plan, direct, or coordinate medically-approved
recreation programs for patients in hospitals, nursing
homes, or other institutions. Average Wage $16.79
Rehabilitation Counselors
Counsel individuals to maximize the independence and
employability of persons coping with personal, social,
and vocational difficulties that result from birth defects,
illness, disease, accidents, or the stress of daily life.
Coordinate activities for residents of care and treatment
facilities. Average Wage $19.31
Benefits of Vocational Nursing
How do I find the job?
LPNs and RNs-similarities and differences |
| posted by blogger @ 23:52
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| Nuclear Medicine Technologists, Nursing Aides, Orderlies, and Attendants
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| Tuesday
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Nuclear Medicine Technologists
Prepare, administer, and measure radioactive isotopes
in therapeutic, diagnostic, and tracer studies utilizing a
variety of radioisotope equipment. Prepare stock
solutions of radioactive materials and calculate doses to
be administered by radiologists. Average Wage $21.81
Nursing Aides, Orderlies, and Attendants
Provide basic patient care under direction of nursing
staff. Perform duties, such as feed, bathe, dress,
groom, or move patients, or change linens.
Average Wage $9.31
Nursing assistant training-Certified nursing assistant job
Free CNA programs:Free CNA training
CNA skills-CNA skills video |
| posted by blogger @ 18:58
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| Occupational Therapists, Therapist Assistants, Occupational Health and Safety Specialists and Technicians
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Occupational Health and Safety Specialists and Technicians
Specialists review, evaluate, and analyze work
environments and design programs and procedures to
control, eliminate, and prevent disease or injury.
Technicians collect data on work environments for
analysis by specialists. Average Wage $21.17
Occupational Therapist Assistants
Assist occupational therapists in providing occupational
therapy treatments and procedures. Generally requires
formal training. Average Wage $15.24
Occupational Therapists
Assess, plan, organize, and participate in rehabilitative
programs that help restore vocational, homemaking,
and daily living skills, as well as general independence,
to disabled persons. Average Wage $25.68
Medical Assistant training-Medical Assistant job-Medical Assistant salary
Pharmacy technician |
| posted by blogger @ 18:19
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| Mental Health Counselors and Substance Abuse Social Workers
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Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers
Assess and treat individuals with mental, emotional, or
substance abuse problems. Activities may include
individual and group therapy, crisis intervention, case
management, client advocacy, prevention, and
education. Average Wage $14.05
Mental Health Counselors
Counsel with emphasis on prevention. Work with
individuals and groups to promote optimum mental
health. Average Wage $11.80
Registered Nurse |
| posted by blogger @ 06:17
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| Medical and Health Services Managers, Medical Social Workers, Massage Therapists
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| Monday
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Medical and Health Services Managers
Plan, direct, or coordinate medicine and health services
in hospitals, clinics, managed care organizations, public
health agencies, or similar organizations.
Average Wage $31.0
Massage Therapists
Massage customers for hygienic or remedial purposes.
Average Wage $9.39
Medical and Public Health Social Workers
Provide persons, families, or vulnerable populations with
the psychosocial support needed to cope with chronic,
acute, or terminal illnesses. Services include advising
family care givers and providing patient education and
counseling. Average Wage $16.81
'I didn't know there were guys in nursing"
Army Nurses
Male nursing students -Male-friendly" nursing school
male nurses are leaving the profession more quickly than female nurses |
| posted by blogger @ 12:01
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| plans to provide scholarships in Japan to nursing students from foreign countries
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| Sunday
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Mie Prefecture has finalized plans to provide scholarships to nursing students from foreign countries, the first such scholarship program in Japan.
The plan, which will commence at the beginning of fiscal 2009, will provide scholarships for tuition at universities such as the Mie Prefectural College of Nursing, and over 10 nursing vocational schools in the prefecture. An initial budget of 3 million yen will be earmarked for the program, subject to the approval of the prefectural assembly.
The program was created to address the problem of communicating with members of Mie Prefecture's many foreign communities. Medical facilities currently lack sufficient numbers of interpreters to communicate with patients who cannot speak Japanese, and the program is designed to help train medical professionals who can provide those patients with technical explanations in their mother tongue.
Medical Careers
Licensed Vocational Nurse Jobs
At present, the prefectural international affairs office sends volunteer interpreters to medical facilities that cannot communicate with their foreign patients. Such volunteers have been dispatched 24 times in fiscal 2008, as of Jan. 27. "People who can do interpreting at medical institutions are essential," the international affairs office said. "We hope that this scholarship will be used to give nursing students a good career."
The scholarship program will provide up to 600,000 yen for tuition to foreigners wishing to study nursing. After completing the scholarship program, recipients will be required to take up fixed-period employment with medical facilities in the prefecture, with proficiency in their mother tongue as a prime requirement. The program has targeted seven languages, including Portuguese, Spanish and English.
At the moment, there are no foreign nursing students in the prefecture to enter the scholarship program. However, the prefecture aims to lure prospective students to Mie's schools with the new policy.
"It's a good idea to support foreigners who harbor hopes of becoming a nurse here, and there's also great value in training people who can do medical interpreting," said Shinobu Ogawa, executive director of the Japanese Nursing Association.
Some 2.7 percent of Mie Prefecture's population is made up of foreigners, the third highest rate in the country.source |
| posted by blogger @ 23:55
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| Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) training through the district’s Early College Technology Center
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Officials with the Floresville Independent School District are hoping to begin the first round of Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) training through the district’s Early College Technology Center as early as June.
The Early College Technology Center, which will be Wilson County’s first institution of higher learning, comes to the area through a partnership between the school district, the Floresville Economic Development Corp., and the Alamo Community College District. It will be located on the campus of Floresville High School on U.S. 181 in Floresville.
Dr. David Vinson, who is the superintendent of the Floresville school district, said an aerospace technology program in conjunction with St. Philip’s College’s Aircraft Technology Program is expected to begin in the fall.
The Early College is also expected to offer curricula in the areas of culinary arts, media broadcasting, business, information technology, and welding.
Students currently attending school in the Floresville school district will be able to take college-level courses while completing a high school education. Therefore, Vinson said, graduation day could mean both a high school diploma and an associate degree.
“And they could have a job with a company like Lockheed-Martin or Rackspace,” Vinson said. “Or, they could work for a hospital as an LVN. They will have a bona fide future with a skill.”
The Early College will also prepare students for study at four-year colleges and universities, by helping them to finish general- education courses closer to home and for less cost than schools located in San Antonio or farther away.
In its first year, Vinson said, enrollment at the Early College will be limited to Floresville students. Then, the program will be broadened to include students from other area schools, eventually leading up to night courses for all area residents regardless of age. source
Medical Careers
Licensed Vocational Nurse Jobs
What is a Licensed Vocational Nurse |
| posted by blogger @ 18:38
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| THE PROPOSAL to add one more year to courses in college
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THE PROPOSAL to add one more year to courses in college is not yet final since the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) is still studying it, CHEd chairman Emmanuel Angeles said yesterday.
Angeles said a technical committee is still reviewing the proposed reform to add another year to college courses to put the country’s tertiary education system at par with that of other countries.
“There is nothing definite yet. We are not even sure if we would be able to implement this. It is not yet final,” Angeles said.
He said the technical committee would finish its review by next month and, stating in March, CHEd would conduct wide-ranging consultations among the major stakeholders in the country’s education system.
Under the reform program dubbed the “Philippine Main Education Highway,” existing courses requiring licensure exams by the Professional Regulation Commission would last for five years starting this coming school year. And starting 2010, even non-board courses would also be extended by one year.
The program aims to reform the baccalaureate curriculum in the college level and would be implemented following the “10+2+3 formula” or 10 years of basic education, a two-year pre-university program, and then a final three years of specialization.
This means that after completing 10 six years in elementary and four years of high school, students could either proceed to vocational training or take a two-year “pre-university program” before finally taking their specialized courses.
The reform program was supposed to be rolled out in two phases with Phase I beginning this coming school year (2009-2010) and affecting courses with PRC licensure exams.
Engineering and Architecture programs would follow the 10+2+(3 or 4) scheme in accordance with the standards set by international accrediting bodies for these fields. The other courses that would be affected during Phase I include Accounting, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Pharmacy.
Angeles added that nursing actually now takes five years since nursing students are required to take summer classes.
Phase II, which was supposed to take take effect starting school year 2010-2011, would require all four-year board and non-board programs to follow the 10+2+3 system, which is in accordance with the Bologna Accord, a sweeping educational reform program in Europe that would take effect also in 2010.
All of these, however, might be put on hold depending on the results of the review by the CHEd technical committee and the consultations that would be held later this year. source
Is the Vocational Nursing Profession a growing career?
What do Vocational Nurses do?
Important skills, knowledge, and abilities for LVNs |
| posted by blogger @ 18:02
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| Nursing school tuition and fees nearly doubled this semester
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A massage therapist with three young children, 34-year-old Bobbie Smith decided nursing was the logical next step in her career. She applied to San Antonio College's registered nursing program, to which 1,000 students routinely clamor for 160 slots.
The good news is that she got in. The bad news is that tuition and fees nearly doubled this semester.
Smith wasn't thrilled about paying more, but it did not derail her plans.
“If you get accepted, you make it work,” she said. “I'm hoping for the best, throwing a big Hail Mary.”
This past summer, trustees for Alamo Community Colleges raised tuition and fees for the nearly 750 nursing students at San Antonio College and St. Philip's College, which has a vocational nursing program, by $700 a semester, nearly doubling the cost to $1,526. The money will pay for stipends to help recruit nursing faculty, who are notoriously hard to find and keep.
Some students say the increase has caused financial hardship, but so far demand is up and tuition bills have been paid, said Lula Pelayo, ACC's director of nursing.
In 2005, voters passed a $450 million bond issue that paid for new nursing and allied health buildings, which will allow the district to double the number of student slots available over the next few years. But ACC can't do it without hiring more instructors.
“Nursing faculty are at a premium,” Pelayo said. “We thought long and hard about (raising tuition), but it is something we had to do. The other option was to not have any growth at all.”
ACC is not alone in varying prices according to program or department. Called differential tuition, the strategy has gained popularity in recent years as a way to make targeted improvements or to pay higher salaries to professors in competitive fields.
At the University of Texas at Austin, for example, a liberal arts undergraduate pays $4,045 per semester, while a business undergraduate pays $4,677. At Texas A&M University, officials tacked on an extra $610 per semester in tuition for junior and senior business majors, and they plan to spend the money to dramatically reduce class sizes.
“Higher education is ferociously competitive,” said Kevin Hegarty, chief financial officer at UT-Austin. “We price to recognize the fact that a faculty member, the equipment, etc. are more expensive to teach in engineering than social work.”
At ACC's board meeting Thursday, trustees will likely approve a tuition increase for the aviation technology flight-training program at Palo Alto College, which has always carried high fees because of the cost of flight instruction. Under the district's proposal, the cost of two-year flight training will jump by about $3,000 to $36,521.
Nursing is a particularly hot target for tuition increases. Nurses make more money working in hospitals than teaching, so luring them to the classroom requires a higher salary than other professors. Demand from students, meanwhile, is incredibly strong.
After a year at St. Philip's College, students can earn a vocational nursing license and command an average salary of $39,000 a year in San Antonio, according to Indeed.com, an online search engine for jobs. St. Philip's also has a one-year program for vocational nurses to upgrade to a registered nursing license.
After two years at San Antonio College, students earn an associate's degree and a registered nursing certification, credentials that pull down an average salary of $59,000 in San Antonio.
That's more than the $43,000 salary ACC offers a nursing professor with a master's degree. Adding a $7,500 stipend and summer wages has made teaching a sweeter deal, and it's beginning to pay off in recruitment and retention, said Pelayo, the ACC nursing director.
The new buildings also help. Modern, light-filled and stocked with the latest technology, the environment is inviting for both students and prospective faculty.
“It's really nice and clean,” said Smith, the student who just started classes at SAC's new building. Last week, she and her fellow students practiced changing bedsheets beneath simulation mannequins, pricey technology at more than $30,000 each.
Smith and fellow student Ryan Ash said SAC's program is worth the higher tuition. Even at $1,526 a semester, it is still the cheapest registered nursing program in town. The University of Texas Health Science Center costs around $2,900 a semester, and many of the for-profit schools such as Galen College of Nursing charge more than $14,000 a year.
Plus, SAC graduates have a good reputation in the medical community, Smith said. source
How to Become a Nurse |
| posted by blogger @ 12:12
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| MiraCosta College licensed vocational nurses part-time training program
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Ten health technicians working for the Escondido Unified School District will soon receive a promotion and pay raise.
The women recently completed a part-time training program developed by MiraCosta College to become licensed vocational nurses.
The custom program sprang from a rule change that requires health techs be replaced with LVNs in order to support the expanding medical needs of the school district.
“We have students with so many needs who deserve the level of help an LVN can provide,” said Jean Wesler, director of classified employment.
Some students have to be monitored for medications or conditions such as allergies, asthma and diabetes. Others require first aid or insulin injections.
“Being an LVN is a pretty responsible position,” Wesler said. “We didn't want to lay off our employees, so we began discussing additional training with them.”
When Wesler discovered there were no LVN programs that would accommodate the schedule of a health tech, she contacted MiraCosta College about the possibility of creating a part-time program that would allow them to continue working.
Joan Moore, LVN director at MiraCosta, developed the program.
“I had just completed four years as a school nurse at the Oceanside Unified School District, so I was aware of health techs and their schedules,” she said.
Moore said she modified the existing full-time, three-semester program by slowing it down during in school year, when health techs work, and adding a summer session. This made it possible for health techs to complete the program in two years.
“They were great employees to work with,” she said. “They were all adult learners and wanted to do well.”
Moore said the program was so successful that the college is now offering it in its regular curriculum.
“The program was hard at first to develop, but now it has great potential to meet a lot of other community needs,” Moore said. “Students can continue to work if they are a single mom or need a second income.”
Moore said that in addition to a need by school districts, there is demand for LVNs in clinics and nursing facilities.
The graduates are scheduled to take their board exams in the next couple of months. source
How to Become a Nurse
Faster than average job growth for registered nurses
Possible Solutions for Nurse Shortages
Top Medical Jobs |
| posted by blogger @ 06:27
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