On June 26 and 27, 2008, AARP, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the U.S. Department of Labor will hold a summit at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, VA to discuss the shortage of nurses and the shortage of nurse educators. The goal is to find solutions to the shortage of nurses and to improve nursing education capacities throughout the country. Every year thousands of qualified nursing students are turned down by nursing programs across the country due to the shortage of nurse educators. Many schools have long waiting list for nursing students. It will be very interesting to hear what ideas and solutions they come up with.…
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Are You Registered Voter???
I learned something very disturbing today at Healthcare United. Did you know that one in four health care workers is NOT registered to vote?! There are over 10 million health care workers in the U.S. Twenty five percent of them are not registered to vote. That’s 2.5 million potential votes!!! The shortage of nurses and physicians is not going to be fully addressed until we elect a President and a Congress that understands the health care crisis and is willing to DO something to fix it. Ten million health care workers united towards a goal of providing the very best health care possible is a force to be reckoned with,…
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Online Nursing Education
One of the most common questions I get is how to find an online nursing program. If you already have your LPN/LVN or RN and are looking for a BSN or MSN program, there is a comprehensive list (and links) available from our sponsor, eLearners.com (see their ad at the top of the right hand column). However, for those of you who have no nursing education, an online program is NOT an option. Why? Well you simply cannot learn how to become a nurse without hands-on clinical experiences and that you cannot get from the Internet. All students have an option to take some of the general education courses such…
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Some Must Read Blog Posts for Nurses
Mother Jones RN over at Nurse Ratched’s Place has a very interesting blog post for this episode of Change of Shift. Check out those uniforms and nursing caps from some “old school nurses” as she relates our nursing predecessors to the challenges we face today as nurses. It’s a great blog post!! Be sure to read the linked blogs as well. Many thanks to Jana at Reality RN for asking me to guest blog!! (Staying When All You Want to Do is Quit.) I hope it’s a timely piece for those of you just entering the profession. It’s going to to take you about a year to get comfortable in…
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Attention New High School Seniors
School may be out and all you can think about is hitting the beach, but if you’re a high school student who is thinking about a career in nursing, there are some things you should be thinking about while you’re enjoying the summer sun. Most nursing programs have waiting lists. Did you know that? Well you do now. There are some that don’t but they may not be nearby or where you have always dreamed of going to college. So you’re going to have to do some investigating and serious thinking about your plans. You might have to go somewhere else or you may have to plan on an extra…