A guest post by Kelly Kilpatrick As the economy tightens up, jobs in the nursing profession are becoming more and more sought after. One nursing specialty that continues to grow as the years pass, however, is geriatric nursing. Also referred to as eldercare, geriatric nursing refers to the care of elderly people who need assistance in a variety of ways. A Growing FieldThe United States’ population grew exponentially from the 1940’s to the 1960’s; this generation, known as the Baby Boomer generation, is now starting to age and many people that fall into this age group are in need of care. Naturally, as the years progress, more and more people…
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How to Become a Nurse
In the next few weeks some of the points I’m going to address revolve around How to Become a Nurse which is a series of articles I wrote that I know is not comprehensive enough. Nursing is a terrific profession. It’s far from perfect and there are many good and bad points to it. But I challenge anyone to find any job that doesn’t have just as many ups and downs. I have often said and will repeat, nursing is one of the most rewarding professions, but at the same time it is also one of the most physically and emotionally challenging! Nursing is NOT for everyone! But for those…
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Arrogant, Abusive, Disruptive Doctors
Who would have thought?! The New York Times reports today on a study that shows that arrogant, abusive and disruptive doctors are often contributors to medical mistakes! Did it take rocket scientists to figure that out? Almost any nurse could have told you that!! The article showcases one such example as a nurse tries to contact a doctor in the middle of the night about a young patient whose shunt is obviously malfunctioning. The doctor becomes arrogant and berates her for calling him because she doesn’t know anything, she’s not a doctor. A few hours later, after he ignores her third call, the patient is taken to emergency surgery. Studies…
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Economic Effects on the Nursing Profession
The downturn in the economy has done a couple of things for the nursing profession. More nurses who have not worked as nurses for awhile have returned to active status in order to bolster their family income and to cover lost income for instance if a spouse has lost a job. This has lessened some of the nursing shortage. On the other hand, as in any industry, cut backs are likely. Where nurses are going to be most affected by this is in areas where nurse-to-patient ratios are not set and/or enforced. Mandatory overtime will also continue to be an issue, and where it has not been, expect that it…
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Obama Invites Your Ideas
President-elect Obama has asked the nation to contribute ideas about the change we need to see come to fruition. You can add your ideas to the website. If you need some ideas here are a few: Teri Mills MS, ANP,CNE, RN would love for as many nurses as possible to visit The National Nurse site to learn more about this proposed program and then to send a personal vision note to the Obama site. This could certainly help nursing move forward. If your facility has a particularly bad or good set of working conditions for nurses and the nursing profession, please be sure to send along your ideas and help…