Charles Fox here signing in for the very first time! I will be posting weekly to keep you up to date on happenings related to nursing, education and The College Network. There will be plenty to say about these topics - but first, a little about myself!
I moved to Indianapolis in 2008 to attend IUPUI (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis). I completed my MA in Museum Studies in 2010, and my focus was on contemporary art. My undergraduate study took place at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa. I graduated in 2008 with a double major in English and Spanish, and I also studied abroad in Costa Rica and the Bahamas. I am originally from Oak Park, Illinois but I am proud to call Indy home right now!
I have only worked at The College Network for a short time, but it has been an interesting and rewarding experience. Besides my recently added responsibility as a member of TCN's new Social Media Task Force, I am an Appointment Coordinator. I call people on the phone who have expressed interest in degrees that TCN offers, qualify them, answer some of their questions, and set them up with Program Advisors in their area who can supply them with further information and help them to enroll if the program is a good fit for them. I am a textbook extrovert, so I enjoy talking with people while I am at work. Helping people move forward with their education and careers is very gratifying, and it is also nice to think about the high quality of care that patients will receive in the future from nurses who complete the quality programs offered by The College Network.
I love social media, and I am excited and honored to be blogging for TCN now. Keep an eye on the blog, as there is a lot of interesting content to come! Until later...
-Charles
Many nurses in the Kansas City area are finding more ways to help other people, even outside of their occupation. Despite their hectic schedules, many nurses in the area are volunteering with the local Meals on Wheels program, delivering nutritious and affordable meals to senior citizens at their homes. For some senior citizens, the Meals on Wheels volunteer could be the only person they have contact with in a given day. Thus, volunteers are occasionally the first ones to discover that a meal recipient is in need of medical attention. This was the case for Evelyn Grill, a retired RN who has been volunteering for 39 years: she once followed a meal recipient’s voice to the bathroom and discovered that the person had fallen. She was able to call for help right away.
Nurses such as Evelyn Grill embody the spirit of nursing in their ceaseless desire to help other people, whether in medical settings or in the community as volunteers. The College Network supports Kansas City area nurses’ efforts in the community, and it is an honor to feature their story on the nursing blog. Story originally appeared in Kansas City Nursing News.
As the nursing career field expands, the niches nurses fill expand in turn. The number of nurse researchers present in hospitals is increasing as of late. Establishing best practices and improving standards of patient care are key tenets of nursing research programs. The research topics are relevant to nurses working in the field because they often come directly from nurses curious about certain areas of inquiry. "It's nurse-driven," said Pam Ginex, RN, EdD, OCN, a nurse researcher. "[The nurses] come up with ideas or problems they want to look at and work collaboratively with members of the team to address a specific problem." Findings are published so that data can be shared with other healthcare providers.
When considering the nursing career field, opportunities such as this make becoming an RN seem even more appealing because they provide alternatives to the traditional role of a registered nurse or nursing manager. Growth within the career field of nursing is occurring not just in numbers, but also in responsibilities and opportunities. Information obtained from an article on nurse.com.
Some Canadian citizens in need of advice from healthcare professionals regarding parenting and pregnancy are taking advantage of a convenient, high-tech option: talk to a nurse on Facebook! Rather than having to schedule an appointment or face the possibility of finding out of date or incorrect information online through other sources, people using this option can rest assured they are receiving quality answers to important questions.
“Parents are using Facebook to share their pregnancy and parenting experiences with friends and family,” says Debbie Chang, Manager, Child Health at Peel Public Health. “The Parenting In Peel page gives these socially connected parents access to information they need, when they need it. They can post a question on the wall and it will be answered by a qualified nurse, all from the comfort of their computer.”
Chronicling advances in nursing and how nurses and patients connect is one area of focus for The College Network on our nursing blog. The Facebook page appears at http://www.facebook.com/parentinginpeel. This information came from a press release.
Here in Indianapolis, the entire city is gearing up for the Super Bowl, which will occur this weekend! We are proud to be hosting the big game.
The New England Patriots' Chairman Robert Kraft and his family decided to give back to those who give to the public good everyday. The "Super Bowl for Super People" sweepstakes awarded 10 public servants tickets to the Super Bowl for themselves and a guest, a chartered flight to and from the game, admittance to parties with the Patriots, and money to cover the taxes incurred from winning the prize. Lowell General Hospital Nurse, Tara Jean, was as surprised to win the tickets as she was happy. RN careers sometimes have unexpected perks! Congratulations to Tara, and welcome to Indianapolis from The College Network! Story originally appeared on
SentinelandEnterprise.com.
Kris Klassen, who is a school nurse, was called into service recently for a situation far more grave and complex than those a school nurse normally encounters. A student had collapsed in the school gymnasium, and he was not breathing. Klassen's quick actions saved the student's life. She immediately summoned paramedics and made quick use of one of the school's AEDs (automatic external defibrillator), shocking the student's heart back to beating again, in addition to administering CPR. The student is expected to recover and return to school at some point. Had it not been for Klassen's swift and decisive action, the situation could have been much worse.
"It's a great feeling to save a life. I'm really glad I had all the help I did. I can't explain how good it feels," Klassen remarked. Stories like Kris' illuminate how rewarding becoming an RN can be. The opportunity to save a life is truly incredible. It is an honor to feature this hero on the nursing blog. This story originally appeared on
CBS Minnestota.
University of Maryland School of Nursing has renovated its Living History Museum, and possibilities are unfolding for new exhibitions that illuminate nursing history. The museum receives loans of artifacts, and also boasts an impressive collection built up by alumni of the school.
Current exhibition Angels of the Battlefield: Nursing During the Civil War is especially popular due to the high amount of military nurses who come through the museum. Curator Dan Caughey remarks, "For humor's sake, a lot of visitors like Phoebe Pember, who was the head nurse at a (Confederate) hospital in Richmond and had a tendency to carry around a pistol with her to keep the doctors in line. I think nurses today kind of joke that they wish they could do that."
Not all nursing schools show such a dedication to the history of the nursing profession. A Registered Nursing career today is vastly different than it was, say, during the Civil War! To learn more about the museum, visit their website. Information originally from nurse.com.
January 25 will mark the 31st observation of National IV Nurse Day. The theme for this year is "A Vital Role in Quality Healthcare--IV Nurses."
According to Infusion Nurses Society (INS) CEO Mary Alexander, MA, RN, CRNI®, CAE, FAAN, "infusion nurses deliver the highest level of patient care due to their knowledge and expertise. IV Nurse Day gives us an opportunity to recognize the significant contributions that infusion nurses make in their patients' lives."
The US House of Representatives elected January 25 as National IV Nurse Day in 1980 "to honor and recognize the accomplishments of the nation's infusion nurse specialists, as well as the Infusion Nurses Society," according to the press release.
Registered Nursing requirements are certainly great, and it is good to see the work of nurses that so often goes unnoticed receive official recognition on January 25. Becoming a Registered Nurse has its rewards!
When 23 year old Clay Taber’s kidneys failed almost two years ago due to a rare auto-immune condition called Goodpasture’s Syndrome, his options seemed extremely bleak. That is, until he came into contact with Emory University Hospital Transplant Nurse Allison Batson. "It hit close to home because I have kids between the ages of 16 and 27. I thought it wasn't fair," said Batson, who also explained that it takes over a year to get on a deceased donor list for a kidney transplant for a patient with Goodpasture's Syndrome. There are 90,000 people in the USA waiting for a kidney at present time.
She hopes that her efforts will inspire others, adding "It's not just about signing it on your driver's license. A kidney donation, for example, is just a few weeks from your life that you're transferring into more years for another person's life."
The College Network commends Ms. Batson’s bravery and selfless service to others. We are honored to feature her story on our nursing blog. Read the entire story reported on ABC News.com here.
Clay and Allison
The oldest surviving nurse who served for the US Army in World War II turned 100 on January 10, 2012. Olive Davis' memories of her wartime nursing experience are a testament to both constance and change in the nursing field. While nurses today do not have to boil needles to sterilize them or file them down if the needles are imperfect in shape, the sense of dedication to service and heroism in the case of wartime nurses remains. Davis recalls the shock of foreign soldiers when US nurses were willing to give them care. She enlisted immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Davis married a soldier who was her patient in 1944. She currently lives in Jacksonville, Florida.
The College Network wishes to commemorate Olive Davis' heroic service as a nurse on this momentous occasion. Her life's work surely serves as an inspiration to young nurses today. To learn more about her life, read this
article from FirstCoastNews.com and its accompanying piece written by her son.
A career in nursing certainly has its challenges, but only recently has any serious attention been given to one issue facing nurses. Compassion fatigue was identified as “a combination of physical, emotional, and spiritual depletion associated with caring for patients in significant emotional pain and physical distress” in a primer published by the American Nurses Association. Resources offered to nurses to combat compassion fatigue include counseling, work retreats, and workshops.
Lucia Wocial, a nurse ethicist at Indiana University Health in Indianapolis, explains how important it is to encourage nurses to utilize resources available to them to combat compassion fatigue: “We tell them how important it is to rejuvenate, because you can’t take care of people unless you are taking care of yourself.” Lower productivity, increased employee turnover and a higher amount of sick days were revealed as issues stemming from compassion fatigue in one analysis cited in the original article, which appeared on The Wall Street Journal's Health Blog.
A Registered Nursing career presents myriad joys and difficulties, and it is very encouraging to see issues facing nurses everyday being identified, and solutions becoming available.
The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) has released a series of guidelines instructing nurses in proper use of social media. The NCSBN initially released a paper on the topic, which can be
viewed on their website. There are now accompanying materials available free of charge, including a video and a pamphlet. The pamphlet can be ordered in printed form by emailing
communications@ncsbn.org and can also be
viewed online on NCSBN's website. The video can be
viewed on YouTube and
on the NCSBN website. The materials contain general advice to nurses for professional social media usage and also offer example scenarios.
Registered Nurse training has not typically included any sort of direction in the usage of social media in the past. The College Network supports NCSBN's efforts to increase transparency and ethical behavior in the burgeoning social media realm as it relates to nursing. Information obtained from a
MarketWire press release posted to Market Watch.
It is looking like the projected shortfalls in nursing may not be as severe as what was predicted, because young people are increasingly viewing nursing as a career path to jump into. Over the past ten years, the number of students aged 23 to 26 entering the nursing career field has jumped 62%, according to David Auerbach, a health economist at RAND Health in Boston. "This is a striking trend," says Auerbach, quoted in an article on CNN Money. "We are now growing the supply of nurses, and not worrying about a decline."
College graduates who hold a BSN are seeing hiring rate at graduation over 60%, more than double the rate of hiring for college graduates in general, according to figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Over 14 million health care jobs were tallied in October, 2011, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics.
These numbers are encouraging! If you wish to join the nursing field but a traditional campus-based program is prohibitive to your current lifestyle, consider online degrees for nursing. There are options available that work with your schedule. Find out more at 1-800-39-LEARN.
The DAISY Foundation has announced the latest group of nurses to be honored by their DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses. Exceptional clinical skill and compassion are faculties that all DAISY nurses possess. Peers, physicians, nursing managers, patients, staff and administrators can all nominate nurses for the award. Recognition such as the DAISY Award is an excellent way to encourage young people to learn some of the fascinating stories that occur in the nursing field and consider becoming a Registered Nurse.
The full roster of nurses who won the DAISY Award in 2011 can be
viewed on the Foundation's website. An announcement of the awards and a selection of honorees and their stories
appears at nurse.com; one fantastic example appears below:
Althea J. Pierre, RN, BSN • ED • Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.My first contact with Althea Pierre was on my first week on the job at Maimonides. She was working in the resuscitation area of the ED. An uncooperative and verbally abusive patient in the next bed who was assigned to the other nurse had refused all efforts by the ED staff to get his blood drawn. I watched as Althea gently talked to the patient and, finally, after all others had failed before her, she calmed him down. Although it was busy that day, she competently took care of the patients under her care and still managed to treat that first patient and his family with respect. She was able to break through the barriers, then received their trust and cooperation. When she noticed me, she introduced herself, gave me a bright smile and a welcome hug. I left the room thinking, “What a beautiful nurse she is.” My first impression was further strengthened by subsequent observations of her competent and compassionate care to her patients. Her positive and professional attitude remained constant, and she seemed to have an incandescent light about her as she cheerfully went about her duties. She provided the human touch that bridged the gap between technology and the basic concept of nursing: caring. And now, I’m stunned by the news that she is sick and will be going for surgery. Through all the emotional and physical turmoil that she is going through, she still managed to email her thanks for the help that the ED staff had given her and also gave words of encouragement and hope to the staff. She tries to give comfort when she is the one who needs it the most. She is an angel among us.
The ANA's 2011 Health and Safety Survey has been released, and it identifies causes for concern in nursing safety as well as showcasing areas of improvement. The good news is greater availability of patient lifting devices and needles with safety devices are reducing workplace hazards for nurses. Unplanned or mandatory overtime and the number of nurses working over 40 hours per week have also decreased.
"Overall, a workplace culture promoting nurses' health and safety needs to be instilled in a stronger way. Difficult physical demands, stressful work environments and challenging schedules are all factors cited by nurses as negatively affecting their satisfaction in their jobs. Healthcare employers must ensure a safe and healthy work environment if they wish to recruit and retain nurses, who are key to the delivery of high-quality patient care,” ANA President Karen A. Daley, RN, PhD, MPH, FAAN, said in a news release. “Everyone has a role to play in changing the culture to put safety first. No one should have to go to work and worry that they are putting their health in jeopardy given what we know about prevention strategies.”
Becoming an RN will be more appealing to the next generation of healthcare professionals if a safe, relatively low stress work environment exists. Hopefully the information uncovered by the survey will be taken into account and nursing safety will continue to improve. The information in this post came from an
article on Nurse.com.
The Johns Hopkins Hospital is widely recognized for its nursing expertise, and they are utilizing innovative methods of sharing this expertise with the international nursing community. Video conferences for continuing education and webinars in places such as Abu Dabhi and Japan allow nurses all over the world to take advantage of what JHH has to offer. These programs were
detailed recently in Johns Hopkins Nursing Magazine.
Regarding international nursing education initiatives, Jane Shivnan, MScN, RN, AOCN, explains
“My experience has been that the work of nurses around the world, though impacted by different things, is fundamentally the same. We are all problem-solvers—that’s the nature of the job no matter what we’re doing. Nurses worldwide are trying to solve problems to provide better care. It’s a privilege to be able to be involved in that."The College Network participates in and encourages distance education for nursing, and applauds JHH and the Institute for Johns Hopkins Nursing in their international and national nursing education efforts.
Medical News Today reports a 4,000 nurse strike will soon take place in California if proposed cuts to coverage are not eliminated. The nurses' motivations are twofold: keeping standards of patient care high, and protecting their own benefits, both of which they feel are at risk.
Here at the official College Network Nursing blog, we strive to present key information regarding nursing and the healthcare field, and sometimes strife between healthcare providers and their employees inevitably comes to the forefront. We wish a speedy and equitable resolution to this conflict for all involved.
There are a lot more job opportunities presenting themselves to nurses now and in the near future besides those that one might think of. Executive level positions are opening to nurses as nursing and the healthcare field at large increase in size. Nurses' broad scope of education and experience are often what lead to the new jobs. Elaine Tagliareni, EdD, RN, chief program officer of the National League for Nursing, states, “It’s that holistic approach that really is required when you’re looking at community based care and what it takes to manage people in the community." She is quick to point out, however, that it is only nurses with higher education who successfully obtain such positions. This information appeared in an
article on Healthcare Finance News' website.
Fortunately, advanced nursing degrees can be obtained through The College Network's leading university partners online. Give us a call at 1-800-39-LEARN to find out more!
American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) reports that there was a 3.9% increase in enrollment for BS in Nursing programs this year. Since the year 2000, there has been an annual rise in nursing school enrollment. from 2009 to 2010, there was a 5.7% increase!
“With the Institute of Medicine and other leading authorities calling for significant increases in the number of nurses with baccalaureate and graduate degrees, moving to prepare a more highly educated nursing workforce has become a national priority,” said AACN President Kathleen Potempa,
quoted on ModernHealthCare.com.
What does this mean to you? If you are an LPN--go for RN status! Associate prepared or Diploma RN? Think about the online BS in Nursing or the RN to MSN program! BSN Nurse? Time for the MSN! The demand for nurses continues to increase, but so do educational expectations. Research The College Network and see how we can help you to become more competitive in the ever-expanding nursing field!
Powered by Compendium