In recognition of International Nurses Week, Sheila Davis, DNP, ANP-BC, FAAN, Director of Global Nursing at Partners In Health, wrote an article that I thought was worth showing to readers of The College Network nursing blog. Sheila reflects upon worldwide and industry-wide challenges facing nurses, and also highlights some of the fantastic opportunities for collaboration in global healthcare that are arising and likely will increase in scope and number in the near future. I selected some quotes below that I found especially interesting. The article in full appears on The Huffington Post website.
“Although nurses deliver 90 percent of all healthcare services worldwide, they remain largely invisible at decision-making tables in national capitals and international agencies.”
“In one of the most innovative initiatives global health nursing has seen, the Dana Farber Cancer Institute has supported the creation of a nursing oncology partnership with Inshuti Mu Buzima (IMB), PIH's sister organization in Rwanda. Four experienced oncology nurses have committed to working alongside local nurses and physicians at IMB for three-month rotations, creating an unprecedented opportunity for Rwandan nurses to develop the specialized skills and experience needed to raise the quality of oncology care.”
“These long-term, grassroots initiatives are shaping the new face of nursing in global health. With the investment of the global community in nurse training, mentorship, and leadership, we can make enormous strides in strengthening health systems.”
I read a fantastic article on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's website that I wanted to share with readers of The College Network nursing blog. Healthcare professionals from metro Atlanta were asked to answer the question of what makes a great nurse. The article also points out that nurses have topped the Gallup poll of the most trustworthy professionals for 12 of the past 13 years.
A few of my favorite quotes appear below. The rest appear in the article, which you can read here.
“Every great nurse I know has the following characteristics: caring nature, detail-oriented, emotionally stable, great judgment, physical endurance and extraordinary communication skills.” - Elaina S. Hall, director, Grady Burn Center, Grady Health System
“The technology has changed and our patients have more complex illnesses, but the one thing that hasn’t changed since Florence Nightingale started the profession is caring. A great nurse sees the patient, not the tubes. She sees someone who could be her mother, her father or her child, and she cares for them as if it were so.” - Sheyla Desir, nurse manager, acute care services, Atlanta VA Medical Center
“When I think of what makes a great nurse, I’m reminded of the quote from Mahatma Gandhi: ‘The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.’ A great nurse has to be selfless.” - Karen B. Seagraves, program director, Marcus Stroke & Neuroscience Center, Grady Health System
Continuing The College Network Nursing blog's discussion about social media and professional online development for nurses, we now address the topic of LinkedIn. Many professionals tout the website as an indispensable self-marketing and networking tool for individuals, and equally useful for talent searching and candidate comparison for employers. How can nurses use LinkedIn to their advantage?
A few prominent individuals from the nursing community recently shared some tips on Nurse.com to help nurses best utilize LinkedIn.
Here are a few highlights from the article. You can read the article in its entirety here.
"Your photo on LinkedIn serves only to put a face with a person behind the resume. It only needs to be a head and shoulders photo, nothing more. A great guideline is the photo should look like the equivalent of our employment ID badge photo." -Veronica Lopez, senior nurse recruiter for Continuum Health Partners
"So many nursing positions that open up are now posted on LinkedIn. This is where nurse recruiters are going to find the matches they are seeking to fill vacancies because it’s so easy to do. Everything they are looking for [during] the first step of a hiring process is at their fingertips." -Patrick R. Coonan, RN, EdD, NEA-BC, FACHE, Dean of Adelphi University’s School of Nursing
"If nurses aren’t using the recommendations option for LinkedIn profiles, then they aren’t using the features of the website to its full potential. What makes LinkedIn so beneficial is it also places all of the control in the hands of the user. Any recommendation that has been completed about a person is first sent to that person to approve prior to being added to any profile." -Liza deGuzman-Galido, nurse recruiter, CenterLight Health System
Online rehabilitation and medical supply company RehabMart.com has recently launched an online experience for nurses based on the concept of brick and mortar trade shows. To mesh with nurses’ busy schedules, the new NurseShow online trade show requires no travel. Opportunities to learn about new products, services, opportunities, market trends and job postings are all a part of NurseShow. Nurses are also invited to contribute blog posts to the virtual trade show website.
“We are thrilled to introduce NurseShow.com to the world via the Internet,” said Hulet Smith, founder and CEO of Rehabmart. “As a practicing pediatric OTR/L, I can very well relate to the challenges in keeping up with the latest changes in functional design and the technological advances of Nursing information, products and services. It has not always been simple nor realistic to attend these kinds of physical trade shows for our connected professions. We are so pleased to have created this innovative nursing professional trade show online to enable every professional Nurse to keep up with of the latest news and trends, which in turn will directly impact their own practice, ensuing in a positive effect on their patients.”
This is the first time The College Network Nursing blog has featured an virtual nursing trade show. It will be interesting to see if this website will start a new trend.
Information for this post came from timesunion.
Job fairs may not be a traditional avenue that nurses have taken to find jobs, but 600 nurses will obtain jobs from a single three-day job fair called “Nursing Now” that began March 28, 2012 at Cleveland Browns Stadium. Cleveland Clinic has condensed the recruitment process of interviews, background checks and health screenings into about four hours for attendees of the fair, whereas this process would normally take weeks. 400 of the 600 new-hire nurses will fill existing positions, but it is noteworthy that the remaining 200 nurses will fill positions that have just been created. Job offers will be extended to qualified applicants at the fair; becoming a RN has never been so convenient! The College Network wishes the best of luck to all nurses in attendance.
Information on this job fair came from Cleveland.com. For more information, visit the Cleveland Clinic’s “Nursing Now” website.
Nursing homes, a stronghold of LPN jobs, may become progressively less so. Illinois, for one, is attempting to instate a new law requiring 20% of nurses in nursing homes to be RNs. The change would cost the state $122 million annually, but Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, as well as local advocacy groups, are pushing for the change because they believe that care from RNs prevents hospitalization. This information comes from an article on the Progress Illinois website.
If you are an LPN and you want to take action now to avoid worries about job security, do not fret. Give The College Network a call at 1-800-39-LEARN to find out how you can work towards obtaining RN status while continuing to work full time as an LPN through our online programs from top universities.
We made it through a relatively mild Winter here in the Indianapolis. We experienced minimal snowfall and were blessed with temperatures that never became sub-zero. Even though our winter has been one that I can't complain about--I am still looking forward to Spring. And, the first sign that, daylight savings time, is coming.
In most areas of the country, you should have adjusted your clock this morning. Yes, it's kind of a hassle. I seem to forget each time how to change the clock in my car and have to refer to the manual. But, the good news is that you now have an extra hour of daylight. Why not spend that extra time earning your degree through online education?
At The College Network, we help adults who are pursuing their degree in a variety of programs, quite a few in nursing education programs, achieve their goal of moving forward in their careers. Are you one of those people that states you would really like to be an RN? The only thing in your way is you. We can help give you the tools you need to be successful.
So, just like our clocks are moving forward, make the decision to move forward as well. Get started today by calling us at 1-800-39-LEARN or going to our website to learn more about our programs, customers and our history. By the time next Spring rolls around you could be that much closer to your goal.
If you're enrolled in one of The College Network's distance nursing programs, that means you are probably used to being around all sorts of prescription medication on a regular basis from your previous or current healthcare work experience. Healthcare facilities have the capability to safely get rid of unused prescription medications, but what if you have unwanted prescription drugs lying around at home? You're not supposed to just throw them away-it's unsafe.
Fortunately, you're in luck! April 28th is National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. This past October was the third annual Prescription Drug Take Back Day and over 188 tons of unwanted prescriptions were turned in.
Take Back sites are available in all 50 states with several locations in each one, making it convenient to drop off your unwanted medicine. The upcoming April event hours are set for 10am-2pm with information on local drop off locations to be posted on The National Prescription Drug Take Back Day website (mentioned above) in March.
While it is a fact that the nursing field is dominated by women, there are many great male nurses as well.
The Delaware Chapter of the American Assembly for Men in Nursing(AAMN) has set out to lessen the gender gap between men and women in the nursing field with their "20x20: Choose Nursing" campaign. The goal of the campaign is to have 20% of the nursing workforce consist of male nurses by 2020. The efforts of the campaign include local chapters of the AAMN reaching out to junior high and high school students to try and encourage more men to go into nursing.
Currently, in the United States, male nurses make up about 5.8% of all nurses which is about 168,743 total nurses. This number is growing about 2-3% each year and if it continues to do so, that would make the total population of male nurses more than 20% by 2020.
If you're a man who is thinking about a career in nursing, I encourage you to purse your dreams. As we know, the future outlook of nursing is extremely positive with job growth expected to skyrocket over the next several years. Nursing also has a reputation for paying extremely well with starting salaries averaging between $25-$30 per hour for registered nurses.
If you are already in a nursing career but it's your dream to advance to a higher level, The College Network can help! We offer online degrees from top universities. Our nursing degree programs are accredited, and there is never a waiting list to get started. Plus, they are all self-paced so you can earn your degree while continuing to work. For more information, visit our website, or call us at 1-800-395-1014.
Sources: nurse.com, malenursingscholarships.com
Readers may recall that we introduced the Nurses’ Health Study on The College Network Nursing Blog a few months back. Well, the study is now looking for 100,000 nurses and nursing students to participate in various studies. Yes, you read that correctly—100,000 nurses and nursing students are sought! Female RNs, LPNs and nursing students aged 20-46 who live in the US or Canada are eligible to apply. This is the first time nursing students have been eligible for the program.
"Nurses were originally recruited for their expertise in accurately reporting health data," explains Dr. Walter Willett, the study's lead researcher and Chair of the Nutrition Department at Harvard School of Public Health. "Their involvement has been invaluable, and their dedication is remarkable—an astounding 90% of them are still enrolled, decades later! The new group, NHS3, will allow us understand how today's lifestyle and environment affect a woman's health in the future."
For more information, check out NHS3’s website and Facebook page. Information from a PR Newswire found on Sacramento Bee’s website.
After months and months of depressing statistics, the unemployment rate has finally begun to rise in the U.S. According to the U.S. Labor Department, the unemployment rate dropped to 8.5% in December with the addition of 200,000 new jobs.
With things slowly beginning to look up in the employment world, now is a good time to look for RN careers. However, if you're like many other people out there looking for a job right now, you may feel a bit overwhelmed and need some guidance as to where to begin.
The easiest and most accessible place to begin is on the Internet. Three popular job websites are monster.com, careerbuilder.com and indeed.com. With each of these sites, you can search by geographic location and desired job type. You never have to leave the comfort of your home because you can submit your resume directly through these sites.
Another great place to look for your desired nursing job is by visiting the website of any company you have an interest in. Most companies will post current available positions directly on their website.
In addition to the above ideas, social media can also be a great resource for the job hunt-specifically twitter. There are tons of great nursing resources on this site. For example, NurseConnect, GetNursingJobs and Nursing_Jobs all continuously post updated nursing jobs from all over the country every day.
It's a touch job market out there and you have to be creative when looking. With the above tips and the positive outlook on the job market, you will have a great chance of landing your dream nursing job. And remember, if the answer to your dream nursing career involves higher education,
The College Network is here to help with our top online nursing programs from leading universities!
Happy New Year to all!
January at The College Network is a busy month! The beginning of a new year, means new resolutions. And what better resolution for self improvement that resolving to further ones education?
One of the greatest aspects of the online degree programs offered by The College Network is the ability to progress at your own pace. With programs that are good for ones lifetime, busy adults can start and pause their studies around their busy schedules.
For those current customers out there reading this, how long has it been since you've contacted the Academic Support department to learn about any updates to your program or for help gaining assistance with getting restarted with your studies? The Academic Support department is available for customers Monday-Thursday 8:00am-9:00pm EST and on Friday 8:00am-8:00pm EST. We're merely a phone call away and all of us in Academic Support would love the opportunity to share with you the great enhancements we have made to our products and services! Call 1-800-634-1443 to speak with an Academic Advisor.
And for those of you who have not yet decided whether The College Network is right for you, please take the time to view information on our website at
www.collegenetwork.com or call 1-800-39-LEARN to hear about all the programs available.
Now is the time, what are you waiting for?
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.
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!
With the growing desire for more nurses to obtain their Bachelor's of Science in Nursing, programs are filling up very quickly.
According to an
article from the US News University Directory website, "Preliminary data from the report [completed by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing] shows that in 2011, about 51,082 qualified students were turned away from 503 entry-level bachelor's degree nursing programs."
Why are these programs filling up so quickly?
Job security.
According to the same article, which can be found
here, "The report shows that students who hold bachelor's-level credentials in nursing are more than twice as likely to have a job at the time of graduation than students who earned degrees in other fields."
In case you skimmed the article and my blog (shame on you!), it states that BSN graduates are more than
TWICE as likely to have a job at
GRADUATION.
So this is great news right? Well, potentially. Keep in mind these programs are filling up quickly if not already overflowing.
So you ask, "Ein, how can I get my BSN with no fear of being turned away?"
I'm glad you asked. The College Network not only offers a program for LPN to BS in Nursing from Indiana State University but we also offer RN to BS in Nursing programs from Regis University and Indiana State University.
Would you like some more good news?
We have NO waiting list.
Would you like more information about how you can earn your BSN degree?
Call 1-800-39-LEARN today to learn about all the programs we offer!
Congratulations to Leigh W. from Merritt Island, FL!
Leigh, who joined The College Network in August 2010, has recently finished all of his courses and passed his CPNE with Excelsior College for the ASN program. He is now preparing to take his RN NCLEX in January 2012.
Congratulations again Leigh, and good luck on your NCLEX exam from everyone here at The College Network!
To read about others who have finished the program, visit our
The College Network website.
For more information on how to create your own success story, please contact a Program Advisor today to learn about higher education online. 1-800-39-LEARN
Johnson & Johnson is nearing the tenth year of its Campaign for Nursing's Future, and the campaign continued with its 30th regional gala, which was held in Charleston, South Carolina on Thursday, November 3rd. Andrea Higham, director of the Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing's Future, says "The Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing's Future is committed to supporting the recruitment and retention of our nursing workforce at both regional and national levels. Partnering with local nursing organizations to host the Promise of Nursing galas help extend our reach, and our collaboration will ensure that nurses and student nurses across the country continue to receive the resources and funding they need."
The Campaign for Nursing’s Future campaign has raised over $18 million so far. All of the money raised at the Charleston event will remain in South Carolina to provide funding for nursing school scholarships and fellowships, and grants to nursing schools. For additional information on the Promise of Nursing for South Carolina gala, e-mail nursingevents@its.jnj.com.
We at The College Network strive to honor innovation and dedication within the field on our nursing blog. Information obtained from a PR Newswire press release found on The Sacramento Bee’s website.
Rochelle Dukes had thought about becoming a paralegal for years, but kept putting it off until her employer pushed her to move forward with the idea. Rochelle chose to earn her Paralegal Certificate from
Boston University with help from The College Network™ based on research she had done and recommendations from two of her co-workers who went through the program.
“I was nervous at first because even though I have been in the legal field working as a paralegal without the certificate, there is a big difference between book knowledge and hands on knowledge. It was many years since I had to actually sit down and study, but once the nerves settled down, all was great,” Rochelle said.
“I cannot think of anything that I didn’t like about the program. I felt the instructors were great—always there to help. I never had a problem with the website. The instructions were very well written for those that took the time to do the work,” Rochelle commented.
Rochelle feels that completing the Paralegal Certificate program is one of the best things she has done for herself. Read more of her inspiring story
here, or cal
1-866-249-2131 to find out how you can get signed up today.
Do you ever have difficulty finding the time or location to take an exam while working toward your degree with help from The College Network? Is the nearby testing center open only on weekdays, while you're at work?
Would you rather test in your pajamas?
Well, we may have the answer you have been waiting for. The College Network is now offering our customers the ability to take their exams from the comfort of your own home!
What does this mean for you?
Rather than attempting to locate a testing center and schedule a test date, you can now actually test from home, 7 days a week, from 8:00am EST to 12:45 AM EST.
The only thing you need is Internet access and a web cam. If you don't have a web cam, we'll provide it to you!
For a full list of all the exams that can be taken with The College Network please go to our
Test Fee Services website.
For more information, please contact Academic Support at (800) 634-1443 and ask about The College Network Testing.
There are three months left in this year which means many of us have three months to complete, continue, or start our 2011 New Year's Resolutions. My first resolution, this year, was to lose weight through eating proper meals and exercise. I think I did pretty good for myself considering my pants no longer fit me like skinny jeans.
My second resolution was to give back to the world in any way I could, and I think I handled that pretty well also through small deeds and through calling many people like yourself who made the resolution to continue advancing their nursing education. As the year comes to a close, I think about all the healthcare professionals I've talked to and how many of them decided to pursue their degrees through our online nursing programs from leading universities. I can't help but wonder if around this time last year they we're planning to make 2011 the year they decided to go back to school.
From my desk this year, I've personally called thousands of healthcare professionals who took the initiative to inquire about our online programs online. From that, more than 800 of you met and spoke with our Program Advisors about our nursing programs. Now let me remind you this is just from who I've spoken with this year so my colleagues in the Appointments Department have been doing the same amount of work if not more to reach many of you nationwide.
But we're not finished and neither are you. There's still three months left in this year which means you have three months to inquire about our nursing programs via our
website. Even if your resolution was to begin researching schools that offer RN training or Healthcare Management, it's not too late. There is no deadline from The College Network, and there should be no deadline for you to decide when it is time to go back and receive your nursing degree.
Landon, Appointment Coordinator
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