Author Archive, Guest Blogger

Spending time away from your loved ones can be difficult at best. But for the life of a travel nurse, traveling comes with the territory. With assignments that can last anywhere from a few months to a year, the periodic comings and goings are just another facet of the job. Yet, for the novice travel nurse, returning home after a lengthy assignment can be full of ups and downs. Paradoxically, you may be bursting with excitement to share all of ... More »

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, "employment of registered nurses is expected to grow 26 percent from 2010 to 2020." That growth is faster than the average for all occupations. That job growth is projected for a number of reasons, from technological advancements and greater emphasis on preventative care to the increased demand for healthcare services from an aging baby-boomer population. Not only is the job outlook excellent but the pay is good too. In May 2010 the BLS ... More »

If you are a registered nurse with some experience, you may be wondering how to become a neonatal nurse. You may even be a relatively new nurse who simply already knows her area of focus will be neonatal. Either way, you want to know the steps you need to take the path you need to follow in order to reach your goals. Neonatal Nursing Education Requirements The nurse who works in a neonatal unit is a master nurse. She cares ... More »

Becoming a Registered Nurse (RN) is an exciting health care career that exposes you to a range of medical conditions, practices, and health care techniques. Becoming an RN is both a challenging and rewarding endeavor, with many opportunities for leadership positions and career development. There are several different educational paths to take in order to become an RN, all of which are offered at nursing institutions throughout the United States. The most common degrees are the Associate's degree in nursing (takes ... More »

This week in the UK, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) announced that nurses must engage in discussions of assisted suicide, if a patient broaches the subject. In the new RCN guide titled "When Someone Asks for Your Assistance to Die," it is stated that although assisting suicide is still illegal in the UK, nurses must converse with dying patients who inquire about assisted suicide through a 'non-judgmental assessment of needs.' In ... More »

There's been a major push for RNs to get advanced degrees recently, including some organizations which are making getting these degrees within a timeframe part of the job conditions. The highly respected Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has also recently come up with recommendations along these lines. The logic behind the demand for higher degrees is based on some stats cited in Healthleadersmedia.com which deserve a mention: Today, only about half of RNs have a baccalaureate degree. In 2008, the proportion with ... More »

There is such a demand for nurses these days given the tremendous shortage that it's becoming a very popular move for people to switch careers and go down the nursing path. Conservative estimates figure that there will be a shortage of almost 10,000 nurses within the next ten years which makes the switch a very attractive one for many people looking to change careers. However, there are always drawbacks to any thing that seems too good to be true. We've ... More »

Do hospitals take on too much responsibility for patients? Is it really up to a healthcare establishment to fix everything wrong with a patient's life? If a patient comes in with a broken foot but is also homeless, is it up to the hospital to find a place for that person to go in addition to treating the broken foot? That's how Geena begins the latest poll over on Nursing Voices, and she continues: When a patient is discharged and has ... More »

We're helping Nursing Voices with the official launch of their new nursing forum by giving away two brand new iPhones! Check out their official announcement for full details.

Geena from Code Blog writes over on Nursing Voices: When I started out in nursing, the hospital I worked at required CNA's to wear cranberry, RT's to wear teal, and RN's to wear royal blue. We could wear certain scrub tops that were approved and that matched the royal blue pants. The hospital did not pay for them. When I moved and got a new job, there were no standard uniforms. We could wear whatever we wanted. Some people took ... More »