Every school district has certain requirements and positions, and most districts have a limited number of nursing positions. Where I worked, school nurses were required to be RNs but some school districts hire EMTs (Emergency Medical Technicians, also known as Paramedics) and LPNs (Licensed Practical Nurses) depending on what their budgets allow.

Being a school nurse can be great fun, layered with lots of responsibility. Your subjects are kids in kindergarten through the 12th grade, and some districts even have pre-K. Therefore, you need to be knowledgeable about the developmental milestones appropriate to your assignment. I say “assignment” because you rarely have a choice as to which age group you’ll be working with. Usually you are assigned to a school by the district leaders.

As a school nurse, one of your responsibilities is the maintenance of student health records, including vaccination requirements. There are mandated records each district needs to maintain. Medications are administered from the nurse’s office for all students requiring daily medication. You will likely treat many chronic illnesses, like asthma, allergies, and a host of developmental disabilities. If you end up working in a high school or middle school, you may be also responsible for arranging sports physicals and clearing students to play.

Many times, it is the school nurse who first picks up the signs and symptoms of an illness that requires medical attention. I remember a little girl, in the 3rd grade, who had symptoms of juvenile diabetes, and so I instructed her mom to follow up with her doctor. After the diagnosis was confirmed, she needed to learn to self inject insulin and monitor her blood sugar. The child and her mom were both very scared and nervous. I worked with them for months and taught them how to manage this disease. I still see the mother around town, and she tells me that her daughter, now all grown up, is doing very well. As a school nurse, you do make a difference. Teaching health practices on an individual level is a very important aspect of the position.

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The president talked up investing in the primary-care workforce, so that nurses more quickly move from the classroom to the exam room. He talked up improvements under the new health care law, like $250 rebates for the elderly reaching a gap in Medicare drug benefits. And he urged states to start their own high-risk pools and begin enrolling participants.

“Nurses have been a force of will and common decency,” he told the 600 delegates and 400 guests at the meeting in the Hilton Washington ballroom. “They have paved the way for better care and a more compassionate society.

Source: Politico

Published by Nurses Forum where you can find nursing jobs information.

Adrienne Braxton, a nurse's assistant, was carjacked while trying to save a man's life. CBS

Minutes after a fatal car accident, Adrienne Braxton, gets carjacked trying to save a man's life.

Braxton saw someone in pain, ran to help but ended up being carjacked as she tried to save the injured man’s life. But the local health care worker with a big heart wouldn’t give up without a fight. CBS 2/KCAL 9′s Melissa McCarty has the story of a terrifying carjacking… Read Full Story

Hundreds of nurses and technical employees walked a picket line Thursday amid a standoff over management demands for benefit cuts and other union concessions.

“It’s a matter of respect,” said nurse Lisa Antenucci. “They broke the contract that we had, and we don’t feel they will keep the contract that we will get.”

The hospital, which brought in 850 replacement workers to staff the hospital during the strike, said that patient care had been unaffected and that the hospital was providing all of its normal services on Thursday.

Rebecca Harmon, spokeswoman for the Temple University Health System, said the tuition benefit, for dependent children, had been eliminated for all hospital employees, including the striking members of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses & Allied Professionals (PASNAP). She said the employees themselves still were eligible for the tuition benefit.

“This is not something that applies only to PASNAP; this is throughout the house,” Harmon said.

The nurses and technical staff, who have been working without a contract since September, marched outside the hospital with placards that read “We Demand Respect and Recognition” and “Nurses On Strike For Respect.” Motorists periodically sounded their horns in encouragement.

The nurses have warned that bringing on new staff will cause patient care to suffer. But a brief tour of the hospital Thursday revealed no obvious sign of dysfunction. At a nursing station on the fifth floor of the hospital’s west wing, three nurses sat in front of computer monitors as physicians strolled unhurriedly past.

In a waiting area on the first floor, one young woman who declined to give her name, had brought her father in for a blood test. She said the wait seemed unusually long, about an hour and half. But the atmosphere in the room, indeed, throughout the hospital, seemed calm and orderly.

Harmon said there had been no contact between hospital management and the union, although she said that the hospital had been in contact with a state appointed mediator. Both sides said they had no indication when direct talks might begin.

Original story by Chris Mondics
Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer

Students sitting on the fence and struggling to decide whether an investment in a nursing career is one that will pay off should consider these 10 wonderful reasons that nursing is a good bet in education today and tomorrow.

1) Job Security

Right now there is a global nursing shortage. With population booms around the world and baby boomers aging rapidly those shortages look to become more profound in the next five to ten years. Early predications are that the shortage will nearly double in the next five years and more than triple in the next ten.

That’s just the shortage of nurses that is predicted. Even today there is a huge nursing shortage. More importantly though what this means for nursing students starting their educations today is that by the time they earn a four year degree the job market will be wide open and available to them.

2) Income Potential

Nurses on average start out at very attractive wage. LPNs (Licensed Practical Nurses) have an average salary (at all career levels) of $33,500 per year, Staff RNs start on average at $37,000 per year, and Master Level RNs start at $49,700.

In an economy that seems to be shrinking by the hour these numbers are impressive and show many signs of growth as shortages become more acute. Keep in mind that these are just starting salaries also. Salaries tend to be much higher with three or more years of experience.

3) Choices and Options

A nursing degree opens the doors to a big wide world of career opportunities. There is so much more for a nurse to do than work in a hospital. That doesn’t mean that working in a hospital isn’t a noble calling. It’s just not the only game in town for degreed nurses.

Some of the career options that are available to nurses include home health care, volunteer opportunities, legal work, doctor’s office work, pediatric nursing, acute care nursing, surgical nursing…and the list goes on. The sky is the limit and nursing students can keep returning to school for additional training to become Nurse Practitioners, Nurse Midwives, and Nurse Anesthetists.

4) Flexibility

Most students don’t give this important career benefit enough serious consideration when selecting majors and deciding on a lifelong course of action or career. Nursing is one of the few careers that offers such a wide range of flexibility for work hours and work environment.

The huge nursing shortage has forced hospitals and medical centers to come up with creative incentives to make nursing a more attractive career opportunity. Some of the options include skipping benefits for additional wages, working 3 twelve-hour shifts or 4 ten-hour shifts per week instead of 5 eight-hour shifts, and working only weekend, only nights, or only swing shift hours for premium pay.

5) World Wide Demand

The nursing shortage isn’t limited to the United States. There is a world wide demand for nurses and a critical shortage of men and women that are qualified to provide safe medical care. Other countries like Canada, Australia, and the Philippines are in great need for nurses.

Students who have an interest in learning new languages (in some cases though many opportunities exist for English speaking nurses around the world as well) and seeing the world have an incredible opportunity to take their knowledge earn a substantial living almost anywhere in the world.

6) Multiple Degree Options

Perhaps one of the best things about a nursing education for students sitting on the fence is that there are different degree options that require a different amount of educational time and experience.

Students unsure who want a sneak peek at whether nursing is a good choice for them might want to consider the one year program that many community or junior colleges offer to become an LPN.

For those who are willing to invest a little more time and study higher income potentials and increased responsibilities are available to associate degree RNs. BSRNs (Registered Nurses who have a BS degree in nursing) have even greater income potential and are able to take on more administrative roles in medical care facilities.

There are also many opportunities to advance beyond the BS degree. The sky really is the limit for the nursing students of today.

7) Helping Others and Saving Lives

There are few reasons that go beyond the rewards of doing something that helps others. Nurses are on the front line when it comes to patient care in hospitals, doctor’s offices, and other medical facilities around the world.

Doctors may be the head of the operation in some cases but the nurses are the heart and soul. This is one of the few careers that really matters that also happens to allow people to earn a substantial income.

8) Attractive Benefits Packages

As the nursing shortage becomes more and more profound around the world medical facilities are beginning to offer more attractive benefits packages to nurses. These packages include flexible working hours, gym memberships, medical and dental insurance benefits, tuition reimbursement, continuing education opportunities, and additional comp or vacation time.

These benefits can add up and be fairly substantial. Since well over 80% of nurses are women the benefits that offer a more attractive life-work balance are very well received with women nurses with children or preparing to start families.

9) The Opportunity to Work for Worthy Causes

There are many opportunities and worthy causes available to Registered Nurses and nurses with advanced degrees and/or certifications. Not only do many charitable hospitals have a serious need for qualified and committed nurses but programs like Doctors without Borders are always in need of excellent professionals with a true call to help others around the world.

The rewards of opportunities like these go well beyond a paycheck and can literally change the lives of the nurses and other medical care providers they touch. Nursing students or potential students who really want to make a difference in the world and in the lives of people will be hard pressed to find a worthier career path.

10) Scholarships, Tuition Reimbursement, and Financial Aid

Perhaps one of the biggest benefits to struggling students when it comes to a nursing education is all the financial assistance that is available to nursing students. As the shortage becomes more and more widespread and severe these benefits will only improve.

Many hospitals offer a complete repayment of tuition for students who go to work for a slightly reduced rate of pay straight out of college. Others offer scholarships to nursing employees returning for advanced studies.

Julie Blanche writes and blogs at her Nursing Blog.

The accused are identified as Tracy Goetter, 48, of Coopersburg, Lehigh County, a nurse in the Cardiac Cath Lab at Lehigh Valley Hospital’s Muhlenberg campus; Lisa Citrola, 48, of Bethlehem, a nurse in the emergency room at Muhlenberg; Christopher Evans, 31, of Breinigsville, Lehigh County, a nurse at Lehigh Valley Hospital’s Cedar Crest campus; and Krista Lichtenberger, 25, of Bethlehem, an emergency room nurse at Muhlenberg.

Corbett said, in late spring 2009, Goetter started taking waste Fentanyl in her last two weeks of work in an effort to make her own Fentanyl patches for personal use.

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Corbett said that, in August 2007, Citrola began diverting significant amounts of the powerful prescription drug Dilaudid for her personal use. As Citrola’s addiction grew, Corbett said the waste was not enough to feed her addiction. She then allegedly began signing out the drug in patients’ names and using it for her personal use. According to the criminal complaint, in December 2008, Citrola started to inject herself in the bathroom at work.

Corbett said Evans began diverting Fentanyl and Midazolam once a week in May 2009, but increased to four or five times in June and then daily in July. According to the criminal complaint, other employees witnessed Evans dispose of the drug waste, but it was later determined that the waste was saline.

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Corbett said Lichtenberger accessed a Pyxis machine on her day off to obtain prescription medications for her personal use A Pyxis machine is a type of vending machine nurses use to obtain medications for patients.

“Our Bureau of Narcotics Investigation agents are very active in investigating medical professionals who are illegally using prescription pain medication,” Corbett said. “It is a potentially dangerous situation if the person you trust with your medical care is under the influence of drugs.”

Lehigh Valley Health Network released the following statement in response to the arrests:

“Discovering and reporting this type of activity requires having strong medication safety and security systems in place. Every day we assess how to achieve the appropriate balance of allowing enough access to medications to properly care for patients in a timely fashion, and ensuring proper medication security measures. That’s how we were able to identify and report each of these cases to the proper authorities and work closely with them to address these matters. Each of the individuals was terminated after we learned of and investigated each case. A review of each case indicates that patient care was not compromised.”

WFMZ.com contributed to this story.

Murray/News Nikiyah Torres, with her mom Naomi Troy, falls ill after a flu shot.

“I was outraged,” Naomi Troy, 26, told the Daily News after her daughter, had a possible allergic reaction to the shot.

“My stomach was hurting, and I was itching,” Nikiyah said after she was released from the hospital.

The snafu and a similar mixup at a Staten Island school came in the first days of the city’s in-school H1N1 vaccination program. Read full story.

Nursing jobs and healthcare workers affected by Florida law designed to crackdown on fraud

A little-noticed provision in the 160-page measure is preventing doctors, nurses, pharmacists, lab technicians and others licensed by the state from working in Florida if they have old felony convictions for fraud or drugs.

The law, which went into effect July 1, prohibits applicants who’ve had such convictions – even if unrelated to Medicaid or other government programs – from getting new or renewed licenses until at least 15 years after they’ve completed their sentences, including probation. The ban also applies to no contest pleas and cases where judges have withheld findings of guilt. More than 30 license applications have been denied or withdrawn because of the law.

Here’s the irony: The provision covers only those who have violated Florida or federal laws. Applicants convicted of the same crimes in other states can still be licensed in Florida.

“To favor people who commit their crimes out of state doesn’t make any sense,” said Anna Small, legislative counsel for the Florida Nurses Association. Read full story.

Nurses Forum offers information about nursing jobs, travel nursing, forensic nursing, forums, a directory of nursing schools in the United States plus continuing education and career opportunities.

Olympia Snowe was the only Republican to vote yes on senate health care bill

The vote moves President Barack Obama’s goal of overhauling the nation’s health care system one step closer to reality.

The bill would require all Americans to own health insurance or pay a fine of up to $1,500 per family. It doesn’t require employers to offer health coverage – as the House version of the bill does – and would create health-care co-operatives for purchasing insurance, not the publicly run health insurance option many liberals hoped for.

The attorney for the physician who performed the procedure at Weston Medspa said Rohie Kah-Orukotan, a nurse, did not suffer complications until the end of the procedure.

“She went in for a routine  liposuction performed by (Dr. Omar J. Brito Marin) without any complications until the very end, at which time Dr. Brito immediately administered emergency care and called 911,” attorney Brian Bieber told the Sun-Sentinel. “Paramedics arrived; they noted all emergency procedures put into place were proper.”

State officials told the newspaper that the privately owned clinic is not licensed to perform liposuctions under general anesthesia. It could perform a scaled down version of a liposuction procedure while a patient is awake, however. Bieber said he didn’t know which type of procedure Brito performed. State records show Brito is not a board certified plastic surgeon and has a background in occupational medicine.

Kah-Orukotan remained unconscious, with no brain activity, Wednesday at a Florida branch of the Cleveland Clinic, where her family is agonizing over whether to keep her on life support, the family’s attorney said. It’s been five days since Kah-Orukotan had the procedure.

Medspas across the country offer cosmetic procedures like botox, laser hair removal  and lighter versions of liposuction known as laser liposuction or Smartlipo for fat removal. Under the care of a licensed physician, these procedures are relatively safe.

Laser liposuction is still considered a surgical procedure and must be done by a qualified doctor.  If a patient is going to use general ansthesia, then the patient needs to have surgical procedures like liposuction done where there are emergency facilities  to handle complications.

Even local anesthesia such as the use of lidocaine can cause complications. If an overdose of lidocaine is given,  the patient can have seizures.

Under state rules, medical offices do not have to be licensed to perform laser iposuctions or some other procedures  that use only local anesthesia. It’s unclear which type of liposuction Kah-Orukotan had.