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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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.

NY mandates H1N1 flu shots for nurses and health care workers

Nurses and health care workers in New York are being told to either get the swine flu vaccine or lose their jobs and they are revolting.

New York is the first state in the country to mandate flu vaccinations for its health care workers. They are being told that if they don’t get the H1N1  flu shots, they will lose their jobs

Is New York turning into a police state? Protesters are holding  signs reading: “The State Doesn’t Own My Body’”

A protest took place throughout the state including Albany, where hundreds of demonstrators demanded freedom of choice.

Health care workers in Hauppauge also rallied Tuesday against the state mandate screaming “No forced shots!”

Paula Small, a Women, Infants and Children health care worker said “I don’t even tend to the sick. I am in the nutrition field. They are telling me I must get the shot because I work in a health clinic setting.

Small’s concern. like many, is that the vaccine is untested and unproven, recalling the 1976 flu shots that caused many deaths from the flu vaccination itself.

Frank Mannino, a 50 year old registered nurse, said the state regulation violates his personal freedom and civil rights.

“And now I will lose my job if I don’t take the regular flu shot or the swine flu shot.”

Around 500,000 health care workers are slated to receive the vaccine.

With already a nursing jobs shortage and lack of adequate heath care staff, can New York afford to carry out its threat of firing its health care employees?

Stay tuned for more on this story.

Betty Lichtenstein Impersonates A Nurse

Norwalk, CT – Betty Lichtenstein, a 56 year old woman, has been charged for illegal use of the title Registered Nurse, reckless endangerment and criminal impersonation.

The story is being compared to the 2000 comedy “Nurse Betty”, where Renee Zellweger pretended to be a nurse, however residents say this is no laughing matter.

Prosecutors said that Lichtenstein paid $2000 of her own money for a staged celebration dinner honoring herself at The Connecticut Nursing Association. The problem is there is no such legal organization known as The Connecticut Nursing Association. Lichtenstein made it all up.

In fact Lichtenstein never had a license to practice nursing, but yet she gave intramuscular injections, medical care and advise to patients. Inspectors from the state’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit began investigating only after a  complaint that Lichtenstein injected a patient too quickly causing them pain.  A warrant for her arrest was issued.

Watch video.

In an interview with Dr Gerald Weiss, where Lichenstein worked, he said it took him all by suprise. He believed she was a licensed RN but could not find a copy of her nursing license. Under advise from his attorney he has no other comment.

Dr Weiss and his staff became further convinced something was wrong after Lichtenstein won The Connecticut Nursing Association “2008 Nurse of the Year Award”, a complete fabrication.

If she is convicted of all charges, she faces up to five years in prison.

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Unborn Baby 22 Weeks

Should nurses be forced to perform abortions  as part of their job if it is against their moral code?  Is the following story about nurses having to perform abortions as part of their job an isolated case? Does anyone have other stories about this subject? In my opinion no one should be forced to take the life of a viable baby.

The picture you see on the left is a 22 week old unborn baby.

abs-cbnNEWS.com reports | 07/28/2009 3:43 PM

Brooklyn, New York – A Filipina nurse has filed charges against Mount Sinai Hospital for allegedly forcing her to assist in a late-term abortion procedure.

The New York Post reported that the May 24 incident was traumatic for Catherina Cenzon-DeCarlo, 35.

“It felt like a horror film unfolding,” said Cenzon-DeCarlo in a report by the New York Post.

Cenzon-DeCarlo was reportedly threatened by Mount Sinai Hospital with insubordination and patient-abandonment if she refuses to assist in the abortion procedure. She also claimed that the hospital has cut her overtime shifts.

A devout catholic, Cenzon-DeCarlo is a married mother of a year-old baby and niece of a Filipino bishop.

She said her bosses at the hospital reportedly exaggerated about the condition of the patient who was 22 weeks into her pregnancy.

In her lawsuit, Cenzon-DeCarlo claimed that the hospital told her the patient had preeclampsia, a condition that could lead to seizures or death if left untreated.

However, she refuted this and said the patient was not even given magnesium therapy which was a common treatment for preeclampsia.

She found out later that the hospital’s own records described the procedure “Category II,” which is not considered immediately life threatening.

The incident prompted Cenzon-DeCarlo to file a grievance with her union, the report said.

“I emigrated to this country in the belief that here religious freedom is sacred. Doctors and nurses shouldn’t be forced to abandon their beliefs and participate in abortion in order to keep their jobs,” she said in the report.

Cenzon-DeCarlo is a native of the Philippines and moved to New York in 2001. She started working at Mount Sinai Hospital as an operating nurse in 2004.

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The nursing shortage in Illinois could top 21,000, Durbin said. According to information from the senator, 2,523 qualified nursing students were turned away due to lack of faculty and resources.

“Everyone depends on nurses for quality patient care, yet the healthcare system in America lacks an adequate supply of nurses and the problem is getting worse,” Durbin said. “Today’s legislation proposes a new, innovative program that builds on our existing healthcare workforce — an important, but currently untapped resource.”

Durbin’s legislation proposes a new grant through the Department of Labor to train healthcare workers to earn a nursing certificate or degree and assist current nurses in obtaining specialty training or advanced degrees to serve as educators.

This information was obtained from Marion Daily Republican

He fired three of six sitting board members — including President Susanne Phillips — in two-paragraph letters curtly thanking them for their service. Another member resigned Sunday. Late Monday, the governor’s administration released a list of replacements.

The shake-up came a day after The Times and the nonprofit news organization ProPublica published an investigation finding that it takes the board, which oversees 350,000 licensees, an average of three years and five months to investigate and close complaints against nurses.

During that time, nurses accused of wrongdoing are free to practice — often with spotless records — and move from hospital to hospital. Potential employers are unaware of the risks, and patients have been harmed as a result.

Reporters found nurses who continued to work unrestricted for years despite documented histories of incompetence, violence, criminal convictions and drug theft or abuse. In dozens of cases, nurses maintained clean records in California even though they had been suspended or fired by employers, disciplined by another California licensing board or restricted from practice by other states.

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An NMC report reveals that the regulator received 1,759 complaints judged to be suitable for further investigation in 2008-2009, an increase of over 18% compared to the 1,487 in 2007-2008.

This represents the highest number of allegations received by the UK’s largest health professional regulator since 2005, according to the NMC

Nearly 15% of complaints related to charges of dishonesty including theft, false claims to registration with the NMC and sleeping while on duty.

Ian Todd, director of fitness to practise at the NMC, said ‘We have no objective evidence to explain why the number of complaints has increased. However, members of the public have increasing expectations of the standards of care they should receive and we live in a consumer society in which people are more willing to complain when they have received poor care.’

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“I’ve been a nurse since 1969 and have experienced different economic up and down turns,” said Linda Norman, DSN, RN, FAAN, senior associate dean for academics at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing in Nashville, Tennessee. “There has always been a sustained need for nurses and a shortage of nurses.”

“Nursing not only is a recession-proof profession but it is one that has multiple opportunities,” Norman added. “The value of nursing is being appreciated throughout the health care industry.”

“The number of nurses who graduated has gone up during the last 40 years, but, the interesting piece is the demand for nurses also has increased,” Norman said. “Nursing programs have had difficulty keeping up with the demand.”

Pat Witzel, RN and chief nursing officer at Strong Memorial Hospital at the University of Rochester Medical Center located in New York, stated, “Nursing is not generally affected by the economy. People becoming ill or needing health care services is not dependent on what happens economically.”

The average age of a nurse  is almost 50 years with many possibly retiring soon.

“The workforce will be consistently losing nurses during the next five, 10, 15 years, and those nurses will need to be replaced,” said Hila Richardson, director of the undergraduate, continuing education and community health programs at New York University (NYU) College of Nursing.

Nursing jobs  and travel nursing  will always be in demand because people will always need medical care, however schools are just not producing enough nurses.

MADISON, Wis. – A nurse was called out of surgery so a manager could tell her she was being laid off. Dean Health said the surgery was minor and the patient wasn’t affected, but the manager who summoned the nurse from surgery violated medical protocol. Dean Health spokesman Paul Pitas said the incident happened at Dean’s West Clinic in Madison on Wednesday or Thursday.

Pitas said there was a period of time in which a nurse wasn’t present during the procedure. He said while there were other clinical staff present, the absence of a nurse is a violation of patient care procedures.

The Madison-based health care provider announced Wednesday that it planned to “immediately” lay off 90 employees.

Pitas declined to name the employees involved or what type of surgery the nurse was attending when she was called away.