Editor’s Letter
Hello everyone,
Is nursing truly a "recession-proof" career choice? Stories coming in from across the country and around the world about chronic nursing shortages certainly make it seem that way.
While nursing may be one of the few professions to escape unscathed by the approaching economic downturn, the current crisis is nonetheless changing the face of nursing. Travel nurses, foreign educated nurses, and male nurses are now becoming a more common sight at hospitals across the country.
The nursing shortage is changing lives and livelihoods for nurses and forcing hospitals and other institutions dependent upon nursing to become creative to fill their staffing needs. Whatever happens in the coming months and years for nursing, it certainly won't be boring!
See you next month!
"Foreign educated" nurses becoming a staple for US hospitals?
We've been reading about how the global nursing shortage is compelling many hospitals around the globe to recruit nurses from outside their own borders, and now US hospitals are following suit. Norwalk Hospital in Connecticut has recruited about 60 overseas nurses over the last four years. These nurses, primarily from India, must go through rigorous immigration and professional screening, and can take up to two years to recruit.
"In addition to seeking foreign-educated nurses the hospital is looking to recruit domestic nurses, although this could become increasingly difficult as the shortage grows and competition for qualified nurses grows."
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Source: Wilton Villager.
Male nurses finally becoming a more common sight
Thanks to the nursing shortage and shifting perceptions on gender-appropriate careers, more men are starting to embrace nursing as viable career option. It's no surprise that the shift is happening, given the almost limitless employment and advancement opportunities, but hospital administrators still say the change has been gradual so far. Nationally, less than six percent of registered nurses are men.
"A lot of patients - especially older folks - see you and they refer to you as doctor. They just assume," said Dieter Bartz, who has been a nurse at Aspirus Wausau Hospital for nine years.
An emerging trend in the personal side of nursing?
An Ohio couple that met while enrolled in the Rhodes State College nursing program have become the first married couple to graduate from Rhodes' nursing program. Bill and Kendra Mulholland were both divorced parents working full time and pursuing their nursing degrees when they met in March 2006.
"It started when Kendra overheard Bill talking about using his oldest son for an assignment requiring students to find someone to do a health assessment on. Kendra asked if she could use him too. Still just friends, the two, both divorced, next decided to have lunch together during a break at Hardin Memorial Hospital, where they worked as technicians. A month later, Bill was on one knee proposing to Kendra at Applebee's. The restaurant has become a special place for the family. The following December, they were married."
Is travel nursing a stable career option?
Travel nursing has become incredibly popular in the last few years for a good reason: it offers nurses flexibility, competitive pay, and new challenges and opportunities every day. Sure travel nurses are finding plenty of opportunity today, but can the good times roll forever?
This article gives some great tips for keeping your travel nursing career rolling along.
And while we're on the subject of travel nursing....
Here's an article that is dealing with the nursing shortage creatively by instituting what is known as "shift bidding" - a practice that lets nurses, even those from other hospitals - bid against one another to pick up extra shifts. The solution devised by the Lake Regional Medical Center in Louisiana has been extremely popular with both nurses, who get the opportunity to supplement their income substantially, and hospitals, who can save on some of the costs associated with the alternative - hiring travel nurses.
"I've seen the morale of the staff go up with the shift bidding. They're being paid well to work these extra shifts. Before they would do it to help their unit out. Sometimes they would get their incentive pay and sometimes they wouldn't. It would just be overtime for them. Now they know up front they're going to get the premium pay, so they come in with a better attitude."
"It's kind of like bidding on eBay," says Cathy Guay, the Lake's assistant vice president of patient care services."
Aspiring nurses get a boost with these 101 little-known nursing scholarships
Balancing the demands of home, family and career with the rigors of a nursing program is a tough job for anyone. Those looking to offset their costs through financial aid will find plenty of help in this great collection of grants and scholarships offered through private organizations, corporations, and the government.
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