Nursing Certifications, Nursing Jobs and Nursing Exams » Nursing Career

Evaluating Nursing Education Programs

admin — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 21:46:06 +0000

Nadeen was a young woman intent on becoming a nurse. It’s something that she’d been planning since her freshman year in high school. Unfortunately, she made the mistake of not starting looking for a good nursing program until the second semester of her senior year. She finally got accepted into a nursing program, only to find out that not only was the program non-accredited, but it was considered a joke within the medical community. This kind of scenario, which happens to more people than you may know, is why you must carefully plot your path to a nursing career. And it starts by carefully evaluating the nursing program that you’re considering.

There are over 3,000 educational nursing programs in the United States, and hundreds more in Canada and Mexico. This adds to the difficulty in choosing a good program. Nursing schools vary in the curriculum they use, how they integrate clinical experience into classroom learning, and in their affiliations with medical centers and hospitals. There is also a dramatic difference in costs. So how do you choose the right program for you? Here are the important considerations:

1) First, select an educational level. You’ll need at least an Associate’s Degree, so if you’re in a hurry, that’s the path to select. However, keep in mind that more medical centers today prefer to hire those with a Bachelor’s Degree. This is the way to go for more job security.

2) Select an accredited school. Although accreditation is voluntary, and although some good schools are unaccredited, generally, the person doing the hiring prefers seeing an accredited degree. The accrediting agency that you should seek out is the NLNAC — the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission.

3) Search at the library or online for guides which rank nursing schools. One that has become well respected in the past decade is the US News and World Report guide, published annually.

4) When you look at rankings such as the US News one, make sure you find out which persons were responsible for the judging. For instance, with US News, nursing school educators were surveyed. This form of peer assessment is a trusted form of ranking, since we can assume that they know the nursing profession well.

5) After you have a list of a few nursing programs that will meet your minimum expectations, begin to narrow down the list. Do this by studying the schools’ websites or perhaps making phone calls to their admissions offices to ask key questions. Also, consider qualities that might not be important to others, but which are important to you. This might include available financial aid, class size or geographic location.

6) Finally, if possible, visit the two or three schools on your list which remain. This will give you an intimate knowledge of what the schools are like that no other method can accomplish.

After following this strategy, you should be better equipped to find a nursing program that will prepare you well for your chosen career, and which will m

Why an How to Become a Home Health Aide

admin — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 19:17:30 +0000

If you’ve decided that you want to be involved in nursing, but don’t want the impersonal hospital setting, then a good alternative is that of the home health aide. These compassionate individuals provide all of the care that someone with disabilities needs, in order to live a normal life at home. How, though, do you get on the home health aide career path? Here’s a brief look.

The great thing about nursing is it offers a huge range of employment options, many of them outside the hospital. Becoming a home health aide starts with getting the proper training. You must first receive training and pass a required competency test. This will qualify you to work for a hospice agency or certified home health agency. It will also then qualify your employer to receive Medicare or Medicaid reimbursement.

When we say “education,” we’re not talking about a college degree. In fact, in most states, the home health aide is not even required to have received their high school diploma, or to write a nursing entrance test. Usually, they’re offered on-the-job training by registered nurses, experienced aides, or licensed practical nurses. During this training, the aide is taught how to cook for clients, how to do basic housekeeping that is required by those with disabilities, how to keep the house safe and sanitary, and how to respond to emergencies. They’re also taught how to perform in a courteous and professional manner during their time in the client’s house. In many states, you’ll be given a competency evaluation to make sure that you can perform your required tasks.

Before you can work for an agency that receives Medicare or Medicaid reimbursement, you’ll need to become licensed. To do this, you must complete a training program of at least 75 hours as well as an evaluation and / or state nursing certification program. In all cases, this training will include information regarding hygiene, safely transferring the patient, reading and interpreting the patient’s vital signs, basic nutrition, and infection control.

There’s a difference between a home health aide and home care aide. While they do many of the same tasks, the home care aide does not have to be certified.

In addition to the training mentioned above, there are certain intangibles that you will be expected to possess. A home health aide must love helping people, must be compassionate and patient, must be responsible, and must be both cheerful and emotionally stable. You also need to possess tact, discretion and honesty. Finally, you must yourself be in a healthy condition (In some cases, a pre-employment physical is required).

Because of the nature of the job, in many cases, you’ll be expected to have a valid driver’s license, and you’ll be expected to undergo a criminal background check and drug test.

The Home health aide is a good field to pursue, Not only is it rewarding, but with an aging population, it is also one of North America’s true career growth fields. The field is expected to continue growing for at least the next decade. So if you want job security, a decent living wage and a job where you truly feel needed, then you might want to be a hone health aid.

There are several professions that are closely related to Home Health Aides, you may want to look at, including, Nurse First Assistant, Medical Assistant, and Nurse Aide. These require a little more formal education, but are in demand occupations you may want to consider. See our post on Career as a Home Health Aide. More on Home Care from Wikipedia.

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How to Become a Licensed Practical Nurse

admin — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 19:04:17 +0000

Elsewhere on this blog, we’ve discussed what a licensed practical nurse is and what she does. Now let’s talk about why you might want to be an LPN, and how to do so.

First, pursuing a career as a practical nurse is smart because it offers you job security. The U.S. Department of Labor says that by 2020, the nation will need 1.7 million more LPN jobs than they have right now. This is truly a growing career field, thanks largely to the aging population.

In fact, not only in the United States, but around the world, there is a global nursing shortage.

How, then, do you get on this growing career path? One choice is to attend an LPN certification program at a local technical school or vocational center. Sometimes, these programs offer just certification, while the better ones offer both an Associate’s Degree as well as certification. Before you commit to an educational program, though, ask yourself whether you think you have the characteristics that define a successful nurse. This means that you would need to be compassionate, responsible, and have a genuine love for helping people. You’ll also need a strong stomach and stable emotions. You need to know precisely the type of work that you might be called upon to do. It could be as routine as dispensing medicine and as intimate as helping a patient bathe or change clothes.

If you think you have these qualities, you should next find a good LPN program near you. Most people will be better served by an accredited program rather than a non-accredited program. This means that any school that you’re considering, you should call (or research them online) and find out if they’re accredited by NLNAC — the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission. Some states demand that hospitals and medical centers hire only those with a degree and / or certification accredited by NLNAC.

Once you’ve selected your school, the next several months or even years of your life will be centered around getting your education there, and doing as well as possible. At the end of your nursing education, you’ll need to take and pass the NCLEX-PN examination administered by your state.

NCLEX-PN is a computer-administered exam, and is computer adaptive. This simply means that the computer asks later questions based on earlier answers you gave. The questions become harder for the person who keeps getting them right, until you’ve demonstrated true mastery of the subjects. If you keep getting questions wrong, you’ll be asked more and more questions, until you either get them right or you show the computer that you don’t know the subject adequately.

Once you pass the NCLEX-PN, your job hunt begins in earnest. You’ll want to make connections in the medical field who can keep you abreast of openings. Also, find out where the online medical and nursing job boards are, and frequent those often. Soon you’ll have that practical-nursing career that you’ve been wanting.

In addition to LPN, you may want to consider, Nurse First Assistant, Medical Assistant or Nurse Aide. These are all in demand everywhere.

Accredited Vs. Unaccredited Nursing Schools

Ash — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 18:36:45 +0000

Your nursing in career will start with your nursing education. That means that first, you’ll need to find a program that fits with your personal needs, schedule, and your future expectations. We can divide nursing programs into two categories: accredited ones and non-accredited ones.

An accredited nursing school is one which has been reviewed by NLNAC — the “National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission. They’re the organization that sets the curriculum minimum standards for nursing schools, and makes sure that their member schools meet those standards. Many states require that, before you receive a license to be a nurse, that you have your degree from an accredited program. However, this is not true of all states. To find out for sure, you’ll need to check with the licensing board in your state before you settle on any nursing school.

So what do you do if there is no accredited nursing program near you? In this case, it might be acceptable to attend an unaccredited nursing program. This is especially true if your state does not require an accredited degree. Or, if they do, if a neighboring state does not require one. There are far more non-accredited nursing programs, and getting accepted into one will be easier than getting into an accredited one. In addition to this, the non-accredited programs are usually more affordable than the accredited ones.

Keep in mind, though, that even if you decide that a non-accredited degree will work for your state and your job right now, there is also the future to consider. What happens if you decide that you need to move to a different part of the country? By settling for the non-accredited degree, you might be destroying any chance you have of becoming employed in nursing in another state.

Also, there are many instances in which you can pursue a promotion–if your academic credentials meet a certain standard. In most cases, getting into a post-graduate program will require that you have an accredited degree. Keep all of this in mind as you determine whether or not the non-accredited degree will help you out, both in the short run and the long run.

Even if you’re in a state that does not legally require an accredited degree, in reality, having an accredited degree might give you the edge when you’re searching for a job. It seems likely that if the final hiring decision comes down to you and one other person, and you’re both equally qualified, that the person doing the hiring will select the person with the accredited degree. So, even though the accredited program is more expensive, over time, you might make considerably more by selecting this program over the non-accredited one.

Should everyone choose the accredited degree over the non-accredited? Not if she lives in a place where it’s not legally required and she expects that her career will never take her out of that area, and if she’s happy only being promoted to a certain level. However, a person who thinks she might move or might want significant opportunity for promotion should in most cases select the accredited nursing program over the non-accredited one.

Opportunities for Those Who Pass the PMHN

Ash — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 05:16:25 +0000

Our increasingly dysfunctional world has at least one positive side: It has created a fast-growing career field for those interested in a job in a mental health profession. This is as true for the mental health nurse as it is for the psychiatrist. Getting onto that career path, of course, means passing the PMHN (Psychiatric & Mental Health Nurse Exam), which is challenging. But it’s worth it. Because once you pass it, there are a world of career choices available to you. PMHN Job Listings HERE

* For instance, one door that the PMHN could open for you is that of the psychiatric technician. This is a person who uses technical, scientific and manual skills to diagnose and treat a patient with mental illness. Some of the diseases he might diagnose and treat include schizophrenia, dementia, depression, and others. In fact, the demand for psychiatric technicians is rising precisely because there is a growing number of people suffering from schizophrenia and dementia. Getting into the field generally requires a two-year degree in Human Service as well as passing the PMHN exam.

* Another growing career field for those who pass the PMHN is that of the outpatient clinic therapist or counselor. These professionals generally deal with the “street level” dysfunctions of people with limited incomes. Usually this means issues pertaining to alcohol, drugs, domestic violence, etc. In addition to passing the PMHN, a Master’s degree is usually required.

* A third career field that is expanding rapidly, for which the PMHN is often required, is that of the rehabilitation counselor. This counselor helps the disabled person, whether the disability is physical, mental or emotional in nature. The rehabilitation counselor assists the patient to overcome debilitating attitudes and helps them to reach their goals and to live lives that are not hindered by their disabilities. Sometimes the counselor works with patients individually, and other times in groups. The job candidate must usually pair the PMHN exam with either a Bachelor’s degree or preferably a Master’s degree in human services.

* And finally, for those who want to work in a hospital, the principal career path for which the PMHN is a door is that of the psychiatric nurse. This is the nurse who works in the psychiatric ward of a hospital, monitoring patients, to make sure that they’re safe, and taking care of their daily needs. Passing the PMHN plus a master’s degree in nursing are expected.

These are three of the best opportunities waiting for those who pass the PMHN. All are growing fields, and all are good reason to prepare now so that you do well when you take the exam.

Midwife Certification Exam and Accreditation

Ash — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 05:13:43 +0000

Once you’ve made the decision to pursue a career as a midwife, the next task is figure out the correct path to take toward your goal. No matter how you do it, though, three elements will be required: you’ll be expected to pass the midwife exam, you’ll be expected to have proper accreditation, and depending on where you practice, you might be required to have a state license. The midwife exam is administered by the American Midwifery Certification Board. This three-phase approach is especially important in a time when midwifery, the practice of assisting women in childbirth, is coming under increasing scrutiny by the government.

Both the exam and the accreditation process are designed for the same purpose: to ensure that the midwife has the proper skills to handle her tasks. Specifically, those involved want to know that the midwife:

* is able to give the essential care, supervision and wife necessary for women during pregnancy, the birth process, and post-partum period;

* is able to conduct a delivery on her own;

* is able to accurately take the woman’s history and give her a physical assessment;

* is able to order the appropriate lab tests and procedures;

* is equipped to counsel patients regarding health-promotion as well as risk-reduction activities.

The midwife is an important person in medical communities around the world, because they offer more personalized attention, and more in-depth assistance, to the new mother, than a standard practitioner would be able to do.

All current midwife programs in North America are found at institutions of higher learning. Currently, about 70 percent of those who go full-time into midwife careers have received a Master’s degree, in addition to passing their certification exam. Even after you’ve been certified, however, there is still the issue of being licensed–a process which, in the United States, is handled on a state-by-state basis.

The certification exam itself is administered by the AMCB — the American Midwifery Certification Board. It provides certification for both Certified Midwives and Certified Nurse-Midwives. The Actual test is given by AMP.

Once the midwife has the proper credentials, she will be allowed to practice in any suitable setting, including hospitals, clinics, health units, even in a private home. See Midwife Job Listings here

In preparing for this nursing certification exam, if you’re limited in how much studying you can do, or how much material you can cover, pay particular attention to matters of safety. These more than procedure and technique are greatly emphasized on the exam–and an emphasis on these areas should help improve your score..

Eligibility for the CHES

Ash — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 05:06:36 +0000

In the healthcare world, CHES stands for “Certified Health Education Specialist Exam.” It’s an exam which serves as a tool that measures a person’s possession, interpretation and application of knowledge in seven specific areas that are required of health educators. See the Official CHES Site. Passing the exam means that the person has at least an entry-level competency in these seven areas.

The exam consists of 150 multiple choice questions. It’s done in standard pencil-and-paper form on college campuses throughout North America. Although currently there are 120 registered testing sites, any college campus that has a testing service may become a testing site.

The seven areas of responsibility that are tested on the CHES include:

Assessment of Individual / Community Needs for Health-Related Education
Planning Effective Education Strategies, Programs and Interventions
Implementation of Education Strategies, Programs and Interventions
Conducting Research and Evaluation Pertaining to Health Education
Administering Health Education Strategies, Programs and Interventions
Serving as a Health Education Liaison
Communicating and Advocating for Health Education

There are certain criteria which must be met before a person is eligible to take the CHES exam. All qualifications are based primarily on his or her academic qualifications.

Specifically, a Doctoral, Master’s or Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited school is required. Also, the candidate must provide an official transcript which shows a health-education major. Accepted majors would include health education, public health education, community health education, school health education, etc. The candidate’s transcript must include course titles.

If the candidate is not eligible because of his or her college major, then alternatively, he must have an official transcript which shows a minimum of 25 semester hours of course work with specific preparation that addresses the seven areas of responsibility covered in the exam. The candidate must also have maintained a “C” average or better.

Normally, those who take the exam have already graduated. There is, however, a 90-day eligibility option. This states that a student who will graduate within 90 days of a test date might in some situations be allowed to take the test. He or she must be attending an accrediting school and show an official transcript that shows a minimum of 25 semester hours of course work with preparation that addresses the seven areas of responsibility covered in the exam.

Your medical school or your undergraduate school’s medical department should have more information about upcoming dates for the CHES

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A Nursing Educator is a Good Career Choice

Ash — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 05:04:11 +0000

With an aging population a career as a nurse educator promises a career path that will give you the opportunity to combine your knowledge of nursing with your desire to teach upcoming nurses. Many potential nursing candidates are unable to apply to some schools because of a shortage of nursing educators.

To become a nurse educator you must be a registered nurse and have a Master’s Degree in Nursing or a Doctoral Degree if you want to teach a graduate program. You must also have training as well as experience in a clinical specialty. If you have a Master’s Degree you can teach undergraduate students who are studying to become licensed practical nurses or LPNs and registered nurses or RNs. Teaching at the master’s and doctoral level is available for advanced practice nurses as well as nurse administrators, nurse researchers and others.

Many nurse educator combine the role of teacher along with continuing patient care giving the students they are teaching a role model to emulate as they progress in their studies. Nurse educators are also responsible for designing and/or revising academic programs or evaluating those that have been designed by others. CDE also may work outside the classroom as Administrative Nurse Faculty, Clinical Nurse Educators, Staff Development Officers and other types of career opportunities.

With a high demand for CDE there is nevertheless a wide range in salaries with a lot depending on the specialty of the educator along with their years of experience or training and where the school is located. Nurse educator usually are paid significantly more than a registered nurse because of their increased knowledge and skills but are often comparable to an advanced practice nurse. In general, salaries range from $75,000 to $115,000 and offer flexibility in terms of work schedule and workload compared to a registered nurse.

3 Career Options for Nurses You Might Have Overlooked

Ash — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 05:03:04 +0000

When people consider job opportunities for nurses, they usually think about the same handful of possibilities: hospital nursing, assisting a private physician, or perhaps teaching at a nursing school. But here are five options that are often overlooked.

Clinical Research Associate (or CRA): This career path could find you working for contract research organizations (CROs) or pharmaceutical companies. While not popular in other parts of the world, in the West, particularly the U.S. and Europe, careers in this field abound. That’s because here, clinical research thrives and is widespread and drug companies also abound.

A CRA usually is required to do some travel, since the position involves coordinating, facilitating and monitoring a clinical trial’s progress as it’s conducted within a particular medical facility. Although this job can be quite exhausting, the pay is good, and it usually comes with appealing benefits such as a car plan and good insurance benefits. Bottom line: If you like to travel, you love your career in medicine but would like to try something other than standard hospital nursing, consider a career as a Clinical Research Associate.

Medical Coder: We’re not talking here about the coding or billing clerk who codes medical records for insurance or billing purposes. Rather, this position involves the person in coding of adverse events that have been observed, and prior / noncomitant medications used during a clinical trial.

To get into the field of coding specialist, a background in the area is helpful, but not always necessary, especially if you already have experience as a nurse. However, having a training certificate would obviously improve your chances.

As with the CRA, this position abounds in the U.S. more than in other countries because of the abundance of clinical trials here. And speaking of CRAs, an experienced one often qualifies for this managerial position. However, even if you’ve never worked in the field of clinical research, if you have supervisory experience, you might stand a good chance of being considered.

Although traditionally this position has not been occupied by nurses, more and more of them have found their way onto this career path in the past decade.

Medical Representative: Usually you’ll see this abbreviated to med rep. But however you spell it, this career path involves a lot of marketing and selling of medical supplies and products. Therefore, to qualify for the position, you must have an entrepreneurial spirit, an outgoing personality, and a strong desire to succeed and to stay on top, because competition is stiff in the field. You might think that this is more a career path for sales people, but drug companies prefer hiring nurses since they’re more familiar with the basics of the health field. But certainly, if you’re trained as a nurse and have some sales history, this could be a perfect career for you.

20 Great Tips for Finding a Job in Nursing

admin — Sun, 30 May 2010 18:31:03 +0000

Last year, “Rachel” graduated from her nursing program and immediately began complaining about how hard it was to find a job in nursing. Six months later, she had landed a position as a school nurse, while friends with other career goals were still looking. Reality had slapped her in the face: In this economy, jobs in all career fields are scarce, but jobs in nursing are more plentiful than on many other career paths.

Indeed, for the past decade, every study has reached the same conclusion: Nursing is expected to continue adding jobs at an impressive rate, especially as the population grows older and people live long enough to encounter more physical ailments. And what variety there is for those wanting to be a nurse! There are positions in burn care, ambulatory care, emergency rooms, developmental disabilities, home care, geriatrics, medical telemetry, intensive care, mother / baby care, oncology, pediatrics, operating room, psychiatric nursing, recovery room, psychiatric nursing, rehabilitation, school nursing, hospital floor nurse, and more.
Still, landing that interview is never a sure thing. It’s always smart to add a few strategies to your job-search toolbox, to help you find the right nursing job faster. Strategies like the following simple tips:

Begin your job hunt while still in nursing school. That means start working on your resume and talking with whoever does the hiring at hospitals, clinics and other medical services where you might consider working.

Get a Professionally Prepared Resume. See our post HERE.

Be willing to work as a PRN until you find a regular full-time position. Remember that most nursing positions are filled in-house, so the key is to get your foot in the door.

Take occasional road trips to nearby cities, visiting the local hospitals, clinics and doctors’ offices. Ask about any available positions and also how often new positions become available (If, for instance, every month, then re-visit a month later). You can also leave resumes at each place you visit.

Ask friends or family members to introduce you to their supervisor. It really is often who you know that determines whether you get the job or not.

Contact contract employment and recruitment agencies. By aligning yourself with a recruiter, you get immediate access to jobs that aren’t advertised to the general pubic. Plus, a recruiting agency lets you apply to positions at many medical facilities at the same time with just one resume submission. The agency then shops your resume to all available openings.

Become a master Internet job-searcher. Searching for nursing or nurse on job boards such as careerbuilder.com or monster.com and even Craigslist often unearths hundreds of nursing positions. However, be ready for the fact that hundreds of other nurses are looking at those same ads.

Speaking of the Internet, learn to use social networking sites in your job hunt. Sites such as Facebook or My Space make it easy to keep branching out your contacts further and further. Eventually, it’s likely you’ll find the occasional nurse who can perhaps help you connect with her own employer. See our post on the Online Nursing Application.

Colleges and nursing schools often have their own databases of open positions, so be sure to scan through those.

Learn to network in the real world as well as on “networking” Internet sites. Networking in the professional sense means letting family, friends and acquaintances know you’re looking for a nursing position. Get leads from them and ask to speak with anyone to whom they refer you. Then, even if those people don’t have a job to offer you, ask them for more leads, and keep working outward until you land a position.

Expand your vision and be willing to accept overlooked nursing positions such as jobs at schools, health insurance companies, the Health Department, at retirement homes and nursing homes, in HOSPICE, in traveling nurse programs, and in mentorship programs.

When you’re on the Internet, look for nursing-specific job sites. For instance, a couple of popular ones are Nursing Jobs, Nursing Exams and Jobs and Nurse Options.

Don’t forget to look at newspaper classifieds. So many people are doing their job-hunting online now that it’s just possible that they’ll overlook the old faithful newspaper ads–leaving the position open for you!

Create a video resume and email it to potential employers. This is an especially good idea for nurses, because personality plays such an important part in how you interact with patients.

Develop a long-term plan. Use your current nursing job to meet key contact people who will might help you to continue moving up the ladder, until you achieve your dream position.

Join professional associations for nurses and those in the medical profession. These are the people who are often aware of where the open positions are.

Stay connected with fellow graduates of your nursing class and other recent alumni. Many good tips have come from fellow classmates who know about hospitals and facilities too far for you to travel there to job hunt.

Keep and show a positive attitude even if a hospital or medical facility doesn’t need you at that time. It’s just possible that a nurse might quit next week. If you’ve left a good impression with the person doing the hiring, you could still get a call.

Start your own business. Before you object, yes, it’s possible to have a nursing business. You could be hired by someone to be a personal nurse to someone unable to care for him or herself. Or to give health-related demonstrations at community events.

Volunteer. Places such as homeless shelters or non-profit hospitals can put your healthcare talents to good use. All the while, you can remind them frequently that you’re interested in any paid position that might become available.

When you finally land an interview, close the deal! To do this, you need to make sure that you’re personable and come across as knowledgeable. You should have done research about the employer ahead of time so you can intersperse what you know about them into the conversation. This shows them interest on your part. Dress professionally and no matter what they ask, always bring your answer around to how your background and experience will benefit them.

It’s a great career path you’ve chosen for yourself–and one with great potential. Don’t give up after the first few rejections. Because in a career field expanding as much as nursing is, if you show a little patience and if you have the talent for the work, you’ll get that dream job soon enough.

Nursing Certifications, Nursing Jobs and Nursing Exams » Nursing Career

Evaluating Nursing Education Programs

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Why an How to Become a Home Health Aide

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How to Become a Licensed Practical Nurse

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Accredited Vs. Unaccredited Nursing Schools

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Opportunities for Those Who Pass the PMHN

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Midwife Certification Exam and Accreditation

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Eligibility for the CHES

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A Nursing Educator is a Good Career Choice

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3 Career Options for Nurses You Might Have Overlooked

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20 Great Tips for Finding a Job in Nursing

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