DiversityNursing Blog

The demand for nurses has significantly increased over the past few years and while the profession is mainly represented by females, more and more men have started to join the field as well. 

According to a study by the U.S. Census Bureau, male nurses are becoming increasingly more commonplace. 

In 1970, only 2.7 percent of nurses were male, compared to 9.6 percent today, meaning that the proportion of male nurses has more than tripled over the past 4 decades. The male proportion of practical and licensed vocational nurses has also increased over the same period, from 3.9 percent to 8.1 percent. 

The finding comes from a study of the 2011 American Community Survey which measured the proportion of men in each of the following nursing fields: nurse practitioner, nurse anesthetist, registered nurse, licensed vocational nurse and licensed practical nurse. 

The majority the 3.5 million employed nurses in 2011 were women - close to 3.2 million. However, the number of male nurses is on the rise - close to 330,000 at the last count. 

In addition, they analyzed the characteristics of men and women working in these fields, such as age, origin, race, education, earnings, industry, work hours and citizenship. 

The author of the report, Liana Christin Landivar, a sociologist in the Census Bureau's Industry and Occupation Statistics Branch, said: 

"The aging of our population has fueled an increasing demand for long-term care and end-of-life services. A predicted shortage has led to recruiting and retraining efforts to increase the pool of nurses. These efforts have included recruiting men into nursing."

Male nurses typically earn more than their female co-workers. For every dollar male nurses earned, female nurses earned 91 cents. This difference in earnings is a lot smaller than most across all occupations though, with women earning 77 cents for every dollar a man earns.

Healthcare is among the fastest growing industries and as people are living longer there is an increased demand for long-term care as well as end-of-life services. The unemployment rate among nurses is extremely low due to this increasing demand. Only 0.8 percent of nurse practitioners, 0.8 percent of nurse anesthetists, and 1.8 percent of registered nurses were unemployed in 2011. 

Some additional findings of the study, show that in 2011:

• The majority of employed nurses were registered nurses (78 percent), followed by licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses (19 percent).

• 41 percent of nurse anesthetists were male - the occupation with the highest male representation.

• Male nurses earned an average of $60,700 per annum compared to $51,100 per annum among women. 

According to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing's Center, nursing is a profession with an extremely high burnout rate and many nurses report feeling dissatisfied with their jobs. They say that it is imperative that hospital leaders and policy makers improve work environments for nurses, which in turn also improves quality of care for patients.

Source: Medical News Today

BY MARY DUFFY

She commands the world’s fifth largest healthcare organization, with close to 4 million beneficiaries and a $13.5 billion annual budget. She’s a 52-year-old nurse, wife, mother of three and three-star general, has been awarded the Bronze Star, the Legion of Merit and the Distinguished Service medal—among other honors. In a telephone interview for the Winter 2013 issue of Scrubs magazine, Lt. General Patricia Horoho, MSN, MS, RN, spoke about her background in nursing, the priorities she’s set and the challenges she faces as surgeon general of the U.S. Army.

A NURSE IN COMMAND: When she entered the army in 1983, shortly after receiving her BSN from the University of North Carolina, Horoho says she couldn’t have imagined rising to the ranks of surgeon general because “at the time, nurses had no chance to command.” Now she is the commander of a worldwide staff of 140,000, operating in 29 executive agencies and 480 facilities.

MOVING UP THE RANKS: Her rise to the top of army medicine has included experience commanding hospitals, medical systems and the Western Regional Medical Command. In 2007, she assumed command of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center (now the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center) after the media firestorm and resulting government investigations into conditions there. Horoho has worked on policy matters in the Pentagon and transformed the Army Corps of Nurses as its chief, instituting the Patient Caring Touch System based on five elements: patient advocacy, enhanced communication, capability building, evidence-based practice and management, and healthy work environments. She also fostered development of nurse leaders and nurse researchers. “The army is way ahead of the curve in how nurses are valued,” says the surgeon general. She remains committed to fostering a culture of collaboration and respect, where care is compassionate and accountability is measured by impact on the patient—not just the final outcome, but also the process.

A NEW APPROACH: Moving Army Medical Command from a healthcare system to a system of health is a top priority for the surgeon general. Soldiers—and civilians—spend, on average, 100 minutes a year with a doctor, nurse or other healthcare provider; that leaves 525,500 minutes a year the surgeon general terms the “white spaces” of a person’s life. “To influence health,” says Horoho, “you must influence the white spaces.” That’s the time someone eats a double cheeseburger, smokes a cigarette or has one too many drinks. As the military and the nation battle the healthcare crisis, nurses are well-equipped to serve on the front lines. “They have the opportunity to make a difference in a variety of roles. We are very key partners in the healthcare team,” says Horoho.

ONCE A NURSE, ALWAYS A NURSE: The summer before she was sworn in to become the 43rd army surgeon general, Horoho—then a major general—was deployed to Afghanistan as the leader of a team assessing frontline healthcare. In between tours of medical facilities and meetings with soldiers, she rolled up her sleeves and got to work in a trauma unit. At the end of the day, she called her husband to tell him it was the most rewarding and exciting experience she’d had in years. After returning from Afghanistan, the surgeon general had the chance to connect with one of her trauma patients at a Super Bowl party, where he was part of a contingent of wounded warriors. “The ability to connect with a patient is exactly the reason I went into the profession,” Horoho says.

WHEN DISASTER STRUCK: On March 23, 1994, Horoho was head nurse of the emergency room at Fort Bragg’s Womack Army Medical Center when a Code Yellow—a plan for mass casualties—was activated in response to an aircraft collision and a resulting explosion in an area called the Green Ramp, where some 500 paratroopers were conducting training exercises. In a commencement speech earlier this year, Horoho recalled, “Within 15 minutes, casualties were streaming through our hospital doors. Twenty-four soldiers lost their lives that day. Before the afternoon was over, we treated 134 severely burned young soldiers.”

EMERGENCY TRAINING: Horoho was uniquely equipped for handling the Green Ramp disaster. Two years earlier, she received a master’s degree (the first of two) in trauma nursing from the University of Pittsburg in Pennsylvania. Before she focused on trauma, she researched critical incident stress debriefing and treatments for severely burned patients, but she couldn’t complete the necessary studies on either topic. At the time, she wrote off her two stalled attempts at a thesis as a colossal waste of time and energy. But that day at Womack, she says, “it showed me that as a nurse, every challenge we have in life prepares us to assist others.”

A 9/11 HERO: On September 11, 2001, Horoho was Assistant Deputy for Healthcare Management Policy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) at the Pentagon. She was watching TV as the second plane slammed into the World Trade Center, and she remembers thinking, “We’re going to be next.” When she heard the loud booming noise and felt the building shake, she knew exactly what it was and joined the crowds calmly evacuating. Once outside, instead of moving away from the building, she headed for the impact site, stepping into the gaping hole that had been cut by the plane. Immediately she began setting up a triage area and improvising until aid kits arrived. She organized medical and nonmedical volunteers into teams, and coordinated with the various agencies that arrived on the scene. “Being a nurse led me to the impact site where I could make a difference, instead of in the other direction where it was safe,” she said. “Nursing is an art and a profession—not a job. It’s not something you go to and leave after your shift. You are on 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

CARE FOR THE CARETAKER: Horoho’s skillful treatment of the burned soldiers at Green Ramp and her leadership and expertise triaging victims after the terrorist attack on the Pentagon earned her many accolades and commendations. On a personal level, it made her acutely aware that trauma victims and those who care for them—including civilian nurses—often carry invisible wounds. “You need to be proactive about seeking help—you can’t wait for the symptoms of stress and compassion fatigue to show up,” she advises nurses. “I urge all of you to take care of yourself and your teammates. By doing that, we give our best to all of those entrusted to our care.”

THE GIFT OF LIFE: Recently, the general encountered a soldier whose face and arms were marred by burn scars. He told her that she had cared for him after the Green Ramp disaster, and he wanted her to know that he had married and had a daughter. Showing off pictures of his family, he pointed to his little girl and said, “You made her possible. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.” The general’s voice crackles with emotion as she recounts the story. Whenever the impact of your work can be measured on such a personal level, “your heart just melts,” says Horoho.

Source: Scrubs Mag

BY SCRUBS EDITOR 

It’s easy to forget that so many nurses don’t actually work in a hospital, clinic or school. Nursing is the kind of career that can really take you in several different directions. Case in point? Rose Church, famous for being NASA’s first nurse. But that’s not the only reason we love her–we’re also impressed by how she landed the gig!

An employee of McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis, Mo., Church had heard that the company was hiring an “aerospace physician.” Interested in the gig, she created an opportunity to speak with president James McDonnell and told him, “Where there’s a doctor, there’s always a nurse.” And after that conversation, she was that nurse!

Church went on to serve as the nurse to the Mercury and Gemini astronauts, including John Glenn, Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom. She is remembered as having a smart, quick wit and being super sweet–she would often bring astronauts their favorite training snack, even if it was a doughnut or a beer. Ha!

Church passed away late last year, but her spirit and hard work will always be remembered.

Source: The Aero Experience

BY SCRUBS EDITOR 

Where in the U.S. are new nurses receiving the highest pay? Here’s a look at the numbers from some of the major West Coast cities. Keep in mind that the facts and figures are mostly related to new nurses, and numbers might be higher for nurses with more experience or for those in specific specialties.

Average pay (per hour) for top cities:

Los Angeles, CA: $36
San Francisco, CA: $34
San Diego, CA: $33
Portland, OR: $31.50
Las Vegas, NV: $30
Seattle, WA: $29
Phoenix, AZ: $29
Boise, ID: $25
Salt Lake City, UT: $24

Source: Nurse Zone

What nurses are saying about working in top cities:

Portland, OR:

“Portland is saturated with new grads. It takes most people several months to find something, and many of my classmates are moving out of town to find work. I think if you can move to a more rural area, your chances would be better to get a job faster. Quite a few of the recent grads from our school have gone the SNF route, hoping to break into hospital nursing eventually. However, if you don’t have your BSN, as a new grad, chances are slim at getting hired in a hospital here.” - pdxmomazon

“Kaiser West is supposed to open in August 2013. Hopefully more positions will open up then.” - tritons09

Los Angeles, CA:

“If you can, get 2 years experience before moving here. Or at the very least, do not move here unless you have an official job offer in hand. The job market is also tight for experienced nurses as well, and for some places a year may not cut it. Best of luck.” - meriwhen

“Job outlook in LA is bleak. Better than NoCal, but still bleak. CHLA new grad residents start in high $20s. UCLA is $30-ish for their new grad residents. So, assuming you come to LA with a year experience under your belt, you could expect more than $30ish.” –  perioddrama

San Diego, CA:

“San Diego is a great market! I’m a case manager at Scripps here and hire approx 4-5 new grads a week. Nobody should become a nurse to get rich. We work in a field where battling against the odds is no stranger to us. California does have a little tougher time with hiring nurses faster than EVERY other state but this is due to the very large budget deficit that prevents millions in grants to hospitals. I would encourage you to pursue.” - Murseman83

“It is an absolutely terrible job market for new grads in all of SoCal. I’ve heard San Diego and San Francisco are the hardest to find jobs. The job market has been bad for at least 5 years so there is no way to guess when it may get better. If you want a new grad nursing job you will have to search high and low and make it your full time job. I applied for about 150 jobs in 6 months before I got hired, 7 months after I got my license and my commute totally sucks and the pay is just okay.” - SoCalGalRN

San Francisco, CA:

“According to students who graduated from my school last year, you can make anywhere from $38-$44/hr. My friend who has been working for Kaiser for 3 years made $97K last year. That’s partly why it’s so hard to get a job as a new grad here! I graduate this year and it is SO frustrating to think that those of us who have our lives here and went to school here may not get jobs. New grad programs are smaller or non-existent. It used to be that the place you precepted would hire you but so many hospitals/units are on hiring freezes that they aren’t even looking at new grads. I know people who graduated last summer who still haven’t found work; some moved to southern California.” - lovethepeople

“I’m a new grad who was fortunate enough to find an RN position at a hospital here in the Bay Area. I’m per diem, hourly wage is $62/hr, no benefits (I buy my own private health insurance). I’m only scheduled 4 days/week and get cancelled A LOT because I have the least seniority. Just to give you an idea, during orientation, when I actually did work 36 hours/week, I was taxed almost $3K per month, federal and state income taxes. That’s 3x what I pay rent, for a studio apartment! So yeah, I know it seems like a lot, but in reality you get taxed SO much it’s probably pretty comparable to other areas in terms of take home pay relative to cost of living. The sunshine sure is nice, and the Mediterranean climate, but it does come at a premium!” - shelbel

Las Vegas, NV:

“I have lived in Las Vegas for almost 9 years. I moved here when it was booming and it was very easy to find work. I hated it the 1st year I moved here but it grew on me. Unfortunately, the job market has changed drastically since the economy has gone down the toilet. I know it is bad everywhere, but our job and foreclosure rate is the worst from what I’ve heard.” - Tree5981

Seattle, WA:

“I live in the Seattle area now, came as a travel nurse originally. Where I work we had quite a few people move here for jobs or converted from travelers to staff over the past few years. At least where I am the staff is very inclusive, and do things outside of work together quite a bit. You could always look at travel nursing to come out this way, if you didn’t want to move right out. Tonight at work, 4 out of 6 nurses moved within in the last 5 years alone to the area.” - missnurse01

Boise, ID:

“Boise is a great place to live. We have quite a few hospitals in the area that you could possibly work at. My mom is an RN at St Luke’s and loves working there.” - Ryan

“As far as negotiating sign-on bonuses go, as far as I can tell, around Idaho they are pretty locked in to what you get will be what they offer. That being said there is a little wiggle room with bonuses during negotiating if you don’t need health insurance, or have special skills being searched for by that company.” - frixion

Phoenix, AZ:

“I’ve come across several postings fairly recently from new grads wanting to move to the Phoenix area and I want to make them aware that the job market here is very competitive. Unless you are an experienced nurse, have great luck, or a strong hospital contact, new grad hospital positions are very hard to come by. I know several that have had to leave the area to find jobs. I’m not trying to be a downer, but in this economy Phoenix is NOT the place a new grad wants to be.” - dream’n

“I found that in AZ, even if you are working for a registry that is used frequently for your specialty, you have to work in each place enough that the people who call the registries know your name. There are dozens of registry nurses, so when you are not well known the best thing you can do is accept as many shifts as you can work at a variety of settings, and then if they need someone for a double shift, stay. Let the facility know that you are available for the next night if you are. You can’t book your own hours, but continuity of care and convenience actually matter, and they will try to get the same person as much as they can. If you are at a large facility, and you let them know that you are looking for more shifts, they will usually oblige.” - psychaz

Salt Lake City, UT:

“Utah is overwhelmed with nurses and it’s a right to work state so no unions. When the nursing shortage hit there was a boom of schools becoming accredited to handle the load. Every semester hundreds of nurses are released into the workforce. There is no reason for any place to pay a great wage when the pool of nurses to pick from is so vast. This also means the employers do not have to make an investment in their staff because there are literally hundreds in line needing a job. Home health agencies are popping up like crazy; they pay the highest wage and jobs are definitely available there.” - St_Claire

“Yes average is $21 an hour. Typically no you will not get paid more for having a bachelors degree although I believe that IHC prefers it to increase their “magnet status.” (That last part may not be correct.) $62,000 a year average is probably correct because nurses start out around $45,000 while veterans are probably up to $75,000 so $62,000 is somewhere in the middle. The pay in Utah is awful. If you love the state that much, people will stay and accept it. I moved 100 miles away out of state and made double that as a new grad. It’s all about where you want to live. My plan is to work out of state for a few more years and save up enough money that if I want to move my family back to Utah it will offset the ridiculously low wages.” - surgery182 

Source: Scrubs Mag

By Josh Ferri 

Looks like all that medical jargon Laurie Metcalf learned for Broadway’s The Other Place is going to come in handy again. The Emmy winner’s new pilot Getting On just received a six-episode order from HBO, according to Deadline.com.

Adapted from the popular British series of the same name by Big Love creators Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer, Getting On follows the doctors, nurses and administrators working in the women's geriatric wing of a hospital. Metcalf will play the socially challenged and overworked Dr. Jenna James, the hospital’s temporary Director of Medicine who also holds a position at another hospital. The show co-stars Niecy Nash (Reno 911!) and Alex Borstein (Family Guy, MADTV).

Metcalf most recently earned critical acclaim for her star turn as Juliana Smithton, a neurologist battling dementia, in MTC's The Other Place. Metcalf received a Tony nomination in 2008 for her role in David Mamet’s November. Her additional Broadway credits includeBrighton Beach Memoirs and My Thing of Love. She won three Emmy Awards for playing Jackie on TV's Roseanne.

Source: Broadway.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - A $5 million gift from a Washington-area financier and his wife will double help double the enrollment in the clinical nurse leader's program at the University of Virginia School of Nursing.

The gift announced this week is from Bill Conway and his wife, Joanne. To be paid out over five years, the gift will fund need-based scholarships for students in the program, increasing enrollment from 48 to 96. The gift will also provide faculty support and operational funding for the program.

U.Va.'s clinical nurse leader program is the only master's entry program in the state that is open to students with a bachelor's degree in other field who are seeking a fast track into the nursing field.

Source: WSET-TV

1. I remind myself, “Self, as long as your patients are alive and pain-free at the moment, your day isn’t that bad and half the battle is over…the other half is charting to prove that my patients are alive and pain-free.” Deep breath, looooong sigh and carry on, girl, because you’ve got this!”

2. Maybe eat lunch or go pee…those are always nice. LOL!

3. We adopted a five-second dance-off at the top of the hour. Regardless of what you’re doing in the ER, when the music comes over the intercom, you have to stop and break it down! Doesn’t go over well with the director, but what he doesn’t know…and it really works!

4. I use my break to call the ones I love. My husband and my mom are great for reminding me why I do this job. My mom—one of my favorite people to call—is also a nurse, and has done three deployments in more than 25 years of military nursing. If I think I’m having a bad day, I know for sure she’s gotten through worse ones, and she gives great advice. A little perspective goes a long way.

5. Hand puppets. Life is better with hand puppets. Seriously. They make you laugh.

6. Sometimes I look at job listings for positions outside of the medical field. Every time I read them, it reminds me I would never, ever make as huge an impact on anyone’s lives like I can in nursing.

7. I’m gonna go with “drink.” After work, of course.

8. As corny as it is, I go into the bathroom, stare at myself in the mirror and start making funny faces. Gives me a chance for a breather, and hey, if you can’t laugh at yourself, then who can?

9. We send jokes to other departments via fax or tube system to try to brighten someone else’s day. It’s very rewarding. 

10. I remind myself that if I’m having to nurse someone for any reason, they are having a worse day than I am. A smile goes a long way, and seeing and making someone else smile ALWAYS makes me feel better…and them, too!

Source: SCRUBS

By Rich Schapiro / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Nurses at New York’s largest hospital network are crying code red over a new policy that will force them to wear white.

Staffers at Lenox Hill Hospital, Forest Hills Hospital and the rest of the North Shore LIJ Health System fear their new white scrubs will lead to a terrible trifecta of problems:

Blood stains, visible panty lines and unsightly sweat marks.

"When you buy white polyester, it turns yellow," said Patricia Kane, a nurse at Staten Island University Hospital.

“There's also the see-through factor, which is a real issue. We bend and we stretch and we push and we pull. It’s not good when you have to wear white and you’re wondering what the guy in the next bed is thinking,” Kane told Crain’s New York Business.

The dress code overhaul, set to go into effect next month, will affect most of the 10,000 nurses who work at the 15-hospital network.

Officials said the change is part of an effort to help patients better identify their nurses amid the kaleidoscope chaos of hospitals.

“Like most hospitals, our various clinical departments all wear different color scrubs,” said North Shore LIJ spokesman Terry Lynam. “It’s a camaraderie thing, but what makes it difficult as a patient is you have so many people coming in and out of your room and most people struggle to know who does what.”

The nurses don’t quite see it that way.

Lenox Hill emergency room nurses joked last week they planned to protest the policy by wearing brightly colored or leopard-printed lingerie underneath their sterile whites, according to Crain’s.

Lynam noted the new rules apply to tops only — and he insisted that the nurses’ concerns are unfounded.

“A lot of it comes down to the quality of the fabric,” Lynam said. “As long as the quality of the fabric is high enough, you’re not going to have a problem with that.”

But Kane gave the dress code a poor diagnosis.

"It's demeaning to professionals to be told what to wear," Kane added.

Source: New York Daily News

District hospitals might soon face minimum nurse-to-patient thresholds, but the facilities are vowing an aggressive fight to defeat the strategy nurses contend will improve patient care.

"We're going to set a priority, and that priority is going to be patient care over profit," said Ward 1 Councilman Jim Graham, one of nine D.C. lawmakers who said they would support the measure when it is introduced Tuesday.

Under the plan, which must still make it through the legislative process but already has enough support to pass, hospitals would have four years to implement stringent nurse-to-patient ratios.

The precise ratios would fluctuate by specialty, but the proposal includes a mandate of one nurse for every two patients in critical care units and one nurse for every trauma patient in the emergency room.

Nurses said the changes are vital to protecting patients.

"Patient safety is regularly threatened because hospital corporations refuse to ensure there are enough registered nurses working," said Bonnie Linen-Carroll, a Washington Hospital Center nurse. "It is an absolute disgrace."

The labor union National Nurses United also pointed to a 2012 survey of D.C. nurses that found 57 percent thought "staffing is inadequate always or almost always."

But the DC Hospital Association, which represents 10 Washington hospitals, said the proposal was misguided.

"This makes no sense. No state in the entire country has taken this approach except for California and that was 10 years ago and no one else is even thinking about it," said Bob Malson, the association's president. "You're going to force the hospitals to hire people where they're not needed."

Both sides said research supports their views.

"The science and the academics and the people who actually do all of this stuff all the time will make the case," Malson said.

Hours earlier, the proposal's backers cited a study that said "outcomes are better for nurses and patients" in facilities that used the requirements codified in California.

Malson, who predicted lawmakers would ultimately spurn the proposal, wouldn't say whether his members might mount a legal challenge against the ratios.

But D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said he was ready for a confrontation.

"This bill is common sense," Mendelson said. "This bill is today's version of the eight-hour day, something that we will see business resist, but on the other hand makes good sense and will lead to quality care."

Source: Washington Examiner

By TARA BANNOW

Male nurse Todd Ingram couldn't bring himself to finish the movie "Meet the Parents."

Source: KFOX14