Fri, Dec 14, 2012 @ 01:09 PM
December 10, 2012
Employment at hospitals across the country grew by 0.17 percent last month, which reflects 8,300 more people than in October and 82,200 more compared to a year ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The gain in the hospital industry is a stray from employment nationwide, as the overall unemployment rate stood at 7.7 percent in November.
Topics: growth, hospital employment, exponential
Fri, Dec 14, 2012 @ 01:04 PM
- 12/3/12
Investing in ways to recruit, retain and develop women is not only a fair business practice, it is smart business. These three initiatives can help.
It has been an uphill battle to make room for women at the top. With Yahoo's appointment of Marissa Mayer, only 20 women — and that’s a record high — are CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. Though some progress has been made on this front, organizations can still do more to recruit, retain and develop women leaders because, as the numbers show, there’s a correlation between having more women in the boardroom and improved performance.
A Catalyst study comparing Fortune 500 companies in the bottom versus top quartile in terms of women’s representation on the board showed that the top quartile organizations outperformed the bottom by 53 percent more returns on equities, 42 percent more return on sales and 66 percent more return on invested capital.
Investing in ways to recruit, retain and develop women is not only a fair business practice, it is smart business. Here are three initiatives any organization can implement to create a culture where female leaders can thrive:
Cultivate community. Women excel through social support networks. Organizations can provide tools to facilitate a sense of community and support to develop female leaders. There are different ways that this can be done, and it should always be tailored to the unique culture within an organization.
One successful tactic is to sponsor and support employee resource groups for women. These groups offer a space for discussion and information to propel women in their careers. Mentoring programs can link female leaders with other female employees who are interested in pursuing similar career paths. Through sharing stories, experiences and advice, women can learn from success stories and avoid making the same mistakes. These relationships further develop female leaders and retain high-potential candidates for leadership roles.
Develop a diverse leadership culture. To attract and encourage women to pursue higher positions, it behooves companies to walk the talk and actually have women in senior-level positions. When female up-and-comers are able to see female role models attaining executive-level positions, it shows the possibility and demonstrates the company’s support of a diverse leadership culture.
An organization does not need to have a female CEO to demonstrate a genuine commitment to women’s career advancement. Women in leadership roles should span across the organization and across functions. Organizations can consider having advisory committees that appoint women to review challenges faced by female employees and suggest appropriate action to resolve issues.
Leverage technology. Technology should not only be used as a tool for employees to connect with one another, but also as a way to recruit potential employees. New technologies are available to facilitate employee communication like never before. Internal social networking sites allow for women to connect, communicate and collaborate with one another.
Organizations can pilot programs where women create webcasts for other women that are inspiring and informative on a variety of workplace topics such as leadership, communication, professional development and goal setting. Additionally, online training programs to help the workforce appreciate gender differences and leverage distinct strengths can also help develop a diverse leadership culture.
In addition to these initiatives, by offering progressive policies on maternity leave and work-life balance, organizations can better attract and retain a high-potential female talent pool. It’s not enough to create spaces for collaboration, information and social support; organizations need to track their initiatives and measure progress to ensure fair and equitable promotion of both genders.
Topics: business, female, Fortune 500, culture, leaders
Mon, Dec 10, 2012 @ 03:41 PM
"I need a nurse. I can't breathe! Send a nurse!"
Maria Gonzales is in distress, and her caregivers need to figure out what to do.
She is sitting upright in her hospital bed, knees bent toward her chest. Beside her, a team of nurses and technicians scan the bar-coded bracelet on her wrist, and Gonzales' patient history flashes across the computer
screen beside the bed. They quickly assess its contents — she was admitted two days ago with an inflamed pancreas — and check to see if she is flagged from receiving any medications.
A nurse applies a pulse oximeter to Gonzales' index finger to monitor oxygen saturation. Her levels are low. They place an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth. They check the screen again.
She has a history of high cholesterol. The medical team notes the clinical signs: alert and responsive, but expressing pain. What to do?
Complicating matters, her heart rate is low.
From an adjacent monitoring room, an instructor observes the scene through one-way glass but makes no move to help. The nurses, actually students, are on their own. The scene isn't playing out at St. Luke's or Lehigh Valley Hospital, but in a nursing simulator on the campus of Northampton Community College.
And Maria Gonzales is really in no danger. This "46 year-old wife and mother of two" is a mannequin.
This mannequin, however, is a smart dummy. "Maria Gonzales," one of six mannequins recently purchased by NCC at a cost of $75,000, has a full personal profile and medical history available to the students online. Instructor Marie Everhart in this class provided Maria's voice by speaking into a microphone from the observation room, where she also can alter the mannequin's health status.
Maria also has speakers in her ears and a camera installed in her head. This allows the instructors to video the exercise and then debrief the students afterward, said Mary Jean Osborne, program director for the nursing lab.
Gonzales is equipped to simulate 30 scenarios, such as pancreatic inflammation, sickle cell anemia, fractures and allergic reactions to blood transfusions. Instructors can alter the sex of each smart dummy to practice gender-specific exercises.
The technology, which began in the aviation industry with dummy test pilots measuring G-force, goes back about a decade in nursing applications. Neighboring centers of learning such as Lehigh Valley Health Network have been using simulators for some time, but they are new to NCC.
Using a high-tech mannequin "allows us to standardize experiences we'd like each student to have so they have an opportunity to practice what their responses should be," said Mali Bartges, director of nursing practice at the college.
"And to use their reasoning skills — what should I do first?"
As the exercise continues, Maria says she is in extreme pain and her oxygen levels drop.
Everhart leans into the microphone again and coughs for Maria. She presses another button, and Gonzales begins to blink.
"They better call for help," Everhart says.
Ultimately the students do, and the exercise reaches its conclusion. Afterward, the students realize that a rapid response team should have been summoned once the patient's heart rate dropped.
Worrying about administering pain medication, they agreed, is secondary.
There's an obvious benefit to using mannequins for learning.
"When you're using a mannequin you never have to worry about anyone dying or getting hurt," said Joan Yankalunas, education specialist for the Division of Education at Lehigh Valley Health Network.
"You can't do CPR on a live person, but you can certainly do that on a mannequin," she said. "So in those situations, getting the practice helps the student know how they're going to react and what they need to do in an emergency situation. And it's a safe way to learn it."
Student Jennifer Lamont, one of Gonzales' nurses, said the exercise with the mannequin provided a valuable learning experience.
"We are the nurses," she said. "Their lives are in our hands."
Topics: mannequin, nursing student, technology, nurse
Mon, Dec 10, 2012 @ 03:29 PM
NEW YORK (WABC) -- New technology is helping medical professionals learn from each other, even though they're 1,500 miles apart.
A patient has chills and a fever. Students at Columbia University School of Nursing discuss the diagnosis with their classmates. But they also talk to people in a little box--the medical team at a clinic in La Romana in the Dominican Republic.
Norma Hannigan said she got the idea while she was at the clinic last April. Why not discuss medical cases and learn from each other?
"We're a little stronger on the primary care chronic illness end of the spectrum, and they're much stronger on the infectious disease," Hannigan, an assistant professor of clinical nursing.
The students were presented a patient with diabetes and everyone had to figure out how they'd solve it together.
"The way we manage the case here versus the way they would manage the case in the Dominican Republic is very different," Stephanie Paine, a nurse practitioner student, explained.
It was surprising to learn, for example, they almost never do a test called Hemoglobin A1C. It's too expensive, but in the U.S., that test is done for diabetics all the time.
Students can also learn about cultural differences. In Washington Heights, many of the residents are from the Dominican Republic.
"It's a way to improve the way we treat patients," said Dr. Leonel Lerebours, the medical director of La Clinica de Familia in La Romana, Dominican Republic.
Lerebours says they have learned to work with fewer resources.
"We rely more on clinical features than lab," he said.
This is the first long distance webinar, but they say it won't be the last.
"Maybe incorporate more people from the school of public health from the school of medicine," Hannigan suggested.
"It's really good," Martha Yepes said. "We're able to have this exchange, especially with the technology that we have now."
There were, of course, some technical challenges; the connection was slow at times, and it's hard to capture excitement or enthusiasm when you're doing it over the web.
But there were also funny moments. Where what we consider a problem here, La Romana's medical team thinks it's normal.
Topics: learning, student nurse, technology, training, online
Mon, Dec 10, 2012 @ 03:20 PM
Story from Great Falls Tribune
Under the direction of Benefis Health System’s Native American Programs, the Montana American Indian Nurse Internship is an 11-month program designed for new or recent American Indian registered nurse graduates with no acute-care hospital experience. The program is guided by experienced nurse preceptors who provide life-long lessons to these new graduates to ensure the quality of knowledge within the nursing profession will remain strong for years to come.
“Nurses have a responsibility to advance their abilities and knowledge to be able to provide care that is increasingly complex,” said Jan Leishman-Donahue, MSN, RN, CNM, and Benefis MAINI Project Director. “Through the MAINI program, preceptors share their skills with new nurses so that they are better equipped to provide quality patient care.”
Internships with the Benefis MAINI program afford nurses additional tools to prepare for positions in a Montana Reservation Indian Health Service hospital in-patient setting.
Trisha Croff, RN, ASN, is a graduate of the Benefis program. Croff is now using her skills to care for patients on the inpatient ward of the Blackfeet Community Hospital.
“I chose to participate in the MAINI program because I saw it as an opportunity to gain a wide variety of experience as a new grad,” said Croff. “The program prepared me to take care of a variety of patients with varying diagnoses. I gained excellent skills in time management, prioritization, communication, and most importantly, patient care.”
Working in a large hospital such as Benefis provides many clinical care opportunities, time with experienced staff, and a strong support system.
“My experience at Benefis was priceless,” said Croff. “I could not have asked for a better start to my career in nursing.”
Benefis was awarded a three year grant in 2010 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration, which partly funds the MAINI program. The Benefis program was one of 31 grants nationwide that were funded by the HRSA that year. So far, three American Indian nurses have graduated from the Benefis program to date. In addition to Croff, Alexis Dustyhorn and Tina Red Star Hendricks graduated from the program.
“For the nurses, the MAINI program aims to improve job satisfaction, decrease orientation time and have a direct impact on how well they will practice at Montana IHS hospitals,” said Leishman-Donahue. “We want to ensure that these nurses can return to their communities and perform with confidence the best possible care for their patients.”
For more information about the MAINI program, call 731-8264 or log on to www.benefis.org and click on the Employment heading.
Topics: nurse, American Indian, internship, Montana
Mon, Dec 10, 2012 @ 03:17 PM
You’re the kind of person who’s in the right place at the right time.
No, I mean it.
Look at yourself. You’re a nurse when it’s a great time to be a nurse. Plus, you’re obviously thinking about your future (You’re reading this article, right?). You want to know where you need to be in 2013 in order to make the most money –– and be in the most demand.
I’ve pulled together the numbers to help you plan your next steps (and determine where your competition lies). These stats from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) may surprise you with some interesting projections.
Where the Jobs Are
If you love med-surg, get ready for some good news. According to the BLS, nurses can expect to find a variety of employment opportunities in privately owned, general medical surgical hospitals. This includes physician’s offices, local medical surgical hospitals, home health care agencies and nursing care homes. Job seeking nurses may also want to consider government agencies, nursing education and administrative roles in hospitals and insurance companies.
Salary Forecast
Although it may not seem like it sometimes, nursing is among the higher paid professions. In May 2010, the average annual median salary for nurses was $64,690 per year (the top 10 percent earned more than $95,130). So how will your salary stack up in the near distant future?
Nurses in private medical surgical hospitals can expect to earn $66,650 per year. Those who work in doctor’s offices, local medical surgical hospitals and home health agencies can all expect a salary just above $60,000.
Where the Competion Will Be
Although anecdotal evidence in the nursing community doesn’t necessarily point to a nursing shortage, statistics show that growth for the nursing profession is expected to increase exponentially by the year 2020. In fact, growth is projected to increase by 26 percent, while all other professions are only expected to grow by 14 percent.
That isn’t to say that some venues aren’t more competitive than others. Hospital nursing is a good place to find a job due to the relatively high turnover of nurses and the progressive aging of retirement-eligible nurses. The competition is expected to be much higher for positions in doctor’s offices and outpatient care centers as well due to the family-friendly shifts and relatively lower patient care demands.
Should You Beef Up Your Credentials?
The demand for nurses with at least a BSN is expected to rise in the US. Additionally, all advanced practice registered nurses, such as certified registered nurse practitioners, nurse midwives and nurse anesthetists are expected to be in higher demand. If you’re looking for the hot jobs in this profession, you would do well to advance your education as far as possible.
References:
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2012-13 Edition, Registered Nurses.
Topics: jobs, 2013, opportunities, RN, nurses
Wed, Dec 05, 2012 @ 05:00 PM
Two nurse practitioner trade associations are joining forces to better advocate for their members and to help their members better advocate for patients.
Beginning next year, nurse practitioners will have a single, collective body representing them in Washington, DC, as well as promoting education and research in the field.
As of January 1, 2013, the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and the American College of Nurse Practitioners will merge to form the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, both organizations announced last week.
“We felt like it was the right time for there to be one national nurse practitioner organization representing all specialties at the national level,” said Angela Golden, president of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. “This new organization gives us the opportunity to have that one strong, unified voice to move good quality patient care forward.”
The new association will also make it easier for nurse practitioners interested in joining a professional organization but confused by which one to join.
“I think the members will continue to see the same strong organization that they’ve come to expect, but nurse practitioners will not have to decide anymore, ‘Do I have to pay membership to two organizations,’” Golden said. “There’s one organization with their best interest at heart, moving things forward.”
By aligning resources and working together, “we’re going to be able to have the best of both worlds,” said Jill Olmstead, former president of ACNP. One of the biggest benefits includes a stronger legislative platform.
“I’m hoping that this will actually give the average nurse practitioner the opportunity to become more involved within their profession and advocate for improved access to patient care,” Olmstead said. “Nurse practitioners are wonderful at advocating for their patients, and I think the organization is trying to help inspire [them] to advocate for their profession.”
With the growing shortage of primary care doctors and new healthcare care laws creating a large contingent of newly insured Americans, nurse practitioners are becoming increasingly pivotal players in the U.S. healthcare system.
“Whether it’s one organization or not, nurse practitioners are so focused on the patient care, and as healthcare reform comes in,” Golden said, “our focus has to stay where it always has been and that’s on our patients.”
Topics: association, AANP, ACNP, advocate, nurse practitioner
Wed, Dec 05, 2012 @ 04:56 PM
By Christine Vestal, Staff Writer
The health center typically has four doctors on duty, but the clinical director, Dr. Randall Bayshore, says his staff would never meet local demand if it weren’t for the two nurse practitioners who provide the same care, to the same number of patients, as the doctors.
Buckingham County is one of roughly 5,800 U.S. communities, with about 55 million residents, that have a shortage of primary care physicians. In these places, many residents are forced to forgo regular checkups and treatment for chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes — harming their overall health.
In 2014, when the new federal health care law extends insurance coverage to 30 million more people, the doctor shortage is likely to get worse. Anticipating this, states and the federal government are offering repayment of medical school loans and other incentives to encourage newly minted doctors to practice primary care in needy areas.
But efforts like these take years to pay off. So as an additional step, states are trying to loosen decades-old licensing restrictions, known as “scope of practice laws,” that prevent nurse practitioners from playing the lead role in providing basic health services.
Nurse practitioners, registered nurses with advanced degrees, are capable of providing primary-care services such as diagnosing and treating illnesses, prescribing medication, ordering tests and referring patients to specialists. But only 18 states and the District of Columbia currently allow nurse practitioners to perform these services independently of a doctor.
A 2010 Institute of Medicine report, “The Future of Nursing,” cited nearly 50 years of academic studies and patient surveys in concluding that primary care provided by nurse practitioners has been as safe and effective as care provided by doctors. But efforts to change “scope of practice” laws to give nurse practitioners more independence have run into stiff opposition.
Organized physician groups, which hold sway in most legislatures, are reluctant to cede professional turf to nurses. Arguing that nurse practitioners lack the necessary level of medical training, they insist that it is unsafe for patients to be treated by nurse practitioners without a doctor’s supervision.
Some doctors also have a financial incentive to limit nurses’ independence. Often carrying heavy medical school loan debt, they can be loath to see their revenue diverted by competing health care services, particularly those with lower fees. The Federal Trade Commission has weighed in on legislative efforts to give nurse practitioners more autonomy in several states, arguing that physician groups have no valid reason for blocking such laws other than to thwart their competition.
Virginia is a case-in-point. After several failed attempts over the last decade, the legislature finally passed a nursing “scope of practice” law in 2011 that doctors and most nurse practitioners in the state say is a step forward. According to its authors, the aim of the law is greater patient access to primary care across the state.
Instead of requiring supervision by a doctor, Virginia’s new law requires nurse practitioners to be part of a doctor-led “patient care team.” And instead of limiting doctors to overseeing just four nurse practitioners, the law allows them to work with up to six. Most important, it removes a requirement that doctors regularly work in the same location as the nurses they supervise. Instead, the statute allows doctors and nurses in separate locations to use telemedicine techniques to collaborate.
The American Medical Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians have called Virginia’s first-of-its-kind law a model for other states that still require on-site doctor supervision of nurse practitioners.
According to Dr. Cynthia Romero, who was president of the Virginia Medical Society when it negotiated with the Virginia Council of Nurse Practitioners to create the law, “the turning point was when both sides realized that the primary focus had to be what was best for patients.” She says the new law is a step forward for patients and builds a bridge between doctors and nurses. “The road ahead is limitless,” she says.
Mark Coles, the chief negotiator for the nurse practitioners' council, is less enthusiastic but says the law represents progress. “It gives us a seat at the table in the legislature for future improvements,” he says.
But in certain parts of the state, nurse practitioners say the new law may be a step in the wrong direction. They worry about new language that requires them to consult with supervising doctors on all “complex” cases. Although rules scheduled to be released next month may clarify which cases are considered complex, some nurse practitioners fear the definition may be subject to differing interpretations.
The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and other nursing organizations recently issued a position paper opposing the whole idea of requiring nurse practitioners to join a doctor-led team if they want to practice to the full extent of their training.
“We broadly support team-based care when it reflects the needs of patients, says Tay Kopanos, head of government affairs for the academy. But when a nurse practitioner can’t bring her best efforts to a clinic without joining a doctor’s team, Kopanos says, “we do not support it.”
About 300 miles southwest of Buckingham County – in the Appalachian Mountains where Virginia shares borders with Tennessee and Kentucky—the shortage of health care providers is profound. Working out of a converted recreational vehicle known as the Health Wagon, two nurse practitioners, Teresa Gardner and Paula Meade, do their best to serve a four-county region where idle coal mines have left many jobless and without health insurance.
The non-profit Health Wagon, started in 1980 by a Catholic missionary, has expanded its reach over the years to meet the growing demand of a population that is sicker than most in the country. But the steep and winding roads, often coated with heavy snow and ice in winter, make it dangerous and sometimes impossible to reach everyone in need.
At the Central Virginia Community Health Center in Buckingham County, where doctors and nurses practice side-by-side, the new Virginia law may not present a problem. The kind of ongoing collaboration between doctors and nurse practitioners called for in the law happens naturally in the course of every day. The same thing goes for doctors and nurse practitioners working together in hospital settings.
But, Meade says, team collaboration could be dicey in the hollers of Appalachia. “I’d love to start every day with a multi-disciplinary team meeting,” she says. “Nothing would make me happier.” Driving a mobile unit along treacherous highways and seeing at least 45 patients every day in cramped quarters, however, doesn’t leave much time for meetings.
What she and Gardner fear most is the requirement in the Virginia law that nurse practitioners consult their lead doctor on all “complex” cases. Gardner and Meade collaborate with each other throughout every day and they often seek advice from their volunteer supervisor, Dr. Joseph Smiddy, who at 70 years old, still has a day job practicing medicine across the border in Kingsport, Tennessee.
“Dr. Smiddy would murder me if I called him every time a complex case walked through the door,” Gardner says. “They’re all complex. Most of them are train wrecks. I’d love to treat someone with a common cold.”
For his part, Smiddy says any law that would increase the pressure on nurse practitioners willing to work in remote mountain areas has got to be the wrong approach. He plans to ask his lawyer to review the statute to see whether it increases his own medical liability as a volunteer team leader.
He agrees that nearly all of the Health Wagon’s cases are complex, no matter how the law defines that term. The area has a high incidence of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, prescription drug abuse and mental illness. More than a few patients have 10 diagnoses, Smiddy says, and many are on 30 different medications.
“Teresa and Paula are brilliant doctors," Smiddy says. "They need to be a national example – a model for how to do it for the rest of the country… We’re not ever going to have enough doctors willing to ride around in a mobile unit the way they do. They’re the real deal. We need to do everything we can to support them.” he says.
Topics: patient, doctor, nurse practitioner
Wed, Dec 05, 2012 @ 03:20 PM
When Delia Jasso began her first class in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program in spring 2012 at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College, she gained a vision of a better, healthier future for her family, her patients and herself.
Jasso, 39, is a registered nurse who took classes online from her home in Donna. She will graduate with a 4.0 grade point average and receive her bachelor’s degree in nursing on Dec. 15 at the university’s 2012 Winter Commencement on the Cardenas South Hall Lawn.
“In a lot of places, they won’t hire you if you don’t have a bachelor’s degree,” Jasso said. “This program has given me the skills to be an effective leader in any future nursing position I apply for. I believe my quality of life has drastically improved not only for me but for my family and patients as well.”
The RN-BSN Program provides registered nurses the opportunity to obtain a bachelor’s degree in nursing by taking courses online. The deadline to apply for the program for the spring semester is Dec. 9.
“Being in the program taught me a lot about my potential for leadership as a nurse,” she said. “It’s taught me how to be an informal as well as a formal leader in my working environment.”
Jasso wants to set an example for her six siblings that a good education is vital for a better quality of life.
“I come from a very poor, migrant family,” she said. “I had to work in the fields since I was 11. When I turned 18, I promised myself I would never go back there; I would never give up. I’m pushing my brothers and sisters so hard to educate themselves. You have to get off your feet, educate yourself and improve your life. That’s what I’m doing.”
Jasso worked for 14 years as a surgical technician under Dr. Leonard Tesoro at his otolaryngology clinic in McAllen. During that period her employer saw her potential as a healthcare professional and consistently urged her to continue her education.
“Dr. Tesoro pushed me to go back to school; he gave me many opportunities to go back to school and keep my job,” said Jasso. “I’ve always been the sort of person to help those in medical need, and working with him as a surgical tech made me realize I could do much more as a nurse.”
Jasso received her nursing certification in 2010 and after working for a year she enrolled at UTB and TSC.
“We go into the nursing profession because we’re caring individuals,” said Jasso. “We need to take care of our population and promote help. Before the BSN program, I never thought about what my community needs, but now I’ve realized the ways I can help these vulnerable areas with little innovations such as teaching in our communities.”
Jasso plans to continue her education after she graduates because she said she feels that nurses have a responsibility to be as well educated as possible.
For more information about the RN-BSN online program, contact Lourdes Requena at (956) 882-5070 to schedule an appointment.
Topics: RN, nurse, bachelor degree, online
Wed, Dec 05, 2012 @ 03:12 PM
South Georgians struggling with unemployment can now get job training in Albany in a field struggling to find enough workers.
Certified Nurse Assistant job openings are plentiful.
Take a look at the help wanted pages, and you will see openings for nurse assistants. The American Red Cross is now offering nurse assistant training in Albany and urges people in need of a job to consider it.
Denise McCray learns the proper way to turn a heavy weight patient during American Red Cross nurse assistant training.
McCray was laid off from her previous job nearly one year ago, and found she needed job skills to land a rewarding profession.
"It's been kind of hard. You put in applications everywhere but nobody's answering. So just looking and looking. When I found out about this here at Red Cross, I took advantage of it," said Denise McCray, Nurse Assistant Trainee.
The American Red Cross nurse assistant training meets daily for four weeks and instructors say several employers keep in touch needing their graduates.
"Phoebe, the nursing homes in the area and a lot of the home health care have current job openings now. And it stays pretty steady with the market around here," said American Red Cross Nurse Assistant Training Instructor Laurie Denham.
Nurse assistant training is becoming more often a requirement for admission into RN nursing education programs and the job opportunities are expected to increase in the future.
"Especially in long term care, as medical advances continue and of course people live longer, we have more and more older people and nursing homes are full. So it supplies jobs for a very long time," said Denham.
McCray is optimistic she will be able to land a quality job after her graduation. And she's glad it's more than just a job.
"Because I have a passion for taking care of people, and it's just something I wanted to do," said McCray,
Instructors say nurse assistant can be a tough job, but a very satisfying one, providing care to people in need. And the job opportunity is good and promises to be better in the future.
The cost for the American Red Cross nurse assistant training is $799, but they have received some donations that could help some with those tuition costs.
The next nurse assistant training class begins January 7th.
For more information call 229-924-2031 or email ganat@redcross.org.
Topics: red cross, nurse assisant training
