DiversityNursing Blog

www.bestmedicalassistantprograms.org

There are a number of fantastic nursing blogs on the internet. Whether you’re an aspiring nurse, a working nurse, or a curious patient, you are sure to be entertained by these sites. We have narrowed down a list of the top 100 nursing blogs online to give you plenty of reading material for the future. Prepare yourself for hours of education and entertainment.

Top General Nursing Blogs

The Nursing Site Blog
The Nursing Site Blog is just one of those sites that you have to read as a nurse. We love it because it constantly has new articles to read, from helpful advice to healthcare news and more. The blog is run by public health nurse Kathy Quan, RN. Kathy has been in the nursing industry for more than 30 years now, and you can see evidence of her experience on her site. Kathy has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and most of her working life has been spent in hospice and home health care. She shares her stories and lessons learned on her blog, along with other information that any nurse would love to read. 

The National Nurse for Public Health
The National Nurse for Public Health is a blog run by The National Nursing Network Organization. This is an organization that is working hard to create a better working environment for professionals in the public health industry. The blog provides news updates for work that the organization is doing, as well as other news from the nursing sector. The commentary on here comes from doctors, nurses, and other important workers in healthcare. 

Scrubs Mag
Scrubs Mag is considered the “The Nurses Guide to Good Living.” The name may sound like a catalog for working attire, but the information within this site is far from that. Scrubs Mag offers a wide range of helpful articles for new, existing, and future nurses, including style secrets to keep you looking great on the job. There are a number of writers who work for Scrubs Mag, so you can see everything from career advice to personal stories on the site. You can even sign up for free giveaways to get cool outfits, accessories, and tools to use on the job. 

Confident Voices in Health Care
Confident Voices in Health Care is a blog run by Beth Boynton. Beth is a published author and nurse consultant who specializes in communication and collaboration in the healthcare industry. What we love about Beth’s blog is the fact that it offers advice for patients and professionals alike to ensure that everyone works together in harmony. Many of Beth’s posts are about her medical improv workshops, where she helps healthcare workers become better speakers and listeners through improvisational training. Confident Voices also features articles from many a number of credible guest bloggers who share their insights into nursing and healthcare. 

Nursetopia is a blog written for nurses by nurses. It is designed to honor these wonderful members of the healthcare world and showcase their influence on the modern world. The articles in the blog cover nursing news, career advice, business help, personal stories, art, freebies, and more. You always get a chance to see something different when you come here. Nursetopia is one of the most active blogs on our site, and it is one you will see in countless blogrolls from other bloggers on here. We’re subscribed to it for a reason. 

Nurse Together
Nurse Together is a fun and informative blog run by a team of nurses. The bloggers here range from nurse educators to RNs and beyond. While we may love the site for its blog-like articles, Nurse Together also offers a job board, nursing school guide, discussion panel, and much more. The Nurse Together Facebook page has more than 21,000 fans, showing just how much people love visiting this site. There are new blog posts on here every day, so you can always look forward to something new to read. 

Lippincott’s Nursing Center
Lippincott’s Nursing Center is a site dedicated to helping nurses be the best workers they can be. The site is home to more than 50 nursing journals online, including the American Journal of Nursing, Nursing2014, Nursing Management and The Nurse Practitioner: The American Journal of Primary Health Care. In addition to these peer reviewed journals, Lippincott’s Nursing Center features more than 1,300 continuing education activities for nurses, making it easy to maintain a career as a nurse here. The authors on the site are mostly advanced practice nurses and registered nurses who share their career expertise with the world. 

Off the Charts
Off the Charts is a product of the American Journal of Nursing. It mostly provides news updates and research study reports for the nursing community. With this in mind, you can also find a number of helpful career advice articles on this site. Some popular categories for posts on here include patient engagement, healthcare, medical prices, nursing research, nursing perspective, and more. Off the Charts is authored by a number of nursing professionals, most of whom have a graduate level education. The blog commonly highlights influential nurses from the past to inspire nurses of the future. 

Not Nurse Ratched
Not Nurse Ratched is a wonderful nursing blog that has been around since 2007. The blog is run by a writer, nurse, and medical editor who enjoys “investigating ways to save time.” The articles on here fit into categories like applications, gadgets, technology, personal, medical, humor, and more. Most of the articles are written with a great sense of humor, which is sometimes hard to find in healthcare blogs. 

Nursing Stories
Nursing Stories is a heartfelt blog about one woman’s experiences in nursing. Marianna Crane, the blogger, has been in nursing for over 40 years, and she now uses her blog to share her stories from the past and present. She has been a certified adult nurse practitioner since 1981, and she has a passion for writing that is evident in her blog posts. Marianna says, “My goal for this blog is to encourage nurses to boast.” You can get inspired to be a better nurse thanks to this woman and the great stories she shares on her blog. 

The Nursing Show
The Nursing Show is more than just a blog. It is a compilation of entertaining videos about nursing. Each episode teaches a new lesson about this ever-changing career, from getting through college to dealing with tough patients. The episodes are included in short, easy-to-read articles that summarize what the videos are about. There are already more than 300 episodes of The Nursing Show for you to watch, so you don’t have to worry about getting bored on this site. 

Advances in Nurse Science Blog
The Advances in Nurse Science Blog is tied to a nursing publication that comes out four times a year (appropriately titled Advances in Nursing Science). The blog allows readers to discuss big issues that are mentioned in ANS so that they can understand and expand upon these ideas. The ANS journal was founded back in 1978 by Peggy L. Chinn, RN, PhD, FAAN. It has been in publication ever since, but the blog was a much more recent addition to the ANS world. 

Reality RN
Reality RN is a pretty interesting blog because it is run entirely by new nurses. You may not think these men and women have a lot to share about their experiences, but they convey what “reality” is like for people who are new to this profession. If you are a nursing student worried about what you might be getting yourself into, this blog should be able to answer all of your questions. Best of all, there is a great list of “must read” blogs on the home page that link to even more top nursing blogs online. 

AllTop – Nursing
This site doesn’t exactly fit the “norm,” but we thought it was important to put it on our list. Essentially AllTop is just a directory for other websites, but it shows you the most recent posts from many nursing blogs online. It’s a one-stop-shop for nursing tips and news online, and it features the work of several other sites on our top 100 nursing blogs list. If you want to stay updated on other topics from around the web, AllTop has plenty of other categories for you to explore.

Diversity Nursing
Diversity Nursing offers a number of helpful articles and services for nursing professionals. The blog on the site features news information and career tips for nurses, but the site as a whole has a job board, college guide, and much more. There is even a forum on the site where nurses, patients, and nursing students can discuss important issues in healthcare. Diversity Nursing started off as a basic job board back in 2007, but it has grown to be so much more since then. You can even use this site to post a resume so you might get a better job in the future. Here is a look at some memorable posts from the Diversity Nursing blog:

• Disabilities in Children Increase, Physical Problems Decline
• New Device Will Help Monitor Parkinson’s Patients
• 7 Surprising Facts from a School Nurse

Nursing Ideas
Nursing Ideas is a blog that covers a variety of variety of nursing related topics. The blog was started back in 2008 as an online resource for nursing students. Rob Fraser, the blog’s founder, began writing articles for the blog while he was an undergraduate nursing student at Ryerson University. In 2013, Rob refocused the blog to be more about professional interviews so that his readers could see what life is really like as a nurse in today’s world. 

Soliant Health is a healthcare staffing company that offers some great advice for nursing professionals around the country. You don’t have to be a member of the Soliant Health network to benefit from the articles on their blog. Even if you already have a job as a nurse, you could learn from some of the news articles and tips on the blog. If you are in fact looking for a job, you can look through the job board on Soliant Health to see what opportunities may be available for you. 

Nursing Daily
Nursing Daily is a fairly new blog, especially compared to other sites on our list. Nevertheless, it has already developed a great reputation in the nursing community, and we’re hoping it sticks around for years to come. Nursing Daily is dedicated to providing “nursing tips, advice, and humor” for anyone who wants to read it. Many of the posts on here are quick, simple images that will make you chuckle a little about life as a nurse. 

The Nurse Path
The Nurse Path is a beautiful, entertaining, and inspiring blog that is dedicated entirely to nurses. The blog features a number of categories, including: nurse mind, nursing skills, health and fitness, technology, funnybone, and more. The motto for this site is “helping nurses find the way,” and every article here is evidently doing just that. You’ll find at least one new post a week on this blog to read and learn from, so this is definitely worth putting in your RSS reader. 

Living Sublime Wellness
Living Sublime Wellness is a blog dedicated to transforming the nursing community for the better. The blog is authored by Elizabeth Scala, an RN with an MSN/MBA and years of working experience as a nurse. Elizabeth is a public speaker who visits nursing associations, hospitals, and other healthcare organizations to teach people what they can do to make their working environments better for nurses. Living Sublime Wellness features a lot of great resources for current and future nurses, making it a great site to visit no matter where you are in your career. 

RTConnections Nurse Blog
The RTConnections Nurse Blog is designed to connect all members of the nursing world so they can educate and inspire one another to do better in their careers. This blog is particularly beneficial for new nurses because they can read stories from experienced professionals that they may aspire to become. One of the big focuses on this blog is nurse bullying, which has become a hot topic of discussion over the last few years. You can learn ways to avoid and prevent bullying in the work place by reading some of the posts on RTConnections. 

Dear Nurses
Dear Nurses is essentially a portal for several sites under the “Dear Nurses” umbrella. These sites are all focused on educating nurses through captivating illustrations. Dear Nurses combines simple graphics with helpful information to show nurses how to improve their skills and services. It also contains multi-part educational series that expand upon other posts they have on their sites. Dear Nurses has been online since 2006, and it has grown significantly in that time. 

Your Career Nursing
Your Career Nursing is centered around the idea of helping nurses improve their careers. The articles here teach nurses of all stages about the skills and processes they need to succeed in this profession. There are several categories of posts to choose from here, including education, entrepreneurship, lifestyle, networking, nursing success stories, online learning, unique nursing jobs, and more. No matter who you are, you can find something to like here.

Source:www.bestmedicalassistantprograms.org

By Marijke Durning

THE BASICS

Higher education is a key requirement for nurses as the U.S. healthcare environment grows ever-more reliant on technology and specialized skills. There are three common academic pathways toward becoming a registered nurse (RN): the nursing diploma, associate degree (ADN) and bachelor’s degree (BSN).

Following completion of one of these programs, graduates must pass the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) and satisfy state licensing requirements to begin work as an RN. Bridge programs, such as LPN-to-RN and ADN-to-BSN, allow nurses to move ahead in their nursing careers.

Each choice of training program is distinct and offers levels of education to qualify graduates for increasingly responsible roles in nursing practice. This guide is designed to break down the step-by-step process for becoming an RN, including the various routes possible on this career roadmap. Included is an overview of potential specializations and certifications for those interested in moving beyond basic nursing duties. Below are estimates for RN salaries and job growth as well as tools to help prospective nurses search for online and traditional educational programs.

WHAT DOES A REGISTERED NURSE DO?

More than 2.7 million registered nurses are employed in the United States, and nearly 30 percent work in hospitals, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Other RNs work in clinics, physicians’ offices, home health care settings, critical and long-term care facilities, governmental organizations, the military, schools and rehabilitation agencies.

Duties include administering direct care to patients, assisting physicians in medical procedures, providing guidance to family members and leading public health educational efforts. Depending on assignment and education, an RN may also operate medical monitoring or treatment equipment and administer medications. With specialized training or certifications, RNs may focus on a medical specialty, such as geriatric, pediatric, neonatal, surgical or emergency care. Registered nurses work in shifts that run around the clock, on rotating or permanent schedules, and overtime and emergency hours can be unpredictable. Registered nurses are required to complete ongoing education to maintain licensing, and they may choose to return to college to complete a bachelor’s degree or master’s degree with the goal of moving into advanced nursing practice roles or health care administration.

THE STEPS: BECOMING A REGISTERED NURSE

Step 1: COMPLETE AN APPROVED NURSING PROGRAM

Anyone who wants to be an RN must finish a nurse training program. Options include programs that award nursing diplomas, associate and bachelor’s degrees. An associate degree in nursing (ADN) typically takes from two to three years to complete. Accelerated nursing degree programs could potentially shorten the time required. A bachelor’s degree in nursing (BSN) takes about four years of full-time study to complete, or two years for those in an ADN-to-BSN program. While the structure and content of these training programs differs, they should feature the opportunity to gain supervised clinical experience.

Students may initially only have the time and money to complete a two-year program, but they might later decide to convert their ADN to a BSN degree. Or, students may leap directly into a four-year BSN program if they plan on moving into roles in administration, advanced nursing, nursing consulting, teaching or research. Nursing students complete courses such as the following:

• Anatomy
• Biochemistry
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Computer literacy
• Health care law and ethics
• Mathematics
• Microbiology
• Nutrition
• Patient care
• Psychology

A bachelor’s degree program may also include courses on specific health populations, leadership, health education and an overview of potential specializations. A four-year bachelor’s degree program could require liberal arts courses and training in critical thinking and communication to complete the curriculum. Bachelor’s programs can broaden nursing experience beyond the hospital setting. According to the BLS, some employers require newly appointed RNs to hold a bachelor’s degree.

Step 2: PASS THE NCLEX-RN

Accredited undergraduate nursing degree or diploma programs alike are designed to prepare students to sit for the NCLEX examination. Upon graduation, aspiring RNs should register with the National Council of State Boards of Nursing to sign up for the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses. Candidates receive an Authorization to Test notification before the exam. At the exam, rigorous verification of candidates' identity may include biometric scanning.

This computerized exam has an average of 119 test items to be completed within a six-hour time limit. Examinees who do not pass must wait from 45 days to three months to re-take the exam. According to the California Board of Registered Nursing, students who take the exam right after graduation have a higher chance of passing.

Step 3: OBTAIN A STATE LICENSE

Every state and the District of Columbia require that employed registered nurses hold current licenses. However, requirements vary by state, so students should contact their state board of nursing or nurse licensing to determine exact procedures. In some states, RNs need to complete the NCLEX-RN, meet state educational requirements and pass a criminal background check. The National Council of State Boards of Nursing maintains a listing of licensing requirements on its website.

Step 4: PURSUE ADDITIONAL TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION (OPTIONAL)

For professionals who decide to become advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), a BSN degree provides an academic stepping-stone to master’s degree programs. There are also bridge programs for students who only hold a two-year nursing degree and RN licensure but wish to enroll in graduate programs.

Those with master's degrees may qualify for positions such as certified nurse specialists, nurse anesthetists, nurse practitioners (NPs) and nurse midwives. It's important to research evolving professional requirements. For example, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing proposes that NPs should earn a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree. A DNP or a PhD degree may appeal to nursing professionals who seek positions as scientific researchers or university professors in the nursing sciences. RNs may also seek certifications in a medical specialty such as oncology. Certifications are offered by non-governmental organizations attesting to nurses' qualifications in fields such as critical care, acute care, nursing management or other advanced areas.

To learn more about RN statistics, jobs, salary and other information CLICK HERE. 

Source: www.learnhowtobecome.org

A study commissioned by Herman Miller Healthcare showed that nurses walk up to four miles a day on their shift. Much of this is due to supplies not being readily available and the need for better communication, like keeping tabs patient location. Technology is beginning to make the job of the nurse easier by giving them better information, leading to less steps.

Real Time Locating Systems

Real Time Locating Systems, also known as RTLS, uses small tags attached to devices, making them easier to find. For example, a typical scenario finds the nurse walking from room to room to locate a blood pressure machine for use in their rounds. With an RTLS tag, the nurse can locate the machine on a dashboard at the nurses station. They may still have to walk to the end of the unit to retrieve the machine, but it will be a direct route.

Patient Locators

Similar to RTLS are devices that patients can wear to indicate their location, according to Villanova University. Tracking down a patient can be time consuming on a busy nursing unit. A nursing aid that has taken a patient to physical therapy and radiology calls up for the patient to come down for a test. The locator tags can prevent the hunting down of people who know where Mr. Johnson is by indicating that he is in PT.

Another use suggested for these locator tags is in monitoring patients who may wander out of their rooms and be difficult to track. Mental health units, neurology units and Alzheimer's treatment centers benefit from these devices.

Tools in Your Pocket

With smartphones and tablets, you can have a number of tools in your pocket to help you get through your day easier.

The Pocket Pharmacist is available for your iPhone, and gives you a drug reference list with interactions. Calculate by QxMD uses current clinical decision trees to determine the best course of treatment.

Other tools to help you with your nursing career include a wage calculator by Intuit to help you precisely calculate your time and paycheck amount, which is handy for those extra shifts and holiday hours you're asked to work. ShiftPlanning is a nursing shift scheduling tool that the charge nurse will find useful for tracking time and adjusting schedules.

Mobile Devices and EHR

Electronic Health Records (EHR) became mandatory as of January 1, 2014, notes USF Health. Institutions must begin making patient records available online. A study by American EHR on more than 800 health practitioners showed that 33 percent with access to EHR used a tablet to access patient information.

As tablets and mobile charts become more available on nursing units, the constant walking back and forth between patient and their information is reduced. Devices such as the iPad EHR by drChrono allow bedside status updates to be made once vitals and other observations are completed.

Patient Workflow

Nursing Critical Care highlights a software system used in a Pennsylvania hospital that helps save steps during a patient's discharge. When the patient is ready to be released, the nurse uses a workflow panel to contact the transportation department to pick up the patient. Once they have arrived and are leaving with the patient, they use the panel to contact the cleaning crew. Once the room is clean, they use the panel to contact the admitting patient, to tell them the room is ready. This keeps the nurse from walking to the room to see the status, so they can report back to admitting that the room is ready for the next patient.