DiversityNursing Blog

By: The Advisory Board Company

The health care industry added 32,000 jobs in February, accounting for 13.6% of the 236,000 nonfarm jobs created last month, according to preliminary data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

In comparison, revised BLS data show that the health industry added just 13,000 jobs in January, partly because the agency now estimates that hospitals lost about 3,100 jobs in January.

Latest report shows hiring across industry

Within the health sector, physician offices and outpatient health centers experienced the biggest gains in February, adding about 14,000 jobs for the month, according to BLS. Meanwhile, ambulatory health care services added 13,700 jobs in February, down from 26,700 in January. 

The agency also found:

• Hospitals created 8,900 jobs in February;
• Home health care added 6,100 jobs, up from 5,700 new jobs in January; and
• Nursing homes added 9,000 new workers.

Overall, the national unemployment rate last month dropped to a four-year low of 7.7% (Selvam, Modern Healthcare, 3/8 [subscription required]; Baker, "Healthwatch," The Hill, 3/8).

1. January 27th is School Nurse Day. Planning on flowers? Chocolates? Didn’t think so.

2. The most visits to emergency rooms occur during the warmer months of the year.

3. According to the latest data available to the World Health Organization, Finland, Norway, Monaco, Ireland and Belarus have, in that order, the highest ratios of nurses per capita of all nations, ranging from 2162 to 1182 nurses per 100,000 people.

4. The National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses was formed in 1908.

5. According to a 2001 World Health Organization report, the number of psychiatric nurses in poor countries is about 0.1 per 100,000 persons.

6. In 1783 a black slave named James Derham worked as a nurse in New Orleans, eventually earning enough money to buy his freedom and move to Philadelphia, where he studied medicine and became a doctor.

7. Men and women between the ages of 25 and 44 account for 33 percent of all people in the U. S. who come to emergency rooms with injury-related wounds.

8. Linda Richards became the first nurse to earn a nursing diploma in the United States in 1873.

9. In 1846 the first hospital training school for nurses, the Institute for Protestant Deaconesses, was established in the town of Kaiserwerth, Germany.

10. The National Association of School Nurses recommends nurse-to-student ratios should be one to 750 for general populations, one to 250 in mainstreamed populations and 1 to 125 in severely handicapped populations.

11. According to a recent World Health Organization report, the United States spends more money, as a ratio of GNP, on health care than any country, followed closely by Lebanon and Zimbabwe.

12. “When we are well, we all have good advice for those who are ill.” Terence, from The Woman of Andros (166 B.C.)

13. In a 2001 survey done by the ANA/NursingWorld.com, 45% of nurses expressed fear of getting a potentially deadly disease as one of their top three occupational health concerns.

14. Nursing is one of the fastest growing occupations in the U.S.

15. According to the latest data available to the World Health Organization, Nepal, Liberia, Central African Republic, Haiti and Bangladesh have, in that order, the lowest ratios of nurses per capita of all nations, ranging from 5 to 11 nurses per 100,000 people.

16. One out of every four registered nurses works part time.

17. The American Nurses Association, first known as the Nurses Associated Alumnae, was started in 1898.

18. The New England Hospital for Women and Children, established in 1862, was the first school for nursing in the U.S.

19. The order of the Brothers of Mercy was founded in 1538 by Juan Ciudad. (b. 1495. d. 1550.)

20. One out of every five licensed practical nurses works part time.

21. During the months that school is out, emergency room visits from children under 14 years old rise by 18 percent.

22. The demand for registered nurses is expected to rise 21 to 35 percent through the first decade of the 21st century.

23. “The charity that is a trifle to us can be precious to others.” Homer, from The Odyssey (9th Century, B.C.).

24. There were 358 existing master’s of nursing programs in the U.S. in 2002, comprising 9% of all registered nurses.

25. In a 2001 survey done by the ANA/NursingWorld.com, 59% of nurses expressed fear of getting a severe back injury as one of their top three occupational health concerns.

26. Around 500 A. D. the Benedictine nursing order was founded by Saint Benedict.

27. There were 75 existing doctorate of nursing programs in the U.S. in 2002, comprising 0.6% of all registered nurses.

28. There were 1,100 existing practical nursing programs in the U.S. in 2002.

29. The average annual earnings for registered nurses was $44,840 in 2000.

30. In 1996, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) reported that one million workers are assaulted every year in the workplace and that “Most of these assaults occur in service settings such as hospitals, nursing homes, and social service agencies.”

31. In 1898 the British Army formed the Royal Army Medical Corp.

32. According to the latest data available to the World Health Organization, Ireland, Seychelles, Maldives, Philippines and Azerbaijan have, in that order, the highest ratios of midwives per capita of all nations, ranging from 411.0 to 137.0 midwives per 100,000 people.

33. In 1947, Florence Blanchfield, a nurse, became the first female regular commissioned officer in the United States Army, assigned as the superintendent of the Army Nurse Corp. (b. 1882. d. 1971).

34. There are approximately 567,000 bicycle-related injuries each year that require emergency room attention.

35. 29 Victoria Crosses have been awarded to British medical personnel.

36. The United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting (UKCC) has been the main regulatory institution of nursing training and standards in the British since 1983.

37. “It is one of the beautiful compensations of this life that no one can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.” Charles Dudley Warner, from “Fifth Study,” Backlog Studies (1873).

38. You know you are a nurse when you baste your Thanksgiving turkey with a Toomey syringe.

39. According to a 2001 World Health Organization report, nurses and midwives can comprise between 50% to 90% of the number of health practitioners in many countries.

40. The American College of Nurse-Midwives was formed in 1955.

41. The National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC), recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as the national accrediting body of nursing education programs of all types, oversees over 1,900 different programs.

42. “If you would live in health, be old early.” – a Spanish proverb.

43. Walt Whitman’s service as a nurse during the American Civil War inspired many of his poems, including Memoranda During the War (b. 1819 d. 1892).

44. According to the latest data available to the World Health Organization, the country of Nepal has the lowest ratio of nurses per capita in the world, with 5.0 per 100,000 people.

45. The first nursing school in history dates back to 250 B.C. and was located in India.

46. An associate’s degree in nursing (ADN) takes about 2 to 3 years to earn.

47. Clara Louise Maass is famous for serving as a contract nurse during the Spanish American War. (b. 1876 d. 1901).

48. The largest demand for licensed practical nurses through 2110 will be in nursing homes.

49. 17th century shipwreck survivor Juan de Mena is considered the first nurse in the New World.

50. The average starting wage for a certified registered nurse anesthetist is over $50,000.

Would you believe how many babies this 18th century midwife delivered successfully?  –>

51. According to a recent World Health Organization report, 93 member countries of the United Nations annually spend less than $100 per capita on health care, 56 member countries spend less than $500 per capita and 26 member countries spend over $1000 per capita.

52. The Teutonic Knights, the Knights of Lazarus and the Knights Hospitalers were all orders that organized male nurses to tend to sick and wounded.

53. Second Lieutenant Edward Lynn, in 1955, was the first male to be commissioned in the United States Army Nurse Corp.

54. Around nine million children visit emergency rooms in the U.S. each year due to injuries.

55. “To preserve a man alive in the midst of so many chances and hostilities, is as great a miracle as to create him.” Jeremy Taylor, from The Rule and Exercise of Holy Dying (1651).

56. In October of 1902, Lina Rogers Struthers became the first school nurse in the United States.

57. The second week of May is National Nursing Home Week.

58. A bachelor of science degree in nursing (BSN) takes about 4 to 5 years.

59. Lucretia Lester was a midwife for 34 years, between 1745 and 1779, and is reputed to have helped deliver 1,300 children, of which only two were lost.

60. The Knights Hospitalers was founded in 1119 to protect a hospital build in Jerusalem and also provided nursing care.

61. Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross in 1881. (b. 1821 d. 1912).

62. A 1996 survey done by the Department of Health and Human Services found that 95% of all working nurses are female.

63. The U.S. Army Nurse Corp was started in 1901.

64. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, open wounds are the leading diagnosis for injury-related visits to emergency rooms.

65. Why did the nurse keep the bedpan in the refrigerator? Because when she kept it in the freezer it took too much skin off.

66. There were about 700,000 jobs for licensed practical nurses in the year 2000.

67. According to a recent World Health Organization report, the United States, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark and Germany, respectively, annually spend the most money per capita on health care.

68. About three out of every five registered nurses work in hospitals.

69. The fourth week of May is National Nurses Week.

70. There are more nurses than any other workers in the health profession.

71. “When a man is ill his very goodness is sickly.” Nietzsche, The Will to Power (1888).

72. A 1996 survey done by the Department of Health and Human Services found that only 10% of working nurses represent minorities.

73. There were 86 existing diploma for nursing programs in the U.S. in 2002, comprising 27% of all registered nurses.

74. You know you are a nurse when you think giving your patients TLC means giving them Thorazine, Lorazepam and Compazine.

75. The training time it takes to become a licensed practical nurse is about one year.

76. Traumatic wounds account for around 11 million visits to the emergency room each year.

77. The Canadian Victorian Order of Nurses was founded in 1897 in honor of Queen Victoria of England’s Diamond Jubilee.

78. Mary Todd Lincoln, the wife of Abraham Lincoln, was a volunteer nurse during the American Civil War (b. 1818 d. 1882).

79. There were about 2,200,000 jobs for registered nurses in the year 2000.

80. If you see a nurse smiling when things go wrong, she is probably going off duty.

81. May 8th is National Student Nurses’ Day.

82. According to a 2001 World Health Organization report, the number of psychiatric nurses in developed countries is about 33.5 per 100,000 persons.

83. The first week of May is National Hospital Week and Health Care Administrators’ Week.

84. In the various U.S. Military branches, approximately one-third of all nurses are male.

85. In 2000, there were 57,954 school nurses looking out for the health of 52 million students.

86. The Nurses Registration Act of 1919 established the first oversight of nursing training and standards in Great Britain.

87. There were 885 existing associate’s degrees for nursing programs in the U.S. in 2002, comprising 32.0% of all registered nurses.

88. According to the latest data available to the World Health Organization, the United States has a ratio of 972 nurses per 100,000 people, or about the same as Germany and Uzbekistan.

89. In a 2001 survey done by the ANA/NursingWorld.com, 51% of nurses said they worked an average of 41 to 60 hours per week.

90. Mary Seacole, a self-taught nurse, was famous for establishing a hotel for invalids close to the front during the Crimean War.

91. In a 2001 survey done by the ANA/NursingWorld.com, nurses said they spent 62% of their time in direct patient care.

92. Anne L. Austin was a famous historian of nursing (b. 1891 d. 1986).

93. Florence Nightingale, the most famous nurse in modern history, was only a nurse for three years of her life (b. 1820 d. 1910).

94. Saint Camillus de Lellis established a Catholic order called the Fathers of a Good Death in 1584 to tend to the terminally ill, and is also reputed to have designed the red cross on a white background symbol and to have developed the first ambulance (b. 1550 d. 1614).

95. The average annual earnings for licensed practical nurses was $29,440 in 2000.

96. Mary Eliza Mahoney became the first African American nurse in 1879 (b. 1845 d. 1926).

97. There were 695 existing baccalaureate of nursing programs in the U.S. in 2002, comprising 31% of all registered nurses.

98. You know you are a nurse when you find yourself complimenting a complete stranger on his veins.

99. The demand for licensed practical nurses is expected to rise 10 to 20 percent through the first decade of the 21st century.

100. In a 2001 survey done by the ANA/NursingWorld.com, 71% of nurses selected ‘acute/chronic effects of stress and overwork’ as one of their top three occupational health concerns.

101. You know you are in trouble when it’s your first night shift in three years and there’s a full moon.

Which states will need nurses most in 2013?

 

by Crystal Owens

By Bobby Shuttleworth

At Calhoun Community College, nursing students are looking forward to the day they get their certification, degree and begin in the work force. While some will end up in a traditional role, others may look forward to adventure.

Brian Soloman is ready to get into a career and be with his children. 

"I would like to go on to possibly UAH and consider even pursuing a nurse practitioner," said Soloman.

Takicha Barrett said her goals revolve around the very young. 

"My plan is to successfully obtain a job, hopefully in the pediatrics department. I love kids," she said.

Soloman said he's heard of exotic locations, but he wants to stay home with his children.   He said those locations are everywhere. 

"...On oil rigs, people that are offshore. And there's even contractors that are in the Middle East or in the theatre in Afghanistan and that were in Iraq; some of the companies have also hired out nurses," he said.

Bret McGill is the Dean of the Health Sciences Division at Calhoun Community College. He said the options are almost limitless.   

"A couple of jobs that come to mind, one is a school nurse and just about every school has an LPN or an RN that works to take care of children and administer medications," said McGill.

One of the areas people may not be familiar with is in the industrial setting.

Candy Fall is an occupational nurse at BP. She's worked at several industries before honing her skills here with a focus on wellness. She writes articles for the corporate newsletter, an internal TV station, and much more.  

"This particular plant, I'm responsible for medical surveillance for each employee that's here," Fall said.

She said BP is big into wellness programs to keep their employees healthy, like flu shots and more.  

"We have a fitness center reimbursement program. We have fruit of the day, where we have fruit delivered to the plant three times a week and our employees and our contract employees can have a piece of fruit to keep them from going to the vending machines," she added.

The program at Calhoun is giving nurses an opportunity to pursue a rewarding job, while helping to keep employees healthy.

Copyright 2013 WAFF. All rights reserved.

By COURTNEY PERKES 

Two Orange County nurses seeded their dreams of a Rose Parade float to honor their profession with donations as small as a dollar.

Pat Spongberg, 79, of Mission Viejo and Judy Dahle, 68, of Costa Mesa spent five years working to raise money for a nature-themed float designed to embody the healing traits of nurses.

The women are among five operating-room nurses who in 2007 formed a nonprofit, Bare Root Inc., that will present a one-time entry at Tuesday's parade in Pasadena.

"In our mind, that's how roses start – from a bare root," Spongberg said.

Click here to watch the nurses decorate their Rose Parade float.

Dahle added, "We were starting from a seed. We had some moments where we'd go, 'What are we doing?' We're finally in the blossoming stage."

The float, titled "A Healing Place," will carry 6,000 roses as well as 10 nurses and nursing students.

"The Rose Parade is seen by millions around the world," Dahle said. "It is an opportunity to showcase nursing internationally. The people that watch it, probably every one, have been touched by a nurse in one way or another."

GRASS-ROOTS START

The idea came about at an operating-room nursing conference where they learned that their colleague, Sally Bixby, would serve as president of the Tournament of Roses for the 2013 parade.

"I'm totally honored by it," said Bixby, who spent 38 years as a nurse. "I can't believe they did it. When they called me originally a few years ago to tell me they were going to take this on, it gave me chills."

In the beginning, fundraising went slowly. The board members started by seeking donations at nursing conferences.

"We'd literally have a little box out at the table, and people threw in $1 or $5 or maybe a 20," said Dahle, who is a consultant after years of working at Hoag Hospital.

The economy plunged into recession, and when pitching their project, 2013 sounded very far away to prospective donors.

Still, the group persisted, spending its own money to travel to conferences across the country.

Members created a website, where supporters could buy a rose to honor a nurse or make a credit card donation. Several hospitals gave the largest gifts of $30,000 each.

"I think we all feel a sense of pride of accomplishment," said Spongberg, who retired from Mission Hospital.

PAYING TRIBUTE

Hundreds of nurses have volunteered to decorate the float, which showcases animals that symbolize the traits of a good nurse. Three nightingales on a branch pay tribute to Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. Owls stand for wisdom. (Nightingale also had a pet owl.) The raccoon represents intelligence and the nurses who work all night. The mother deer symbolizes caring.

The lanterns are replicas of the kind Nightingale used to visit her patients at night.

"That was our one touch of sentimental nursing," Dahle said.

Words along the bottom include: compassionate, gentle, leader, conscientious and confident.

The 55-foot-long float cost $215,000. In all, the nurses raised $400,000. After accounting for other administrative and technical expenses, the nonprofit will donate the remaining funds for nursing scholarships and then dissolve.

"We don't have the fundraising background to go through it again," Dahle said. "People don't realize the business behind it."

Nurse Cherie Fox, 41, was scheduled to work in the cardiac intensive care unit at Mission Hospital on New Year's Day, but her plans changed after she was selected to ride on the float.

"I think it's amazing that they have taken it on to truly highlight the nursing profession," said Fox, who lives in Huntington Beach. "Most nurses go into nursing because they have a desire to give back and make connections with families and patients. Nurses learn to work in whatever they're put into. We all try to do it with grace and dignity."

Some nurses will travel from other states to attend the parade. Dahle last watched in person 40 years ago. Spongberg will attend the parade for the first time ever with her husband.

"I am very excited. This is the culmination of all we've worked for," Spongberg said. "To see the finished product going down Colorado Boulevard is going to be awesome."

BY LYNDA LAMPERT

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.

The American Nurse Project-- 60 second trailer from American Nurse Project on Vimeo.

This is a videon trailer you will want to see.