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DiversityNursing Blog

HOW TO BECOME A NURSE

Posted by Erica Bettencourt

Mon, Sep 08, 2014 @ 10:04 AM

By Marijke Durning

expert img

AN INTRODUCTION TO NURSING CAREERS

The path to becoming a nurse depends on which type of nursing career you’d like to pursue. You could choose to be a licensed practical nurse (LPN) or a registered nurse (RN).

An LPN program is typically one year long. Programs to become an RN are either three-year hospital-based nursing school programs (diploma), or two- or four-year college programs. Graduates from two-year programs earn an associate degree in nursing (ADN), while those who attended four-year college programs graduate with a bachelor’s of science in nursing (BSN). Successful completion of such a program allows you to write the licensing exam, called the NCLEX. Once you have passed the NCLEX, you can apply for a license to practice as a nurse in your state.

LPNs who want to become RNs may be able to follow an LPN-to-RN bridge program. This type of program is adapted for students who already have a nursing background. Registered nurses with the ADN who want to get their BSN may be interested in following an ADN-to-BSN bridge program.

Furthering your nursing education means acquiring more advanced skills and performing more critical tasks. For example, you must be a registered nurse and have at least a master’s in nursing to enter more advanced careers in the field, including nurse practitioner, nurse midwife or nurse anesthetist.

Before applying to colleges or signing up for classes, ask yourself a handful of critical questions: Do I need a bachelor’s degree to work as a nurse? What happens if I fail the NCLEX? Where will I feel comfortable starting as a nurse? Do I want to work myself up to a higher level of nursing gradually or do I want to go straight there?

The following guide helps answer these questions and illustrates the various pathways that aspiring nurses may take to pursue the career they truly want.

WHAT DOES A NURSE DO?

Although nursing responsibilities vary by specialization or unit, nurses have more in common than they have differences. Nurses provide, coordinate and monitor patient care, educate patients and family members about health conditions, provide medications and treatments, give emotional support and advice to patients and their family members, provide care and support to dying patients and their families, and more. They also work with healthy people by providing preventative health care and wellness information.

Although nurses work mostly in hospitals, they can also work in or for schools, private clinics, nursing homes, placement agencies, businesses, prisons, military bases and many other places. Nurses can provide hands-on care, supervise other nurses, teach nursing, work in administration or do research – the sky is the limit.

Work hours for nurses vary quite a bit. While some nurses do work regular shifts, others must work outside traditional work hours, including weekends and holidays. Some nurses work longer shifts, 10 to 12 hours per day, for example, but this allows them to work fewer days and have more days off.

COMMON SKILLS FOR NURSES

Good nurses are compassionate, patient, organized, detail oriented and have good critical thinking skills. An interest in science and math is important due to the content of nursing programs and the technology involved. Nurses must be able to function in high stress situations and be willing to constantly learn as the profession continues to grow and develop.

TYPES OF NURSING CAREERS

If you choose to become an LPN, you will likely provide direct patient care under the supervision of an RN or physician.

Registered nurses have more autonomy than LPNs, and the degree of care they provide depends on their level of education. An RN with an associate degree generally provides hands-on care directly to patients and can supervise LPNs. There may also be some administrative work. An RN with a BSN can take on more leadership roles and more advanced nursing care in specialized units, for example.

Nurses can continue to get a master’s degree in nursing (MSN) and become nurse practitioners, nurse midwives or nurse anesthetists. These are called advanced practice nurses (ARPNs). They have a larger scope of practice and are more independent.

Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)

An entry-level nursing career, LPNs provide basic care to patients, such as checking vitals and applying bandages. This critical medical function requires vocational or two-year training plus passing a licensure examination.

Neonatal Nurse

This specialization focuses on care for newborn infants born prematurely or that face health issues such as infections or defects. Neonatal nursing requires special skill working with small children and parents.

Nurse Practitioner

A more advanced nursing profession, nurse practitioners engage in more decision-making when it comes to exams, treatments and next steps. They go beyond the reach of registered nurses (RNs) and may work with physicians more closely.

Registered Nurse

Registered nurses are the most numerous in the profession and often serve as a fulcrum of patient care. They work with physicians and communicate with patients and their families. They engage in more sophisticated care than LPNs.

Source: www.learnhowtobecome.org

Topics: neonatal nurse, registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, how to, nursing, health care, nurse practitioner, career

Emergency department nurses aren't like the rest of us

Posted by Erica Bettencourt

Mon, Aug 25, 2014 @ 01:40 PM

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Emergency department nurses aren't like the rest of us - they are more extroverted, agreeable and open - attributes that make them successful in the demanding, fast-paced and often stressful environment of an emergency department, according to a new study by University of Sydney.

"Emergency nurses are a special breed," says Belinda Kennedy from Sydney Nursing School, a 15 year critical care veteran who led the study.

"Despite numerous studies about personalities of nurses in general, there has been little research done on the personalities of nurses in clinical specialty areas.

"My years working as a critical care nurse has made me aware of the difficulty in retaining emergency nurses and I have observed apparent differences in personality among these specialty groups. This prompted me to undertake this research which is the first on this topic in more than 20 years.

"We found that emergency nurses demonstrated significantly higher levels of openness to experience, agreeableness, and extroversion personality domains compared to the normal population.

"Emergency departments (ED) are a highly stressful environment - busy, noisy, and with high patient turnover. It is the entry point for approximately 40 per cent of all hospital admissions, and the frequency and type of presentations is unpredictable.

"Emergency nurses must have the capacity to care for the full spectrum of physical, psychological and social health problems within their community.

"They must also able to develop a rapport with individuals from all age groups and socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, in time-critical situations and often at a time when these individuals are at their most vulnerable.

"For these reasons, ED staff experience high levels of stress and emotional exhaustion, so it's understandable that it takes a certain personality type to function in this working environment.

"Our research findings have potential implications for workforce recruitment and retention in emergency nursing.

"With ever-increasing demands on emergency services it is necessary to consider how to enhance the recruitment and retention of emergency nurses in public hospitals. Assessment of personality and knowledge of its influence on specialty selection may assist in improving this.

"The retention of emergency nurses not only has potential economic advantages, but also a likely positive impact on patient care and outcomes, as well as improved morale among the nursing workforce," she said.

Since this article is from Aulstralia, do you agree that Emergency Room Nurses in the US should have the same characteristics to be successful in a US Emergency Room?

Source: http://sydney.edu.au

Topics: US, ER, emergency, nursing, nurses, Aulstralia

10 Things That Drive Nurses Nuts (But We Deal With Anyway)

Posted by Erica Bettencourt

Mon, Aug 18, 2014 @ 01:01 PM

By Meaghan O'Keeffe

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Sometimes, being part of the nursing profession can feel exactly the same as being part of a family. You love it dearly, you can’t imagine your life without it, but there are lots of things about nursing (and family) that can drive the most balanced person completely nuts.

Deep down, you love nursing, even with all of its vein-popping, blood pressure elevating quirks.

Here is Scrubbed In’s list of things about nursing that drive nurses absolutely nuts, but we deal with anyway.

1. Call lights: Of course the purpose of call lights is to enable patients to get help when needed, but it’s hard not to get annoyed at the call light itself. It’s blinking, beeping, and taunting you because you just sat down to document. (See #2)

2. Documentation: For the love of all things nursing. Documentation is our greatest tool and the bane of our existence, all wrapped up into a flowchart, and an I&O’s chart, a nursing note, an incident report, a pre-anesthesia evaluation form, a…

3. (For our guys) Being called “male nurse:” For the men in our nursing community, hearing someone refer to them as a nurse, without “male” automatically attached, would be a breath of fresh air.

4. Body fluids: Nurses deal with body fluids all the time. It’s par for the course. But it’s not exactly something one wishes for. We don’t need to name them all. You’re well acquainted with most. They can really dampen your day. Pun intended.

5. Waving your ID to get into your bathroom at home: Many healthcare facilities have areas where you need to scan your ID to unlock the door. When you’ve tried that to get into your bathroom at home, it might be time to take a vacation.

6. Trying to use your fingerprint at the ATM: If you regularly use your fingerprint to get into medication and supply stations, you might find yourself trying to do the same at the ATM screen. Just hope that no one saw you.

7. Hearing a patient-alarm-like sound (outside of work): You’re out and about and someone’s cell phone ring sounds uncannily like an O2 sat alarm. Before you’ve had a chance to process, your pulse has quickened and you’re on high alert. Calm down, nervous system; you’re off duty today.

8. Patients who don’t take the full course of antibiotics: When a patient gaily reports that they stopped taking their antibiotics because they feel sooo much better, there’s a specific protocol you must follow. It involves closing your eyes, taking deep breaths and counting to 10 before calmly explaining the rationale behind completing the course in full.

9. Waking up at 5 a.m. on your day off: Finally, finally you can sleep in. You’ve been looking forward to it for days. But your brain seems determined to wake up as if you need to work today. At least you can stay in bed with your feet up.

10. Bringing a coffee to work, then drinking it cold four hours later: A hot cup of coffee at the start of your day is one of the simple pleasures of life. But did you really think you were going to drink it? You might at some point, it just may be more like iced coffee by then.

Your Turn

What drives you nuts about nursing?

Source: http://scrubbedin.nurse.com

Topics: nursing, nurse, patients, crazy, list

ECRI Panel to Reveal Best Clinical Alarm Policies for Preventing Patient Harm

Posted by Erica Bettencourt

Mon, Aug 18, 2014 @ 12:57 PM

By: nursing.advanceweb.com

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Inappropriate configurations of clinical alarm settings are more than just a nuisance for frontline staff, according to ECRI Institute's accident investigators.

Improper changes to preconfigured alarm settings have resulted in serious patient harm or death when caregivers weren't alerted to significant changes in patient conditions. This doesn't need to persist.

Findings from these investigations have raised concerns that many healthcare organizations do not have effective policies on configuring and managing clinical alarm settings. Establishing effective policies for setting of clinical alarms and putting a system in place to effectively follow these policies is critical to patient safety.

To educate healthcare facilities about the challenges clinicians are facing when configuring physiologic monitor alarms, ECRI Institute is presenting an educational web conference, "Good Alarm Policies are No Accident," on Wednesday, Sept. 3.

The objectives of the webinar, according of ECRI, are to help participants:

  • Comprehend ways to improve alarm-setting policies for successful compliance with the Joint Commission's National Patient Safety Goal on alarm safety.
  • Realize what to expect when planning and designing patient care areas.
  • Recognize how leading healthcare organizations have improved alarm-setting processes to improve patient safety. 
  • Understand lessons learned from our accident investigations related to alarms.

The ECRI webinar is intended for risk managers, clinical staff, nursing administration, ICU staff, clinical department heads, clinical and biomedical engineers, materials managers, and other healthcare professionals. The interactive format of ECRI Institute's webinar will provide ample time to interact with the panel during the Q&A session and also encourages participation. Panelists and speakers include:

Michael Argentieri, MS, Vice President & Senior Investigator, ECRI Institute
Mark E. Bruley, CCE, Vice President, Accident and Forensic Investigation, ECRI Institute (Q&A only)
Maria Cvach, DNP, RN, Assistant Director of Nursing, Clinical Standards, The Johns Hopkins Hospital
Sue Sendelbach, PhD, RN, CCNS, FAHA, FAAN, Director of Nursing Research, Abbott Northwestern Hospital
Stacy Jepsen, APRN, CNS, CCRN, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Critical Care, Abbott Northwestern Hospital
Moderator: Jeremy Suggs, PhD, Engineering Manager, Health Devices, ECRI Institute

Source: http://nursing.advanceweb.com 

Topics: nursing, patients, ECRI, clinical alarm, frontline staff, system

A Nurse's Story: On The Front Lines Of Ebola Outbreak

Posted by Erica Bettencourt

Wed, Aug 13, 2014 @ 11:42 AM

By NAOMI CHOY SMITH

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When Doctors Without Borders nurse Monia Sayah first arrived in Guinea in March, she couldn't have known she would witness the worst Ebola outbreak in history. Back then, there were 59 confirmed deaths from Ebola, a virus which can be fatal in up to 90 percent of cases. The death toll in West Africa has since soared to 932, the World Health Organization said Wednesday. In Guinea, where the first cases were reported in March, Ebola has killed 363 people.

"The fear is palpable," Sayah said, speaking to CBS News in New York after returning from her latest assignment. "People are very afraid because they never know if Ebola's going to hit their family or their village."

Because of the fear and stigma associated with the virus, Sayah said many infected people are choosing to hide their illness and often don't check in to treatment centers until it is too late. By that point, there is very little Sayah and her colleagues can do. They try to rehydrate the patients and administer antibiotics. But there is no proven treatment for Ebola, though an experimental drug is currently being tested.

Concerns have also been growing for the safety of medical workers in the field. A leading doctor died in Sierra Leone last week. A Nigerian nurse who treated that country's first Ebola victim died from the virus, Nigerian health officials said Wednesday, and two American medical missionaries infected with Ebola in Liberia are still battling the virus at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

But Sayah, who has spent a total of 11 weeks in Guinea, said she is not afraid. She and her colleagues take strict precautions to limit their risk of exposure. Before entering a high-risk zone, they suit up in head-to-toe protective clothing including gloves and goggles. "You do have to follow the rules," she said, "but accidents do happen."

She has to limit the amount of time she spends in the infected area. It's hot under the protective clothing, and exhaustion and dehydration are serious concerns. "The risk is you could faint, you could fall. You do not want to fall in a high-risk area," she said. "Maybe your goggles will move up and your eye will be infected."

Working so closely with patients at death's door has taken a personal toll. Sayah described the anguish of stepping outside a treatment facility to take a quick break from the intense heat, only to find that her patient had died in those ten minutes she was away. "It was really hard for me to know that they had died alone," she said, "not with someone holding their hands and reassuring them."

Sayah recalled the "hectic" challenges of setting up some of the first international treatment facilities for Ebola patients. By the end of May, she said, the medical community thought they had almost contained the virus. But soon after she left Guinea, another cluster of infected patients was found in another village. The virus was spreading like wildfire.

Several factors are contributing to the spread. The virus has an incubation period of up to 21 days, according to the WHO, and in West Africa the population is highly mobile, moving easily across porous cross-country borders. Traditional burial ceremonies in which relatives have direct contact with the body can also play a role in the transmission of Ebola.

Sayah found that many local communities distrust the healthcare system and foreigners. "Some have said we brought the Ebola to them," she said. "It's very difficult to contain the outbreak when communities are not cooperating." There were instances of infectious patients leaving the facility, she said, and many weren't receptive to the idea of isolation -- a crucial step in containing the virus.

During her breaks from the field, Sayah stays in touch with her colleagues on the front lines, hoping for the slightest bit of good news. Just this past week, she heard some. One of the patients who'd been under her care was discharged from hospital, apparently free of the virus.

But the situation on the ground remains dire, and Sayah hopes to see a greater response from the international community.

Despite the challenges, Sayah said she will return to West Africa to fight the outbreak. "When you're there and you see how much needs to be done," she said, "there is not a question of 'should I go back or not?'"

Source: www.cbsnews.com

Topics: virus, Ebola, outbreak, infected, nursing, deaths

How Forensic Nurses Help Assault Survivors

Posted by Erica Bettencourt

Wed, Aug 13, 2014 @ 11:32 AM

By Lisa Esposito

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When forensic nurse examiners work with survivors of violence – sexual assault, child abuse, elder abuse or domestic assault – they’re painstakingly collecting and documenting evidence that can hold up in a potential court case. And they’re taking care of a person who’s just been traumatized, often by someone they know well. Forensic nursing takes a balance of objectivity, skill and compassion, and it’s more than just a job for the professionals who do it.

Experts on the Stand

Whatever type of assault they’ve endured, survivors’ first encounter with law enforcement or medicine “paves the way for their entire future,” says Trisha Sheridan, a forensic nurse and clinical assistant professor at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Nursing.

Victims face a higher risk of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, suicide and medical problems in the aftermath, she says, and those who “have a positive experience with someone who’s trained to deal with victims of violence” tend to not only have better legal outcomes, but better quality of life than others who receive standard emergency care. But in Texas, especially the more rural areas, forensic nurse examiners are few and far between.

Last year, Texas passed a law requiring emergency department nurses to undergo two hours of training in basic evidence collection, but that’s far from enough, Sheridan says. And while most facilities “either have a specific room that’s set aside in the ER or special private place for those patients,” she says, “without a forensic program or a forensic nurse, it’s just an ER bed.”

While certified forensic nurse examiners undergo extensive skills training, Sheridan believes graduate programs can move forensic nurses to the next level, with a deeper understanding of the science behind the evidence they’re collecting, helping them explain the pathology and ramification of victims’ injuries in a courtroom. For instance, she says that information helped the jury “make a better-informed” decision when she testified in two recent cases of strangulation.

Taking On Domestic Violence

Strangulation is one of the most frequent injuries in domestic violence, yet symptoms are subtle and often downplayed, says Heidi Marcozzi, coordinator of the Intimate Partner Violence Program, started last year as a branch of District of Columbia Forensic Nurse Examiners, which also works with victims of sexual assault.

Forensic nurses look not only for bruises and scratches, but less obvious symptoms such as petechiae (small red or purple spots on the skin), voice changes, cough and headaches, Marcozzi says. They ask patients about loss of bowel and bladder function, which is a good indicator that they lost consciousness during the attack.

“Domestic violence is a huge issue” in the nation’s capital, Marcozzi says. The program’s 30 forensic nurses respond to these calls from MedStar Washington Hospital Center, anytime day or night. Within an hour of getting the call for a domestic violence case, the forensic nurse arrives at the hospital, where ER staff have already made sure the patient is in a quiet, private space rather than the waiting room.

Before the exam, the forensic nurse walks the patient through the whole process. “We see a fair amount of drug-facilitated sexual assaults, so we want to make sure it’s very clear that the patient is able to consent,” Marcozzi says. “Then we do a medical exam head to toe to make sure they’re physically stable.” Nurses pays close attention while patients describe the incident and use that account to guide where they collect evidence, including swabs that will later go to the crime lab for analysis.

The FNE photographs any injuries and examines the patient using a high-powered light source that can reveal hard-to-see signs like bruising. The light also helps the nurse locate "foreign secretions ... things will fluoresce under certain wavelengths – semen, urine, saliva,” Marcozzi says.

More Than Just a ‘Rape Kit’

Victims of sexual assault go through essentially the same process, with the addition of a pelvic exam, which takes an additional 15 minutes or so. Examiners photograph the genitals for signs of injury, and then collect swabs as indicated. Treatment comes next. If appropriate, patients can receive Plan B emergency contraception to prevent unwanted pregnancy, or medications to protect against HIV and other prevalent sexually transmitted infections.

In sexual assault cases covered by DCFNE, an advocate with Network for Victim Recovery of DC accompanies the nurse to the hospital and helps patients with crisis management, discharge plans, crime victim’s compensation and referrals for counseling.

Preventing the Worst

For domestic violence victims, the DCFNE program teams up with Survivors and Advocates for Empowerment, a nonprofit that provides advocacy and crisis intervention, and works to hold offenders accountable. SAFE runs the lethality assessment project for the District of Columbia – trying to determine which victims are at highest risk for being killed by their abusers.

Advocates evaluate the victim’s environment for cues – such as whether the abuser has easy access to weapons, or even “if there’s a child in the home who doesn’t belong to him, which, believe it or not, increases the severity of the risk,” says Natalia Marlow-Otero, SAFE director.

Of the 5,000 or so domestic violence cases SAFE sees each year, up to 1,900 are deemed high-lethality cases. Isolation is a “huge” factor among the women – and some men – who are victims of domestic violence. Isolation and abuse are even more prevalent among immigrant clients, Marlow-Otero says, so SAFE provides an English/Spanish helpline (1-866-962-5048). People can also call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (1-800-​799-SAFE). ​

Source: http://health.usnews.com

Topics: violence, victims, nursing, safety, forensic nurse, forensic, survivors, examiners

Men in Nursing (Infographic)

Posted by Erica Bettencourt

Mon, Aug 04, 2014 @ 11:41 AM

Source: www.rntobsnonlineprogram.com

 

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Topics: men, nursing, nurse, health care, medical, hospital, practice, infographic

An In-Depth Look at the Many Sides of Nursing (Infographic)

Posted by Erica Bettencourt

Wed, Jul 16, 2014 @ 11:02 AM

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Source: http://onlinenursingdegrees.maryville.edu

Topics: Maryville University, nursing, infographic

A More Caring Response to Nurse Bullying

Posted by Erica Bettencourt

Wed, Jul 09, 2014 @ 10:47 AM

By Vivien Mudgett

Nurse Bullying 02.jpg

Chances are, if you have been a nurse for more than six months, you have been exposed to bullying or disruptive behavior. Research shows that more than 82% of nurses have been a target of bullying or have witnessed it. Over 60% of new nurses who experienced bullying are planning to leave their jobs. The frightening part of these statistics is that bullying is underreported!

Defining Bullying

Bullying is not an isolated incident. It is deliberate, rude, inappropriate, and possibly aggressive behavior of a coworker(s) to another coworker. The behavior is repetitive in nature, and may be overt or covert. It can also reflect an actual or perceived imbalance or power or conflict.

Bullying and disruptive behavior has been recognized as a threat to a nurse’s well-being and a threat to the safety of our patients. When a care team cannot get along, errors are made, patients feel the tension, and patient outcomes suffer.

As nurses, we are all working today in a very stressful environment with heavy workloads. More demands are being added on almost a daily basis. We are struggling to take good care of our patients and the stakes are high. Adding bullying to this equation makes the situation worse.

The paradox of bullying in nursing is that we all joined this marvelous profession because we are caring individuals. We want to show our compassion and be a healing presence to others. So how is it that this behavior is so prevalent in nursing? Research shows that the behavior continues because nurses are afraid of retaliation, normalize the behavior, don’t like conflict, and don’t really know what to do.

Here are 3 steps you can take to address this uncaring behavior in a caring way:

  1. Stop and breathe!

    Separate yourself from the behavior for a moment and realize that YOU are not the cause.

  2. Diffuse the situation.

    Do not react. Sometime reacting too fast can cause you to behave unprofessionally as well. As calmly as possible, ask to talk in private. If the behavior continues, be prepared to be the one to walk away.

  3. Address the behavior.

    Find a private place to openly discuss the behavior and address the conflict.

    Two open ended discussion starters can be:  

    “When you yelled at me in front of the patient (or our co-workers), I felt humiliated. It was unprofessional and now the patient’s trust in the healthcare team has eroded. Was that your intent? Can we agree that in the future, if you have a problem with me, you will address it with me privately?”

    “Are you OK? Help me to understand the situation. I’ve noticed a conflict between us and I think it’s affecting the way we work, can we talk about it?”

In a perfect world, these 3 steps can alleviate and resolve the conflict between nurse co-workers. However, be prepared that it may take further discussion and possibly, include your unit supervisor or nurse manager. By addressing uncaring behavior, you are standing up and choosing not to be a victim.  

If you see someone else being bullied, don’t be a passive bystander. Stand next to the person and use supportive phrases while helping the person being bullied. This is especially if they are not able to speak for themselves at that moment. Most importantly, and most difficult to do: Stay calm, be confident, and always behave with integrity. Take the higher road.

Have you dealt with nurse bullies in the past? How did it go? Let us know in the comments.

Source: nursetogether.com

Topics: nursing, bullying, hospitals

Scottsdale Healthcare official proud of nursing background

Posted by Erica Bettencourt

Fri, Jun 27, 2014 @ 11:12 AM

By Alison Stanton

pniwwbjoanneclavelle0627 resized 600

When Joanne Clavelle was 12 years old, she began working as a candy striper at a Vermont hospital.

It didn't take her long to realize that she had found what she was meant to do.

"I used to feed patients, change their water pitchers and make eggnog with real eggs," Clavelle says. "After a couple of years of being a candy striper, the nurses at the hospital sort of adopted me, and I moved into a volunteer aide position in the emergency department. I got to wear a white uniform with white stockings and shoes; I thought I was in heaven."

Clavelle was hired as an EKG technician at the same hospital when she was 16. She worked every weekend doing what she loved.

Her dedication to outstanding patient care caught the eye of three physicians at the hospital.

"The doctors had a scholarship program," Clavelle says. "They gave me a scholarship, which helped pay for me to go to nursing school at the University of Vermont.

Thirty-plus years later, Clavelle is still as passionate as ever about her career as a nurse and providing top-notch patient care. Five months ago, she was named senior vice president and chief clinical officer at Scottsdale Healthcare.

"I absolutely love my job here," she says. "I have the opportunity to create a nursing infrastructure that focuses on outstanding patient care and ensures that we maintain our Magnet designation."

This designation, Clavelle says, is given to the top 8 percent of hospitals in the country.

"It recognizes organizations like ours that create a supportive environment for nurses to practice and provide high-quality care," she says. "I am committed to creating a culture where nurses and other providers give the best care possible. That's what it's really all about."

When she is not working, Clavelle enjoys painting.

Watercolors are especially appealing to her, and she takes art classes whenever she can.

Clavelle also likes to spend time with her husband, their adult children and their 14-year-old dog.

Even though Clavelle has spent the past 36 years working in health care, she says things amaze her — in a good way — about her work.

"I was pleasantly surprised and proud to learn that our hospital has a forensic-nursing program, and we also have a wonderful military partnership with the United States Air Force," she says. "It's a unique model for graduate nurses in the Air Force to participate in a number of programs, including a nurse-transition program and critical-care and emergency-trauma-nursing fellowship."

Who's Who in Business 2014

Joanne Clavelle is one of 50 women in various fields profiled in "Who's Who in Business 2014," a publication of Republic Media. Find the full publication online at azcentral.com in July.

 

Source: azcentral.com


Topics: nursing, healthcare, Scottsdale

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