SkyBlue Cross International Nurse Service: Professional Nurse Training, Testing, Immigrating, Job Placing and Settlement All-in-One Service Specially for whoever want to start their Nursing Career in US & Canada
Thursday, November 25, 2010
International Nurse Gerontological Nursing Certification Test Guideline
By: www.SkyBlueCross.org
Special Nurse is important for international nurse to get better Nursing job, good payment; SkyBlueCross will prepare serie Special NurseTest Reference for all International need.Contact Us if you need any further help
Reference Source: www.nursecredentialing.org
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
International Nurse Pediatric Nursing Certification Test Guideline
By: www.SkyBlueCross.org
Special Nurse is important for international nurse to get better Nursing job, good payment; SkyBlueCross will prepare serie Special NurseTest Reference for all International need.Contact Us if you need any further help
Pediatric Nurse, kind of special nurse highly demaned by most medical unit. By Reference below information, Everyone should have chance to be a Pediatric Nurse to have a good Job
Reference Source: www.nursecredentialing.org
Special Nurse is important for international nurse to get better Nursing job, good payment; SkyBlueCross will prepare serie Special NurseTest Reference for all International need.Contact Us if you need any further help
Pediatric Nurse, kind of special nurse highly demaned by most medical unit. By Reference below information, Everyone should have chance to be a Pediatric Nurse to have a good Job
Reference Source: www.nursecredentialing.org
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
International nurse Advanced Public Health Nurse Certification Test Guideline
By: www.SkyBlueCross.org
Advanced Nurse is important for international nurse to get better Nursing
job, good payment; SkyBlueCross will prepare serie Advanced NurseTest
Reference for all International need. Contact us if you
need any further help
Advanced Public Health Nurse, kind of special nurse highly demaned by most
medical unit. By Reference below information, Everyone should have chance to be
a Advanced Public Health Nurse to have a good Job
A number of authoritative texts, such as those listed, are used to develop
the Advanced Public Health Nursing certification examination. The list is
provided as a guide to help you prepare for the examination. It is not
intended to be all-inclusive.
Reference Source:
www.nursecredentialing.org
Advanced Nurse is important for international nurse to get better Nursing
job, good payment; SkyBlueCross will prepare serie Advanced NurseTest
Reference for all International need. Contact us if you
need any further help
Advanced Public Health Nurse, kind of special nurse highly demaned by most
medical unit. By Reference below information, Everyone should have chance to be
a Advanced Public Health Nurse to have a good Job
A number of authoritative texts, such as those listed, are used to develop
the Advanced Public Health Nursing certification examination. The list is
provided as a guide to help you prepare for the examination. It is not
intended to be all-inclusive.
- Allender JA. Community Health Nursing: Promoting and Protecting
the Public's Health. 6th ed. Philadelphia, Pa:
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2005. (7th ed. due 1/09) - American Nurses Association.
Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements. Silver
Spring, Md: Nursesbook.org; 2001. - American Nurses Association.
Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice. Silver Spring, Md:
Nursesbooks.org; 2004. - American Nurses Association.
Nursing's Social Policy Statement. 2nd ed. Silver
Spring, Md: Nursesbooks.org; 2003. - American Nurses Association.
Public
Health Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice. Silver Spring,
Md: Nursesbooks.org; 2007. - Anderson ET, McFarlane J. Community as Partner: Theory and
Practice in Nursing. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa:
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2007. - Aschengrau A, Seage GR. Essentials of Epidemiology in Public
Health. 2nd ed. Sudbury, Mass: Jones & Bartlett
Publishers Inc; 2007. - Association of Community Health Nursing Educators. Essentials of
Master's Level Nursing Education for Advanced Community/Public Health
Nursing Practice. Lexington, Ky: Association of Community Health
Nursing Educators; 2003. - Clark MJ. Nursing in the Community: Dimensions of Community
Health Nursing. 3rd ed. Stamford, Conn: Appleton &
Lange; 2001. - Clemen-Stone S, McGuire SL, Eigsti DG.
Comprehensive Community Health Nursing: Family, Aggregate, and Community
Practice. 6th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Mosby; 2002.
- Edelman CL, Mandle CL.
Health Promotion Throughout the Life Span. 6th ed.
Philadelphia, Pa: Mosby; 2006. - Ervin NE. Advanced Community Health Nursing Practice. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education; 2002. - Finkler SA, McHugh M.
Budgeting Concepts for Nurse Managers. 4th ed.
Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders; 2008. - Garrett L. Betrayal of Trust: The Collapse of Global Public
Health. New York, NY: Hyperion Press; 2000. - Gebbie K, Rosenstock L, Hernandez LM, eds.
Who Will Keep the Public Healthy?: Educating Public Health Professionals
for the 21st Century. Washington, DC: National Academies Press;
2003. - Glanz K, Rimer BK, Lewis FM, eds. Health Behavior and Health
Education: Theory, Research, and Practice. 3rd ed.
Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass; 2002. (4th ed. due 8/08) - Green LW, Kreuter MW. Health Program Planning: An Educational
and Ecological Approach. 4th ed. Blacklick, Ohio:
McGraw-Hill Cos; 2005. - Hamric AB, Spross JA, Hanson CM.
Advanced Practice Nursing: An Integrative Approach. 4th
ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders; 2009. - Heymann DL, ed. Control of Communicable Diseases Manual. 18th
ed. Washington, DC: American Public Health Association Publications;
2005. - Institute of Medicine.
The Future of the Public's Health in the 21st Century.
Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2003. - Lee PR, Estes CL. The Nation's Health. 7th ed.
Sudbury, Mass: Jones & Bartlett Publishers Inc; 2003. - Lundy KS, Janes S, eds. Community Health Nursing: Caring for the
Public's Health. Sudbury, Mass: Jones & Bartlett Publishers Inc;
2001. - Maurer FA, Smith CM, eds.
Community/Public Health Nursing Practice: Health for Families and
Populations. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders;
2006. - Polit DF, Beck CT. Essentials of Nursing Research: Methods,
Appraisal, and Utilization. 6th ed. Philadelphia, Pa:
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2006. - Quad Council of Public Health Nursing Organizations.
Public Health Nursing Competencies. Washington, DC: Quad
Council of Public Health Nursing Organizations; 2003. - Schneider MJ. Introduction to Public Health. 2nd
ed. Sudbury, Mass: Jones & Bartlett Publishers Inc; 2006. - Stanhope M, Lancaster J.
Public Health Nursing: Population-Centered Health Care in the Community.
7th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Mosby; 2008. - Turnock BJ. Public Health: What It Is and How It Works. 4th
ed. Sudbury, Mass: Jones & Bartlett Publishers Inc; 2008. - US Department of Health & Human Services.
Healthy People 2010 Volume 1: Understanding and Improving Health &
Objectives for Improving Health (Part A: Focus Areas 1-14). 2nd
ed. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office; 2000. - US Department of Health & Human Services.
Healthy People 2010 Volume 2: Objectives for Improving Health (Part B:
Focus Areas 15-28). 2nd ed. Washington, DC: US
Government Printing Office; 2000
Reference Source:
www.nursecredentialing.org
Monday, November 22, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Nursing Volunteering Experience can help International Nurses' Job Hunting
BY:www.SkyBlueCross.org
Reference Source: www.startribune.com
Because of Language issue, Most International Nurses do meet with few difficulties at their job hunting
Volunteering is more than just personally rewarding. If done right, it can be another skill or experience to add to your resume and it just may be what sets you apart from other candidates when searching for your next job.
Matt: When packaged appropriately, volunteer experience can make a strong impact on a résumé, and may be the factor that sets you apart from contending applicants, said Shannon Biegger, an assistant consultant with The Bailey Group, a Minneapolis-based company that offers coaching and consulting services in leadership, team and career development."Volunteer experience demonstrates on-going commitment to your community, strong time-management skills, and often, some degree of customer service exposure," said Biegger.
Lisa Frame, managing director of the Minneapolis branch of Kelly Law Registry, a direct hire, contract-to-hire consulting firm, said volunteering shows a commitment to an organization, a willingness to help out and an eagerness to step outside your comfort zone to try new things. Those are all qualities employers look for in candidates. You can make your volunteer experience work for you even more by showing that the experience helped add new, marketable job skills.
"In addition to simply stating the organization you volunteered with, include what you personally contribute and the value you bring," said Frame. "This helps employers envision what this experience can bring to the role for which you have applied. Taking an active role and being able to quantify that role, rather than simply joining an organization, helps differentiate you from others in your candidate pool."
Biegger agreed, emphasizing the importance of highlighting leadership and supervisory positions, because these roles speak to your ability to manage projects and work on what are often diverse teams.
Lisa Frame, managing director of the Minneapolis branch of Kelly Law Registry, a direct hire, contract-to-hire consulting firm, said volunteering shows a commitment to an organization, a willingness to help out and an eagerness to step outside your comfort zone to try new things. Those are all qualities employers look for in candidates. You can make your volunteer experience work for you even more by showing that the experience helped add new, marketable job skills.
"In addition to simply stating the organization you volunteered with, include what you personally contribute and the value you bring," said Frame. "This helps employers envision what this experience can bring to the role for which you have applied. Taking an active role and being able to quantify that role, rather than simply joining an organization, helps differentiate you from others in your candidate pool."
Biegger agreed, emphasizing the importance of highlighting leadership and supervisory positions, because these roles speak to your ability to manage projects and work on what are often diverse teams.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
International student's Nursing Education for Becoming an International Nurse in U. S.
By: www.SkyBlueCross.org
Becoming an International Nurse in U. S., an International student need untake Nursing education.Nursing education in the United States has undergone tremendous changes in recent years. Those providing care and teaching in schools of nursing are better prepared educationally than ever before, the science that underlies our practice is increasingly being built through scholarly efforts of nurses, and collaborative partnerships between nurses and other health care workers continue to evolve. In addition, the opportunities for nurses to influence the health of people through their roles as nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, home care clinicians, managers and administrators, health educators, acute and long term care clinicians, and faculty are growing dramatically.
Study this subject here
Advanced Colleges of America - Diploma in Advanced Medical Assisting
In order to prepare nurses for beginning and advanced levels of practice, educational programs also have undergone tremendous changes in recent years. Many curricula are creative and interactive, rather than rigid and proscriptive. Education is more learner-focused than teacher-centered. Clinical experiences for students reflect a greater emphasis on community-based care, health promotion, disease prevention, family involvement, and self-care. And the integration of technology and the use of distance learning strategies are more evident in nursing education programs.
In educational programs there is an increased emphasis on documenting program outcomes and demonstrating that graduates do, indeed, have the patient care, thinking, and communication abilities needed to function in our complex, constantly-changing, ambiguous, unpredictable, chaotic health care arena. Finally, nurse educators are realizing that there is an art and a science to teaching nursing - just as there is an art and a science to practicing nursing - and they are seeking preparation in curriculum development and evaluation, creative teaching/learning strategies, student and program evaluation, and other areas that complement their clinical specialization and expertise.
What to Expect
In light of these changes, students coming to the United States to study nursing should expect to find graduate and undergraduate programs that are challenging, innovative, and designed to meet their individual needs as learners. You should expect state-of-the-art practice laboratories that will help you learn and enhance comprehensive assessment skills, as well as home care and technological skills. You should expect to find library and computer resources that will allow you to access unlimited resources, be creative in teaching patients about managing their own health, communicate with experts in the field, and continually develop your own knowledge base and scholarly abilities.
Students who study in the U.S. will be exposed to patients/families from a vast array of cultural, ethnic, religious, socioeconomic, and educational backgrounds: homeless men who live on the streets of Detroit or New York, the 12-year-old single mother of Hispanic descent, the 6-year-old Hmong child suffering from asthma, the Chinese scholar, and the migrant worker with less than a high school education, among others. Nursing students - under the guidance of well-qualified faculty -- have many opportunities to touch and be touched by the lives of others who may be vastly different from themselves. Such experiences with diverse populations contribute to the students' understanding of human beings, as well as to their ability to provide culturally-sensitive care.
Factors to Consider in Program Selection
As you consider coming to the United States to study nursing at the pre-licensure, master's, or doctoral level, you need to look carefully at a number of factors. Although this is not intended to be a complete list, the following things are important to consider when selecting a program:
What courses in and outside nursing are required of students in the program? Will they help you build the knowledge base you need to pursue your professional career?
How much flexibility is there in the program? Are there opportunities to select courses that are of interest to you? Are there opportunities to design individualized learning experiences (e.g., clinical experiences, the topic of a course paper, the case studies you develop) that will meet your own needs?
What kinds of clinical experiences are available for students? Will you be able to work with diverse populations and in a variety of settings (e.g., acute care hospitals, home care agencies, hospice settings, clinics, community health centers, etc.)? What role do students have in selecting their clinical experiences?
What are the qualifications of the faculty? Are they all prepared at the master's or doctoral level in nursing (or in the nursing-related specialty they teach, such as Pharmacology)? Are they clinically competent? Are they scholars in their areas of teaching? Are they leaders in the field?
What resources are available to support students in the program? Are the library, practice laboratories, and computer centers comprehensive and current, offering state-of-the-art technology and adequate technological support?
What resources are available to support international students in the program? Are there special advisors for international students … advisors who are sensitive to the needs of students studying abroad and able to help those students become a part of the life of the program?
What are the relationships like among students and between students and faculty? Is there a "spirit" of learning together? Do students have the opportunity to work collaboratively on projects? Are master's students able to work with faculty on the faculty member's research? Do faculty see themselves as learners as well as teachers?
What is the accreditation status of the program? Has the program undergone a comprehensive review by peers outside the institution and been judged to meet standards for academic programs that have been set by the profession?
Studying Nursing in the United States - Taking full advantage of all that is available
Any student who comes to the United States to study nursing also should plan to take advantage of a wide range of professional opportunities that are available at one's college or university, in the local or regional nursing community, and at the national level. For example, attendance at special lectures that may be given by national and international nursing leaders should not be missed. Participation in the school's chapter of the National Student Nurses Association (for those studying at the undergraduate level), or in the school's chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International, the Honor Society of Nursing, gives students an opportunity to exert leadership roles, interact with the field's leading scholars, and participate in the political process to influence positive change.
In addition, students interested in a clinical career who attend an annual meeting of the State Nurses Association or American Nurses Association or a meeting of a specialty group (e.g., critical care nurses or oncology nurses) can witness how associations work and how nurses influence policy formulation, as well as learn the newest approaches to caring for patients/families/communities. Students interested in a career as a nurse manager or executive should plan to attend local or national meetings of the American Organization of Nurse Executives to appreciate the kind of issues nurses in such positions must address (e.g., staffing, workforce development, fiscal management) and new approaches to dealing with such issues.
Finally, students interested in a career as a nurse educator should plan to attend the National League for Nursing's Education Summit, where they will have the opportunity to interact with nurse educators from a variety of programs as they explore new approaches to teaching/learning, the research that underlies nursing education, and innovative curriculum/program designs. These types of "extra-curricular" experiences serve to enhance the learning of all students, but may be of particular interest to international students who are able to compare the issues discussed with those that exist in their own home countries and analyze the proposed solutions for their relevance "at home."
Summary
As nursing and nursing education in the U.S. continue to develop in exciting ways, the opportunities for international students are unlimited. American students and faculty realize how much they have to offer to students from other countries, but - perhaps more importantly- they also realize how much they can learn from students whose homes lie outside the borders of the United States.
Within a higher education context that is increasingly learner-centered and that emphasizes mutual, collaborative learning, the U.S. provides an incredibly rich environment for students and faculty from all types of backgrounds to study and learn together. Just as interaction with patients/families of diverse backgrounds enhances the lives of nurses in practice, interaction with fellow students from diverse background enhances the lives of nursing students and faculty.
This is an exciting time for nursing and nursing education. Students who come to the United States to study nursing will be challenged, involved, excited, and helped to meet their personal and professional goals. Hopefully, YOU will be among those students who take advantage of this opportunity!
Reference:www.medical-colleges.net
Becoming an International Nurse in U. S., an International student need untake Nursing education.Nursing education in the United States has undergone tremendous changes in recent years. Those providing care and teaching in schools of nursing are better prepared educationally than ever before, the science that underlies our practice is increasingly being built through scholarly efforts of nurses, and collaborative partnerships between nurses and other health care workers continue to evolve. In addition, the opportunities for nurses to influence the health of people through their roles as nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, home care clinicians, managers and administrators, health educators, acute and long term care clinicians, and faculty are growing dramatically.
Study this subject here
Advanced Colleges of America - Diploma in Advanced Medical Assisting
In order to prepare nurses for beginning and advanced levels of practice, educational programs also have undergone tremendous changes in recent years. Many curricula are creative and interactive, rather than rigid and proscriptive. Education is more learner-focused than teacher-centered. Clinical experiences for students reflect a greater emphasis on community-based care, health promotion, disease prevention, family involvement, and self-care. And the integration of technology and the use of distance learning strategies are more evident in nursing education programs.
In educational programs there is an increased emphasis on documenting program outcomes and demonstrating that graduates do, indeed, have the patient care, thinking, and communication abilities needed to function in our complex, constantly-changing, ambiguous, unpredictable, chaotic health care arena. Finally, nurse educators are realizing that there is an art and a science to teaching nursing - just as there is an art and a science to practicing nursing - and they are seeking preparation in curriculum development and evaluation, creative teaching/learning strategies, student and program evaluation, and other areas that complement their clinical specialization and expertise.
What to Expect
In light of these changes, students coming to the United States to study nursing should expect to find graduate and undergraduate programs that are challenging, innovative, and designed to meet their individual needs as learners. You should expect state-of-the-art practice laboratories that will help you learn and enhance comprehensive assessment skills, as well as home care and technological skills. You should expect to find library and computer resources that will allow you to access unlimited resources, be creative in teaching patients about managing their own health, communicate with experts in the field, and continually develop your own knowledge base and scholarly abilities.
Students who study in the U.S. will be exposed to patients/families from a vast array of cultural, ethnic, religious, socioeconomic, and educational backgrounds: homeless men who live on the streets of Detroit or New York, the 12-year-old single mother of Hispanic descent, the 6-year-old Hmong child suffering from asthma, the Chinese scholar, and the migrant worker with less than a high school education, among others. Nursing students - under the guidance of well-qualified faculty -- have many opportunities to touch and be touched by the lives of others who may be vastly different from themselves. Such experiences with diverse populations contribute to the students' understanding of human beings, as well as to their ability to provide culturally-sensitive care.
Factors to Consider in Program Selection
As you consider coming to the United States to study nursing at the pre-licensure, master's, or doctoral level, you need to look carefully at a number of factors. Although this is not intended to be a complete list, the following things are important to consider when selecting a program:
What courses in and outside nursing are required of students in the program? Will they help you build the knowledge base you need to pursue your professional career?
How much flexibility is there in the program? Are there opportunities to select courses that are of interest to you? Are there opportunities to design individualized learning experiences (e.g., clinical experiences, the topic of a course paper, the case studies you develop) that will meet your own needs?
What kinds of clinical experiences are available for students? Will you be able to work with diverse populations and in a variety of settings (e.g., acute care hospitals, home care agencies, hospice settings, clinics, community health centers, etc.)? What role do students have in selecting their clinical experiences?
What are the qualifications of the faculty? Are they all prepared at the master's or doctoral level in nursing (or in the nursing-related specialty they teach, such as Pharmacology)? Are they clinically competent? Are they scholars in their areas of teaching? Are they leaders in the field?
What resources are available to support students in the program? Are the library, practice laboratories, and computer centers comprehensive and current, offering state-of-the-art technology and adequate technological support?
What resources are available to support international students in the program? Are there special advisors for international students … advisors who are sensitive to the needs of students studying abroad and able to help those students become a part of the life of the program?
What are the relationships like among students and between students and faculty? Is there a "spirit" of learning together? Do students have the opportunity to work collaboratively on projects? Are master's students able to work with faculty on the faculty member's research? Do faculty see themselves as learners as well as teachers?
What is the accreditation status of the program? Has the program undergone a comprehensive review by peers outside the institution and been judged to meet standards for academic programs that have been set by the profession?
Studying Nursing in the United States - Taking full advantage of all that is available
Any student who comes to the United States to study nursing also should plan to take advantage of a wide range of professional opportunities that are available at one's college or university, in the local or regional nursing community, and at the national level. For example, attendance at special lectures that may be given by national and international nursing leaders should not be missed. Participation in the school's chapter of the National Student Nurses Association (for those studying at the undergraduate level), or in the school's chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International, the Honor Society of Nursing, gives students an opportunity to exert leadership roles, interact with the field's leading scholars, and participate in the political process to influence positive change.
In addition, students interested in a clinical career who attend an annual meeting of the State Nurses Association or American Nurses Association or a meeting of a specialty group (e.g., critical care nurses or oncology nurses) can witness how associations work and how nurses influence policy formulation, as well as learn the newest approaches to caring for patients/families/communities. Students interested in a career as a nurse manager or executive should plan to attend local or national meetings of the American Organization of Nurse Executives to appreciate the kind of issues nurses in such positions must address (e.g., staffing, workforce development, fiscal management) and new approaches to dealing with such issues.
Finally, students interested in a career as a nurse educator should plan to attend the National League for Nursing's Education Summit, where they will have the opportunity to interact with nurse educators from a variety of programs as they explore new approaches to teaching/learning, the research that underlies nursing education, and innovative curriculum/program designs. These types of "extra-curricular" experiences serve to enhance the learning of all students, but may be of particular interest to international students who are able to compare the issues discussed with those that exist in their own home countries and analyze the proposed solutions for their relevance "at home."
Summary
As nursing and nursing education in the U.S. continue to develop in exciting ways, the opportunities for international students are unlimited. American students and faculty realize how much they have to offer to students from other countries, but - perhaps more importantly- they also realize how much they can learn from students whose homes lie outside the borders of the United States.
Within a higher education context that is increasingly learner-centered and that emphasizes mutual, collaborative learning, the U.S. provides an incredibly rich environment for students and faculty from all types of backgrounds to study and learn together. Just as interaction with patients/families of diverse backgrounds enhances the lives of nurses in practice, interaction with fellow students from diverse background enhances the lives of nursing students and faculty.
This is an exciting time for nursing and nursing education. Students who come to the United States to study nursing will be challenged, involved, excited, and helped to meet their personal and professional goals. Hopefully, YOU will be among those students who take advantage of this opportunity!
Reference:www.medical-colleges.net
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
NCLEX & International student & international nurse
By: www.SkyBlueCross.org
That Good payment & benefit to be a nurse in North America make many international students have an idea to work as an international nurrse in North America. then how to make the dream come true? what is the start point? the answer is here.
To enter the professional world, nursing graduates must meet the specific requirements of their state boards of nursing. These boards use the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) for both RNs and practical nurses, developed by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. The exams measure competencies needed to perform safely and effectively as new nurses. [ there are different requirement in Canada]
While many nursing students and new grads experience anxiety over the NCLEX, around 70% pass the RN exam the first time, and a slightly higher percentage pass the practical nurse exam on the first try. Future nurses can take further comfort in knowing practicing nurses from around the country help develop the test.
Louellyn Monera, RN, BSN, a certified psychiatric nurse in California, developed items for the RN test, evaluating exam items for graduates of foreign nursing schools. She also worked on the practical nurse test.
The experience began with a day of training, she says. "[The test items] dispelled a lot of myths about test-taking," says Monera. "They explain how the test is given and how it works. I don't think all test-takers understand that."
Duane Anderson, RN, staff nurse in the child and adolescent psychiatric unit at the University of California, San Diego Medical Center, also helped develop items for the practical nurse test.
"It was obvious to me that it was important to NCSBN to make the test meaningful and fair," Anderson says.
Nurses such as Anderson and Monera go to NCSBN's offices in Chicago. They work individually on laptops writing test items, with ready access to reference materials and NCSBN staff.
"They had made a sincere effort to get a cross-section of nurses geographically, ethnically, across the spectrum," Anderson says. "They had nurses from different backgrounds so they would have a wide array of questions. I saw this as my chance to make a contribution on a personal level and tried to be reflective of my experiences as a nurse."
Exam items, once written, are reviewed and thoroughly tested.
"It is a very laborious process for one question to get on the exam," says Linda Gabriel-Marin, RN, MSN, an assistant professor of nursing at Dominican University of California, who also has written items for the exam. "Obviously, each question is multidimensional, which is why you can pass with as few as 75 questions. The test is researched, validated with current knowledge, fine-tuned, and tested extensively."
Newly written test items undergo comprehensive content review, which includes checking each for clarity, grammar, punctuation, and spelling, as well as accuracy of content. Reviewers also ensure there is only one correct answer to an item, and they seek to eliminate words that have varied meanings to different groups or wording that could be considered elitist or stereotypical, says Anne Wendt, RN, PhD, CAE, director of the NCLEX Examination Department.
New items are administered to at least 400 first-time, U.S.-educated test takers, and items that performed significantly different for a minority group are flagged and reviewed again to determine if the differences are plausible and relevant to nursing practice. Often, says Wendt, an item is appropriate, but the group did not answer it correctly because of a lack of knowledge of the content tested.
The NCLEX is a computerized adaptive test, says Wendt. "CAT increases the efficiency of the testing process," Wendt says. "Each candidate's test is unique and assembled interactively as they are tested."
The computer calculates a candidate's ability based on the individual's responses to items, and then it searches for an item that matches it to show next. This process is repeated until a pass or fail decision can be made. CAT therefore administers only those items that best measure a candidate's ability.
Knowing how that works can help test takers, Monera says. "Item difficulty changes depending on your answers," she says. "Everybody starts with an easy question, and if you don't answer that, you're given another easy one. If you do answer it, then you get a moderate question, and if you answer that, a hard one. At some point, it becomes clear you are going to pass or not, and the test stops. It's a myth that if the test stops at 75 questions, it means you've passed, because it can go both ways."
Exam results are based not on the number or percentage of items answered correctly, but the difficulty of the items a candidate can answer correctly 50% of the time.
"Passing candidates answer 50% of the more difficult items correctly, and failing candidates answer 50% of easier items correctly," says Wendt.
Gabriel-Marin believes the biggest mistake nursing students make is waiting until they graduate to prepare.
"You need to prepare all along, and you definitely need a copy of the test plan, which is on the NCSBN Web site," she says. "The verbiage and layout of this exam is different from the model we use teaching courses. You need to do hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of NCLEX questions over your student career. That teaches you the thinking process, and the more questions you do, the better you get at identifying the kind of thinking an RN license requires."
Exams are increasingly harder, she adds, because the acuity of patients is demanding a smarter nurse, making thorough preparation all the more important.
Monera tells nursing graduates, especially those of foreign schools, to read carefully and take plenty of time on the test.
"It is important to understand the question, so read it two or three times," says Monera. "People are in a hurry to answer a lot of questions, but that doesn't work. You can't go back to review answers, and the more you hurry, the more mistakes you make."
Monera and Anderson also both worked on the standards panel, which rates test items as easy, moderate, or difficult. Members of the panel are asked whether, as a new graduate, they would consider an item easy, hard, or moderate.
"We vote on each question, and that is correlated with data from the actual use of the item," Monera says. "It's a very long process for every question."
Psychometricians are present during this standards setting. Psychometrics is the science of educational and psychological measurement, specifically achievement, aptitude, and mastery as measured by testing instruments.
"Psychometrics is used to ensure the NCLEX is legally defensible, valid, and sound," says Wendt.
The take-home message for nursing students is study early and study often for the NCLEX. Nursing colleagues have made sure that, once you pass, you're truly ready to step into the nursing profession.
Reference Source: http://nurse.com
That Good payment & benefit to be a nurse in North America make many international students have an idea to work as an international nurrse in North America. then how to make the dream come true? what is the start point? the answer is here.
To enter the professional world, nursing graduates must meet the specific requirements of their state boards of nursing. These boards use the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) for both RNs and practical nurses, developed by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. The exams measure competencies needed to perform safely and effectively as new nurses. [ there are different requirement in Canada]
While many nursing students and new grads experience anxiety over the NCLEX, around 70% pass the RN exam the first time, and a slightly higher percentage pass the practical nurse exam on the first try. Future nurses can take further comfort in knowing practicing nurses from around the country help develop the test.
Louellyn Monera, RN, BSN, a certified psychiatric nurse in California, developed items for the RN test, evaluating exam items for graduates of foreign nursing schools. She also worked on the practical nurse test.
The experience began with a day of training, she says. "[The test items] dispelled a lot of myths about test-taking," says Monera. "They explain how the test is given and how it works. I don't think all test-takers understand that."
Duane Anderson, RN, staff nurse in the child and adolescent psychiatric unit at the University of California, San Diego Medical Center, also helped develop items for the practical nurse test.
"It was obvious to me that it was important to NCSBN to make the test meaningful and fair," Anderson says.
Nurses such as Anderson and Monera go to NCSBN's offices in Chicago. They work individually on laptops writing test items, with ready access to reference materials and NCSBN staff.
"They had made a sincere effort to get a cross-section of nurses geographically, ethnically, across the spectrum," Anderson says. "They had nurses from different backgrounds so they would have a wide array of questions. I saw this as my chance to make a contribution on a personal level and tried to be reflective of my experiences as a nurse."
Exam items, once written, are reviewed and thoroughly tested.
"It is a very laborious process for one question to get on the exam," says Linda Gabriel-Marin, RN, MSN, an assistant professor of nursing at Dominican University of California, who also has written items for the exam. "Obviously, each question is multidimensional, which is why you can pass with as few as 75 questions. The test is researched, validated with current knowledge, fine-tuned, and tested extensively."
Newly written test items undergo comprehensive content review, which includes checking each for clarity, grammar, punctuation, and spelling, as well as accuracy of content. Reviewers also ensure there is only one correct answer to an item, and they seek to eliminate words that have varied meanings to different groups or wording that could be considered elitist or stereotypical, says Anne Wendt, RN, PhD, CAE, director of the NCLEX Examination Department.
New items are administered to at least 400 first-time, U.S.-educated test takers, and items that performed significantly different for a minority group are flagged and reviewed again to determine if the differences are plausible and relevant to nursing practice. Often, says Wendt, an item is appropriate, but the group did not answer it correctly because of a lack of knowledge of the content tested.
The NCLEX is a computerized adaptive test, says Wendt. "CAT increases the efficiency of the testing process," Wendt says. "Each candidate's test is unique and assembled interactively as they are tested."
The computer calculates a candidate's ability based on the individual's responses to items, and then it searches for an item that matches it to show next. This process is repeated until a pass or fail decision can be made. CAT therefore administers only those items that best measure a candidate's ability.
Knowing how that works can help test takers, Monera says. "Item difficulty changes depending on your answers," she says. "Everybody starts with an easy question, and if you don't answer that, you're given another easy one. If you do answer it, then you get a moderate question, and if you answer that, a hard one. At some point, it becomes clear you are going to pass or not, and the test stops. It's a myth that if the test stops at 75 questions, it means you've passed, because it can go both ways."
Exam results are based not on the number or percentage of items answered correctly, but the difficulty of the items a candidate can answer correctly 50% of the time.
"Passing candidates answer 50% of the more difficult items correctly, and failing candidates answer 50% of easier items correctly," says Wendt.
Gabriel-Marin believes the biggest mistake nursing students make is waiting until they graduate to prepare.
"You need to prepare all along, and you definitely need a copy of the test plan, which is on the NCSBN Web site," she says. "The verbiage and layout of this exam is different from the model we use teaching courses. You need to do hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of NCLEX questions over your student career. That teaches you the thinking process, and the more questions you do, the better you get at identifying the kind of thinking an RN license requires."
Exams are increasingly harder, she adds, because the acuity of patients is demanding a smarter nurse, making thorough preparation all the more important.
Monera tells nursing graduates, especially those of foreign schools, to read carefully and take plenty of time on the test.
"It is important to understand the question, so read it two or three times," says Monera. "People are in a hurry to answer a lot of questions, but that doesn't work. You can't go back to review answers, and the more you hurry, the more mistakes you make."
Monera and Anderson also both worked on the standards panel, which rates test items as easy, moderate, or difficult. Members of the panel are asked whether, as a new graduate, they would consider an item easy, hard, or moderate.
"We vote on each question, and that is correlated with data from the actual use of the item," Monera says. "It's a very long process for every question."
Psychometricians are present during this standards setting. Psychometrics is the science of educational and psychological measurement, specifically achievement, aptitude, and mastery as measured by testing instruments.
"Psychometrics is used to ensure the NCLEX is legally defensible, valid, and sound," says Wendt.
The take-home message for nursing students is study early and study often for the NCLEX. Nursing colleagues have made sure that, once you pass, you're truly ready to step into the nursing profession.
Reference Source: http://nurse.com
Monday, November 15, 2010
How International Student can become International nurse?
By: http://www.skybluwecross.org/
You're interested in becoming a nurse. How do you get into the field? First of all, you need to assess your basic interest.
Why do you want to get into nursing?
Are you getting ready to graduate from high school and always wanted to be a nurse?
Do you want to go into nursing, because a relative is in the profession or your family has a tradition of graduating nurses, and it seems like the right thing to do?
Nursing seems like a nice secure profession-the pay attracts you?
You've always liked helping others and you care a lot?
Have you worked in another career field and want a change for various reasons?
Does the "nursing shortage" make you feel like you need to be a part of the "gold rush," because you have read and heard about all of the wonderful sign on bonuses?
Thorough research still needs to be done, before the decision is made to embark upon a nursing career.
There are many resources which provide information on getting into nursing school, studying for and passing boards, getting into new graduate employment programs, summer exploratory programs, etc. But for traditional nursing work (bedside nursing) in a hospital or long term care facility (traditionally known as a nursing home), it really would do some good if you had a reality TV type experience. Reading books and
articles exclusively, won't prepare you for what the profession is like.
During my first nursing clinical rotation, I knew instantly that I didn't like hospital nursing. However, I loved research, collecting data, writing papers, and so forth. Since I had a science background and had worked in various laboratory settings (e.g., a dairy plant testing milk to biotechnology company testing, human sera, a county environmental
health lab testing water sample on a mass spectrophotometer, a food plant testing spaghetti sauce), going into nursing research seemed like a natural progression.
The rude awakening: No one ever told me about the 5-6 years of med-surg hospital experience needed, before an employer would even look at me. It was not anyone else's responsibility to tell me this. Clearly, the lesson is to do all of your homework.
After graduating from nursing school, I combed the Internet, help wanted ads, journals, and even enlisted a network of friends to be on the lookout for any nurse research employment opportunities. Positions in nursing research were scarce. My diverse science background,
along with my Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Rochester, weren't a powerful enough combination to hurry me into the interviewing seat. Hence, I never landed an interviewing spot for any nursing research positions.
There are simple, invaluable, economically efficient ways to thoroughly research nursing as a profession. Of course, nothing can substitute for the actual on the job experience. But you are not there yet, and you want to investigate to see if you want to get there.
Here a few suggestions to include on your career research things to do list:
utilize the Internet to the fullest
use the services of your ISP (Internet Service Provider)
such as AOL, MSN, etc.,
make contact with potential employers in your area,
try volunteering and
find student mentors at your local college and university.
Start with an open mind before you use any of these resources.
Many prospective students have their specialty title etched in stone. "I want to go into pediatric nursing, because I love children." "I want to work in trauma." Moreover, they don't want to discuss or research anything else. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having a vision of which practice area you'd like to specialize in, but it is a good idea to keep the door open for other possibilities. The turn over can be high and many nurses change specialty areas for various reasons, from burnout, boredom, needing a change of pace, advancement reasons, to unforeseen circumstances. The good thing about changing specialty areas is your skills are transferable.
Utilizing the Internet yields a wealth of information. There are many contacts to be made on the Internet. Let's hypothesize, for reference purposes, CRNA (Certified Nurse Anesthetist) will be used as an example specialty area, and hypothetically, you are interested in becoming a CRNA. Keep in mind you have already researched nursing schools, salary ranges, employment outlook, and in addition to becoming a registered nurse you're aware of the advanced degree requirement. This part of your research has already been done.
There are many organizations where you can make email contact, or get other contact information from nurse professionals who are retired CRNAs, or those who currently work in the field. Go to google.com to do a search. Try Google's advanced search feature and type in keywords "email" and "CRNA" without quotes, on the first line.
Your first 100 search results will include some email addresses for people who are actually CRNAs. You will find some with university addresses, who may be professors or alumni, company addresses of CRNAs who are employees, and personal email addresses. Select a CRNA's email address from these four different areas:
university employed,
hospital employed,
military employed,
and other areas, such as a physician practice group.
To narrow your search you may type in "email" & "CRNA" or "military" or "physician practice group" or "retired."
Click on the web page links to view email addresses listed. Send each nurse professional a simple introductory email, about your interest in the profession and ask them three open ended questions:
"What are some of the things I should consider before deciding to go to nursing school to become a CRNA?"
"What is your outlook on the future of CRNAs?"
"What are the positive and negative aspects of working as a CRNA?"
Nurses are a kind body of professionals and most won't mind that you took the time to contact them. It is always a good idea to get feedback from someone who is currently in the field (new graduate and
seasoned professional), as well as retirees. Your email should be composed of a very brief note. Don't forget to thank them for their responses.
Another place to locate a CRNA is the AOL people directory, provided you are an AOL subscriber. On your navigational tool bar, just click on "People”, then "Member Directory." Next, on the first text field line, type in “CRNA” and you will find hundreds of CRNAs who are already in your own backyard. If you are not an AOL subscriber, check to see if your ISP has a searchable membership directory and find other members in a similar fashion. Send a member or two the same introductory note mentioned earlier. This may be time consuming,
but going through nursing school and getting an advanced degree, only to find it is not for you, is both equally cost and time consuming. So save yourself some time, money, and peace of mind. Becoming a CRNA is an investment.
Nursing associations, in which your specialty area is affiliated with, usually function on a national and local level. Here are two examples: on the national level, American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, and on the local level, Alabama Association of Nurse Anesthetists.
It's important to note, these are not the only CRNA focused nursing associations, they are merely cited here as examples. Study their respective websites and contact them to see if you can attend their next meeting. Tell them a little about yourself and interests in the profession, and that you'd be interested in sitting in on a meeting or attending an upcoming event, as a guest. The national associations
have local affiliates, so find out where the nearest affiliate is and give them a call or send email. The worst they can say is "No."
If you don't receive a favorable response, try another organization, even if you aren't interested in the specialty area. Remember the idea is to gain some experience, and more knowledge about the profession of nursing.
If you get to attend one of the organization's meetings or functions, you will surely meet nurses who have changed specialty areas at some point in their career. Therefore, interacting and mingling will benefit you greatly. If you were interested in another specialty area, here is an ANA (American Nurses Association) link to Nursing Organizations. and Canada Nurse Association
Online nurse focused discussion forums are another place worth investing some time in. You can ask the same open ended questions mentioned earlier. Or you can read message threads of those who have already asked similar questions about getting into nursing. Remember, you don't have to be a nurse to read or participate in most forums. Also, you may run across some discussions from disgruntled message posters, but don't let this discourage you, this is another person's experience. You are not in their situation. You don't have all of the
facts. For all you know, the person may not even be a nurse. Be objective when you read the posts in the nursing forums. A good place to start is All Nurses website, since it has one of the largest number of participants in nursing forums.
Contact your local hospitals and other employers that hire nurses, and ask to speak with the human resources or personnel manager. The manager will be able to provide you with information on nursing and may be able to connect you with one of their employees who would speak with you about the profession.
The last task you need to complete is to try to volunteer at a hospital
or nursing home. You don't have to commit to a lifetime of volunteering; many organizations need volunteers to sit with patients or residents as companions. Volunteering in the mail department of any facility won't help, so concentrate your efforts on volunteering in a patient care setting, and then you can have a direct visual of the nurse-patient interaction. This experience will be invaluable for you.
Now, if you have a busy schedule and you're saying, "I don't have time to volunteer," there's another alternative for you. Contact your local community college and college or university's school of nursing. You can ask them to put you in contact with a first & second year student at the community college and a freshman and senior student and the college or university. Spend a day with them in school. Due to liability issues, you probably won't be able to go on the clinical rotations with the senior student, but that student can inform you of what can be expected and you can attend a class or few for the day. Find out how many courses the student is enrolled in and how much time is spent on studies. Remember, this will vary with each student and educational institution.
All of this data and experience should be collected and completed at least six months to a year before you decide to apply to nursing school. The Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) title was used merely as an example and any aspect of this career research can be applied to any person seeking information on how to career research for becoming a nurse and wishing to practice in any specialty area. Before you actually start applying to schools and taking entrance exams, as you can see there are many ways to do your research on nursing as a profession. In addition to researching schools, reading career books, taking aptitude tests, talking to family and friends in the
profession; these combined reality experiences will help you to become better informed and prepared for the decision you will make. Best wishes with your nursing career.
Reference Source: www.realnurse.net
You're interested in becoming a nurse. How do you get into the field? First of all, you need to assess your basic interest.
Why do you want to get into nursing?
Are you getting ready to graduate from high school and always wanted to be a nurse?
Do you want to go into nursing, because a relative is in the profession or your family has a tradition of graduating nurses, and it seems like the right thing to do?
Nursing seems like a nice secure profession-the pay attracts you?
You've always liked helping others and you care a lot?
Have you worked in another career field and want a change for various reasons?
Does the "nursing shortage" make you feel like you need to be a part of the "gold rush," because you have read and heard about all of the wonderful sign on bonuses?
Thorough research still needs to be done, before the decision is made to embark upon a nursing career.
There are many resources which provide information on getting into nursing school, studying for and passing boards, getting into new graduate employment programs, summer exploratory programs, etc. But for traditional nursing work (bedside nursing) in a hospital or long term care facility (traditionally known as a nursing home), it really would do some good if you had a reality TV type experience. Reading books and
articles exclusively, won't prepare you for what the profession is like.
During my first nursing clinical rotation, I knew instantly that I didn't like hospital nursing. However, I loved research, collecting data, writing papers, and so forth. Since I had a science background and had worked in various laboratory settings (e.g., a dairy plant testing milk to biotechnology company testing, human sera, a county environmental
health lab testing water sample on a mass spectrophotometer, a food plant testing spaghetti sauce), going into nursing research seemed like a natural progression.
The rude awakening: No one ever told me about the 5-6 years of med-surg hospital experience needed, before an employer would even look at me. It was not anyone else's responsibility to tell me this. Clearly, the lesson is to do all of your homework.
After graduating from nursing school, I combed the Internet, help wanted ads, journals, and even enlisted a network of friends to be on the lookout for any nurse research employment opportunities. Positions in nursing research were scarce. My diverse science background,
along with my Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Rochester, weren't a powerful enough combination to hurry me into the interviewing seat. Hence, I never landed an interviewing spot for any nursing research positions.
There are simple, invaluable, economically efficient ways to thoroughly research nursing as a profession. Of course, nothing can substitute for the actual on the job experience. But you are not there yet, and you want to investigate to see if you want to get there.
Here a few suggestions to include on your career research things to do list:
utilize the Internet to the fullest
use the services of your ISP (Internet Service Provider)
such as AOL, MSN, etc.,
make contact with potential employers in your area,
try volunteering and
find student mentors at your local college and university.
Start with an open mind before you use any of these resources.
Many prospective students have their specialty title etched in stone. "I want to go into pediatric nursing, because I love children." "I want to work in trauma." Moreover, they don't want to discuss or research anything else. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having a vision of which practice area you'd like to specialize in, but it is a good idea to keep the door open for other possibilities. The turn over can be high and many nurses change specialty areas for various reasons, from burnout, boredom, needing a change of pace, advancement reasons, to unforeseen circumstances. The good thing about changing specialty areas is your skills are transferable.
Utilizing the Internet yields a wealth of information. There are many contacts to be made on the Internet. Let's hypothesize, for reference purposes, CRNA (Certified Nurse Anesthetist) will be used as an example specialty area, and hypothetically, you are interested in becoming a CRNA. Keep in mind you have already researched nursing schools, salary ranges, employment outlook, and in addition to becoming a registered nurse you're aware of the advanced degree requirement. This part of your research has already been done.
There are many organizations where you can make email contact, or get other contact information from nurse professionals who are retired CRNAs, or those who currently work in the field. Go to google.com to do a search. Try Google's advanced search feature and type in keywords "email" and "CRNA" without quotes, on the first line.
Your first 100 search results will include some email addresses for people who are actually CRNAs. You will find some with university addresses, who may be professors or alumni, company addresses of CRNAs who are employees, and personal email addresses. Select a CRNA's email address from these four different areas:
university employed,
hospital employed,
military employed,
and other areas, such as a physician practice group.
To narrow your search you may type in "email" & "CRNA" or "military" or "physician practice group" or "retired."
Click on the web page links to view email addresses listed. Send each nurse professional a simple introductory email, about your interest in the profession and ask them three open ended questions:
"What are some of the things I should consider before deciding to go to nursing school to become a CRNA?"
"What is your outlook on the future of CRNAs?"
"What are the positive and negative aspects of working as a CRNA?"
Nurses are a kind body of professionals and most won't mind that you took the time to contact them. It is always a good idea to get feedback from someone who is currently in the field (new graduate and
seasoned professional), as well as retirees. Your email should be composed of a very brief note. Don't forget to thank them for their responses.
Another place to locate a CRNA is the AOL people directory, provided you are an AOL subscriber. On your navigational tool bar, just click on "People”, then "Member Directory." Next, on the first text field line, type in “CRNA” and you will find hundreds of CRNAs who are already in your own backyard. If you are not an AOL subscriber, check to see if your ISP has a searchable membership directory and find other members in a similar fashion. Send a member or two the same introductory note mentioned earlier. This may be time consuming,
but going through nursing school and getting an advanced degree, only to find it is not for you, is both equally cost and time consuming. So save yourself some time, money, and peace of mind. Becoming a CRNA is an investment.
Nursing associations, in which your specialty area is affiliated with, usually function on a national and local level. Here are two examples: on the national level, American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, and on the local level, Alabama Association of Nurse Anesthetists.
It's important to note, these are not the only CRNA focused nursing associations, they are merely cited here as examples. Study their respective websites and contact them to see if you can attend their next meeting. Tell them a little about yourself and interests in the profession, and that you'd be interested in sitting in on a meeting or attending an upcoming event, as a guest. The national associations
have local affiliates, so find out where the nearest affiliate is and give them a call or send email. The worst they can say is "No."
If you don't receive a favorable response, try another organization, even if you aren't interested in the specialty area. Remember the idea is to gain some experience, and more knowledge about the profession of nursing.
If you get to attend one of the organization's meetings or functions, you will surely meet nurses who have changed specialty areas at some point in their career. Therefore, interacting and mingling will benefit you greatly. If you were interested in another specialty area, here is an ANA (American Nurses Association) link to Nursing Organizations. and Canada Nurse Association
Online nurse focused discussion forums are another place worth investing some time in. You can ask the same open ended questions mentioned earlier. Or you can read message threads of those who have already asked similar questions about getting into nursing. Remember, you don't have to be a nurse to read or participate in most forums. Also, you may run across some discussions from disgruntled message posters, but don't let this discourage you, this is another person's experience. You are not in their situation. You don't have all of the
facts. For all you know, the person may not even be a nurse. Be objective when you read the posts in the nursing forums. A good place to start is All Nurses website, since it has one of the largest number of participants in nursing forums.
Contact your local hospitals and other employers that hire nurses, and ask to speak with the human resources or personnel manager. The manager will be able to provide you with information on nursing and may be able to connect you with one of their employees who would speak with you about the profession.
The last task you need to complete is to try to volunteer at a hospital
or nursing home. You don't have to commit to a lifetime of volunteering; many organizations need volunteers to sit with patients or residents as companions. Volunteering in the mail department of any facility won't help, so concentrate your efforts on volunteering in a patient care setting, and then you can have a direct visual of the nurse-patient interaction. This experience will be invaluable for you.
Now, if you have a busy schedule and you're saying, "I don't have time to volunteer," there's another alternative for you. Contact your local community college and college or university's school of nursing. You can ask them to put you in contact with a first & second year student at the community college and a freshman and senior student and the college or university. Spend a day with them in school. Due to liability issues, you probably won't be able to go on the clinical rotations with the senior student, but that student can inform you of what can be expected and you can attend a class or few for the day. Find out how many courses the student is enrolled in and how much time is spent on studies. Remember, this will vary with each student and educational institution.
All of this data and experience should be collected and completed at least six months to a year before you decide to apply to nursing school. The Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) title was used merely as an example and any aspect of this career research can be applied to any person seeking information on how to career research for becoming a nurse and wishing to practice in any specialty area. Before you actually start applying to schools and taking entrance exams, as you can see there are many ways to do your research on nursing as a profession. In addition to researching schools, reading career books, taking aptitude tests, talking to family and friends in the
profession; these combined reality experiences will help you to become better informed and prepared for the decision you will make. Best wishes with your nursing career.
Reference Source: www.realnurse.net
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Becoming an LPN, International Nurse's fast path to a nursing career
By: http://www.skybluecros.org/
Most Interational nurse would like to start their nursing career at very short time, Becoming an LPN, International Nurse's fast path to a nursing career
Licensed Practical Nurses provide the most amount of direct patient care within the nursing category of healthcare. If you’re interested in a healthcare career dealing directly with patients, becoming an LPN is a rewarding opportunity.
LPN Job Description
LPNs provide a large portion of direct patient care. LPNs may be assisted by nurses’ aides ( CNAs ) and other assistants in some of their duties. LPNs are directed by doctors and nurses (RNs & nurse managers). Typically, a LPN’s work duties include:
Taking vital signs
Preparing and administering injections and enemas
Applying dressings and bandages
Watching catheters
Treating bedsores
Providing alcohol massages or rubs
Monitoring patients and reporting changes
Collecting samples for testing
Provide patient hygiene
Feeding patients
Monitoring food and liquid input/output
LPNs work in a variety of settings like hospitals, outpatient facilities, long term care facilities, clinics and home care. Tenured LPNs may supervise nursing aides and assistants.
Salary Ranges
While nursing jobs in general are in high demand nationwide, LPN positions in hospitals are declining. However, since this has been caused by an increase in outpatient services, LPN positions in long term care facilities and home health is in as much demand as other nursing categories.
The U.S. Department of Labor has published the median income for LPNs as $31,440 in 2002. The range was $22,860 to $44,040 based on geographic location and work experience. Contract LPNs made the most money, while doctor’s office nurses made the least on average at $28,710.
A nursing career offers other benefits including a flexible schedule, a short work week (three 12 hour shifts with four days off), tuition reimbursement and signing bonuses.
Education / Getting Started
Because of the high level of patient responsibility, nursing is highly regulated, requiring both education and a license. Graduates must complete a state approved practical nursing program and pass a licensing examination.
An LPN certificate can be completed in less than a year. Some RN students become LPNs after completing their first year of study. Course work in the LPN program includes anatomy, physiology, nutrition, biology, chemistry, obstetrics, pediatrics, first aid as well as nursing classes.
Becoming an LPN is the fastest path to a nursing career. Advancement can take many forms, but additional education is usually required.
If you possess the traits necessary to become a successful nurse and want to secure a well paying, important profession caring for others, getting an LPN degree in nursing is a great way to secure your professional future.
Reference Source::http://www.nursingcenter.com
Most Interational nurse would like to start their nursing career at very short time, Becoming an LPN, International Nurse's fast path to a nursing career
Licensed Practical Nurses provide the most amount of direct patient care within the nursing category of healthcare. If you’re interested in a healthcare career dealing directly with patients, becoming an LPN is a rewarding opportunity.
LPN Job Description
LPNs provide a large portion of direct patient care. LPNs may be assisted by nurses’ aides ( CNAs ) and other assistants in some of their duties. LPNs are directed by doctors and nurses (RNs & nurse managers). Typically, a LPN’s work duties include:
Taking vital signs
Preparing and administering injections and enemas
Applying dressings and bandages
Watching catheters
Treating bedsores
Providing alcohol massages or rubs
Monitoring patients and reporting changes
Collecting samples for testing
Provide patient hygiene
Feeding patients
Monitoring food and liquid input/output
LPNs work in a variety of settings like hospitals, outpatient facilities, long term care facilities, clinics and home care. Tenured LPNs may supervise nursing aides and assistants.
Salary Ranges
While nursing jobs in general are in high demand nationwide, LPN positions in hospitals are declining. However, since this has been caused by an increase in outpatient services, LPN positions in long term care facilities and home health is in as much demand as other nursing categories.
The U.S. Department of Labor has published the median income for LPNs as $31,440 in 2002. The range was $22,860 to $44,040 based on geographic location and work experience. Contract LPNs made the most money, while doctor’s office nurses made the least on average at $28,710.
A nursing career offers other benefits including a flexible schedule, a short work week (three 12 hour shifts with four days off), tuition reimbursement and signing bonuses.
Education / Getting Started
Because of the high level of patient responsibility, nursing is highly regulated, requiring both education and a license. Graduates must complete a state approved practical nursing program and pass a licensing examination.
An LPN certificate can be completed in less than a year. Some RN students become LPNs after completing their first year of study. Course work in the LPN program includes anatomy, physiology, nutrition, biology, chemistry, obstetrics, pediatrics, first aid as well as nursing classes.
Becoming an LPN is the fastest path to a nursing career. Advancement can take many forms, but additional education is usually required.
If you possess the traits necessary to become a successful nurse and want to secure a well paying, important profession caring for others, getting an LPN degree in nursing is a great way to secure your professional future.
Reference Source::http://www.nursingcenter.com
Saturday, November 13, 2010
International nurses' surviving tips for everyday work (and home) pressures.
By: http://www.skybluecross.org/
Most international nurses are under everyday work and home high pressure, it is very important to know how to survive ; Here are some quick, easy and doable tips for surviving everyday work (and home) pressures.
· DB&C – It’s not just for your patients, replace the "C" for coughing with "C" for contentment, i.e. deep breathing and contentment - inhale deeply and exhale for twice as long. Fill those cells with much need oxygen; do this 5-10 times. You can add words to your breaths. For example, on the inhale say peace, love, patience, and feel the essence of those words being drawn into your body. Exhale words you want to be rid of like, stress, frustration, anger.
· Acknowledge - Find a safe, private place to vent! Scribble! Doodle! Keep a stress ball in your pocket or stamp your feet in the linen room! It’s necessary to acknowledge the feeling of pressure while finding a release for that pressure.
· Boundaries - There is no need to ruin your whole day, so give yourself a time limit to be frustrated. Say to yourself, "I’ll give this 10 minutes and no more of my precious time." Life is too short to let your whole day be ruined, so set a boundary and then move on.
· Problem solve - If this is something that is recurring, ask yourself if there is something you can do about it. If you stubbed your toe over and over on that bed frame, perhaps you should wrap a towel around the post! Sometimes there are simple answers to recurring problems.
· Repeat a mantra - I know what I know...I am doing the best I can at this moment...I am enough...I can’t please everyone all the time...I can only do one thing at a time...etc. Repeating a mantra is calming, grounding and reaffirming.
· Don’t take it personally - Not everything is about us. Sometimes it’s situational, sometimes it's environmental, but if we can give people the benefit of the doubt a little more often and not assume everything is directly related to us, pressures may not seem as overwhelming.
· Hang out with the happy gang - Don’t let the cranky gang get to you; distance yourself whenever possible or they will bring you down to their level. Surround yourself with winners, not whiners. Develop a professional network of like minded, supportive people who want to deal with issues, not exacerbate them.
We all have high pressure day, but with a little practice and commitment we can shift the "bad day" to perhaps a "bad hour", and then with even more practice, reduce it to a "bad moment." This is a life/work skill that will do you (and those you serve and those you love) well and will enrich your life for years to come!
Reference Sourcce: http://www.nursetogether.com
Most international nurses are under everyday work and home high pressure, it is very important to know how to survive ; Here are some quick, easy and doable tips for surviving everyday work (and home) pressures.
· DB&C – It’s not just for your patients, replace the "C" for coughing with "C" for contentment, i.e. deep breathing and contentment - inhale deeply and exhale for twice as long. Fill those cells with much need oxygen; do this 5-10 times. You can add words to your breaths. For example, on the inhale say peace, love, patience, and feel the essence of those words being drawn into your body. Exhale words you want to be rid of like, stress, frustration, anger.
· Acknowledge - Find a safe, private place to vent! Scribble! Doodle! Keep a stress ball in your pocket or stamp your feet in the linen room! It’s necessary to acknowledge the feeling of pressure while finding a release for that pressure.
· Boundaries - There is no need to ruin your whole day, so give yourself a time limit to be frustrated. Say to yourself, "I’ll give this 10 minutes and no more of my precious time." Life is too short to let your whole day be ruined, so set a boundary and then move on.
· Problem solve - If this is something that is recurring, ask yourself if there is something you can do about it. If you stubbed your toe over and over on that bed frame, perhaps you should wrap a towel around the post! Sometimes there are simple answers to recurring problems.
· Repeat a mantra - I know what I know...I am doing the best I can at this moment...I am enough...I can’t please everyone all the time...I can only do one thing at a time...etc. Repeating a mantra is calming, grounding and reaffirming.
· Don’t take it personally - Not everything is about us. Sometimes it’s situational, sometimes it's environmental, but if we can give people the benefit of the doubt a little more often and not assume everything is directly related to us, pressures may not seem as overwhelming.
· Hang out with the happy gang - Don’t let the cranky gang get to you; distance yourself whenever possible or they will bring you down to their level. Surround yourself with winners, not whiners. Develop a professional network of like minded, supportive people who want to deal with issues, not exacerbate them.
We all have high pressure day, but with a little practice and commitment we can shift the "bad day" to perhaps a "bad hour", and then with even more practice, reduce it to a "bad moment." This is a life/work skill that will do you (and those you serve and those you love) well and will enrich your life for years to come!
Reference Sourcce: http://www.nursetogether.com
Friday, November 12, 2010
International Nurse's 10 Golden Rule for Great Nursing job
By: http://www.skybluecross.org/
most International nurse dream of doing great job and getting good paid,then How?, actually, it is not difficulty at all, just only need follow below 10 Golden Rule
1. Be TRUE: Ethics are my pet peeve. Be honest in everything you do. You are human and when you make an error, admit it. Integrity – once lost – is almost impossible to get back.
2. Great nurses are proud LEADERS and MENTORS: Please don’t eat our young! Be a leader to the new nurses or the inexperienced nurses on your floor. TEACH them and HELP them to excel. Both the profession and your organization will benefit immensely when you share your talent in this way.
3. When TIRED, great nurses will NOT pick up those extra shifts: This goes along with being true to yourself, but great nurses know their limitations and don’t take on extra hours if they aren’t comfortable with it for the safety of their patients and their personal health.
4. Take time for FAMILY and FRIENDS: Great nurses understand the importance of a work/life balance. This includes AMPLE time for your family and friends. It does not help to work overtime for months at a time to save money for the dream vacation and then spend the entire time you are on vacation in bed with mono!
5. Great nurses LAUGH at themselves: Nurses are able to see the humor in everyday events and are not afraid to acknowledge their shortcomings!
6. When in doubt, ASK: Great nurses are not afraid to admit they are confused or not sure of something. Great nurses, for the protection of their patients, are always willing to ask questions and get clarification.
7. Be TRUE to yourself: Nurses, know your limitations. You also need to know it really is fine to use the word, “No”. If you find yourself stressed out, do something about it and don’t lose yourself in the process of helping others.
8. Be TRUE to your peers: “Dumping” work on your peers or calling off late is not being true to your peers. You expect an honest day of work from them and they should COUNT ON the same from you. Treat your peers with respect and professionalism.
9. Be TRUE to your profession: Represent the nursing profession well, both on the job and in the community. Volunteer and join local organizations to help in your neighborhood. Keep current on your education requirements and job functions.
10. Be TRUE to your patients: Remember why you originally chose the profession of nursing? To help people. Be true to this goal and remind yourself everyday that you are there to provide the best patient care possible. This means not coming to work sick or calling off at the last minute. This means providing ALL care to the patients you are responsible for. There is no excuse for skipping care you may feel is non-essential and don't want to provide because you are tired or understaffed and need to rest. Be true to your patients at all times.
Reference Source: www.nursetogether.com
most International nurse dream of doing great job and getting good paid,then How?, actually, it is not difficulty at all, just only need follow below 10 Golden Rule
1. Be TRUE: Ethics are my pet peeve. Be honest in everything you do. You are human and when you make an error, admit it. Integrity – once lost – is almost impossible to get back.
2. Great nurses are proud LEADERS and MENTORS: Please don’t eat our young! Be a leader to the new nurses or the inexperienced nurses on your floor. TEACH them and HELP them to excel. Both the profession and your organization will benefit immensely when you share your talent in this way.
3. When TIRED, great nurses will NOT pick up those extra shifts: This goes along with being true to yourself, but great nurses know their limitations and don’t take on extra hours if they aren’t comfortable with it for the safety of their patients and their personal health.
4. Take time for FAMILY and FRIENDS: Great nurses understand the importance of a work/life balance. This includes AMPLE time for your family and friends. It does not help to work overtime for months at a time to save money for the dream vacation and then spend the entire time you are on vacation in bed with mono!
5. Great nurses LAUGH at themselves: Nurses are able to see the humor in everyday events and are not afraid to acknowledge their shortcomings!
6. When in doubt, ASK: Great nurses are not afraid to admit they are confused or not sure of something. Great nurses, for the protection of their patients, are always willing to ask questions and get clarification.
7. Be TRUE to yourself: Nurses, know your limitations. You also need to know it really is fine to use the word, “No”. If you find yourself stressed out, do something about it and don’t lose yourself in the process of helping others.
8. Be TRUE to your peers: “Dumping” work on your peers or calling off late is not being true to your peers. You expect an honest day of work from them and they should COUNT ON the same from you. Treat your peers with respect and professionalism.
9. Be TRUE to your profession: Represent the nursing profession well, both on the job and in the community. Volunteer and join local organizations to help in your neighborhood. Keep current on your education requirements and job functions.
10. Be TRUE to your patients: Remember why you originally chose the profession of nursing? To help people. Be true to this goal and remind yourself everyday that you are there to provide the best patient care possible. This means not coming to work sick or calling off at the last minute. This means providing ALL care to the patients you are responsible for. There is no excuse for skipping care you may feel is non-essential and don't want to provide because you are tired or understaffed and need to rest. Be true to your patients at all times.
Reference Source: www.nursetogether.com
Thursday, November 11, 2010
International Nurses how to avoid common 9 malpratices at their nursing work
By: http://www.skybluecross.org/
although most International nurwses have strong desire to have their nursing job done effectively and safely, However there few common errors most nurses may make.
Trying to be everything to everybody: This is a general faux pas where nurses tend to forget how to balance their work and life situations. You can’t balance your checkbook while working ICU. You can’t make it to your son’s baseball game if you pick up those extra hours after 3 PM! Time management and priority setting will go a long way here.
Placing the wrong probe in the wrong opening: Oh…this is an oral thermometer? Enough said on that.
What was in that basin? Oh no! I just flushed Mrs. Barrett’s false teeth! Pay attention. That may be an emesis basis to you, but to Mrs. Barrett it is the perfect place for her false teeth!
Oh, didn’t I mention that side effect? You get a frantic call from a patient you discharged yesterday with a UTI. She was placed on oral rifampin. She is convinced she is dying because her urine is orange. Oops…I must have forgotten to mention that side effect.
Medication Errors: Remember nursing school: Right patient, right drug, right time, right dose, and right route? Don’t forget to use these patient medication rights EVERYTIME you administer a medication. Errors often occur when a nurse is busy and doesn’t take the proper time to assure everything is correct.
Wrong procedure: Was that Mr. Smith in 202 who needed the wound care or Mr. Jones in 203? When you bring your wound care supplies into room 203 and pull down Mr. Jones’ sheet is when you suddenly realize he was admitted with a cardiac issue. Mr. Smith needs the wound care. Near miss this time! Again, time management and attention to detail…You are never too busy to do the right task every time!
Forgotten patient: After apologizing for exposing Mr. Jones at 3 PM by accident, he asked you for a glass of water. You told him you would be right back. On your way home at 7:30 PM you remember the conversation and the fact that you never saw Mr. Jones again after 3 PM. Oops. In health care, the squeaky patient gets the attention! Don’t forget your obligations to your entire patient load!
Eating our young: This is a huge professional faux pas, in my opinion. Why is it that we can’t mentor our young instead of seeing them as nurses who have no experience and are in our way? How are they going to gain experience and skill sets without proper guidance from the experienced group? Scare tactics are not positive education tools!
Being too afraid to question an order: If you are afraid of questioning an order, you are in the wrong profession. Remember, while performing our other duties, nurses have an obligation to protect the safety of his/her patients. If something appears incorrect, question it. What is the worst that can happen? You are wrong. What is the alternative? You are right and your patient doesn’t get a lethal dose of morphine.
Reference Sourc : www.nursetogether.com
although most International nurwses have strong desire to have their nursing job done effectively and safely, However there few common errors most nurses may make.
Trying to be everything to everybody: This is a general faux pas where nurses tend to forget how to balance their work and life situations. You can’t balance your checkbook while working ICU. You can’t make it to your son’s baseball game if you pick up those extra hours after 3 PM! Time management and priority setting will go a long way here.
Placing the wrong probe in the wrong opening: Oh…this is an oral thermometer? Enough said on that.
What was in that basin? Oh no! I just flushed Mrs. Barrett’s false teeth! Pay attention. That may be an emesis basis to you, but to Mrs. Barrett it is the perfect place for her false teeth!
Oh, didn’t I mention that side effect? You get a frantic call from a patient you discharged yesterday with a UTI. She was placed on oral rifampin. She is convinced she is dying because her urine is orange. Oops…I must have forgotten to mention that side effect.
Medication Errors: Remember nursing school: Right patient, right drug, right time, right dose, and right route? Don’t forget to use these patient medication rights EVERYTIME you administer a medication. Errors often occur when a nurse is busy and doesn’t take the proper time to assure everything is correct.
Wrong procedure: Was that Mr. Smith in 202 who needed the wound care or Mr. Jones in 203? When you bring your wound care supplies into room 203 and pull down Mr. Jones’ sheet is when you suddenly realize he was admitted with a cardiac issue. Mr. Smith needs the wound care. Near miss this time! Again, time management and attention to detail…You are never too busy to do the right task every time!
Forgotten patient: After apologizing for exposing Mr. Jones at 3 PM by accident, he asked you for a glass of water. You told him you would be right back. On your way home at 7:30 PM you remember the conversation and the fact that you never saw Mr. Jones again after 3 PM. Oops. In health care, the squeaky patient gets the attention! Don’t forget your obligations to your entire patient load!
Eating our young: This is a huge professional faux pas, in my opinion. Why is it that we can’t mentor our young instead of seeing them as nurses who have no experience and are in our way? How are they going to gain experience and skill sets without proper guidance from the experienced group? Scare tactics are not positive education tools!
Being too afraid to question an order: If you are afraid of questioning an order, you are in the wrong profession. Remember, while performing our other duties, nurses have an obligation to protect the safety of his/her patients. If something appears incorrect, question it. What is the worst that can happen? You are wrong. What is the alternative? You are right and your patient doesn’t get a lethal dose of morphine.
Reference Sourc : www.nursetogether.com
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