Part-time Nursing Students Working Full-time Jobs

Usually, part-time nursing students are those who are interested in a nursing career but have other responsibilities that interfere with their abilities to attend regular classes. Of late, there has been a good rise in the number of part-time nursing students for a variety of reasons. Looking at the overall scenario, it appears that the looming specter of nursing shortage is the common driving force behind large number of students opting for part-time courses.

As per February 2004 projections by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, registered nurses (RNs) will top the list of 10 occupations that have the potential of the largest job growth in the years 2002-2012. It bears recalling that RNs have listed among the top 10 growth occupations in the past, but for the first time in recent history, RNs occupy the top rank.

BLS' 10-year projections are widely used in career guidance and come in handy for concerned institutes in planning education and training programs and also in studying long-range employment trends. Thus, the BLS' report that more than 2.9 million RNs will be employed in the year 2012, up 623,000 from the nearly 2.3 million RNs employed in 2002 has meant that many aspirants have now decided to study and pursue a career in nursing.

Unfortunately, there has not been commensurate increase in nurse educators as a result of which nursing institutes are unable to increase seats in regular courses. Seen in this backdrop, let us examine some common indicators behind the increase in part-time nursing students. 1. Second Career It's true that the momentous events of 9/11 disaster have triggered a rush for second career in nursing, because people want a job in which they can make a difference in others' lives. But while this trend has more or less ebbed over time, the popular choice of nursing as second career continues to rise on account of projected shortage of nurses in the coming decade.

Helen Taggart, a professor of nursing at Armstrong Atlantic State University, says, "A critical shortage of nurses is creating a crisis in healthcare that impacts both the preparation of nurses and the ability to provide quality care in the region." In keeping with this daunting prospect, her association, the Coastal Georgia Nursing Consortium (CGNC) plans a news conference shortly to announce a special program on Nursing as a Second Career.

In most cases where aspirants have decided to opt for nursing as their second career, it is seen that they are already engaged in full-time jobs either in healthcare industry or in a completely alien field. Such career choosers are often reluctant to let go their employment and therefore likely to opt as part-time nursing students.

2. Admission Problem As noted above, the rising trend of requirement of qualified nurses has not translated into matching availability of seats in nursing institutes. This has meant that aspirants who would have otherwise gone for full-time courses, have to settle for part-time education in nursing. Since scholarships and grants are usually less available for part-time students, they need to find jobs – often full-time jobs – to run their personal and education-related expenses.

3. Higher Degree When a sector undergoes a period of high demand, lots of churning takes place, many of which act contrary to one another. The same thing is happening in the nursing sector. On one hand, there is a shortage of sufficient nurse educators because of which nursing seats are not expanding. On the other, qualified nurses who are already working full-time albeit in lower ranks, are pushing to up their qualification to take advantage of empty positions in high-ranked jobs.

In a way, this is inevitable because people have it in them to pursue higher goals, especially in situations that are now prevalent in nursing sector. On account of this, full-time nurses in various categories and disciplines are actively seeking to improve their nursing degrees by enrolling in part-time courses. Many nursing institutes have come up with innovative courses to cater to the long list of part-time nursing students who already have full-time jobs. Some examples are weekend courses, evening classes and even distant coaching. It is expected that such facilities will continue to maintain an upward trend in the foreseeable future.

Form Articlecity.com

Seattle Schools Participate In Washington Assessment Of Student Learning

From articlecity.com
Washington Assessment of Student Learning is Enacted for the 2006-2007 School Year

The class of 2008 in all Seattle Schools will be required to pass the 10th-grade Washington Assessment of Student Learning, this will be the way that most students will earn the Certificate of Academic Achievement, one of the four new statewide graduation requirements. The Washington Assessment of Student Learning report will indicate a student’s performance in reading, writing and math with science being in a separate report. Most students in the Seattle Schools will, of course, be very successful on the three sections on their first try but for those students who may have difficulty meeting the standards, there will be opportunities for them to receive assistance. These programs will help the students in the Seattle Schools achieve scores on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning while furthering there education.

Seattle Schools Establishes Programs to Aid Students on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning

The Summer College is a ground-breaking collaboration between Seattle Schools, three Seattle Community Colleges and the City of Seattle. The Summer College is designed to offer those students who need remedial help for high school students. The Summer College program will last five weeks and will be conducted on the campuses of the three community colleges. This will not only give the students the help they need but provide an early introduction to life on a college campus. Those students who have scored Level 2 or below on at least one section of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning will be eligible for the program.

A second program created by the Seattle Schools in order to offer assistants to students is the Extended Learning Summer Semester. These programs are intended to provide students with the opportunity to improve their reading, mathematics, and writing skills before retaking the Washington Assessment of Student Learning. A for credit program will offered for ninth and tenth graders during the summer at Ingraham, Franklin and West Seattle high schools. These courses will not only be offered in math and reading but also in social studies, language arts, science and health. Students will need to be referred by their high school counselor before they can participate in this program. This is a solid program but may not suit all students.

There are several other programs that are being developed by the Seattle Schools for the 2006-2007 school year. All of the high schools in the Seattle Schools system are adding some kind of student assistance to help them do their best on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning. Several high schools have added a seventh class period that will be used for help or remedial work. Tutoring sessions in math and literacy and classroom tutors have been set up at most high schools. Seattle Schools are instituting intensive instructional periods, Evening School programs, Contract Learning and the Digital Learning Commons in an effort to provide programs that appeal to students’ different learning styles and schedules.

Certified Legal Nurse Consultant’s Pain and Suffering Analysis Spurs Record Settlement

by: Vickie Milazzo RN, MSN, JD

When an attorney takes on a medical-related lawsuit, the attorney is confronted with enormous volumes of medical records crammed with esoteric terminology, inexplicable shorthand and indecipherable handwriting. Yet his client's (plaintiff or defense) future depends on the attorney understanding those records and using them to support the case effectively. That's why being a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant is the healthiest thing that will ever happen to your attorney-client's practice.

On a sunny Virginia morning, meter maid Beverly Adams was severely burned over 50% of her body when her three-wheeled motorcycle turned over and caught fire. "She was making a slight turn on dry pavement," says her attorney, Rob Walker of Robert Walker and Associates, Richmond. "The vehicle was defectively designed with the driver sitting right on top of the gas tank." That arrangement almost proved lethal for Adams.

"Under Virginia law," continues Walker, "you can't sue an employer for an on-the-job injury that takes place in the course of employment. Instead, we took on the engineering firm and the foreign corporation that designed and distributed the vehicle."

According to Walker, his 42-year-old nonsmoking client sang in her church choir and was a 15-year veteran of the police force. Adams had a reputation for going by the book and writing more tickets than most of her peers. "She was the perfect plaintiff," he says.

The accident changed Adams' life completely and permanently. "In addition to her severe burns," says Walker, "she lost four fingers on one hand, lost her eyelids, ears, nose and most of her hair. She spent three months in the hospital, almost a year in rehab, and needed 32 reconstructive surgeries and other surgical procedures. For the rest of her life she'll have to use prosthetic devices and special creams for her damaged skin."

How does the attorney make sense of a year's worth of complicated medical records describing such devastating injuries? How does he even begin to grasp the pain and suffering Adams endured, much less make it real for a jury? Walker's answer is simple: He doesn't. He calls in an expert. His expert of choice was Sharon Scott, RN, CLNC.

The Certified Legal Nurse Consultant Is the Key to Understanding the Medical Issues

For the Adams case, Scott tapped both her 19 years of nursing experience and her extensive training as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant. "I developed a detailed chronology of the case and explained all the medical procedures in lay terms," she says. "My services included indexing the records and explaining the difference between second and third degree burns. I also pulled out every recorded instance of Adam's pain and suffering and prepared a chart listing all the pain medications, sedatives, etc., she took."

Walker explains the value of Scott's Certified Legal Nurse Consultant services. "I had no idea what was being done to the plaintiff because much of it was in medical shorthand. Sharon indexed the records so we could find what we were looking for. Then on a daily basis she summarized Adams' condition, treatments, surgeries, medications and outcome." This detailed summary made it easier for Walker to answer defense interrogatories and to decide which witnesses to call.

"We were most concerned about Adams' pain and suffering," he continues. "We needed a handle on that. Sharon put all the procedures and surgeries into words we could understand. For example, debridement is just a medical term to me. Sharon explained that meant scrubbing off the dead skin. When you see how often they did that, you understand how much my client suffered."

Scott's next step was to make the actual amount of painkiller Adams received real for people. Walker explains, "Sharon tallied all the dosages for the first six weeks of treatment, then concluded by saying my client had received enough medicine to relieve the pain of 850 heart attacks or 1,700-3,400 hours of labor. That vivid picture of what Adams went through gave us an advantage over the defense attorney when we started talking about damages."

Although the case was pending in federal court, local rules required Walker and the defense to attempt a good-faith settlement. "Both sides chose mediation," he says, "and we settled in about a day. Sharon's summary made the damages so evident, we never had to discuss them. This made for a cleaner conference focused on the liability issues."

The result was a $14,000,000 settlement, at that time (2000) one of the largest out-of-court settlements ever reached for a personal injury case in Virginia. "One reason we got this settlement," Walker acknowledges, "was the understanding of the medical records Sharon gave us." An indirect result of this case was that the vehicle in which Adams nearly died has been redesigned to move the gas tank and its opening to the back.

Certified Legal Nurse Consultants Save Attorneys Time and Money

I have a small office," Walker says. "I can't read 4,000 pages of medical records. Having the services of someone like Sharon allows me to take on complex cases that I could not handle otherwise."

Scott's status as an independent Certified Legal Nurse Consultant in private practice is an advantage for Walker. "I trust her judgment and her opinions more than I would a nurse working in my own office. An independent consultant doesn't have an ax to grind with you. If you get a case of questionable merit, Sharon will tell you not to pursue it."

Another benefit of working with a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant is cost savings. "You can lose a lot of money on cases with complex medical issues if you're not on firm ground," says Walker. "My out-of-pocket expenses on the Adams case were around $240,000. Sharon can quickly and economically identify whether you have a case, and she can cut down on your staff time going through medical records. If you're in a small or medium-sized firm and you need help indexing records or understanding complex medical issues, a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant is indispensable.”

Do You Need A Maternity Nurse?

If you've determined there's enough money in your budget for a baby nurse (they don't come cheap), you'll need to consider several other factors before deciding whether or not to hire one. Here are some reasons why you might opt for the help:

• To get some hands-on training in baby care. If you haven't had experience or taken a parenting class and feel you'd rather not learn from the mistakes you make on the job and on your baby, a good baby nurse will be able to instruct in such basics as bathing, burping, changing nappies and even breastfeeding. If this is your reason for hiring a nurse, however, be sure that the person you hire is as interested in teaching as you are in learning. Some won't tolerate novice parents peeping over their shoulders; one with such a dictatorial take-charge attitude can leave you as inexperienced and unsure when she departs as you were when she arrived.

• To avoid getting up in the middle of the night for feedings. If you're formula feeding and would rather sleep through the night, at least in the early weeks of postpartum fatigue, a baby nurse, on duty twenty-four hours a day or hired just for nights, can take over or share this feeding responsibility with you and your spouse.

• To spend more time with an older child. Some parents hire a baby nurse so that they can be more available to their older children, and hopefully spare them the pangs of jealousy that are often provoked by new arrivals. Such a nurse might be hired to work just a few hours a day during the time you want to spend with your older child. If this is your major reason for hiring a nurse, however, keep in mind that her presence will probably serve only to postpone feelings of sibling jealousy.

• To give yourself a chance to recuperate after a Caesarean or difficult vaginal birth. Since you probably won't know if you're going to have a difficult time before hand, it's not a bad idea to do some scouting around for nurses in advance, just in case. If you have the name of a potential nurse or two, or at least have spoken to an agency, you can call shortly after you deliver and have a helper hired before you get home.

On the other hand, a baby nurse may not be the best solution to your postpartum needs if:

• You're breastfeeding. Since a nurse can't feed a nursing newborn, and feeding is one of the most time-consuming tasks in the care of a young baby, she may not prove to be all that helpful. For the nursing mother, household help - someone to cook,clean and do laundry — is probably a wiser investment, unless you can find a nurse who will do these chores and also offer breastfeeding tips.

• You're not comfortable with a stranger living in your home. If the idea of having a non-family member sharing your bathroom, your kitchen and your table twenty-four hours a day makes you uneasy, hire a part-time nurse rather than a live-in, or opt for one of the other sources of help.

• You'd rather do it yourself. If you want to be the one to give the first bath, catch sight of the first smile (even if they say it's only gas), soothe your baby through the first bout of crying (even if it's at 2 am), don't hire a nurse, hire household help to free you up for fun with baby.

• Dad would rather do it, too. If you and your spouse are planning to share baby care, a nurse may get in the way. There may also not be much left for her to do - except to collect her paycheque - especially if dad's around full-time while he's enjoying paternity leave. In that case, the money could probably be more sensibly spent on cleaning help.

If you decide that a baby nurse is right for you, the best way to go about finding one is to ask for recommendations from friends who've used one. Be sure to find out if the nurse in question has the qualifications and qualities you're looking for. Some cook, some don't. Some will do light housework and laundry, others won't. Some are gentle, motherly women who will nurture your innate mothering ability and leave you feeling more confident; others are bossy cold and patronizing and will leave you feeling totally inadequate. Many are qualified nurses: some have also been trained specifically in caring for mother as well as baby, in mother-child relations, and in teaching breastfeeding and child-care basics. A personal interview is extremely important, since it's the only way to know whether you are going to feel comfortable with a particular candidate. But excellent references ( do check them out) are a must. A nurse hired through an agency should be registered. It's also very important that a nurse - or anyone else you hire who may come in contact with the baby - has been screened for TB. She should also be trained in CPR and child safety, as well as be up-to-date on baby-care practices (putting baby to sleep face up; keeping toys, pillows and blankets out of the cot. and so on)

Nursing School Rankings

The US News & World Report and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Report on Research Funding conduct nursing school rankings to measure the status of quality of different nursing schools nationwide. Various factors affect how nursing school rankings are determined but it all serves the purpose of providing more information to anyone in search of a nursing school.

As you evaluate different leaning institutions for your nursing education, nursing school rankings should supplement your own research. First, determine which specific nursing program you wish to enter and then based on that look at nursing schools in your chosen location that offer that specific program. You can use nursing school rankings to find out the areas of strength of a particular school and if it matches your interest and needs.

In general, organizations determine nursing school rankings by gathering data through surveys that are prepared by professors and other scholars. Survey respondents can be present or past students or administrators and other high-ranking staff members of the nursing school. The survey contains both objective and subjective questions, and a complex method is used to process the answers. The statistics of the school are also one of the factors used to determine nursing school rankings.

For instance, the US News & World Report evaluates NLNAC (National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission) accredited nursing schools and their programs by surveying deans and other faculty staff members of each nursing school. The respondents will review and grade other schools based on a set of criteria. Some of the factors that affect nurse school rankings are student-to-faculty ratios, rate of job placement after graduation and etcetera.
by: Milos Pesic

Nursing school rankings from the National Institutes of Health focus on the overall amount of grant funding received by the research programs of individual nursing schools. Research institutions and those who would like to pursue research work consider NIH rankings to be strong indicators of outstanding research programs.

Nursing school rankings are just one tool to help you evaluate a nursing school. There are so many other factors to consider when choosing a school such as the quality of student life, cost, availability of financial assistance, board passing rates, affordable housing on or near campus, among others.

Be sure to look at the complete picture when making your decision. Get to know more about a certain nursing school by looking at the school’s website, requesting for an information packet or going to the school’s information session or open house.