Thursday, October 18, 2012

Five Places to Find Nursing Jobs for New Nurses Except Hospitals

If you are new graduated  Registered Nurse, then you may be facing hard times to find the jobs in Hospital. Especially, Hospital seeks experienced nursing candidates and they may not hire you. It is better to think about the alternatives instead of wasting more time in applying and worrying for not getting hired.
There are some places who may hire you right away faster than you think. Instead of feeling overwhelmed start applying jobs in the following areas, where you will get trained and will gain confidence to work. Later on after having some year of experiences you can apply for Hospital jobs.

I found this info from http://scrubsmag.com/top-5-places-to-look-for-jobs/. Hope this would be helpful to you. Good Luck!

Air National Guard
If you’re attracted to the rush and fast pace of the OR and critical care — you may want to consider being an Air National Guard nurse. You may find yourself in the middle of the action during a natural disaster, civil emergency, or homeland crisis – situations where your skills are critical and your character can make all the difference. If you thrive on getting an adrenaline rush, here’s your chance to care for patients being airlifted out of disaster-stricken areas or saving lives in a field hospital in the aftermath of a hurricane. The Air National Guard has a variety of opportunities that allow nurses to stay close to home and serve their community, assessing the health needs of individuals as well as the population as a whole. You’ll even have the option of part-time service allowing you to gain new skills and experiences while keeping your civilian job.
Nursing Homes
Even if nursing homes weren’t your favorite in nursing school, you shouldn’t be quick to rule out this option. Nursing homes also hire utilization review registered nurses and case managers—positions that require an RN degree but don’t involve the drudgery of nursing home work. It’s true that some of these jobs require experience, but others don’t. Some nursing homes, especially smaller ones, are happy to train you on the job to fill these roles. Apply for MSDS, utilization or case management nursing home positions if you’re in need of a job right away.
Clinics
In the rush to get a hospital job or possibly a job in a doctor’s office, you might have forgotten that there are a ton of clinics out there. With the wait times at hospitals, and with some insurance companies refusing to cover emergency room visits, patients are increasingly turning to clinics for medical attention.
A clinic is a great place for a new nursing grad to get a foot in the door. Also look into clinics for pain management, stroke survivors, heart attack victims, etc., that might be in your area and looking for help. Sometimes places don’t advertise an opening, so call and see if you can talk to an HR person. The worst they can say is that they have no openings.
Drug Rehabilitation Centers
Many drug rehab centers have to detox subjects, and guess what? They need an RN on duty to make sure the patient doesn’t seize or go into DTs, and to give meds. You might have overlooked places like this—who would think a drug and alcohol rehab center would need a nurse? Some places may require experience, but others won’t require anything more than your nursing license. It pays to be proactive: Bust out the yellow pages, look up all the drug rehab centers in your area and call them to see what their nursing status is. You just might get an interview.
Dialysis Centers
Many large companies perform dialysis treatments on patients seven days a week. These companies, such as DaVita, need registered nurses to man the dialysis machines and make sure the patients don’t go bad. You would need to monitor vital signs, the dialysis machine and the port to ensure it doesn’t clot off. If you have some experience in nursing, you’ll stand a better chance, but some dialysis companies take new grads and train them to run the machines. If your city is large enough, you may find many dialysis centers around to target for your search.
Rehabilitation Centers
After some patients are done at the hospital, they are quickly sent out to rehabilitation centers to recover. (In fact, you’ll sometimes find that insurance companies facilitate shipping patients out a little too soon.) People in rehabilitation centers can have trachs, vents, external fixators and a host of other interesting diagnoses for you to experience. Of course, they all need their meds and their therapy, and you would have an assignment, just as you would have on a medical-surgical floor. Although their status will be a little less acute, the patients will still be significantly ill. Most rehab centers prefer that you have experience, but don’t actually require it. Interview well, and you just might have a job.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Some Strategies for memorizing Medicines in NCLEX-RN Exam



Are you able to figure out in which area you are staggering while preparing for your NCLEX-RN exam?
If it is in Pharmacology, then this post is for you. Most of the students may find difficulty in memorizing the name of medications, its side effects and indications. Indeed, it is really heard to memorize all the stuffs at a time. You have to manage your time very smartly because you are not supposed to dedicate all of your time for the medications. You also need to distribute your time to understanding the reduction risk potential, physiological adaptation, basic care and comfort, effective care environment, health promotion and maintenance and psychosocial integrity.
Planning your time is very crucial in the exam preparation. I am telling you this because I already implemented this strategy and succeeded in this NCLEX-RN exam. While I was preparing for the exam, I struggled in pharmacological area. I tried to memorize all the information about medication as I can. After I knew I was struggling in this area I spent my week just reading about the medications. Next week after studying other topics instead of pharmacology and I came back again to recall medications but I did not remember as I expected. Then, I realize this method of studying is not going to work for me. Despite my great effort on that area; I was not able to memorize it, that made me frustrated
However, I did not give up enhancing my knowledge on medications. I started seeking advice of my seniors for the improvement. If you are struggling for anything, it is okay to ask for help. If you have any relatives, friend and family who have already experienced that situation, then they can help you to find the easy way for you. I also did the same and till now I do not afraid to ask for help and do not hesitate to say ‘I don’t know’ if I am unaware of situation. Usually, if you ask anything with your seniors, they will love to provide you good advice than the friends. Also, it is you to determine which style will work for you. Every individual is different with their own way of doing and thinking.
Moreover, one of my senior gave me really a good suggestion to study pharmacology. After that I promised myself to study seven page of medicine every day and spent rest of the time of the day to other subjects too. After finishing all pages of pharmacology section, I repeated this process again. Surprisingly, by the end of three month, I was able to memorize all the medicine which I read and also did not miss to study other sections. Actually, I did not remember anything while I finished my first round but in second and third round I was comfortable and took less time in reading than before.
Keep in mind, in the NCLEX-RN exam they will not ask you the Side Effects, Contraindication, Uses directly. You have to use your critical thinking skills to answer all questions in the exam. For this, it is essential to understand the action of drug and its specific indications. Just imagine Hospital work environment while studying and try to see if I give this drug to that patient what I need to consider. This technique may help you to memorize the distinct feature of the drugs. In addition, herbal medications are also important for NCLEX-RN exam, so do not miss to read them too.
Thank you for reading.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Suggestions To Pass the NCLEX- RN Examination

NCLEX- RN examination measures the competencies needed to perform safely and effectively as a newly licensed, entry-level nurse in the United States. Every nurse who is educated in the United States and those educated from foreign countries should pass the NCLEX-RN exam in order to practice as Registered Nurse in America.


Before starting your preparation, I want you to understand what NCLEX-RN exam is and what are its requirements. Requirements varies according to the state, so the first step is to prepare all the documents and determine which state you are going to apply for. After that try to get familiar with the pattern of the question asked in the exam. Keep in mind that it is not similar type of exam which you succeeded in your Nursing school. However, do not get panicked, read thoroughly to understand the concept relating with your clinical practice. Do not try to memorize all the stuffs which you are reading because you will not be asked to explain. It will test your critical thinking skills to determine whether you will be able to successfully practice as a entry level nurse.
Planning
Preparing for the exam is always overwhelming if you do not plan your time appropriately. Planning the time is crucial for the success in the exam and significant step to achieve your goal. Make every day routine to divide your time fully in study. If you are going to appear in the exam after three months of preparation, see your book and calculate the time need to be given for each chapter and outline the daily routine accordingly. Always stick with your guns, no matter what the circumstances are. Daily planning is the core of short-term success that leads to long term accomplishment. Do not let personal commitments change your success in education, you are the only one who can supervise your own work, so stay focused and utilize your time in a productive way.
Learn to say ‘NO’
Learn to say no, especially when you are studying. I know it is hard to say no but think about your priorities and daily plans. Watkins and Corry (2010) compares monkey as the hindrances and responsibilities that all of us always carry on our backs. These monkeys, however, limit your success when others start passing their monkeys off to you and that will only slow down your success. Remember, research shows that those individual who take 2-3 months for NCLEX-RN preparation has higher passing rate in the first time than those of taking more than 3 months for the preparation.
It’s okay to be Nervous
Do not get intimidated by anticipating the exam questions and result. You can re-take the exam, it is not mandatory to pass at the first time. Nervousness is okay, you are not the only one who is afraid of it. I had already been through your situation, preparing for the exam needs more time and effort. Whenever, you feel restless and fatigued after continuous reading, just go for walk in the fresh air. Fresh air will provide oxygen to your mind and you will be able to concentrate more on your study. Instead of studying seven days a week take break at least once or twice a week, which can yield better preparation and result.
Practice, Practice and Practice!!!
Practicing more questions is the key for passing NCLEX-RN exam. There are various available resources in the internet and books to practice the questions. Personally, I practiced from Saunders and Kaplan. When you practice the questions, emphasize to find the rationale of the answers. Write down on your note for the rationale, so that you can recall and master on that topic. If you are facing difficulty in some area of study, then go back and study unless you are able to understand. Know your weak areas and give more effort on that area and practice more questions.

Monday, October 1, 2012

Healthcare of the Unites States is a Privilege, not a Right



I believe current health care in the United States is a privilege, not a right.  The Health care system of United States is based on the private and public insurance system.  Private Insurance is based on employer sponsor and individual purchase, while Public Insurance is based on Medicaid which is for people over age of 65 and disabled people.  According to U.S. department of Health and Human services (2011, September), 55.3% of the population’s insurance is sponsored by employer and 16.3% are uninsured.  Even Health is the basic and universal right for human being significant proportion of American population could not afford the rocketed cost of health care and insurance.  It is not only a problem of uninsured individual but also of working and middle-class families who have health insurance but still struggle to pay for it.  If it were the right, people would access health care despite of their age, employment and income.
To ameliorate the present condition, the government should implement Universal Health care system rather than involving private sectors.  Private Organizations are completely based on profit.  So, those people with good financial conditions can only afford the expensive services.  For instance, Per Capita Income of United States is twice as much as other Industrialized Country, while the outcome is worse with higher mortality rate in comparison to those industrialized Counties.  If the government enforces the law of universal health care like in Canada, Britain and Germany, then it will bring better results and Health Care will be affordable to every citizen of U.S.
The top and renowned hospital and technology may not only differentiate the health status of people.  In America, we have the largest medical center of the world with more advance technology.  Despite this, many people get disadvantaged because of not being able to pay for insurance and struggle for their whole life fighting for the medical coverage.  Leslie Elder died because of Hodgkin Lymphoma at the age of 63, who gave up soaring and unaffordable insurance rates and got defeated while fighting decades for medical coverage (Stephanie & Nadia , 2012, September 2).  This is the overwhelming reality of American people.