Health and Language Literacy Intertwine for Traveling RNs
By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN Literacy is no longer exclusively a problem for teachers to address. Nurses and especially travel nurses who travel to certain regions and communities are also facing language and health literacy issues while treating patients. The importance of reading the fine print has been ingrained in the mind of anyone who has ever read a contract. But for ailing or injured patients and their loved ones, taking...
Overtime Could Benefit Travel Nurses Most
By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN Now is the time to review your travel nursing agency’s policy on overtime along with your current assignment contract. One of the temporary fixes for the nursing shortage that appears to be benefiting both staff and travel nurses is increased opportunities for working lucrative overtime hours (double time in some rare cases). Since the pay scale for traveling nurses is predominantly higher than it is...
Everything You Need to Know About Getting an LPN Online Certification
If you’re thinking about becoming an LPN, you likely have lots of questions. Below we’ll answer the pros and cons of getting your LPN online certification vs attending a physical classroom, what opportunities will await you once you have your certificate, and most importantly, the benefits of working as an LPN vs other nursing license types. Should you get your LPN online certification or go to school? There are pros and cons to...
Comparison of U.S. and Overseas RN Training
By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN In recent blogs, I have been exploring the ramifications of a statement made by President Obama in his recent health summit. The president expressed concern over the apparent need to bring additional foreign trained RNs into the country to help with our nation’s nursing shortage. Following are some highlighted training requirements for registered nurses overseas. It should be noted that all nurses...
Nursing Shortage Alarms President Obama
By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN Following through on his numerous campaign promises to fix America’s ailing healthcare industry, President Obama kicked off his second full month in office by holding a healthcare summit at the White House. During the summit, Mr. Obama presumably received some of the same information that we in the healthcare industry along with the public by way of the media, have been hearing about for quite some time...
Plugging Holes and Keeping The Pipeline Filled
The California Assembly has passed a bill that chips away at the nursing shortage in a way that may have some screaming about political correctness and affirmative action. The bill requires community colleges in the state to admit students to the Nursing degree programs based on merit. Apparently lottery admission programs and the like result in students that are more likely to drop out of the nursing program thus leaving a vacancy...