Where does the time go? There’s a popular quote that states that the days pass slowly but the years pass quickly. The older I get, the more truth this statement holds. Over the past three years I’ve lost two grandparents and through watching their aging process and the medical care they needed, I can’t help but wonder what the future holds for my parents. Although they are only in their mid-60’s, I know that in 10 to 15 years my sister and I are really going to have to plan for their care and well being. As a nurse in an LVN to RN school, geriatrics is a specialty that will continue to require more nurses to attend to the increasing senior population.

Now I know I wrote about gerontology in my last post, but sometimes I get stuck on a theme based on what I am currently going through in my personal life or what articles seem to keep popping up. Right now both issues are having me focusing on this topic. Fortunately my parents have made wise financial decisions for most of their lives, but like the majority of people in our nation their house has decreased in value by about 1/3 and so has their stocks. More importantly, I worry about their daily care and the quality of treatment they will get in the not so distant future.

Nurse.com published an article that got me thinking about the quality care that many seniors are getting in the medical world. Now I know that many nursing homes and medical staff are awesome and go the extra mile for their patients, but I also read a lot of articles that state negligence on the part of treating the elderly. Whether this be for a need of advocates on behalf of the patient or if the patient is too ill to speak up for himself, I’m not sure. I just know that there seems to be lack of caring or accountability on behalf of geriatric patients.

The major problem that the NurseZone.com article poses is that, “In a study that appeared this year in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, they found that discharge summaries regularly lacked necessary information on diet, activity level, therapy and pending laboratory tests of nursing home patients after departure from the hospital… Amy Kind, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the division of geriatrics and lead author of the study, identified a number of problems with the summaries. They were often completed many days after the patient had already been discharged to the nursing home, some more than 30 days afterward… In addition, as the time grew longer, the quality of the information within the summaries became poorer or more incomplete. This problem forces nursing home caregivers to spend valuable time contacting the hospital to determine how to proceed with patient treatment.”

As a student getting RN training, geriatrics can be a fulfilling and rewarding specialty to pursue. Consider all of your options to see which best fits your personality and lifestyle.

To read the complete article mentioned in this post, please visit
http://news.nurse.com/article/20111226/NATIONAL02/112260009/-1/frontpage

Geriatric Patients Need Advocates for Care is a post from: Unitek College Blog

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The message has finally gotten out and more high school graduates are pursuing nursing as their career of choice. Many young people are going to LVN to RN colleges because of the stable job market in nursing, their desire to help others and the interesting challenges that nursing brings.

HealthCanal.com posted an interesting study that was published by RAND Corporation health economist David Auerbach, Ph.D., Vanderbilt University School of Nursing’s Peter Buerhaus, Ph.D., R.N., and Dartmouth College professor of economicsDoug Staiger, Ph.D. They found that there is a 62% increase in nurses from the ages of 23 to 26 between the years of 2002 to 2009. Not since the 1970’s has there been such a boom of nurses entering the workforce.

“We may have reached a tipping point in the nursing shortage in the sense that we now, for the first time in more than a decade of research, are projecting growth in the total size of the registered nurse workforce, ” said Buerhaus. “These early signs are positive, but we need to continually grow the supply of nurses to effectively match the expected growth in demand over the coming years.”

A report was published about ten years ago which stated that by 2020 the United States could face a nursing shortage of about 400,000 nurses. Fewer young people were entering the field and the average age of an RN was 42 years old. As these nurses retire and Baby Boomers enter their senior years, a shortage seemed unavoidable.

There are several reasons for the increase in young people becoming interested in joining the ranks of nursing. HealthCanal.com attributes “aggressive national recruitment efforts, such as the $50 million ‘Campaign for Nursing’s Future’ launched by Johnson & Johnson in 2002” as one such reason. Another is that “federal funding for nurse workforce development tripled from $80 million in 2001 to $240 million in 2010.” Finally, there are a variety of nursing specialties that people are interested in with the changing dynamics of our aging population such as geriatrics and emergency care.

The news is out that a nursing career is a great option for those looking to help people, who love to face challenges on a daily basis and who want stability and a good income. From traditional schools to the convenience of online courses, getting your nursing degree can be the start of a promising future.

To read the complete article mentioned in this post, please visit
http://www.healthcanal.com/public-health-safety/24137-Study-finds-more-young-people-becoming-nurses.html

More Younger Nurses are Joining the Field is a post from: Unitek College Blog

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Chronic conditions are a major issue that many patients are facing and the numbers seem to be on the rise. These ongoing ailments can be painful, frustrating and frightening. As a student in an LVN to RN school, what can you do to help ease the stress of these patients?

About 15 years ago I had a major car accident. I was sitting in the back middle seat of an old SUV that did not come equipped with a seatbelt. I was young and in college and stupidly thought “We’re only going a couple of miles away. What could happen?” Well, what happened was the driver turned to talk to those of us in the backseat and didn’t see the cars in front of us stop. We crashed into three cars at 35 miles per hour. I flew into the dashboard and scalped myself… yep, peeled it back like a too ripe peach (not to mention the impact to my spine, plus a minor concussion, and everything else that comes with head injuries…)

So what’s the point of my story? I completely understand where these chronic pain patients are coming from. As grateful as I am to be alive, each day I struggle to put my discomfort aside to take care of my family. According to NurseZone.com contributor Megan M. Krischke, I’m not alone. Nearly half of all adults in the United States suffer from chronic conditions.

Dawn M. James, MSN, RN, CNS, CDE, deputy director of public health for Kit Carson County Health and Human Services (KCCHHS) in Burlington, Colorado advises “The most important thing for any nurse to understand is that prevention strategies are much more powerful than trying to treat an existing disease. The more savvy and knowledgeable a nurse is about disease risk factors and prevention, the more he or she has to offer their community.”

There are also different nurse led programs to help patients and their caregivers deal with their health difficulties. James leads one such program that is “a peer- or nurse-led, six-week course that uses a research-based model to teach people how to self-manage their chronic conditions so that they do not get worse and can even improve their health.” James states “The program teaches people to do good self-management through diet, exercise, medication administration and knowing how to talk to health care providers.”

Chronic conditions are certainly a challenge that no one wants to face. However, caring and competent nurses and doctors are worth their weight in gold. Students in an RN college have my appreciation; as a patient, you make a huge difference!

To read the complete article mentioned in this post, please visit
http://nursezone.com/Nursing-News-Events/more-news/Caregivers-Partnering-with-Patients-in-Chronic-Disease-Management_38404.aspx

Treating Patients with Chronic Conditions is a post from: Unitek College Blog

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Have you ever seen the nurse who walks into work with her hair all in place, her scrubs unfaded and without wrinkles and a genuine smile plastered on her face? Don’t you just hate her? Well, now you can be her with these helpful tips.

As an LVN to RN nursing student, you have a lot going on in your life. Cynthia Dusseault on ScrubsMag.com has a few suggestions to help make life run smoother and you can be the envy of all your co-workers.
1) Plan ahead – Get your lunch, scrubs, gas for your car, etc. ready the night before. (I know, isn’t this what your mom told you to do before school? Well, she was right!)

2) Make a to-do list – Put your thoughts on paper so they won’t get jumbled or lost in your head. Also, is there anything more glorious than crossing off items on a list?

3) Run errands on the way home – Get stuff done on your way home so you don’t have to go back out. Dusseault recommends doing some on the way to work, but that stresses me out. What if there is a traffic jam, an old lady paying with a purse full of pennies or a new cashier? I can’t handle the unknowns!

4) As soon as you get to work, stock your pockets with things you use the most. – I thought my husband came up with this one! As a nurse, he always looks for scrub pants with the most pockets (and I tend to sew those pocket seams about every month with the loot that he keeps in there.) From handfuls of gloves to a ring full of keys, it helps to have the goods on you instead of running back and forth.

5) Take notes during report and keep them in your pocket. – Who doesn’t need a cheat sheet every now and then? And let’s face it: we’re all getting older and our memories aren’t what they used to be!

Tune in Thursday for part two of this fascinating topic! When you’re in an LVN to RN program, you have a lot of things pulling on you, but organization and planning ahead can make it look like you have everything under control.

To read the complete article mentioned in this post, please visit
http://scrubsmag.com/10-life-hacks-for-nurses-shortcuts-to-productivity/

10 Ways to Look Like You Have it All Together Part I is a post from: Unitek College Blog

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Right now I am sitting with my nephew, Nate. He is recovering from one of his three surgeries that he has had over the past three months. As I am caring for him, I can’t help but think about the journey he is forced to travel. My husband is an LVN and has been helping my sister care for him. As a student in an LVN to RN program, it’s interesting the impact that your emotions can have as you care for your patients (whether they’re related to you or not).

I think one of the hardest decisions that nurses make (both consciously and unconsciously) is how emotionally invested to get into your patients’ lives. Of course there is the level of professionalism that you must maintain, but sometimes you can’t help but feel an extra dose of compassion for certain individuals. Another factor to consider is the nursing specialty that you want to pursue. With oncology and chronic conditions, seeing patients on a regular basis also creates a stronger bond.

With my nephew and his current condition, it is so much easier for my husband to care for him than for my sister or myself. Pediatrics just tears at my heart (not to mention seeing our little boy in pain) too much but my husband can distance himself from his emotions (personally, I think it’s a lot easier for most guys to do that.)

Nate has obviously come into contact with quite a few nurses. Some stand-out in his mind and here are a few things that Nurse Michelle did that made his hospital stay better: she talked to him and tried to relate to him and not just talked to his parents. She went to extra mile to get Nate a better, private room. She visited him even when he was moved to another floor. Most of all, “she smiled a lot. When you’re in pain, doesn’t it make you feel better when someone smiles a lot?”

Interestingly enough, nothing that Nate mentioned had to do with her medical skills. Now I certainly don’t want to diminish the value of medical knowledge, but a willingness to help and genuine concern are also important attributes to have when working with patients.

As an RN nurse, it’s up to you how much you invest in your patients. It will take time and practice to know where your heart boundaries are and how to leave a hard day at work. But nursing is a terribly unique occupation where your highs and lows are going to be more intense than most other jobs.

Being an Emotionally Invested Nurse is a post from: Unitek College Blog

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We all know that medical bills are crazy expensive. Isn’t that why we have health insurance? However, with my nephew having three surgeries over the past three months I have a new perspective on the matter. As an RN nursing student, it never hurts to have a fresh perspective on what your patients are going through.

My nephew Nate will turn eleven years old this month and has struggled with hemihypertrophy as he’s been growing up. With one side of his body being larger than the other it’s caused him pain, embarrassment and has hindered his ability to play sports. The older he gets the more out of alignment his body will be and his pain will increase. The doctor recommended surgery to lengthen his thigh and shin bones before puberty, so that is the initial surgery that took place in early July.

Now that you know a little back history, I thought I’d do some financial calculations. I’m not going to calculate the actual medical costs or insurance payments because I have no idea what they are. I’m just going to list some of the out-of-pocket expenses that have burdened my sister.

$45 co-pays for 20 physical therapy sessions
$5 parking fee per day for 30 days
$10 co-pay on about 20 bottles of pills
$60 I paid to buy shorts, underwear and Velcro to adapt around the bars and wires in his leg
$50 for medical supplies for wound care, etc.
$200 for a firmer mattress to support his body better

I’ll stop there because this list could get really detailed with games and books to keep him occupied as he’s been bed ridden and all the other “stuff” that goes into making a sick kid get his mind off of the pain. So overall, my sister and her husband have spent over $1,560 (plus cafeteria food and gas).

So why am I telling you all this? Simply because being a patient is stressful and the best thing in this world is a nurse who cares. Patients are dealing with financial strains, the unknown, and possible family pressures all surrounding their physical illness. When all of these competing issues engulf a patient, it’s the nurse who comes in to administer pain medication, the one who sincerely asks “How are you? Can I get you anything?,” the one who looks the patient in the eye that makes all the difference. And isn’t that why you chose to go to nursing school in the first place?

The Cost of Being a Patient is a post from: Unitek College Blog

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