#NursesUnite

This week was interesting. I remember first seeing this video 6 days ago with all this positivity about a Miss America contestant, Kelley Johnson, talking about her experience as a nurse. I thought that was such a different take on what it means to have a talent. It’s not the typical talent showcased on Miss America  so I was actually glad that nursing was explained as a talent.

Then, The View happened. Although I don’t think that Joy and Michelle, the talk show hosts, went out of their way to make fun of nurses, they were simply ignorant of what nurses do. Nonetheless, it was hurtful to hear that Miss Colorado was just “reading her emails”, wearing a nurses “costume” and was questioned why she was wearing a “doctor’s stethoscope,” which really is just a stethoscope.

However, I can see how the hosts could be misled. As a relatively healthy person who hasn’t muddled in the healthcare field, you may see the nurse get a set of vital signs, ask for a history, and maybe give shots. You may not really see the difference a nurse makes in that scenario. Instead, you’ll see physicians who will use their “doctor’s stethoscope” to listen to you.
It’s only once you’re sick in the hospital that you see the nurses work their magic. I know that was what got me hooked. The compassion, skill, listening abilities, tough love attitudes… I knew I had to be one.
Regardless, Facebook blew up with #nursesunite and the group “Show Me Your Stethoscope” grew over 600,000 members in a couple days. Memes popped up all over and everyone in the healthcare team supported nurses. It was an amazing outrage.
doctor's stethoscope and nurse's costome
And here’s another:
nursesunite
And another:
insult nurses
 But this post is my favorite:
nursesunite
nurses unite
On Wednesday, The View attempted to apologize, but it was a half apology where they blamed the nurses for not listening to the content. Except that nurses are actually really great listeners and know that is not how you apologize. You have you owe up to your mistake and not blame others. People were still not satisfied with the response.

During this time, Johnson and Johnson and England’s Best decided to pull their advertising from The View. Considering how much J&J supports nurses, I actually appreciate that effort.
On Thursday, The View and NYU decided to have an educational segment about the role of nurses. Rather than playing the blame game, it’s better to educate.
 socrates the secrete of change

On Friday, the segment focused where nurses are and have made a difference. The NYU Stimulation instructors explained more broadly about what nurses do and described the educational background required for a nurse but I wished it was a bit more personal where they describe a more complex story that involved a nurse who played various roles and how they lead care. This would open people’s eyes into what nurses do.

You don’t really know what nurses do until you’re under their care. You’ll see providers come and go, but your nurse will be there for you. They will explain to you what’s going on when things get scary, work to allay fears, give medications, help you do almost anything that you can’t do, push you to do better, teach you about your medications and how you may have to change your life, make sure you’re safe from any kind of errors, act as your PT, OT, RT, speech therapist, and so much more. But you won’t even know they do all those things until you need them.

nurses do a lot

Michelle and Joy genuinely seemed interested and did seem to feel remorse for what happened. Raven, however, looked really bored who did not talk. It would’ve been better if she had engaged with her body to at least seem interested.
raven
Before the end of the segment, stethoscopes were given out. I thought that was unnecessary because, as Joy shortly demonstrated after receiving one, she and other lay people do not know how to use one. Stethoscopes are an important medical tool, not a gift given to those who don’t know how to use one.
At the end, NYU recruited some of their nurses and nursing students (because I recognized those purple scrubs) to come out and support the educational segment.
Even if this is done as a publicity stunt to bring back the primarily audience to watch the show, I’m glad The View did it. At least they addressed the source of concern and hopefully they realize that you cannot just say anything and expect that people will accept it.
Ignorance is not always bliss.
It was amazing to see this kind of outpour of support and willingness unite on this. I hope that, despite our need for instant gratification for a desired effect, that nurses can unite on other things just as strongly.

NYU Accelerated Nursing Program FAQ’s Part II

I recently received an email from a prospective nursing student and thought that it was worth posting my answers.

Hi Jessica,
I came across to your blog while searching for NYU’s accelerated nursing program.  Reading your blog has been very helpful. Congrats on becoming a nurse. Currently I have my undergrad in a business discipline and I am really considering a nursing career instead. I just have some questions regarding nursing, it would be great to get your feedback. Thanks so much if you have the time to answer any of these questions!

1.       Does it matter whether you take your pre-reqs at a community college or 4-yr college when applying to NYU? Do pre-req grades matter? Will there be a higher chance if acceptance if pre-reqs are taken in NYU?

You can take your pre-reqs at a community college or a 4 year college. Pre-req grades matter a lot. Definitely do well on these. I don’t believe there’s a higher chance of acceptance of the pre-reqs are taken at NYU. Majority of students take pre-reqs at a community college or a 4 year college.


2.        What were your credentials when you applied to NYU (eg. GPA, experience)? And did you find NYU to be worth it after working in the field? Is there any other nursing programs you would recommend in NY?

My GPA was 3.84. As for experience, I volunteered at a hospital when I was applying. It’s important to highlight your feelings towards nursing especially after speaking to them and seeing what they do.
NYU is a great school and I’m glad I attended the school. The professors are top-notch and the students are helpful. There’s an interdisciplinary program so med students and nursing students learn about working together and each other’s roles. It is one of the top research institutions as well especially in elder care (NICHE Program http://www.nicheprogram.org). However, it is a really expensive program so I don’t recommend it to everyone.
The other nursing schools in New York / Long Island that I hear good things from include Hunter, Columbia, Stony Brook, Adelphi, Molloy and Pace.

3.       Difficulty finding a job? Did you work part-time while studying in the program?

After I passed the NCLEX, it took about 6 months to find a nursing position. A couple of problems I ran into included not knowing how to interview (because this is a skill you need to practice). I didn’t start my search until after I passed. Some students connected with nurse managers during clinical and were able to secure a position shortly after graduation.

I did work once a week as a swim instructor during school to help supplement the costs. Some students didn’t work at all while others worked 36 hours a week (a full-time job!!). The first and second semester are the toughest so give more time devoted to school before deciding to work.

4.       Do grades matter a lot to employers? Do I need to get straight A’s or can I afford to have a few B’s or even a C?

Some employers require a minimum GPA (3.4, 3.5) before they even look at your application. Some don’t. It’s how you present yourself and your mannerism that matter and whether you retained information from school and can apply it.


5.       What is the starting salary like and is it worth being a nurse practitioner? What kind of nurse do you think is best to become/specialize in if any?

Starting salary differs from location to location, ranging from $40-80k. In NYC, it starts around $70-80k if you’re working at a private hospital.

Becoming a NP is dependent on the person. While I’ve heard that becoming an NP is the greatest thing in the world (I hear a lot of positive feedback), there are still a few who are discontent with the position, as there is more responsibility that comes with the position. Some people don’t want to deal with the higher stress and responsibility but wanted to go back to school and ended up hating being an NP. This requires a lot of self-reflection. What do you think would suit you and are you ready for it?
Personally, I’ve explored many advanced nursing professions. Not only should you look at your duties but also the lifestyle. Where would you want to work, what would you do, when would you want to work, what income would you make, what mobility is there? The best advanced nursing profession depends on the individual and what they want out of life. I picked Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. I like the one-on-one direct patient care aspect requiring a high level of critical thinking and autonomy and teamwork.

6.       What’s life as a nurse? What are the difficulties and good parts of being a nurse? Expectations in the work force?

Life as a nurse differs between the environment that you work in. I work at the hospital where there’s 12 hour shifts (7-7:30am and pm), 3 days a week (for full time) and you can choose your schedule (with some limitations such as having to choose at least 3 weekend days, 2 Fridays, etc). Some people choose to do 3 in a row each week and have 4 days off. Other hospitals have it so you work 3 12-hour shifts plus 1 additional day every 4 weeks. Some units, especially in CTICU, PACU and ER, have other shifts from 11am to 11pm or 2pm to 2am.

It’s great having 4 days off because you definitely need it to recuperate and you’ll have time to do something else if you’d like.
Some places have day (7a -3p), evening (3p-11p), and night shift (11p-7a), especially in rehab and nursing homes, and require you work 5 days a week.
At work, you often need to have handoff communication about the patients. Then you assess the patient and pass out medications. You make nursing diagnoses about each patient and use critical thinking. You think to yourself: What’s the goal for the patient today? And then make it happen. You’ll speak to various disciplines to coordinate the care.
There’s a couple of tough parts about being a nurse.
1) Families – Some follow the unit policies and others do whatever they want. Communication is sometimes hard but trying to understand where they are coming from helps.
2) Physicians, MLP – your input is often crucial to the patient’s outcome but sometimes the provider will disagree with you.
3) Patients – some are nice and others are crazy, confused and not so nice.
4) Self- being able to let go everyday of the outcome is tough. At the end of the time, you have to set 1 small goal for the patient and as long as they meet that, you have to be satisfied with the care you provided. Nurses tend to be overachievers and want to always give more but with the number of things that must be done, it’s impossible to do everything you had in mind. You have to remember that nursing is a 24/7 job.
The good parts about being a nurse is knowing that you’ve made a difference is someone’s life. You get to think about an active problem and you get to take yourself and solve that problem. You get to hold someone’s hand and reassure them. It’s an amazing privilege to have to save a life, to have a better life, or to let someone die with dignity.
As for expectations in the workforce, there are several different angles you can discuss but I’ll discuss about your own expectations. There’s a nursing theorist named Patricia Benner who stated that the nursing career is based on the nursing model-
You really do start not knowing a lot, just the basics. You focus a lot on technical skills because it’s something you have to work on. Then as you progress, you build more confidence. Soon you’ll start to see areas in nursing where care can be streamlined or have protocols to standardize care. You’ll be in charge, take on harder assignments, be a preceptor, etc.

7.       Any general suggestions on what I should focus on or do to become a nurse/get into NYU program?

Do well on your pre-reqs, volunteer or work in healthcare, and get to know a few professors who will write a letter of recommendation for you. And write a killer personal statement answering every question asked.

I hoped that helped! Read my first post for more information on NYU’s Accelerated Nursing Program, find out if NYU Nursing is worth it, how to pick a good nursing school, and find out if you can afford an accelerated program. Or if you have any further questions, email me.

Jessica

Which Nursing Journal is good? — the Impact Factor

thinkingIn Off the Charts, the official blog of the American Journal of Nursing, it states that 71% of bedside nurses use Google to search for Evidence Based Practice to better their practice (and here’s how to do it better). However, how do you know about the quality of a journal? There are 100s of nursing journals. One of the best ways to evaluate a nursing journal is through the Impact Factor (IF).

The Impact Factor tells the reader that how often the articles in that journal have been cited in other journals. The higher the number, the better it is. On this website, it has links to nearly all of the nursing journals and has a impact factor written next to it, if it has one at all

The American Journal of Nursing has a impact factor of 1.319, which places it at #18 out of all of the nursing journals for 2014. A couple of the ones I’m interested in are the Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing (1.431), American Journal of Critical Care (1.656), and Critical Care Nurse (1.077). While each article may not be the best, the journal as a whole tend to produce quality information. 

Now, in order for these journals to make money, they charge for the articles. But there are a few ways to get them for free.

  1. Join the Nursing Association that is associated with the journal. For example, joining the Preventative Cardiovascular Nurse Association (PCNA) for $75 includes the Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing (normally $129/year) for free. Plus, by joining the PCNA, you’ll also receive other resources, discounts on meetings, etc. Another great organization is the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN), which also includes the American Journal of Critical Care and Critical Care Nurse.
  2. Go to the Nursing Center. They have updated new and free journal articles. Even better, they offer a free journal for you to look through every twice a month.
  3. Go to your college’s library website. Part of your tuition goes into purchasing these journals for students to use (because they can get very expensive if you bought them on your own!). If you are attending NYU, go to library.nyu.edu, go under find resources, then click on journals. Or go to getit.library.nyu.edu. Be sure to log in to read the journals!

I hope that by understanding what the Impact Factor is, you can make better decisions on which Nursing Journals you should read or even buy. Maybe you’ll even join a nursing organization! Keep updated on the latest and greatest in this constantly evolving field. And share what you learn with other nurses. Maybe it’ll even make a difference.

At The New Grad Nurse Interview: Be a storyteller

how to get a new grad nurse job - be a storyteller Your interviewer loves stories. In fact, you love stories. Everyone loves stories. So it only makes sense to become a great storyteller. To secure your first job as a nurse, you have to perfect the art of storytelling. About yourself.

I royally screwed up telling the story about myself. Twice! My first interview, I wasn’t prepared at all and just said whatever came to my head. My second interview, I didn’t focus my story about being a clinical nurse and drifted off into ‘health policy’ –that was a no-no.

I got better after learning the hard way. For my third interview, I started to focus my answers and got the job at a nursing home. By the time my current employment interviewed me — my fourth and fifth interview — I had some real nursing experience and relied on that to come up with some great stories.

So what’s the difference between a tale and a story?

A tale is simply stating something that happened. People don’t usually care about what happened. However, a story has a moral, a meaning, a takeaway point to it. We care about the 3 major things – the ‘bad situation’, the ‘thing you did to make it better’, and the ‘aftermath.’

Here’s an example for a question: Tell me how you dealt with a difficult situation.

A tale: a women wouldn’t take her medications. Later she did after I convinced her.

A story: a women wouldn’t take her medications. After thinking about why she wouldn’t, I realized that she wanted more control over what was happening to her. Instead, I gave her a choice and asked her, “would you like to take your medications in 10 minutes or 20 minutes?” She replied, “in 10 minutes. Thank you.” 10 minutes later, I went back to her to give her medications and she took them like a champ. Giving her the options allowed her to gain some control but not complete free-reign. This compromise allowed me to accomplish my goal (to give her meds) and made the patient happy.

Here’s another example: Tell me about your greatest strength.

A tale: I ask a ton of questions because I always want to learn.

A story: As a new nurse, I know that I have a lot to learn. I understand that sometimes I will be asked to do something that I’ve never done before but I am not afraid to ask questions to make sure that I’m competent the next time it comes up. I wasn’t sure how to put someone on a bedpan so I asked the ancillary staff. The next time I did it with someone. Another time I wasn’t sure if I heard the breath sounds correctly so I asked another nurse to confirm what they heard. Asking questions is my strength and understand that this is key to learning fast.

Here are some common questions. Think of your clinical experiences and come up with a story for each question.

  • What is your greatest weakness?
  • “Tell me about yourself.”
  • What made you interested in nursing?
  • What do you like about nursing?
  • What was your favorite clinical rotation? Why? (please relate this directly with the position you applied for)
  • Tell me about a time when you had to prioritize.
  • Tell me about a time when you had to delegate.
  • Tell me about a time when you had to problem solve.
  • Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
  • Do you have plans on going back to school?
  • Tell me about ‘x’ experience that you wrote about on your resume.

Work on becoming a great storyteller and you’ll find that you’ll use this skill over and over again during every handoff report. And hopefully you’ll get a job offer! Good luck! Let me know if you have something crafted but would like a little help looking it over.

—-

I wrote this article as a part of the “Most Marketable Skills” Campaign on Webucator. I have to thank Bob Cleary for letting me be a part of the campaign! While I personally haven’t utilized their resources, they look helpful! Currently they are offering a free Microsoft Word 2013 class that involves learning about advanced formatting, using Word 2013 drawing tools, creating and managing tables, and working with column layouts. Each month they offer a new free course, so check it out even after this post is long done.

In case you missed the campaign, here are some of the other blogger’s input:

Achieving Success in the workplace – What is your most marketable skill? by @cjperadilla

What makes you marketable by @amandastrav

Self Brand Marketing : Social Proof To Boost Your Career by @CustomerRivet

Preparing for the workforce: Why learning to write well is worth your while by @moses_says

The Success of Mimicking by @Lbee27

Go help Jason reach his BSN dream. Thank you!

So several people are emailing me recently regarding loans and costs, especially after they have been accepted and are deciding whether or not go through with it.

I don’t know that much about private loans. I do know that a lot of debt sucks and it takes a long time to pay it back. Being consistent is important (maybe $1-2k/month is that is possible!).

Anyway, one student named Jason asked for my help to spread the word that he’s maxed out on his loans and needs help finishing the last 2 semesters!! Here was his email to me:

I am currently about to start 3rd sequence of the NYU accelerated program. Glad your blog is out here. Very well written and insightful.

Got a question for ya….

Any words of wisdom for a student who is facing a brick wall with federal and private student loans. I am a second degree student, so I came into the program with quite a hefty chunk of student loans. First two sequences ate up the remaining available borrowing according to the new federal max aggregate student lifetime educational borrowing.

Right now I’ve applied for several scholarships and have created a GoFundMe crowd funding page (http://www.gofundme.com/HelpJasonPay4NYU-Nursing). If you have any other suggestions or if you were interested in forwarding my story and plea for help with NYU tuition, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much
Jason Kennedy
NYUCN ABSN Fall 2013 Cohort

So there you go. Wish come true. I really do hope that people reading this blog will help him out. I know I will. Caring is giving and what goes around, comes around.

Is NYU Nursing worth it? How I paid off my student loan

Hi my lovely readers,

I’ve thought a lot about my impact on you, directly or indirectly. For me, one of my everyday joys is to view my blog stats and watch it grow every week. It’s the thing that cheers me up when I feel down, knowing that I’ve helped another soul gain insight into something that they didn’t know before. So thank you for reading my blog.

One of the most common questions I get through email is the following:

Is NYU Nursing worth it?

I think that by the time that you ask this question, you’ve already decided that a nursing career is for you. Now you’re deciding on which school to attend. Of course, with NYU as a top ranking school, you want to know if the tuition is worth it. Right now for the school year 2013-14, here is the tuition cost:

NYU Nursing Tuition

It’s about $21k for tuition. Plus fees and health insurance, it’ll cost about $24k per semester. As for a scholarship, I’ve heard they typically give students about $3-4k in “College of Nursing Scholarship” (that’s what I got). Let’s just say you have to pay about $20k for 4 semesters.

That’s about $80k, or approximately your first year’s salary as a nurse.

What?! Really? Yes, it’s really that great. According to Forbes, NYU Nursing graduates ranked #3 for the College Diplomas with the highest salaries in 2013.

NYU Nursing BSN Salary

It’s quite possible that this is because many students stay in NYC area and the average starting salary as a brand new nurse is about $75k. Or graduates go back home to California and hot spots command an even higher salary (with a mandated lower patient-to-nurse ratio. That means less patients per nurse = more time with patients and less time running around making sure everyone’s safe. Because safety is always #1. That’s AMAZING!!).

This is even more than any business school. Only one engineering school and one computer science school beats NYU Nursing.

Just remember, sometimes it’s more about the LOCATION of the school rather than just the name. In NYC, private top hospitals command a higher salary compared to other locations.

Also remember that nurses run the hospitals. And yes, doctors go in and out, deciding on treatment plans, performing surgeries, etc. But a lot of time, nursing input is CRUCIAL and nurses are there 24/7 with the patients. So yes, while nurses do some ‘dirty work’, they are the ones performing much of the care. I remember during a code, a PA said that he knows WHAT to DO, but he needs to the nurse to DO it because he doesn’t know HOW. So I’m proud of that. And a lot of times nurses know what to do too… it’s just not ‘official’ until you have an order (that you may have suggested).

And as a nurse, from any school, you will be a vital part of the health care team.

But it still comes down to this. After you graduate from ANY nursing school, you will still have to pass the NCLEX and you will be a registered nurse.

A RN. And a RN is a RN.

On your badge, it’ll say that you are a RN. It doesn’t say which school. The only way for someone to know which school you went to is if you tell them. And yes, as a new nurse, a lot of people will ask you. Over and over again. And yes, patients will notice that you, as a new nurse, are just not as fast, or do things with grace, or seemed to be always crunched for time. But don’t worry. They will still appreciate what you do and you just keep going.

As for a pay differential, hospitals don’t look at which school you went to (or maybe they do unknowingly as do many companies, since they typically have feeder schools too). Hospitals nowadays do not hire new associate degree nurses. This happened because of many study that compared associate and bachelor of nursing graduates (ASN vs BSN) perform. It showed that patients were safer and had a lower mortality rate when taken care by BSN graduates. Anyway, there’s usually a BSN pay differential at hospitals because they want to ‘encourage’ those who were already hired as a ASN to get their BSN.

If you’re questioning if you should get a ASN or BSN, always go for the BSN, especially as a second degree student. You’d be in school for the same amount of time anyway and a BSN is standard now. Don’t waste your money and time on a ASN. I heard that most ASN are hired mostly by nursing homes now. And maybe that is the route you want to go but I say if you want to keep your nursing career options wide open, go for the BSN. Don’t limit yourself.

So let’s get back to the question:

Is NYU Nursing worth it?

There are two typical paths people take while going down the road of nursing.

If you wish to be a bedside nurse forever (and trust me, a lot of my colleagues have been. And they love what they do and they are amazing people!!!), then I think getting a BSN anywhere is ok.

BUT

If you wish to keep your options open, and you have that flaming desire to do more than bedside nursing such as management, informatics, research, global work, etc, then I think NYU Nursing is worth it.

Maybe it’s the characteristics of the students who go there have similar taste as you. Because they want the same things too. The same drive and ambition. The chances you take to learn something new and to overcome challenges. To not give up when it gets tough and to push forward. To help other coworkers and patients who aren’t assigned to you. To still have a smile on your face and still want more.

Maybe it’s the extra-edge of a ‘brand name’ school that gives you –or your future employer– the confidence. You’ll know you received a top level education and it doesn’t get much better than this (although as a student you’ll still think of ways to improve it because you can’t help it). You’ll know that whatever you don’t know, you’ll pick it up fast anyway and be able to perform at a top level.

Your future employer will know this school and not question its validity. Maybe not initially but down the road it becomes more significant. As you may or may not know, many of the top hospitals in NYC have Chief Nursing Officers (CNO) who are NYU Nursing graduates. Know that with pride.

Honestly though, you can still have all these desires to go on a winding nursing career and not go to NYU Nursing. It’s still an individual who decides her own path.

Here’s the second question:

How did I pay for my student loan?

Personally, I hate owing money. Especially at an interest rate of 6.8%. As soon as I started making money, I put everything I could into paying off my loan. Yes, you could pay the minimum payments for 10 years but I can’t do that.

For me, I had parents who were able to help me financially and I thank them for that.

I owed about $20k in student loans. After taxes, I received about $4k/month. Less than half went toward rent, transportation, and food. The other ‘more than half’ went to paying off the student loan as quickly as possible. In 6 months from December 2012 to May 2013, I paid out $15k, or about $2.5k per month.

In May 2013, I received a credit card offer for a balance transfer. Normally I ignored these but this one was offered at 1% fee. That meant instead of paying 6.8%, I could pay only 1% to borrow the money as long as I paid it off by the deadline of March 2014 (and also not use that credit card for regular purchases so credit card companies can’t confuse you with the different APR for balance transfer vs purchases).

I wrote the check to myself and cashed it at an ATM. I saw $5000 in my checking account. On the credit card, they deducted $5000 plus the 1% fee of $50. I paid off the rest of the student loan with that $5000 and that account was closed in May 2013. Then I spent the next 8 months from June 2013-February 2014 slowly paying it off about $650/month.

The good thing about this balance transfer is that I only had to pay $50 to borrow $5000. If I had left that amount in the student loan, then I would’ve had to pay $5000 * 6.8% = $340 to borrow that same amount.

—-

Anyway, I hope this helped you. Please let me know if it did and if you have any additional questions, comment below or send me an email. Thanks.

And go team! 🙂

How to Pick a Good Nursing School

How to Pick a Good Nursing School

Once you complete nursing school, you must pass the NCLEX exam. Hopefully you’ll pass the first time you take it. I recommend picking a nursing school that has a high first time NCLEX pass rate. Every 4 years the NCLEX changes its content and questions so the new cycle may have lower pass rates. You can find the 2013-2017 NCLEX pass rates here. You’ll also see how many students attended each school.

For NYU, these are the 2008-2012 NCLEX first time pass rates. Compare other New York State nursing schools there.

2012 2011 2010 2009 2008
New York University 89.6%
396/442
91.6%
327/357
 89.4%
244/273
88.5%
216/244
86.1%
217/252

 

How to use Google Scholar and get NYU Library articles

How to use Google Scholar and get NYU Library articles

For the last couple years, I used Google Scholar to get a general idea on various research articles. I clicked on the links that led me to PubMed and more. But I can only get free articles at home.

I did things the hard way — I found the articles that I wanted the full PDF on. Logged into library.nyu.edu and searched for the journal, year, etc. It took forever!!!

Now, I can still use Google Scholar to find articles. I just followed the directions in the link. It has made my life so much easier. So thank you Google Scholar and NYU Library.

I wish I knew that before

2013 was the best year of my life.
Independence rang true – new apartment, new car,
new nursing career from the nursing home, to tele and ortho, to ICU.
(wow, I sound like a typical millenniallook at the table below)

My family and friends started new careers too,
life is getting sweeter.

The stats were an all-time high,
Getting emails and comments all the time,
About NYU Nursing
Advising and inspiring future nurses.
To me, there’s no greater praise.

Last year’s theme was ‘New Nurse Blog.’
But now I’m no longer a fresh fresh nurse.
I’ve got one year under my belt!

For 2014 I’m changing it to
I wish I knew that before.’
“I” can be me, a friend, or you.
Health, Food, Money and Rights are my passions

So here it goes!

—-

This table is from a Medscape Nurses article about how to manage a 4 generation gap nursing workforce. You can sign up for a free account to read the article.

Generation What They Want Strategies
Traditionalists Less demanding schedules (part-time; shorter shifts)
Reduced stress or workload
A job well done
Use a personal touch
Provide traditional rewards
Use as mentors
Offer less physically demanding positions
Boomers Recognition for experience and excellence
Positive work environment
Good pay and benefits
Continuing education
Give public recognition
Find opportunities to share expertise (precept, mentor)
Promote “gradual retirement”
Xers Career advancement
Shared governance
Autonomy and independence
Work/life balance
Provide opportunities for skill development and leadership
Involve in decision-making
Avoid micromanaging
Millennials Meaningful work;
Stimulation, engagement, involvement; multitasking
Skill development
Socializing and networking
Impatient for promotion
“Move up or out”
Encourage teamwork
Offer a supportive work environment
Begin leadership development early
Provide feedback
Provide access to social networks; build on technology strengths
Develop skill base