Month: December 2019

Top 3 APRN JOBS

  1. Certified Registered Nurse Anesthiologist (CRNA)– This is one of the top in-demand jobs for APRN. Nurse anesthetists offer care to patients going into surgery, by giving them anesthesia, and helping to manage patient care in the OR. They also provide follow up care for procedures that are done on an outpatient basis.

Salary Median: 120,000- 150,000 dollars annually

2. Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner : With the current trend of mental nursing, an APRN will offer counselling to her patients in an acute, outpatient or office space. They can help patients to deal with addictions, mood disorders, drug abuse and anxiety.

Salary Median: 85,000 to 95,000dollars annually

3. Geriatric or Gerontological Nurse Practitioner: With the aging of baby boomers, geriatic health sector would need more practitioners to provide care and this is a field that continues to grow.

Salary Median: 80,000 to 90,000 dollars annually

Advanced Practise Registered Nurses mostly have autonomy in their practises and with the current trend of healthcare and a move to age in place for the older population, considering a degree in one of these top three is the way to go.

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APRN AS MIDDLE-LEVEL PROVIDERS & DARN PROUD OF IT

This topic is of a very sensitive nature and has ruffled more feathers than can be counted ever since the original article was published. In healthcare as in other groups, I am sure; there is usually some sort of power tussle going on-who is better at something, who should be given the most respect etc. It is almost never-ending and can be exhausting!

Advanced Practice Nurses are in fact Middle-LEVEL providers. Being mid-level providers does not take away from the expertise of APRNs.

In the hierarchy of things, healthcare in this case, everyone has a role to play from the Patient Care Technicians (PCT) to the Physician and when we all are masters at our roles, that it when everything thrives. Everyone should know their role and play it well!

My Nurse Consultant
APRN

Not too long ago, nurses were upset when it seemed that Medical Assistants (MAs) were seeking to replace them in physician offices so it is with physicians- Some MDs feels slighted that after the amount of student loans and tedious study, that APRN almost seem to be replacing them.

There is no truth to this- APRNs will NEVER replace MDs; APRN may play a role in helping fill up shortages in under-served areas but not to replace the group out rightly!

There is also absolutely no reason to be antagonistic toward each other- we need to understand the bottom line here which is MONEY/PROFITABILITY. Administrators want to maximize the best use of their resources by hiring more and cheaper labor to “spread” around, while keeping expenses to a minimum.

Is it fair? No

Can they do it? Yes.  The Administrators do after all owe it to their companies to be profitable. And if substituting one for the other is the way for them to do it, then that it the way it will be done.

“In business, you don’t get what you want, you get what you negotiate”- Karass

If the parties APRN and Medical Association feel aggrieved, it would better serve us to put heads together and present a unified front.

These constant bickering takes us nowhere!

My Nurse Consultant

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How to Work With Millennial Nurses in the Workplace

Millennial nurses get a lot of bad rep in the workplace sometimes through no fault of theirs.

Some of the criticism may be deserved and others not. But don’t throw millennial away with the bath water. There are still some awesome millennials out there- you just have to harness their strengths and try to overlook the weaknesses.

To Work With Millennials, you must do the following

  1. Speak their Language: You will easily get frustrated, if you try to work with millennials on your own terms. It won’t work- all you get in return is more headaches and poor job performance. Talk to your millennial nurses, find out what makes them tick and then position your job expectations around that- they give in more easily at best and at worst, it makes them more open minded in hearing you.
  2. Be Firm: Don’t make the mistake of being soft- millennials will walk all over you. Be gentle but firm. Always gently but firmly reiterate job expectations and stay consistent. Giving different answers to the same question is just an opening that your nurses need to run with.
  3. Curb the Enthusiasm: Millennial nurses a day out of nursing school believe that they know it all- they don’t and it is your duty to help them see that they don’t know what they don’t know. Encourage learning by all means but be firm in redirecting their overflowing energy in other ways.
  4. Ask Questions: Millennial nurses love to be center of attention, so to keep them engaged, be sure to ask questions. Millennial nurses will welcome any chance to have you get to know them. And you should welcome that opportunity as well. After all, the work place is supposed to be a growth environment- engagement keeps everyone growing.
Millennial Nurses

Working with millennial nurses can be as fun as you make it. Sure they might get some bad rap but they are a fun group to work with.

Share any helpful tips, that you have on working with millennial nurses.

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Patient “Likes” and Mental Health of the Nurse

Should it matter if your patient likes you or not? Everyone talks about mental health and how social media can be damaging to it but we forget about the nurses and care-givers who provide care.

How the ever increasing patient likes and feedback can also be damaging to nurses as well.As long as you provide excellent care to your patients, should it matter if they like you or not?

“My patient likes me…” said Nurse Angela

“My patient remembered my name…I am so happy!” Nurse Agnes mentioned to another nurse.

I feel this should not matter as it creates an unconscious competitiveness between nurses vying for the likes and attention of their patients. You could almost compare it to Facebook or Instagram likes where the number of likes (in case this patients) help build or destroy the confidence of that nurse.

What about nurses that may not be as outgoing as their more extroverted colleagues, do they get to hide in the shadows? It is for a reason that the popular social media sits like Instagram and Facebook are taking the “likes” away. It does have a way of affecting mental health.

In my opinion, I feel that patient likes should not reflect on the abilities of a nurse. We all know that people can be fickle and a patient’s like or dislike may depend on their current mood and what happens at that moment.

 

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Get the Best Output from Your Nursing Staff

In many situations, you get out what you put in, except in cases of synergy where you get out more than you put it. So how exactly do you do this in the real world? or to be more specific, how do you translate this into your nursing staff?

Simple! By building a culture of trust.

Nurses who work in high trust level organizations experience

-less burnout

-increased job satisfaction

-increased customer service levels

-higher productivity, less job stress

-positive and increased energy at work

-less sick days

These are only some of the few that have been recognized. But knowing these positives, why would anyone not want to create a culture of trust in their organization to help their nursing staff be their best?

 

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