By the year 2020, it is predicted that the United States will need 800,000 nurses in their health care industry. Registered nursing jobs involve those who work in traditional hospital settings, as well as non-traditional locations such as in home, laboratory, or school. This wide array of options and specializations for those interested to pursue a career in nursing has made the field of nursing really a promising path.

Clinical Nurse

As the term entails, clinical nurses are those that are registered who work in definite clinic settings. However, dubbed also as nurse practitioners, clinical nurses may also work in different types of clinic with various specializations. Thus, clinical nurse, though works in clinic, can be very flexible.

Clinical Nurse Subcategory

Given the huge amount of clinical nurse working in hospitals and clinics, most of nurse practitioners can be classified into different subcategories:

Clinical nurse specialist – These are the nurses who attained and completed qualifications for specific specialization. They can specialize to various fields in health care for instance midwifery, or psychiatric and/or mental health, or geriatrics, as well as pediatrics, and other health disciplines. Because of the specific fields of their specialty, they obtain titles such as mental nurse, or maternity nurse, and even theater nurse.

Staff nurse – These are the nurses who are responsible for general administrative duties in hospitals and clinics. They have no specific specialization.

Clinical nurse assigned to specific hospital sections – aside from the clinical nurse specialist and the staff nurse, a clinical nurse may also be appointed and concentrate to specific hospital sections or departments such as the surgical section, emergency room, or accidents section

Because of these diverse opportunities for nurse jobs in many of hospitals along with clinics in the United States, jobs for clinical nurse are highly in demand today.

Hierarchy of Clinical Nurses

Aside from different types of clinical nurses, there are also levels and ladder in this type of medical and health job. There are clinical nurses in general but there are also clinical support nurses, and clinical nurse specialists who specialize in specific field or area. Clinical nurses can also climb up the ladder through being a nurse advisor, clinical lead nurse, or a clinical nurse manager. Consequently, there are still other types of jobs in the nursing field.

Responsibilities of Clinical Nurse

A clinical nurse has many responsibilities depending on their specialization and area of expertise. Sometimes, the size of organization contributes to the variation of responsibilities. Accordingly, a bigger organization provides more responsibilities and duties to clinical nurse because it has more hospital sections and areas to work for, than a smaller organization. Responsibilities of a clinical nurse involve clinical practice, that is, providing optimal care to patients. However, under the practice providing care to patients, the responsibilities of a clinical nurse still constitutes many things and may divert from the general clinical practice, such as conducting research, handling consultation and management duties, and many others.

Home Health Registered Nurses

Aside from the traditional clinical setting where most nurses work, home health care has proven to be a lucrative sector for the nursing profession. Registered nurses, who chose to deliver health care services at home where most patients get and feel better because of homey ambiance and setting, provide various services like geriatric nursing, community health nursing, and visiting nurse jobs. Other nursing home health care jobs are:

Newborn Visiting Nurses – They are the nurses who phone new mothers and offer their service at home. They monitor the newborn child’s conditions, gives assessment, as well as medications to the mother and her child.

Visiting Chronic Care Nurses – They offer service at home for those who need specific hours of care at specific days per week. They are the nurses who attend patients after surgery, change feeding tubes, and assess medical needs from time to time.

Early intervention nurse – They offer service to families who have young children needing medical intervention.

Occupational Health Registered Nurses

As a growing field, occupational health registered nurses have also different responsibilities. They are tasked to do initial assessments and physical examinations, assess the medical needs of the patient, and offer medical information to specific company or institution.

Public Health Registered Nurses

Unlike other nurses who are only involved in nursing and taking care of patients, public health registered nurses are engaged in policy-making affecting societies. They provide patient care in clinical settings but at the same time, they participate in community health nursing. More often, they give advices, information, and assistance to families in different communities regarding their health, nutrition, and family planning.

They can also work in conjunction with the Department of Health where they can propose policies and insights on how to control infectious disease and implement policy measures in hospitals and clinics.

School Nurses

School nurses are nurses who work on schools, universities, and colleges, where they provide students their medical needs. They may be assigned permanently in just one school, but others can be assigned from one school to another. Most of schools today have built exclusive clinics for students to have the most important health care they need. School nurses are responsible for assessing the medical needs of students, giving emergency care, advising the students about nutrition, preventive care, and first aid procedures.

Hospice Registered Nurses

Just like the clinical nurse who can work at night shift, day shift, or overtime, hospices also offer 24-hour, day and night service to patients at the setting of their own home. Hoping and believing the patients improves at home settings, a registered hospice nurse can also build personal rapport with the patients which might help them get better. Usually work under the direction of a doctor, a hospice nurse can also work independent in handling patients.

Because of many options and opportunities in the field of nursing, it has become a very profitable job nowadays. Demand for new nurses is still high and increasing in the United States, resulting to more and more students shifting into nursing courses. Another good thing is that, underneath the general broad field of nursing, students can choose specific field or area they are most concerned with depending on their skills, knowledge, and capability.

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_F_Smith

Competency based interviews are intended to get the best from you, the candidate, whilst also fulfilling the needs of the organisation to get the very best person for the job. There are some easy steps to make the most of yourself and have a much better chance of success.

Prepare well, but keep it sensible
As long as you know the job you are going for, ask for details of what you will be measured against. Ask for a set of competencies. Ask for a job description. This sets you up to succeed, not just because you are better informed, but also because you have asked – which will impress the decision-makers, before you even get there!

Get Creative
Here is the time to use your own experiences to create ‘stories’ which you can use in the actual interview. These ‘stories’ are real scenarios that you have been a part of, which over a period of days and weeks beforehand, you write up. Maybe you will have 20+ initial ideas.

Leverage!
Take the very best scenarios and write them out, bullet points first. Then flesh them out, whilst referring carefully to the competencies you’ve been given. It is amazing how you can ‘tune-in’ your scenario to include many, if not all of the competencies. And if you can’t fit them all in, there will be a use for them – later!

Practice
By reading through your scenarios (and by now you should not have more than six or seven) you will familiarise yourself with the contents, so well, that they will become second nature – even in the scary experience of an interview.

In the Interview
There are some tactics in here too!

Using your scenarios make just three key points about what you’ve been asked. Make them relevant and the right ‘weight’. Not too long or too short.
After that, leave space for them to ask more – that’s what they are listening for.
Say ‘I’ a lot – they want to know what your personal involvement and experience was, not ‘the team’ or ‘they’.
Have fun – whilst not contrived, smile and make some simple jokes, if you feel comfortable with that – they want to employ happy as well as capable people.
Can’t answer? That’s fine. Make sure that you reflect on your shortcomings by saying things like, ‘It’s one of the first things I want to develop in my next job – if you did your stuff on your scenarios and your competencies well enough, you will have covered 90% of the bases well and you’ll be forgiven for not being ‘perfect’. If you are really stumped – say so!
Ask questions – relevant, about their culture, focus on developing you, opportunities – the positive ‘peopley’ things (remember it’s your chance to see if you want to work with them!).
Also ask about current issues they may be facing – you did do your homework on them, didn’t you?

Strong Ending!
Keep the whole thing light, even as you leave at the end. Have a conversation in general terms – about anything! Do make sure that you ask them some things that are about them – they will love it if you ask them some open (what, how, when, where, who) general questions about your new job! About something nice in the building or their clothes – take as it comes and do what feels comfortable!

Remember that competencies are there to help you and they provide a guide-map for your competency based interview success!

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Martin_Haworth

Nurses play a vital role in the health care industry. They provide basic care to patients and attend to patients’ needs and perform basic duties. Nursing is the most diverse of all the health care professions and nurses practice in a different and wide range of settings.

Types of nurses

Certified Nurse Assistant or CNA – they are known as nursing aide, or as Home Health Aides or HHAs. They work under a registered nurse‘s supervision and assist patients in their daily tasks. Their main role is to closely observe their patient‘s health status; reactions to medication and treatment and update their supervisor or the registered nurse. They work in hospitals but they can also be found in nursing homes, hospice facilities, private homes and adult living facilities.

Registered Nurse or RN – registered nurses are able to perform various duties including providing treatments, educating patients and family members about a patient‘s medical condition and treatment, and they are able to provide them advice and emotional support. Registered nurses are degree or diploma holders and they can choose to further their career by acquiring advanced education in other specialties relating to particular conditions, area in the body or a certain type of patient such as children or an area in the hospital such as the Emergency Room or Operating Room. They are also in charge of directing or giving directions to licensed practical nurses and nurse assistants.

Public Health Nurse or PHN – they are registered nurses who specialize in the area of community health. They travel to patients’ homes, community centers and schools. They work with individuals and families to provide accessible medical solutions to health concerns in particular communities.

Licensed Practical Nurse or LPN – licensed practical nurses work in hospitals, private homes, clinics, and long term care facilities providing basic care to patients. Employment in the field requires completion of an approved and accredited practical nursing course and a clean criminal record. They are able to perform basic laboratory exams, administer injections, and they are responsible for monitoring their patient‘s medical condition and reporting it to their supervisor or the registered nurse on duty. They also assist their patients in taking baths, eating, and even deliver assist in delivery of infants.

Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist or CRNA – aside from the completion of a bachelor’s degree in nursing, certified registered nurse anesthetists spent two to three years of formal education in their specialization and have been certified as nurse anesthetists. They provide care for patients whoa re about to be given anesthesia before they undergo a surgery, during the surgery and after the procedure.

Occupational Health Nurse – occupational health nurses are usually found in companies working as company nurse providing basic health care to employees and workers. They also assist in the preparation of paper works for employees requiring admission to hospitals and out patient services that is beyond the company’s clinic or medical facility. They can offer counseling and give advice on medical concerns, occupational hazards and safety issues concerning the industry they work for. Most of the time, they are part of the company’s payroll and are considered direct employees to the company.

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Karen_P_Williams

Nursing outcomes for patient’s with Acute Renal Failure (ARF);

Patient or Family will:

Nursing interventions Acute Renal Failure (ARF)

All patients with Acute Renal Failure (ARF) need an understanding of renal function, signs and symptoms of renal failure, and how to monitor their own renal function. Patients who have recovered viable renal function still need to be monitored by a nephrologist.

Note if the restrictions are life-long or temporary. Patients who have not recovered viable renal function need to understand that their condition may persist and even become chronic. If chronic renal failure is suspected, further outpatient treatment and monitoring are needed. Discuss with significant others the lifestyle changes that may be required with chronic renal failure.

If you are interested in getting into the nursing profession, it goes without saying that you are about to embark on a profession that is quite noble as well as inimitable. We live in a world where ailments and diseases have not been banished by a long shot, which means that there is an acute need for nursing professionals who are dedicated and committed to their work totally.

Need for nursing colleges

Getting into a good nursing-college is what most nursing students aspire for, and with adequate reason. This logical given the fact that it is in a nursing-college that students of nursing gain the skills and the competencies that are required to excel at the very important job of being an effective nurse. The medical profession is quite incomplete without competent and top of the line nurses and getting ready a pool of nurses to take on diverse nursing challenges is what the main aim of the better nursing-colleges is across the globe.

As the number of hospitals as well as medical centers increases and medical care takes on more complex hues and needs, it is incumbent upon nursing-colleges to turn out a veritable army of dedicated nurses. This is the need of the hour and something that the medical system is just crying out desperately for. Choosing the right nursing-college

If you want to look at and evaluate a nursing college to join, in order to become a top notch nurse, you would do well to assess the nursing college that you are contemplating to join. For one, you need to be assured about the quality of the faculty that the college has to offer. Transference of learning and knowledge is the best when you have competent and well acclaimed faculty who are quite capable of ensuring that the students are taught most effectively.

The second thing that you must look for in a nursing college is the facilities as well as the infrastructure that the college has. This is absolutely imperative because a practical oriented course like nursing needs to be taught not only with theoretical inputs, which are important, but also with an emphasis on practical proficiency and skills development. After all, when a patient needs help, a nurse who has all the knowledge in the head, but is unable to practically apply the knowledge is really not of much help.

One of the effective ways to evaluate a nursing college is to look at its history, its standing and reputation as well as feedback from alumni and employers. Sometimes you are able to get rankings of nursing colleges that are part of surveys conducted by independent bodies and agencies. These are also an indicator of how good a nursing college actually is. In any case, it is always advisable to do an independent and very objective assessment of the quality of a professional institution on your own, so that you are not unnecessarily biased or guided by the opinions of others.

Similarly, nursing colleges that are attached to large medical colleges and hospitals also have the benefit of providing a large canvas to nursing students in terms of practical exposure and experience that will help in developing their skills.

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Karen_P_Williams