Higher Education in Health Services

For those who work in health care, sometimes it can be hard to pin down exactly what drew us to our jobs, because there are so many perks. We find our jobs satisfying not just because of the excellent pay, or the fact that our jobs are easier to find (even in a recession) than most others–the ability to help people every day is often what gets us out of bed in the morning. However, sometimes it isn’t enough–sometimes, for whatever reason, the time comes to further our education and look for a new job. If you’re looking to further your education and you know you want to keep working in healthcare professions, it’s possible that a Masters in health services would be the best decision you ever made.

The types of jobs you can find with a Master’s degree in health services are highly variable. Salaries range from the mid five figures (if you’re planning on working for nonprofits) and well up into the six figures for, say, an experienced hospital administrator. Of course, not all the jobs you can find with a degree like this are in hospitals. You may find yourself working on the business development end of clinics or nursing homes. Or, you may find yourself managing a medical supply company. If you’re interested in the stability and great benefits that usually come with government jobs, rest assured that various government agencies (and even some political groups focused on health care policy) have use for individuals with an advanced degree in health services. Other degrees might lead you to a career like being a physician’s assistant; this job had an average income over eighty thousand dollars in 2008. The health care field is rich and varied, and the rewards are many. The only question is which career path would be right for you.

International Nursing Day

All around the world, nurses are celebrated for the progress they have helped make possible in the health care industry. International Nurses Week is marked May 6th through May 12th, and this week has been celebrated since 1965.

In 1974, it was decided that the day should be recognised on May 12th, which was Florence Nightengale’s birthday. Florence Nightengale was important to nursing history because of her contributions to the health care industry, and the establishment of her school for nursing. Nightengale has been known as the creator of modern nursing.

Since 1999 the holiday has been celebrated on May 8th, because the British voted that Nightengale was not the representative of modern nursing at all, and since then the holiday has landed on the 8th, or in the very least it has landed on the 8th for the British. In 2003, it was finally designated that the holiday was to be celebrated on the Wednesday within the week between May 6th and May 12th.

Presently, each year the day is marked by the distribution of the Nurse Day Kit, which contains informational packets that are intended to educate people about their health. This is done in order to promote overall wellness in communities. These materials are used by modern health care professionals like doctors and nurses everywhere.

In the UK, on May 12, a mass is held in Nightengale’s honor. A lamp is taken and lit from the Nurse’s Chapel, while the service takes place to symbolize the passing of knowledge. This lamp is handed to each nurse at the mass. The mass is located at Westminister Abbey in London. Everyone can agree that those who take health care into their priorities make a major difference in our lives. From the common cold to life and death emergencies, these brave souls assist as best they can, and they make a big difference.

Military Nurses Making A Major Difference

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Serving as a military nurse is an opportunity to receive rewards in a multitude of ways. In addition to all of the benefits of a traditional nursing career, the military nurse is also given the privilege of serving their country. Many who choose to become a military nurse cite this as one of the chief reasons they decided to pursue nursing as a career. With ongoing wars and other military engagements taking place throughout the world, the urgency of need for people willing to step up and serve has never been greater. The rewards are great. The challenges are many. But to an overwhelming degree, a military nursing career is truly the best of both worlds.

It has been over 80 years since the Veteran’s Health Administration (better known as the VA) was established. From its earliest beginnings, the VA has been focused on providing the best care for the brave men and women serving our country. It is now one of the largest health care delivery systems in the United States, with over 150 hospitals nationwide and serving more than 5 million veterans annually. It is also the largest employer of nurses in the entire world, with a total of over 60,000 currently employed. It is also one of the largest employers in the country of minority nurses.

The opportunities for a military nurse are also remarkably diverse and ever expanding. Whether one wants the intense but rewarding experience of a military hospital, the excitement of being a health educator, or the chance to specialize in innumerable niches, a military nursing career can fill the bill. There are also many opportunities for developing nursing skills that will easily carry over into a non-military nursing career. This in fact is yet another attraction of choosing the military.

Each of these factors, coupled with many, many more, make the decision to be a military nurse one for careful consideration. There is truly limitless, exciting opportunities ahead.

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The Future of Nursing is Bright and Exciting

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To the person considering nursing as a possible career, one of the many questions they may ask has to do with what their chosen profession might look like in the near future. A recent report issued by The University of Miami attempted to answer that and many other questions about nursing.

For example, it is predicted that by the year 2020, a majority of practicing nurses will have received at least their bachelor’s degree. It is also considered likely that many nurse practitioners will be able to practice without a physician being present. Especially encouraging is the prediction that those same nurse practitioners will also be paid more fairly and also directly by insurance companies. This is great news, in part because there is such a large influx of nurse practitioners entering the nursing field due to the attractive nature of the work done by this emerging and highly-trained nursing contingent.

The report also made mention of the fact that there are almost 3 million nurses now at work in the United States, which makes nursing the largest health-care profession in the country. The report stressed the importance of giving this critical group of medical professions a voice in the future of their industry.

The report estimated that roughly 50% of nurses now have at least a bachelor’s degree. The trend of that number rising is a positive one, the report noted. Nurse practitioners have at least a master’s degree and now do many of the things that a doctor does in diagnosing and treating patients. 15 states currently allow nurse practitioners to see patients without a doctor present.

This is widely considered to be an essential step toward these nurses being able to also be paid directly for their services by the insurance companies, just like doctors. The report called upon state legislators to force insurance companies to pay practitioners the same as doctors. They believe this will improve nursing and medical care generally.

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New, Exciting Opportunites to Specialize in Nursing Profession Now Available

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When someone is asked about pursuing a career in nursing, their first thought is often connected to their preconceived notions about what it means to be a nurse. More often than not, an image of a woman rushing around a hospital or operating room is what comes to mind. However, in the 21st century, there are an ever-increasing number of alternatives to this traditional view of nursing. This makes choosing a career in the nursing field a more exciting one than ever before. Here are several of the many exciting options available to those opting to pursue this path:

Travel nursing – although it is not often thought of when thinking of a nursing career, travel nursing is perhaps the most exciting way to live the nursing life. There are literally thousands of locations both in the United States and around the world where the demand is great and growing for travel nurses. This is truly a way to be in total command of your career. For each assignment, the travel nurse has the freedom to choose where they work, for how long, and in what specialty. With the severe nursing shortage literally impacting hospitals around the world. a travel nurse can find short-term work anywhere they choose. The compensation is also generous, ranging from $20 to $40 per hour on average. Many of these locations also offer free or reduced-cost housing as a bonus, in addition to signing and contract-completion bonuses.

Surgical nursing – this is another in-demand and high-compensation category in the nursing field. Surgical nurses employ their advanced training during delicate procedures such as organ transplants, heart surgery, laser incisions, and countless other surgery-related services. Surgical nurses are also some of the highest paid nurses in all of nursing, due to their advanced training and experience. They are also a vital part of the recovery process for patients after a procedure has been done. Surgical nursing is red-hot and getting hotter.

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Nursing is the career that will never go away

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When it comes time for your children to choose the path their professional lives will take them, the field of Nursing might be a great way to make a good living in a field where there will always be need.
Some wonder why be a nurse when you could go to school for a few more years and be a doctor.  While doctors do make the bigger bucks when they are done with school, there is more stress involved in their job and more Administrative duties to be answered too.
Typically a Nursing student spends two to four years in college, while a Doctor spends at least eight.   While the Nursing student doesn’t make as much as a Doctor upon completion of their education, they do make a good living, enough to support a family in a good manner.  While a Nursing student may have some student loans to pay, they are not likely to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
While the Financial worlds have struggled in recent years with a sluggish economy, people are still getting sick.   The need for nursing students entering the field of medicine continues to grow as the need for improved Health Care across the nation continues to grow.
While Mortgage industries have been hard for the past five years with terrible financial markets, the need for nursing students continues to expand.
Choosing a careers that will have longevity and the ability to provide for one’s family are important thoughts when one is deciding what they will be doing for the next 30 years after the completion of post-secondary education.  If you have a child that is interested in making a difference in the healthcare community, working long but fulfilling hours and making a good living then Nursing might be a perfect career choice.

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Nursing, the career that gives you flexibility and job security

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When it comes time to deciding what you want to do with the rest of your work life, quality of life, money earnings capability and flexibility in schedule should be near the top of your list.       In most of these instances, Nursing provides an opportunity that will meet or exceed all of your expectations.
There is nothing worse than coming home from a long day at work doing something that you don’t love.  If you like helping people, making a difference and are not turned off my sick and cranky patients, then perhaps Nursing is for you. Nursing provides a career that is rewarding in so many ways.  When your day is done after a long day of helping people, you can go home knowing that you made a difference in someone’s life.
For those that enter the field of Nursing, earning a steady and sometimes good living is a distinct possibility.  While those in the financial world are experiencing volatility and loss of jobs, Nursing and other working in the health care field are wanted and needed as people continue to get sick.  Many nurses make well over $40k per year, and have the ability to make much more with additional and specialized training.  Having a career that pays well, will help you get your first house faster and earn money for those vacation and family items you’ve always dreamed of.
While those in the Nursing field may have to work long hours, many are working 12 hours per day for three days per week.  Imagine a week where you only have to work three days, and are able to run errands, go to your kid’s athletic events and spend quality time with your family four days a week.
For all of these reasons, Nursing continues to be a solid career choice.

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The Value of Travel Nursing

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Travel nursing agency services are becoming more popular these days, as many nurses want to travel to different cities and experience new cultures. Doing so is a great way for younger nurses to get the “travel bug” out of their system. These days many nurses do not want to travel once they get married and start families. Clearly, traveling a lot for children is destabilizing and not highly recommended, especially in their early years. With the divorce rate in the US as high as it is, it is not recommended that people go into marriages when they have many other interests (such as traveling) that both husband and wife cannot pursue together.

This is why travel nursing is a good place to begin for nurses who wish to travel the country. Placements can occur anywhere throughout the United States, and people learn actually how diverse the country is. From the far ends of conservative to liberal cities and culture, you can learn about how politics is affected by culture and geography.

One of the most valuable skills you learn through travel nursing programs is the variety of people whom you serve. When you have a broad range of experience in different parts of the country, you gain a confidence about the ability to treat and help anyone in need. You can better understand where people are coming from, including their values and beliefs that affect their medical treatment. The formal name for an academic study of such phenomena is called medical anthropology and medical sociology. Yet, a formal degree is not necessary. What matters is that you as a nurse have taken the time to learn about different people and how to best help them. Next time you feel the travel bug and want to go somewhere, think about travel nursing as a real option to consider.

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Many Reasons Given for Choosing a Career in Nursing

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Some Reasons to Choose a Nursing Career

There are a myriad of different reasons as to why someone might choose a career in nursing. Unlike a medical doctor, who has the primary responsibility of diagnosing illness with the objective of employing techniques, therapies and medications that will promote healing, a nurse’s primary focus is on the patient themselves. In addition, nurses act as an important bridge between doctors and a patient’s family, making sure that family members understand different aspects of their loved one’s condition and prospects for recovery. In both instances, this leads to a nurse becoming very close to their patients and the ill person’s loved ones. This trusting relationship is perhaps one of the greatest rewards of a nursing career.

Many Reasons Given for Choosing a Career in Nursing

Many of the individuals who have chosen a career in nursing have been asked why they did so. Among the many reasons they give include the following common responses: Being able to advocate for someone’s welfare and health, acting as a teacher to both patients and to their families, having a chance to improve or even to help save lives, and the opportunity to build lasting relationships with other health-care professionals. All of these responses reflect a common theme; namely, that a career in nursing is one of the most exciting, rewarding and challenging jobs one could ever imagine.

Common Objective in Nursing Career Decision: Caring for Others

For these and other reasons, it is sometimes surprising to learn that there is such a critical shortage in the number of nurses now employed versus what is needed. Educators, health care organizations, and legislators are all actively working to try and reverse this trend. One possible reason for the shortfall may lie in the fact that the journey to become a certified nurse is of necessity an arduous and lengthy one. The standards must of course not be lowered. Only time will tell if enough nurses can enter the workforce to meet the needs of hospitals and patients, both now and in the future. Regardless, the need is critical.

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Future of Nursing Both Exciting and Unknown

Future of Nursing Both Exciting and Unknown

Without the benefit of a crystal ball, the future of nursing world-wide is unknown. Predictions could certainly be made as to what it might look like in 25-50 years, but they would only be educated guesses. With all of the advancements in both medicine and technology, improvements in drugs, increasing life spans, and of course ongoing changes in health-care policies and health insurance programs, the only sure thing is that many changes are coming. It is also axiomatic that the face of nursing will also be changing, just as it has since Florence Nightingale first walked from bed to bed, her lantern held above her, in the 1850′s.

Technology a Major Factor in Advancements

One thing that is for certain is that technology will continue to play an ever-increasing role in both healthcare generally and in the nursing professions specifically. For example, numberless responsibilities that were once handled manually by nurses are now at least partially if not fully automated. These include such things as documentation and keeping patient records updated, bar codes on virtually every physical object used in a hospital for tracking purposes, voice-activated equipment, and even so-called “smart beds” that do a wide variety of monitoring that can be updated in real time.

Challenges Ahead, Resources Limited

These changes are also leading to an ever-increasing number of men who are joining the nursing workforce. It is believed that technology is playing a significant part in this development. These and many other advancements are also putting a strain on nursing schools and faculties. This in turn is also decreasing the available resources for paying the cost of nursing school. Clearly, there are many challenges ahead for all involved in the future of nursing. All who have a stake in this future are working hard to determine how best to solve these problems. Although there are many areas where debate and dialogue is vital to reaching acceptable solutions, there must also be a steady focus on the big picture: Making sure that the needs of patients and health care providers are met.

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